‘What if God is a fruit inspector?’ by Phil Joiner - 28 September 2025

Can a garden show us what God wants from us? Phil Joiner shares his experience of life at different paces, with various demands and expectations, including guilt about not doing enough. But does God have a different way of looking at productivity that is less about our industrial machinery and more about what happens naturally in a garden across different seasons? How much of this do we control? And what is God really looking for in our lives?

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‘What if God is a fruit inspector?’ by Phil Joiner - 28 September 2025
‘What if God is a fruit inspector?’ by Phil Joiner - 28 September 2025

Can a garden show us what God wants from us? Phil Joiner shares his experience of life at different paces, with various demands and expectations, including guilt about not doing enough. But does God have a different way of looking at productivity that is less about our industrial machinery and more about what happens naturally in a garden across different seasons? How much of this do we control? And what is God really looking for in our lives?

‘What is love?’ by Kyle Henderson-Begg, 23 February 2025
‘What is love?’ by Kyle Henderson-Begg, 23 February 2025

What do we mean by love, and how do we get better at loving? Kyle Henderson-Begg looks at different kinds of love and what we expect from them, and the kind of self-giving love most talked and written about by Jesus and Paul in the New Testament. This turns out to be something which God grows in us - but how?

‘Remain in my love’ by David Jennings, 9 February 2025
‘Remain in my love’ by David Jennings, 9 February 2025

How do we grow in God’s love, and what does it mean to remain? David Jennings looks at Jesus’ teaching that his followers are branches in him, a vine, made for fruitfulness under God’s gardening care. This fruit isn’t work we do, it’s the character of love, joy and peace that grows as we accept Jesus’ love and become defined by him and his character. Is it challenging to allow this to happen, sometimes needing to give up what we’d been aiming for ourselves? If so, can we find assurance in Jesus’ promise that, by remaining in him, we will be incredibly fruitful?

Phil JoinerSevern Vineyardfruit, Galatians, John, love, Miscellaneous