Good morning everyone. Let me ask you something as we start today. How many times this week did you know what you should do, but didn’t do it? Now, don’t point at your spouse, just think about it for a moment. How many times this week did you have one of those moments where you knew exactly what the right thing was? You knew you should send the text or make the call. You knew you should stop and ask how someone was really doing. You knew you should pray with somebody. And yet, you didn’t. Not because you didn’t care. Not because you thought it wasn’t important. Not because you were trying to be selfish. But because

life happened. We talked about this recently. You got busy. You got distracted. You weren’t quite sure what to say. Or maybe the most common response of all: “I’ll do it later.” And then later never came and before you know it the opportunity is gone. The moment has passed. Not because you didn’t care. But because you hesitated.

Here’s what we want all of us to consider this morning; that gap, that space between knowing and doing, that’s where we’re going today. We have good intentions. We care deeply. But what lives in our hearts doesn’t always make it into our hands. So, before we go any further, let’s remember where we’ve been because this series has been building toward something. This hasn’t been five disconnected messages. God has been taking us on a journey.

Week one – Stay Connected.

Jesus said: “I am the vine. You are the branches.” And we discovered that fruit doesn’t grow because we try harder. Fruit grows because we stay connected.

Week two – Love.

Not simply believing God loves us. Not simply appreciating God’s love but becoming people who move toward others with that same love.

Week three – Joy.

Not happiness based on circumstances. Not pretending everything is okay. But a deep, rooted joy that comes from remaining connected to Christ.

Week four – Making room.

Slowing down enough to hear God. Slowing down enough to notice people. Slowing down enough to be present.

Today, all of that leads here. We’ve titled this message “Step In” because eventually connection must become action. Eventually love has to move, joy has to show up somewhere, making room has to lead to responding. Eventually there comes a moment when God puts somebody in front of you and you have a choice. Walk past or step in.

Let’s go back one more time to Luke 10. The story of the Good Samaritan. It’s one of the most familiar stories Jesus ever told. So familiar that sometimes we stop hearing it. But let’s hear it again.

A man is traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. He’s attacked. Robbed. Beaten. Stripped. Left for dead. And Jesus tells us that three different people come down that road. A priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan.

Now here’s something interesting, do you remember when we talked about this? All three men saw the same thing. The priest saw him. The Levite saw him. The Samaritan saw him. The issue wasn’t awareness or information. The issue wasn’t knowledge. Everybody saw, everybody knew, everybody recognized there was a need and I think that’s important for us to recognize because we often convince ourselves our biggest problem is not knowing. If I just knew more, if I just understood more, then I would do better. But that’s not the problem in this story. They all knew what the problem was. The difference wasn’t what they knew. The difference was what they did, and I think that’s where this story becomes uncomfortable because Jesus isn’t really asking: “Can you identify the need?” Most of us can do that. Jesus is asking: “What are you going to do about it?” and those are two very different questions.

Recognizing a need costs very little. Responding to a need costs something. Sometimes it costs quite a bit. The priest had reasons. The Levite had reasons. Maybe good reasons for passing by. Maybe understandable reasons. We don’t know, Jesus doesn’t tell us, and the reason I think that He doesn’t tell us is because their reasons aren’t really the point. The point is that they kept walking.

And if we’re honest, we know exactly what that’s like, because we’ve all done it. We’ve all seen or felt something. And kept moving. Again, not because we’re bad people. Not because we’re heartless. But because stepping in costs something and sometimes walking away feels easier.

But then, along comes the Samaritan and Scripture says something remarkable. It says: “When he saw him, he took pity on him.” Other translations say: “He had compassion.” And that word means more than feeling sorry. It means something moved inside him. Something happened in his heart and what happened in his heart showed up in his actions.

Now notice what didn’t happen with the Samaritan. He didn’t say: “Someone else will help.” He didn’t say: “I’m sure things will work out.” He didn’t say: “I’ll pray for him as I continue on my way.” He stopped, he got involved, he stepped in and everything changed because one person decided not to walk away.

Church, I wonder how many moments God places in front of us every week. The Samaritan wasn’t the most qualified. God often works through ordinary people who simply say yes. Not people who have all the answers. Now if we come back to our list of the fruit of the Spirit, there’s something interesting about the fruit list in Galatians that we haven’t talked about yet.

We’ve spent weeks talking about fruit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. But one component of the fruit Paul mentions often gets overlooked. He calls it faithfulness, and that’s important because faithfulness is what turns all the other fruit into action. Without faithfulness love stays an idea, joy stays a feeling, kindness stays an intention. Faithfulness is what moves fruit from the heart into the hands.

The word Paul uses is the Greek word pistis, and while it’s often translated faithfulness it carries a much richer meaning. It speaks of trustworthiness, reliability dependability. The kind of person whose actions match their beliefs and that’s important because when most of us hear the word faith we think about belief. We think about doctrine or Theology. We think about what we affirm to be true but in Scripture faith almost always moves. Faith is active, Faith responds.

Abraham believed God and then he went. Moses trusted God and then he stepped forward. Joshua believed God and then he walked around the walls. Peter trusted Jesus and then he stepped out of the boat.

Biblical faith isn’t simply believing God can do something. It’s trusting Him enough to take the next step and that’s where many of us get stuck. We’d often rather have certainty than faith. We’d rather know exactly how things are going to work out. But God usually doesn’t work that way. More often than not, God gives us the next step and then asks us to trust Him with the rest and that’s exactly what happened with the Samaritan. He didn’t know how the story would end. He didn’t know whether the man would recover. He didn’t even know what it would cost. He simply responded to the moment in front of him and maybe that’s one of the reasons we hesitate. Because we want certainty before obedience, but, God usually asks for obedience before certainty.

Let’s turn to Micah 6, a passage that speaks directly into this. Micah asks a question that people are still asking today. What does God actually want from us? What’s most important? What matters most?

God’s answer comes in one of the most well-known verses in Scripture: Vs. 8 ”He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Notice something. Micah doesn’t say: Think about justice. Talk about justice. Admire justice. He says: Act justly. Not: Appreciate mercy. Discuss mercy. Love mercy. And then: Walk humbly. Not sit. Not observe. There is movement in every phrase. Action in every command. Because God’s desire has never been simply informed people. God wants transformed people. People who actually live what they believe and isn’t that exactly what Jesus was teaching in the Good Samaritan? The priest knew. The Levite knew. The Samaritan acted. And church, that’s still the challenge for us today. Not information. Application. Not intention. Action.

I was thinking about that this week. About how often the smallest actions become the biggest moments. I remember reading a story several years ago about a man who stopped at the same coffee shop every morning. Same order. Same routine. Same people. For years. And one day he noticed one of the employees wasn’t there. A young woman who was normally cheerful, friendly, always remembered names, always greeted people warmly. A few days passed. Still no sign of her, and he felt that little nudge. You know the one. The one we’ve been talking about all series. The Spirit whispering: “Ask.” Now most of us understand that nudge and most of us know how easy it is to ignore it. After all, it’s not really your business. Someone else probably knows, someone else will check. But this man asked. And when he did he discovered her mother had unexpectedly passed away. She was overwhelmed, grieving, trying to hold life together.

Because he asked he learned what was happening and because he learned what was happening he responded. He gathered a few friends, customers from the coffee shop too, and they sent cards, collected some money, bought groceries, prayed, checked in, showed up. Nothing dramatic. Just one person who followed a nudge.

Months later she said something that has stayed with the author, she said: “I thought nobody would notice if I disappeared.”

Church, I wonder how many people around us feel exactly that same way. Not necessarily out loud. But in their hearts. Would anybody notice? Would anybody care? Would anybody step in to my life? And here’s what strikes me. The difference wasn’t a grand gesture. The difference was one act of obedience. One person who listened and paid attention. One person who chose to step in. And maybe that’s exactly why God keeps bringing us back to this question. The question we’ve carried through this entire Spring series of messages.

“Who is the one person today, God?”

Maybe right now, even as we’re talking someone’s face is already coming to mind. Someone God has been bringing to your attention. And maybe the Spirit is quietly saying: “Don’t just think about it.” “Don’t just mean well.” Step in. And here’s the question to go along with that face, “What is one step You’re inviting me to take?” Not ten steps. Not a five-year plan. Just one step, one conversation, one invitation, one act of kindness, one moment of obedience.

Often that’s how God works; not through giant leaps, but through faithful steps. And while you’re thinking about that  let me take you back to where this whole series started. Back to fruit. Because fruit is actually a remarkable thing. Remember how we described how fruit production works in week 1? Fruit grows slowly. Quietly, almost invisibly. You can walk past the same tree every day and not notice anything changing. You can look at the same branch every morning and see no difference. Growth is happening, you just can’t see it. Roots are deepening. Life is flowing. Something is being formed. And eventually, what was hidden becomes visible. Eventually fruit appears!

That’s what we’ve been talking about these last five weeks. Not behaviour modification or trying harder. Not becoming more religious. We’ve been talking about what happens when a life remains connected to Jesus. Think about the progression. Week one: Stay Connected. Remain in the vine. Because nothing grows without connection. Week two: Love. When God’s love begins flowing through us we start moving toward people. Week three: Joy. Because when we’re connected to Christ we begin carrying something different into every room. Week four: Make Room. Slow down. Pay attention. Notice what God is doing around you.

You see, when you create space for people you begin seeing opportunities you used to miss and eventually you stop walking past them. You step in and that’s the space where fruit becomes visible. Not in what we know. Not even in what we feel, but in what we do. Because eventually fruit shows up. Eventually people experience it. Someone is helped, someone is noticed, and when that happens, fruit becomes visible.

Think about your own story. Think about how you came to faith. Think about the people who influenced you. For most of us it wasn’t one giant dramatic moment. It was somebody who showed up and cared. Somebody who stepped in, and because they stepped in our lives were different today.

Church, that’s what a fruitful life looks like. Just ordinary people who keep saying yes to the Spirit. And as we prepare to close that’s the invitation before us today. Not to do everything. Not to save the world. But to take the next faithful step He is placing in front of us. And that step might be smaller than you think. But it may matter more than you know. Because faithfulness was never about recognition. Faithfulness is simply saying yes when God nudges. Church Family, the world doesn’t need more Christians with good intentions. The world needs followers of Jesus whose lives bear fruit that people can see.

Let’s pray.