WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.959 But we are in John chapter 15. 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:06.799 Very important verse for our church, as you can see. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:08.320 It's on the wall behind us. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:10.800 This is our theme verse is in here. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.800 So real excited about what the Lord has for us today with this. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:19.280 So with that, if you are able, would you please stand for the reading of God's Word? 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:24.800 John chapter 15, verses 1 through 8. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:30.239 I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:39.359 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit, he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit, so that it will produce more fruit. 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:44.159 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.200 Remain in me and I in you. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:56.320 Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:59.520 I am the vine, you are the branches. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:06.319 The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:12.480 If any one does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:16.000 They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:23.200 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:31.280 My Father is glorified by this, that you produce much fruit, and prove to be my disciples. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:32.640 Let's pray. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:40.400 Lord, we thank you so much for this passage and all that it means already to us. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:47.120 But Lord, I pray that we wouldn't look at this verse as something that we already know and have been through 20 times. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:51.439 Um, but that you would have something for each and every one of us here today. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:56.799 Something that you want to teach us in, grow us in, change us in, prune us in. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:10.080 Lord, as Pete already prayed, Lord, I just pray that we would be surrendered to you and allow you to do the exact work that you want to do in each one of us and as a church body as a whole here today as well. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:10.639 We pray. 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:12.960 Have your way in Jesus' name. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:13.759 Amen. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:15.280 You may be seated. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:17.599 So a little background. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:31.599 Um, I taught this exact passage when I was the associate pastor over at Shoreline Calvary Chapel in Morrow Bay, and the Lord had already been stirring this church plant in my heart, the idea of it. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:35.840 But we hadn't launched anything yet for this church plant. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:47.360 And when I started digging into this passage, and you know, this was a passage that I've always really loved, but this time digging into it, it was life-changing for me. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:52.639 And I'd been doing a fair amount of counseling over at Shoreline at the time. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:55.120 That was one of the ministries that I was over. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:03:07.759 And I remember going through this passage and coming to the realization that the majority of the problems that we have as followers of Christ are abiding issues. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.280 They're a remaining in Christ issue. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:23.840 Now I think the only exceptions to that are when we have problems like, you know, when we're sinned against, or maybe we have physiological issues, you know, things that we don't necessarily have control of. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:35.680 And I don't want to oversimplify this, but the vast majority of every counseling session that I have ever done has come down to the root of not abiding. 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:49.280 You know, I learned years ago when I was training in biblical counseling that when someone comes to you because they need help with an issue, and they come and they're like, hey, whatever the issue is, the wheels have fallen off. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:50.960 Like, I don't know what's going on. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.280 I need help getting these wheels back on. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:04:07.120 You know, it's very tempting to just try and help those people get the wheels back on as soon as possible, but you need to help them find out why the wheels fell off in the first place before you can help them put the wheels back on. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:14.240 For example, um, I want to give an example of here if somebody comes in with a marriage issue. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:15.840 So, next slide. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.240 You know, this is just an example. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:41.600 The husband comes in and we figure out he's not leading in the marriage, the wife isn't submitting to his leadership, and then you go dig down a layer, and it's you know, you find out the husband doesn't show love, the wife doesn't show respect, you go down another layer, then you realize, wow, the husband isn't really present in the relationship, you know, and the wife is nagging, so you can see it all just bend down here. 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:45.839 And then you realize, wow, obviously, husband's selfish, wife's selfish. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.480 We're all selfish, you know, that's always a root issue. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:56.879 The relationship and submission to Jesus is lacking, and then you see, oh, they are not abiding in Christ. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.199 And that is, you know, kind of the root. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:04.480 And you can't take care of the next issue until you take care of the abiding in Christ issue. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:09.519 Another example that you'll see quite often, so the next slide, is sexual sin. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:16.240 Somebody comes in, they're saying, you know, I'm acting out inappropriately, you know, in sexual ways. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.000 The wheels have fallen off. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:23.360 And then you realize, well, actually, they're in isolation from fellowship with other believers. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:27.600 And then you realize, oh, they're actually in isolation from their relationship with Jesus. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:32.240 And then you get down to the root and they're not abiding in Christ. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:42.720 And it always, you have to start from that bottom, from that root, and work your way up before they can figure that stuff out and then get the wheels back on, so to speak. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:54.879 And I realized as I was teaching this passage years ago, that every sin issue, as I said, that's up to us, comes down to an abiding in Christ issue. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:02.639 And it was when I was teaching this passage that I sensed the Lord saying this is going to be the theme verse of this church plant. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:13.120 Because if we can teach people to abide in Christ and then have them teach others to abide in Christ, that's the heart of discipleship. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:14.879 That is discipleship. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:22.639 That's fulfilling the great commission that Jesus has given us, which should be the purpose of any church. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:29.600 So that's where our theme verse kind of came from was that time that I was teaching on this years ago. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.319 And that's where our name came from, Abide. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:41.920 Now, the CSB translation that we use here at the church that most of you are probably holding, it says remain instead of abide. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:47.199 So why did we pick abide if the translation that we're using says remain? 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:53.199 Well, it seemed really presumptuous for us to name a brand new church remain. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:57.360 Like we're a church plan here to stay, you know. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:06:59.680 So we thought, well, we should probably go with the bide. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:05.839 That probably makes a little more sense and seems a little less presumptuous to anybody that might be hearing about it for the first time. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:11.439 So that's just a little bit of a history of this verse and kind of where our name came from. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:18.240 Now, as we jump into chapter 15 here, just to kind of help us remember where we're coming from, let's set the scene. 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:27.519 So Jesus and his disciples, they're at the Last Supper, they're in this upper room, they're all lounging around this feast that they're having. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:36.000 This is right before Jesus' arrest, and he's about to be led to his death, his burial, and his resurrection. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:46.959 And Jesus is using his last moments, remember, with his disciples to prep them with some final instructions starting back in chapter 13. 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:49.759 So we're still in the middle of this. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:57.279 The last of those instructions that he gave to them, he gives them the promise of the Holy Spirit and peace. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:00.480 And remember that because that's going to come into play here a little bit. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.800 These verses we're looking at are surrounded by the Holy Spirit. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:10.399 And then today he's going to give them this symbolism that we just read about of this vineyard. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.199 So let's look at verse one together. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:18.879 I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:20.800 So let's just stop right there. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:36.799 I'm not an expert by any means in viticulture taking care of grapes, but I have three different varieties of table grapes in my front yard, and I've learned a ton about this passage through having to take care of those grapes. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:42.000 So I just want to share a little bit of knowledge with you guys as we go through this of the things that I've learned. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:47.919 So we have a simple drawing here that I want to put up of a grape vine. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:51.360 And this is similar the way that these are being taken care of. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:57.279 These are similar to what we see around us, the way that they're trained to go up. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:02.000 Now, this is the vine right here that goes across the bottom. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:07.679 And then the vertical parts here, those are all the branches that come out of the vine. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:15.360 And then what you see up here, these are wires that are used as a trellis for those branches to grow up and to grow on. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:23.279 And we're going to leave that image up so we have that image as we're talking about this, so you can kind of see the imagery here. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:32.240 Now, the vine that we see there is the constant, it's the source of nutrients and minerals and water. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:36.320 Everything that the branch needs comes from the vine. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:39.840 The vine, once it's established, is never pruned. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.120 It's always the branches that are being pruned. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:47.200 So everything the branch needs, it comes from the vine. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:54.639 Everyone, um, well, I'll get to that in a second. 00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:01.200 But this is gonna come into play, so just kind of keep that imagery and the things that I'm talking about in mind as we go on. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:05.200 Now, the next thing Jesus says is, My father is the gardener. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.919 So some of your translations may see uh may say vine dresser. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:14.639 It's the one that takes care of the health of the plant. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:20.320 It takes care of the pruning and the training of the branches and a lot of other things as well. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:23.279 But grapes are a pretty hardy plant. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:29.120 In some climates, they need very minimal care, but they always need pruning. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:39.919 If you want maximum health, if you want maximum growth, if you want optimal fruit, pruning and training are going to be a big part of taking care of those grapes. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:51.600 And the thing to keep in mind is that Jesus' disciples would already be familiar with this vineyard analogy, to some extent at least, but Jesus adds a twist to it. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:57.840 Now in the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as God's vineyard over and over in a lot of different places. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:02.240 One example that I want to show you is Isaiah 5, verses 1 through 2. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:06.159 It says, I will sing about the one I love. 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.279 So this is Isaiah speaking about God. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:14.559 I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one's vineyard. 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:18.480 The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:24.480 He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:29.360 He built a tower in the middle of it, and even dug out a wine press there. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:35.120 He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:44.879 And then a few verses down in verse 7, it actually says, For the vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel and the men of Judah. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:51.039 So you can see the imagery of Israel being God's own planted vineyard. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:54.879 And then they rebelled against him, and the vineyard went wild. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:05.679 So Jesus is giving them a twist to this imagery that they would already have in their mind of him being the vine and the father being the vine dresser. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:07.600 He goes on here in verse 2. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:13.840 He says, Every branch in me that does not produce fruit, he removes. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.759 So this automatically makes me think of Judas. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:24.720 A branch removed, probably only minutes before Jesus actually said this to them. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:31.759 In Matthew 7, verses 15 through 23, Jesus kind of elaborates on this idea if you want to read that later. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:34.320 Matthew 7, 15 through 23. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:43.840 But Jesus talks about recognizing wolves in their midst in that passage and recognizing them by their fruit. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:50.240 And if they don't have fruit, how they are cut down and then thrown into the fire. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:13:00.960 So there may be branches that look like they're abiding in Christ, but if they don't have fruit, what does it say that the gardener will do right now? 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:06.480 It says, every branch in me that does not produce fruit, he removes. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.600 He takes it off completely. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:14.720 You know, this is a very different, or this is very different than pruning. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:19.759 But cutting off that branch, it means death. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:22.960 But look at the second half of verse 2. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:32.559 It says, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:41.840 Even the branches that are doing well and growing and producing fruit, they get pruned. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:43.120 Why? 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:45.919 So that they will produce more fruit. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:47.039 It says it right there. 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:52.559 You know, pruning my grapes at home, it seems so counterintuitive at the time. 00:13:52.720 --> 00:14:03.759 You know, when I look at all of the growth from the previous year, it seems so weird to cut off all of that growth, or most of that growth, I should say, from the previous year. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:05.279 But I do it. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:10.399 And then the following spring, the growth is more than it was the year before. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:12.879 Because the branch is maturing. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:22.720 Pruning is cutting back old growth to put nutrients into new growth and to put nutrients into new fruit. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:31.759 So we need to make sure that we branches here, we followers of Jesus, are never too impressed with our old growth. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:39.519 You know, never having that attitude of, look at that old growth on my branch from 10 years ago. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:44.559 You know, it currently doesn't produce fruit, but look at how long that old branch is. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:56.159 You know, I remember back in the day when I used to produce fruit, we are not ever to be in that place of admiring our old growth that is no longer producing fruit. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:58.879 That's not God's plan for us. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.879 We never retire from producing fruit. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:08.639 We can never rest on our past growth and our past fruit production. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:14.960 We are to be an ever-growing fruit producer for God's kingdom until the day that we die. 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:29.840 And yes, we may have to slow down and as we get older, and fruit growth and branch growth may look a little bit different in different seasons of our life, but it's never an excuse for zero growth or zero fruit. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:41.039 You know, I've seen people on their deathbed producing fruit through their words and their attitude, through their treatment of medical staff, on and on. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:47.120 We never retire from our growth and our fruit production in God's kingdom. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:53.759 So even the most productive of branches with the most growth need to be pruned. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:57.200 And actually, it's about this time of year that that takes place. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:04.879 In this season of dormancy where the fruit's already been harvested this fall, the leaves have dried up and they've fallen off. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:11.440 And it's time to prune and start thinking about pushing out new growth and new fruit for the year ahead. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:19.679 So I brought in, as we all know already, so this is one of the prunings, I should say. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:26.240 I didn't cut the whole branch off, but this is one of the prunings that uh I pulled off of one of my plants here this morning. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:36.240 So if you were to pretend that this was still on the vine, you know, pretend my hand's the vine, what you do when you prune is you count the nodes, either two or three typically. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:42.399 So you I don't know if you can see them from back there, one, two, three, and then see all that growth from last year? 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:47.519 And that's all that's left for this year coming ahead. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:57.120 But this is going to explode in the spring, and these three nodes are gonna all branch out and hopefully all produce fruit. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.360 But you see how it seems counterintuitive? 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.279 I mean, look at all of that growth that we just got rid of from last year. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:08.559 But if you don't do that, it's barely gonna grow, probably isn't gonna produce fruit for you. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:21.200 But that is, you're gonna see in the vineyards around us and in my front yard here in a little bit, that this is all that's gonna be left a vine and a bunch of stubs, so that there's room for growth for this year. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:26.640 So let's talk about how the spiritual pruning takes place in our life. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.000 So look at verse 3. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:33.519 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.960 So at first glance, this looks a little out of place, doesn't it? 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:40.720 Until you look at the Greek definition of clean. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:47.200 Now, the Greek definition of clean says clean, pure, physically, purified by fire. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.359 But here's the part I wanted to show you. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:56.880 In a similitude, like a vine cleansed by pruning, and so fitted to bear fruit. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:00.640 That makes clean make a lot more sense in this context, doesn't it? 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:09.759 You know, Jesus is simply telling his disciples that they are abiding in him and they are already pruned and therefore clean. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:18.079 He's reassuring them that they don't have to worry about being removed or being pruned, at least in this moment. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:24.000 But look at why they are deemed clean by Jesus. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:26.000 Why they are pruned by Jesus. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.960 It says, because of his words. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:33.680 The words that he had spoken to them for the last three years. 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:37.279 You know, they're gonna need further pruning in the future. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:48.400 They hadn't been perfected, but they were ready for growth, and they were ready for a fruit-bearing season because they had been with Jesus and they had heard his words. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:53.599 And we get to see that season of growth and fruit production in the book of Acts. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:19:00.880 And it's just incredible as you read through to see how Jesus had pruned these guys for this season of growth that was ahead. 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:09.119 You know, for us, we're holding in our hands in Scripture the best pruning shears in the world. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:12.640 That is sharper than any two-edged sword. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:14.079 It's God's word. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:23.599 You want to make sure you're clean, you want to make sure that you're staying pruned or disease-free and not just resting on your old growth. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:27.599 Allow God to prune you with his word. 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:34.960 If there's dead wood on your branch, allow him to prune that off with his word. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:43.759 If there's an area that once looked like growth, but it's now opening up a place for disease to move in, allow him to prune that. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:53.680 Or is there anything in your life, you know, a branch that looks like growth, but it's not producing fruit? 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:57.599 Allow him to prune that with his word. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:07.039 You know, a lot of times we can have things that look healthy, but they take a lot of our resources, and no fruit production comes from those things. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:13.039 You know, I think in our American culture, that's probably one of the biggest things that we struggle with. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.839 Doing too much and trying to bear too much fruit. 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:20.480 Saying yes to too many things. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:23.759 Did anybody say yes to too many things in December? 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:27.519 I know I can raise my hand there. 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:31.039 Look at all these things that I'm busy with. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:35.839 You know, we like to be able to show people those things, but where's the fruit? 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:37.599 We have to ask ourselves that. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:44.160 You know, we can so easily live in a deception that busyness is godliness. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.079 But that's just not true. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:21:00.319 So we need to put ourselves in a position for God to prune us and for him to direct his resources through the vine where he wants them to go and where he wants to bear fruit in our life. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:07.599 Now, the best way to stay in perfect spiritual health in all areas of our life is in verse 4. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:09.119 So look at that with me. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:12.319 Remain, your translation may say, abide. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:22.799 So remain in me and I in you, just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.599 Neither can you unless you remain in me. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:32.400 So this morning, I cut this one off. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.599 Looks a little different, a little thicker down here, right? 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:48.640 This is a branch, a full branch that was attached to the vine this morning, and I cut it completely off because it was growing down and right through the neighbor's fence right here. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.480 And last year I didn't get any fruit from this whatsoever. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:57.680 You can see there's some dead parts to it right here that that didn't survive. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.279 It was not, it wasn't doing Anything for me. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:03.359 So I cut it off. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.319 This is dead, and nothing's gonna be growing from that vine anymore. 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:15.200 So that's an example of what happens when we don't remain in the vine and are cut off from Christ. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:28.720 But if we remain on the vine, if we remain in the vine, we receive everything we need from Jesus, and God will take care of the pruning and everything else that we need. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:32.799 Our job is simply to remain. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:37.839 It's to abide and let God take care of the rest. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:39.200 Why? 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:40.799 Well, look at verse 5. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.640 Jesus says, I am the vine. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:46.319 You are the branches. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:53.599 The one who remains, the one who abides in me, and I in him, produces much fruit. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:58.000 Because you can do nothing without me. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:02.480 If you get nothing else out of today, leave with that. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:07.039 Jesus says, you can do nothing without me. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:12.480 But verse 5, when you look at it in its entirety, it looks like oneness again. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:15.440 That we've talked about so much in the book of John. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:20.160 You know, oneness with Jesus as he as one in the Father. 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:23.519 Us in him and he in us. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:34.240 You know, where our spiritual nutrients, our sustenance, our energy, our growth, our identity, everything comes from Jesus. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:36.079 That's what this is talking about. 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:47.359 That's the oneness that Jesus desires for us to fully accept that we can do absolutely nothing without Him. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:24:03.920 You see, there is no fruit made in our own effort, through our own striving, through stressing, through worry, through pushing through things. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:11.359 It's through simply abiding and depending on Jesus for the growth and for the fruit. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:14.559 We can do none of that on our own. 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:22.240 You know, abiding doesn't come through trying harder, it comes from depending deeper. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:31.440 I've never seen these guys out in my front yard just like trying to push the fruit out, you know? 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:43.920 They're just sitting there and they're just allowing the nutrients from the vine to flow through and take care of all of the growth, to take care of all of the fruit, and then I take care of the pruning. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:47.359 It's not through our effort. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:53.599 And if we choose to not abide, look at verse 6. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:25:00.640 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:05.519 They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:13.599 When you are detached from Jesus, the result is withering, shriveling, and dying. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:17.200 And then they're gathered up into the fire. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:21.359 There's not much use for a dead, shriveled branch. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:25.839 Can you tell me how much fruit I'm gonna get from this very branch this year? 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:27.599 Done. 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:28.960 It's dead. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:30.799 It's cut off from the vine. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.519 It's not gonna do anything for me this year. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:37.839 Now in verse 7, we'll see Jesus bring this back to oneness again. 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:39.440 So look at verse 7 with me. 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:47.200 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:57.599 So remember how when we talked about how God the Father and Jesus are one, that they cannot be in disagreement with each other just a couple weeks ago. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:06.400 Now, if we're one with Jesus, if we're becoming like him, is it possible for us to disagree with him? 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:20.559 You know, if we remain in him, if we abide in him, if we have that oneness that he's talking about with him, is it possible for us to even want something different than he desires for us? 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:32.079 You know, if we do want something different than what Jesus wants, it's because we still have to wait, uh we still have a ways to go in our dependence, in our oneness, in our abiding with him. 00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:34.319 But that's what this verse is speaking to. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:36.160 Now look at verse 8. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:44.720 My Father is glorified by this, that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:49.200 Our fruit is for the glory of God. 00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:54.079 It's for his honor and the expansion of his kingdom. 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:56.160 It's not for us. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:59.440 We do not produce fruit for ourselves. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:01.759 You know, just think about fruit for a second. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:05.519 Not spiritual fruit, just regular plain old fruit. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:08.319 What is its purpose? 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:10.799 From the plant's point of view, not from our point of view. 00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:15.200 We'll say eating, but from the plant's point of view, it's for reproduction. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:16.799 That's where the seeds are. 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:18.240 It's in the fruit. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:27.440 Our fruit, yes, it's for the glory of God, it's for the blessing of the body around us, but it's for spiritual reproduction as well. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:37.839 It's for making more disciples, to bring people to an abiding relationship with Him, just like we're abiding in Christ. 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:40.559 And how do we produce fruit? 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:42.000 He already told us. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:45.359 Abiding in Christ for everything. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:54.720 It's by allowing God to prune us and realizing that we can do nothing without him. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:57.039 It's dependence. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.240 We're talking about just clinging to Jesus for everything. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:02.559 That's the key to this whole passage. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.960 That's the key to our spiritual life. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:10.960 You know, and I want to point out, we are zoomed in right here on these eight verses. 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:20.960 But don't forget, as I as I was talking about in the beginning, that these verses are surrounded by Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit. 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:24.480 Which we're going to be talking about in the weeks to come. 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:26.799 But there's a reason for that. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:28.960 Because we need a helper. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:33.519 We cannot even abide in Jesus on our own. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:36.240 We need the Holy Spirit. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:40.400 We need to walk by the Spirit to even abide in Christ in the first place. 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:42.559 But that's that's for later. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.160 But here is our call to action here today. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:50.640 I think one, obviously, abide in Christ. 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:57.680 Not straining, not pushing, not stressing, not worrying, just being. 00:28:58.400 --> 00:29:02.640 Just existing in that oneness with Him. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.000 So you can tell this isn't a message to go do. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:09.359 This is a message to simply be. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:18.960 To be with Christ, to be in Christ, and to allow Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit to do everything else from there. 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:22.960 And then the second thing, allow God to prune you with His word. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:25.680 Which involves a lot of trust. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:29.279 Saying, okay, God, I trust you. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:30.400 Prune away. 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:35.839 That the old growth that I may be so proud of, the old growth that I'm so comfortable with. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:38.400 Okay, God, just go ahead and prune that. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:40.079 I trust you for the next season. 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:41.519 I trust you for the new growth. 00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:44.559 I trust you for the fruit that's to come. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:52.960 And if you ask him in accordance with his will to do these things, it will be done for you. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:54.559 How do I know this? 00:29:54.720 --> 00:30:01.920 Because we know it is God's will for us to be pruned and to grow in him and to bear much fruit for his kingdom. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:05.759 So if you pray in accordance with his will, it will be done for you. 00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:07.920 So pray for these things. 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:12.799 So I think that's our personal encouragement today. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:24.079 But with that, I think we need to ask, as we're on our theme verse here today, how does this theme verse apply to our church body to abide moving forward? 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:37.440 You know, we don't always do a typical like vision sermon at the beginning of each year, but it just worked out that here we are in our theme verse in John, and it just happens to be in the beginning of the year here. 00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:39.680 So we're gonna do kind of that today. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:47.759 And I wanted to share just a bit about what our elder team and our ministry leader team have been discussing recently. 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:54.720 You know, our church is gonna hit four years old of meeting on Sunday mornings this March. 00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:58.400 So we're almost out of our toddler years as a church. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:07.200 And as our church begins to mature, we're finding that we're entering into a different season than when we first planted. 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:13.759 You know, the first three years kind of felt like a revolving door, which is really to be expected. 00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:24.880 We were just faithfully trying to meet and to teach God's word, to cultivate any growth that God wanted to give, you know, spiritual growth, number growth, whatever it was. 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:26.559 We were just being faithful in that. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:31.759 And it was a revolving door, people coming, going for one week, six months, whatever. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:47.200 Just that, but we felt like God showed us in that in those first years to simply be faithful in shepherding and teaching and to leave the results to Him, which we're gonna continue to do, don't worry. 00:31:47.519 --> 00:32:04.319 But we really felt like the Lord gave us uh Ezekiel 34, 4, and to do the opposite of Ezekiel 34-4, because it says, You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:12.960 And we felt like in the first season that the Lord was telling us to do the opposite of what those bad shepherds in Israel were doing. 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:22.960 That we should focus on strengthening the weak, helping heal the sick, bandage the injured, gather in the strays, and seek after the lost. 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:26.319 So that's what we were doing, and that's not gonna stop. 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:32.880 But we are finding that the Lord has moved us into a new season with an additional focus. 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:38.319 And I think we're already actually in that season, just haven't acknowledged it yet. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:40.640 But that is a season of trellis building. 00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:57.680 Remember, we talked about the trellis, let's put the grapes back up, being these wires that the branches can grow on, that it provides support and structure for growth and for fruit-bearing, so those branches don't end up breaking under the production of fruit. 00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:05.839 So, really, I we feel like the Lord's leading us into a season of building a little bit more structure and support for our church. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:13.920 Now, when we talk about vision, vision you know is a preferred future that we sense the Lord is leading us toward. 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:17.119 And this is something that you know that I've been praying about for a while. 00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:20.079 I feel like the Lord has spoken to me in this regard. 00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:22.480 I've shared it with the elder team. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:28.480 We prayed about it, we're all in agreement that this is where we're heading as a church. 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:35.519 And I'm talking about it today because it just goes so hand in hand with our theme verse that we just went over. 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:44.160 And I think we went as a church from that revolving door of you know, who are the branches that we can call our church? 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:49.359 Who are the branches that God has brought in for this church? 00:33:52.079 --> 00:34:00.160 And I think the Lord's just leading us to a season now where we feel like we know who the branches are. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:06.319 You know, there it's still a little bit of a rubber-evolving door though, but when we look out, we feel like, okay, this is who our church is now. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:10.400 Feel like God has really established that in a big way. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:20.079 And so we want to start thinking about how we can help provide some stability and some structure for the spiritual growth of our body. 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:30.000 You know, a structure in which the branches can safely grow and safely bear fruit and have the support to bear that fruit for healthy fruit production. 00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:37.840 You know, and when I say grow, I'm not talking about numbers and filling seats, but I'm talking about a maturity as a church body. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:46.960 So as Abide gets older and members mature, it means that our methodology and how we do things needs to mature with those things. 00:34:47.199 --> 00:34:50.400 Our church policy needs to become a little bit more defined. 00:34:50.559 --> 00:35:06.239 You know, it means our current leadership needs to start delegating more with things that we've been able to establish over the last three or four years, now allowing others to mature into some of those larger roles that we've been handling this whole time. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:14.719 You know, I feel like the elders at the end of 2024 started moving into this season, not even intentionally, like, but out of necessity. 00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:20.480 Things were just coming up, and we started moving in to this, addressing some of those items. 00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:28.079 But we feel like we've been in this season, and this is gonna be the season that God has us in moving forward for a little while. 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:31.280 And I just want to give you some examples of what this might look like. 00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:42.719 So, in this at the end of this year as elders, we started making an elder handbook, you know, which is we just finished the third revision of it. 00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:45.280 We're very, very close to being done with it. 00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:57.920 Um, and we need this for stability and support to help us to define our role within the church, but then also to help define the role for future elders that we might be inviting into this as well. 00:35:58.239 --> 00:36:04.559 You know, out of necessity, we started working on a policy for what we're looking for in new leaders. 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:07.599 We're still not done with that, very close as well. 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:16.320 But, you know, for example, if somebody comes to us and says, I want to start a new ministry, or I want to start a Bible study, or I want to start leading a home group. 00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:21.039 This document helps define what we would like to see in them. 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:33.280 How long we would like to see them abide uh abiding, attending abide first, and how we would like to see them serving in other areas first before placing them in a role of leadership. 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:34.639 You know, so things like that. 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:38.719 We also changed up our elder meetings uh just in the last couple months. 00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:47.599 You know, when we first planted, we discussed everything in our elders' meetings, and we needed to, like we should have been doing that at the time. 00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:57.599 We needed to set a trajectory and a precedent to nurture the culture that we felt God had told us to um to nurture. 00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:05.920 But scripture tells us that elders in the role as under shepherds need to focus on prayer and study and teaching of God's word. 00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:11.039 So we just started devoting one of our two elder meetings a month simply to prayer. 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:12.639 We just pray for you guys. 00:37:12.880 --> 00:37:16.480 And that's what one of the meetings is we're just in prayer. 00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:23.360 We're asking the Lord for wisdom and and and different things, but also, you know, a big part of that is praying for you guys. 00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:29.679 The other elder meeting per month is for discussion and prayer. 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:34.239 So that's just one of the things that that we've changed up at the end of this year. 00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:46.559 Um, so we've been trying to form really policy and precedent that allows us to keep our discussions less about the day-to-day details and more about the spiritual shepherding of this flock. 00:37:46.800 --> 00:38:01.360 Another thing we've done is we brought Ben on staff this year not that long ago, and kind of formalized some of his duties, a lot of which he was already doing, but we kind of formalized some of those things again to add a little bit of stability and structure there. 00:38:01.599 --> 00:38:18.079 Another is we started talking about identifying a facilities manager for our church, somebody that can handle these work days, like Pete is so graciously doing for us, and be a liaison for the Lutheran church upstairs and things like that. 00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:21.840 I feel like that'd be a great thing for our church to have. 00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:26.639 Um we've been talking about um what might be our next location. 00:38:26.800 --> 00:38:29.360 You know, we don't think we're in our forever home here. 00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:35.920 It's great, we love it, God's using it, uh, but at the same time, don't think that we're gonna be here forever. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:39.360 So we're talking about what that might look like and things like that. 00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:47.760 Even started um praying about the idea of maybe having a building committee for people to just keep an eye on the market and what comes up and stuff like that. 00:38:47.920 --> 00:38:49.760 So something we're praying about. 00:38:50.159 --> 00:39:06.159 Um, also, something that we did is we've asked each one of the ministry leaders to be in prayer about how to build a little bit more structure and stability within their individual ministry, you know, to both encourage current and future growth as well. 00:39:06.400 --> 00:39:17.280 We've asked them to figure out how to delegate some of the things in their ministry that is now established and somebody else can be trained in and take on that role. 00:39:17.440 --> 00:39:27.599 Um, and we've asked them to consider how discipleship plays a role in that, you know, the training and the raising up as part of that structure that is our church. 00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:39.440 And to be completely honest with you, and this is not me complaining, I promise, one bit, but church planting is exhausting for all of the leadership that is involved. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:41.679 I see a lot of people on the leadership team. 00:39:42.320 --> 00:39:42.880 Yeah. 00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:46.480