John 15V1-17 - Gareth Skyrme (28th June 2026)

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

The church bible, the page number is one zero eight three. If we can say a a short prayer before we open the Bible. Heaven Father, as we open your word, quiet our heart and prepare our mind to receive what you want to teach us today. Let the Holy Spirit guide our understanding, reveal your truth, and help us not only to hear your word, but to live it with it. Draw us close to you, strengthen our faith, and transform our life through your living word in Jesus' name. Amen. The Bible passage we are reading today. I consider this as the greatest promise God Jesus Christ gave me to his disciples or his children. John chapter 15, verse 1. And he says, I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cut off every branch in me and bear. He cut off every branch bear in me that bear no fruit. While every branch that does not bear fruit, he pruned so that it will even be more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word. Remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in divine. Neither can you bear the fruit unless you remain in me. I am divine. You are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like the branch that is thrown away and with it. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burn. If you remain in me, and my word remains in you, as whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciple. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love if you keep my command. You will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father's command and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be completed. My command is this love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one, greater one, greater love has no one than this. To lay down one's life for his for one's friend. You are my friend. If you do what I command, I no longer call you a servant. Because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called your I have called you friends. For everything that I've learned from my father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appoint you so that you might go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last. And so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. This is my command. Love each other. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Excellent. Um, oh I'm on, there we go. Um, couple of things, just as I sort myself out. If you haven't got one of these handouts, uh, I encourage you to get one. It's not just for children, it's for everyone. Um, this one has got the full of my outline, the whole of my sermon as a colour-inning activity. The the joys of AI. Um, and so um so feel free if you're a dude. I if I was sitting where you are, I would be doing that right now, okay? But don't jump too far ahead because you'll know my whole sermon before I say it. Um so feel free to do that. On the other side of the handout is also uh a word search and some other things that help you to engage. Just to say, children, um particularly, um, remember the handout is for during the sermon because we want you to stay engaged as much as possible. Um, so try not to do this before the sermon. I know it's exciting and it's there. Uh, adults do too. Um, does anybody want this one? No? Okay, I'm gonna put it here. Um, let me pray, and then we are gonna have a wonderful look through John chapter 15. Lord Jesus, you are indeed the true line. You make so many statements and promises in this part of your words, and we want to do what you call us to do, which is to remain in you now. We want to be people who bear fruit, we want to be a church that bears fruit that will last. And so, would you soften our hearts? Would you open our minds? Would you illuminate our hearts in Jesus' name? Amen. Um, so we're doing a mini-series, I mentioned it slightly earlier. We're looking over this last week, this week, and then in a few weeks' time, over the next three or four weeks, sorry, we're looking at uh what does it look like to be a disciple, a learner of Christ. Okay, that's what a disciple is, someone who uh learns. Now, we're here in in John chapter 15. Now, I think I feel like I need to set the scene a little bit because we've jumped from uh Mark 1 last week to John 15 this week. Um, so right here, Jesus is with his disciples, you know, the 12, and um, this is the night before the cross. Uh he he knows that within hours he's gonna be arrested, he's gonna be crucified three late three days later, he'll rise again, and eventually he'll return back to his father in heaven. And so these are some of his final words to his disciples, to his the learners that have been following him round for three years. And what he does here is he teaches them what I would call, well I don't call it, I didn't barely understand it how to Google this, is an allegory. Some of you are nodding, and some of you are an allegory is basically a picture that has a deep spiritual meaning, which is here this idea of a vine and a gardener. So have a look at verse one. Uh he says um that I am the true vine. So Jesus is like a vine. Verse one then says, and my father is like the gardener. So we've got Jesus is like the vine, and they've got God the Father is like the gardener. And then look down at verse five, it says, I am the vine and you are the branches. So there are people are like branches. Now you probably noticed that in verse four there was a really important command. Okay, if you ever read this with someone or read it yourself, if your focus is not verse four, then you've kind of missed the point, I think, here. He says, Remain in me. It is a great command for every single disciple, the matter of stage or age of life. Now we we don't often use that word remain in this way today, so I'm gonna paraphrase this command for you. Here's the paraphrase: remaining in Jesus means being connected to Christ. Can you do that sign for me? It's connected to Christ. Okay, if he's the vine, we're the branches, we remain connected to Christ. Now, this word connected, this word remain, um, it is a relational word. It's about having a living relational connection with Christ. Now, you will know if you've seen a vine before, there it is. This is an example of a vine that the vine has lots and lots of branches that are that are connected to um to it, and so it is with Jesus and the branches. The branches are supposed to stay connected to the vine. And so this morning, I wanna I want to spend time thinking about three great blessings that flow from being connected to Christ. How does that sound this morning? Yeah, some of you are nodding, some of you are sleeping, but wake up if you are. So here's some things we need to do. Spend some time looking at these three things, and at the end, for maybe the last seven or eight minutes, we're gonna think about what that means for us. How can we put this into practice? And I think I've got some actions for that, but we'll see how that goes. So let's read verses four to six. We think about being connected to Christ leads to lasting life. Okay, verse four remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch, uh yeah, no branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away in withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. I wonder, as you heard those words, whether you were listening to this in a way that the Lord Jesus is speaking specifically to you this morning. Because he describes here two kinds of branches. You are either one or the other. The first branch is connected to the vine, the second branch is not connected to the vine, which is an important truth. The vine is the source of all life. And when branches stay connected to the vine, it gives them life that enables them to sustain them to grow wonderful things. Verse 6 tells us that if the branch is disconnected, what happens to it in verse 6? It withers. And they are picked up and thrown into the fire and burnt. It's a clear picture. If a disciple remains connected to Jesus, they receive lasting life. Life now, life for eternity in the new creation. But if someone is not truly connected to Christ, eventually they will wither and die and face eternal judgment. You could phrase it in the negative. Here's the negative: no connection to Christ means no life. No connection to Christ means no life now or forever. Now that is a sobering truth. Because whether you're connected to Christ has eternal consequences. Now I want to change the illustration slightly. Not that I don't think the illustration the Lord Jesus has given is sufficient, but just to help might help us to understand a bit more. I want to introduce you to uh Henry the Hoover. There he is. Everyone say hello, Henry. Okay, now Henry is a vacuum cleaner. Henry was created to vacuum stuff. Henry is a blessing to our church, isn't he? Especially after church lunch. Isn't that right, Elizabeth? Now I'm just gonna I'm gonna turn Henry on. Hang on, let me just put this down here.

unknown 12:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Oh. William, can you just press the button? It might just be me. Just press the button for me. No. Oh, we should we should probably just throw Henry away, shouldn't we? Should we get rid of Henry? Take him to the recycle centeries. No? Why why isn't Henry? What's the problem then? What's the problem here? What's the problem? Well, he's not oh he's not plugged in. Oh, he's not plugged in. Okay, I hear let's try. I didn't think this through because I'm trying to think where the plug socket is. Okay. I'll be back. I'm just I'm just plugging him in to the life source. He's working. He's definitely working, isn't he? Now Henry, when he's plugged into the source, a life source, the plug socket with all the letters of D, he can do what he's created for, yes? He can hoover children and things on the floor. Now just pause for a moment. We are created to connect to Christ. And like Henry, if we're not plugged into the life source, we cannot do what we are created to do. We cannot be what we are created to be. Look at verse 5. Jesus says in verse 5, apart from me, you can do nothing. If we unplug Henry, apart from that plug socket, he can do nothing. No connection to Christ, no life. Or in the positive, being connected to Christ, it leads to lasting life now and forever. Now there's something else we need to know about these branches. It's the second thing on your sheet. Have a look at your sheet. It says, being connected to Christ leads to fruit that glorifies God. Jesus then points us to these differences, and it's to do with fruit. So I'm going to read verses one to eight. And every time you see the word fruit or fruitless or fruitful, I want you to say that word with me out loud. Does that make sense? I'll read it, and then when you see those words, you can say them out loud with me. Okay, let's read one to eight. Little people in the room, it would be helpful if you've got your finger on your Bibles, mums and dads. Get them get them with you. Get your Bible finger and let's follow it through together. Verse 1. I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruits. While every branch that does bear, he prunes, so that will be even more. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away in withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burnt. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory that you bear much. Showing yourselves to be my disciples. Now, branches that are disconnected from Christ, they will bear no fruit. And they're eventually they're cut off. And that is a that's got to be a warning for us today. Okay, that is a warning. No connection to Christ means no fruit. Verse 4 says, No branch can bear fruit by itself. That makes sense. The second half of verse 5 says this apart from me, you can do nothing. Brothers and sisters, how many times have we sought to bear fruit in our lives whilst not remaining in Jesus? With no regard for him. But there is a wonderful encouragement here too. Because the branches that remain connected to Christ, they do bear fruit. But even more than that, have a look down at verse 2. It says, He, that's the gardener, the father, he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruits, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. Now we could add an extra sermon point here, which we won't do because we haven't got time. But here's what he means, okay? Every branch that bears fruit will be pruned so that it can produce more fruit. That's a basic function of vine dressing, apparently. Um, and and anyway, here's what here's what you need to know. Pruning is the Father's loving work of removing whatever hinders our life in Christ. He does it so that we can bear more fruits. It might be painful in the moment when that's happening, but remember this, brothers and sisters, it is always purposeful and is always aimed at greater fruitfulness. Isn't that wonderful? Look at verse 2. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. That is the purpose for everyone who remains in Christ, connected to Christ, is that you will become more and more fruitful. Do you want to be more and more fruitful here this morning? There's five or six people that want to be more fruitful. We're growing here. Come on, let's keep going. Now, at the other week, I was uh on a Monday, you know I spent time with lots of the Together for Mission pastors, and we were having a like a leader's reflection morning. Uh, and uh there was this person leading us through this reflection morning, and they were teaching from these verses, okay? Uh, and he and at the end of the session, uh, this guy said, Look, I want you to simply stop on verse five, and I want you to pause and think about it, reflect on it. So I did, and this is what I felt the Lord was saying to me. Here, here's what I wrote down Gareth. Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you want to be a fruitful disciple, husband, father, son, pastor, and friend, then you must remain in me. You must stay connected to me. That was a deeply challenging thing that morning, and it still is deeply challenging. You see, the greatest thing that I can do for the people that God has placed in my life is to remain in Jesus so that they may bear, they may see the fruit and benefit from the fruit that is produced from that connection with Jesus. I wonder what God is saying to you today through this part of his words. From just those few verses. I wonder if he's giving you a loving warning. Or perhaps a gentle encouragement. There is one thing that is true this morning, brothers and sisters, that God really wants his people to become more and more fruitful. That's what he wants for you in your life. But did you notice why? Look at verse 8. Verse 8 says, This is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit. The fruit is never about drawing attention to ourselves. Uh, the other day I was uh walking. Did you know what Capel Manor College is, just over the road? I was at their open day, and I was walking around Capel Manor College, and we looked at the gardens and we saw these wonderfully beautiful gardens. I think I've got a picture somewhere. Is it on? Did I put it on there? There it yeah, there's one. There's an example of one of them. Beautiful gardens. Gardens that you might see at Kew Gardens, which they do enter into that competition. But imagine as I walk around the garden, I started praising the flowers. Oh, flowers, you've done a great job. Bushes, look how well you've done this. Weird statues, you've done a really good job of this garden. That you'd think I was a bit crazy, wouldn't you, if I started going around saying that? Why? Because the praise belongs to the gardener who planted, who watered, and pruned and cared for the garden. True? Here's a phrase for you the gardener deserves the Glory, you say it. The gardener deserves the glory. The gardener deserves the glory. And in a similar way, our fruit points people to God. It's the gardener, God, who deserves the glory. Now, what is the fruit then? As God, the gardener, as it were, prunes us, and this fruit is produced. It could be a number of different things, but I'm just going to land on this just for this morning. It should and will include Christ-like character. Remember Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit? Remember that? You've got things like love, joy, and peace, patience and kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So as we remain connected to Christ, as the Father prunes us and the Holy Spirit gradually is at work in us, it will develop Christ-like character in our lives. And the whole point of that is to glorify God. Do you know what people are meant to look at us, those who are in Christ, connected to it, and go, isn't God cool? Isn't he great? Isn't our God a great big God? That's what they're supposed to think. And not go, isn't Gareth amazing? But go, isn't the God that Gareth's connected to amazing? Amen?

unknown 23:24

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

So how's it going? Has this wheat been filled with growing fruits that glorifies God this week? Would people around you glorify God the gardener because of the way that you've lived this week? That might be an encouragement for you because you can think of it as that might also be a challenge. Because being connected to Christ leads to fruit that glorifies God. Now, last one before we think about how this applies to us, being connected to Christ leads to complete joy in Christ. This is much shorter, but we are going to read verses 9 to 11. And you've got a part to play in this. Are you ready? When you see the word joy, I want you to shout joy, but with joy. Does that make sense? Okay. Okay. Are you ready? Little people in the room, this is the finger moment. You get your finger, you put it on the verse, you follow it through with your parents, find your parents. Go on, go to them. Finger on verse 9. This better be joyous, people. You ready? As the Father has loved me, this is verse 9. So I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my may be in you and that your may be complete. Should we do that again? That was quite good, isn't it? I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your may be complete. Some smiles in the room as well. Yeah, that's good. Now look, what does it mean then to be connected to Christ, to be one of his disciples? Is it just about duty? He's not talking about duty, he's talking about joy. Verse 11 says that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Notice that Jesus isn't talking about happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances. What Jesus offers here, what Jesus talks about here is much deeper. He offers his joy. The very joy that he experiences in perfect relationship with the Father. That's the joy he's talking about. Now, just for a moment, think about again. When was Jesus saying these words? Okay? When was he saying it? Only hours before he was about to be arrested. Hours before the cross. Yet he speaks of joy. His joy is not based on comfortable circumstances, it is rooted in relationship with the Father. His confidence is in God accomplishing his purposes. You will know if you know anything of the last moments in the Gospels. There was a disciple called Peter. Who do you think you're most like in the Bible? And I said Peter, because I think Peter was a bit of a plonker. He loved Jesus, he was a bit of a plonker. Alright, and he and he got it wrong many times. But here's what Peter says in 1 Peter 1, verse 8 about this joy. Someone who really wrestled and struggled to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus, still used powerfully by him, he says, Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. The Christian life isn't about grim determination. It isn't even legal, it definitely isn't legalism, it's not rule keeping, it's sharing in the very joy of knowing Christ Himself. Remember, the world out there talk about joy and happiness depending on circumstances. Our joy depends on remaining connected to Christ. Now that's good news, isn't it? Because I look around this room and I know there are many people in difficult circumstances, and yet you are still unable to have joy as you are connected to Jesus. We're going to think a bit more about that in a minute. So how then can you remain connected to Jesus? Here's the application, here's the implications. Let's think about uh this Jesus gives some really practical ways in here in these verses, okay? Are you with me? Let's stand up for a minute, let's do our little stretch moment. So everyone stand up, apart from Win Simon, so you can do this sitting down. So everyone stand up. Um everyone reach up high. Just have a little stretch, wiggle those fingers. That's right. Okay, and then reach down low without banging your head on the chair in front of you. That's it. Oh yeah. Okay. And then stand up again and again. We're gonna stand on our toes, up on our toes, and we're gonna come down again. Then up on our toes, and we're gonna come down again, and we're gonna shake our right foot. Shake the right foot, we'll shake our left foot. Okay, good. I'll now sit down. Good. All right, okay. I've got three things for you here, okay? Application, implication, okay? Three words. They have our actions. One of them I'm not sure about, but we're gonna go with it anyway. First one is here. Okay, first action is here. You want to do that with me? Here. The next one is ask. Ask. And then the last one is obey. Okay, obey. Okay, so here. Okay. Ask. Nice. Obey. Okay, good. Verse 7. Look at verse 7. Jesus says, if ye remain in me, and my words remain in you. Now today, Jesus speaks through his words. We hear him, we hear him as we open up the Bible. It's the primary way that God speaks to us today. So as we hear the word through preaching and teaching and your personal Bible time, your quiet time we call it, our connection with Christ should deepen and strengthen. Now, earlier in John's gospel, chapter 6, verse 63, this is what he says. The spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing, the words I have spoken to you. In other words, the words that you hear, they are full of spirit and life. So as we hear God's word, as we hear it, we will see the three points that we've been learning about. We will see these things in action in us. So here's a question about hearing God's words. How could you hear God's word more this week than you did last week? I'm not asking you to be perfect. I'm not asking you to do that. I'm asking you, how could you hear God's word more this week than you did last week? So that you can have a deeper connection to Jesus. So we've got here, what's the next one? Ask. Verse 7 then continues. He says, Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Whoa, all right then, Jesus. Here we go. That's not what he means, is it? It's not what you think. No, I know it's not what you think. Look, praying and specifically asking is a very important and key part of being connected to Christ. It's important in maintaining a regular connection with Jesus. It is so important. Now we know that when we come to these kind of verses, we've got to be really careful not to take verses in the Bible out of context. Because if you take the text out of context, you're left with a con. And we know there are people in our community that will preach this verse out of context. So let me help you to understand. If we need to understand this verse, we've got to understand the context. Look at the immediate context. Chapter 15, verse 16, which is just near the end of the passage that we read earlier. Jesus says, You do not choose, you did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit. Fruit that will ask. Great, Jesus. We love that. And so that wherever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. Now, that asking is conditional upon your prayer being in his name. What he means by that is that it's for his sake and according to his teaching. That's what he means by in his name. Now let's go a little bit wider, remember the context. We've gone to chapter 15. Let's go a bit wider. Let's go chapter 14. 14, verse 13 and 14. Jesus says, And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. He may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. So our motivation for asking is that the Father would be glorified. For me, asking for a Ferrari is probably not gonna glorify the Father, okay? Me asking to play for Liverpool for one game is not gonna glorify the Father as much as I would love that. And then as we go just a little bit further in our context in the New Testament, let's go to 1 John. In 1 John 5, he says these words if we ask anything according to his will, that is God's will, he hears us. Does that make sense? I think I need to explain that. We pray according to God's will. If you if that if you're like, what are you going on about? Here's a diagram. This will help you. Here's the process we remain connected to Christ, okay? We hear his words, and as we hear his words, our desires are shaped by him. Then, as your desires, your heart is shaped to be more like Jesus, your prayers will align more and more with his will. And when that happens, and as you ask in that process, God answers and bears fruit through your life. That's the process. The Lord Jesus modeled how we do that, not least as an application for us, he always found time to pray. He always found space to pray, to go off on his own and talk to his heavenly father. Now, I have I'd love to dig into this a bit deeper, but here's one thing I think we probably all need to work on. Many of us in this room are really good at having no white space. Do you know what I mean by that? In your diary and in your calendar, there's these spaces that have nothing written in them. And I call them white spaces, gaps where you're not doing not doing anything. But lots of us in the room, we just fill our day with just stuff, doing stuff. No white space. We're doing lots of stuff, but maybe not doing some of the right stuff. So here's a challenge for you. What could you do this week that would allow you to find time and space to pray enter and ask God? What can you do? It may not be that you manage to do it one in the seven of the seven days in this week. But you might have managed to do it more than you did last week. So we've got here, we've got ask. Anyone remember the last one? Obey. Okay, obey. Verse 10. Jesus says, if you keep your commands, you will remain in my love. Just as I have kept my father's commands and remain in his love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love. It's very, very simple. The Lord commands, he says, do something, and then we are to do those things. Slightly harder to practice it, I understand, than to understand it. So as we hear God's word and as we ask for help, then we can then obey what he says through the power of the Spirit. Now there's an action. Do you get the what's the action? Obey. As you obey, here's a question for you. Will I trust Jesus enough to do what he says? Will I trust him enough to do what he says? Not only in my head right now, but also in my heart and with my hands in the rest of the week. Now, as I went, as I was reading these verses and I was thinking about that application, it felt a little bit like being on a roller coaster. Do you know when you sit on a roller coaster, you tr you get on it because you trust the roller coaster, right? Because it's supposed to be safe, it's safe. So you get and it goes up and you sit on the roller coaster and then you start to get excited, and there's a little bit of tension, there's a little bit of fear because you kind of know what's coming, it's going to be great. Yeah? You trust the process of all of that because you know what's coming, and there it is. As we think about this, we must trust the process that God promises fruit. Some of that fruit we will see in our life. You may even see it right today or tomorrow in the rest of the week. Some of it you won't fully appreciate until you're in eternity and you look back. Imagine that moment as you look back in heaven and you see so much of the fruit that you've produced in your life and all that it's attained and accomplished. What a glorious thing. Now, last thing. Are you ready still with me? Two minutes, I promise. How is your connection with Christ going? How is your relationship with Jesus? That's what I'm really asking. Perhaps you're here and you're feeling a bit distant, feeling a bit dry, maybe feeling a bit unfruitful. Maybe this morning Jesus is just lovingly, He's just calling you back. Back to the heart of what it means to be one of his disciples. And remember, there is a direct relationship between being connected to Jesus and seeing fruit in your lives. Now, maybe you're sitting there and you're like, Oh, I'm just I'm wondering, I'm not actually seeing a whole lot of fruit in my life right now. Maybe you've even got to the point of doubting whether you're even truly a Christian. Jesus says, Remain in me, be connected to me. Come back to the to the source, as it were, to the place where the life is given so that you might do the things that He's called you to do. Or maybe, like many of us I know in this room, maybe you're just suffering today, you're struggling. And as you struggle and as you suffer and as you go through these trials, should you conclude then that unanswered prayers mean that God doesn't care? Of course not. Think about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed, Father, if it's possible, let this cut pass from me. But not my will, but yours be done. His prayer was shaped by the Father's glory. Hebrews 12, verse 3 tells us that for the joy set before him, he endured that cross. The cross and the resurrection are the greatest accomplishments, the greatest way we see glory to God. To God, pardon me. And here's the thing. Amazingly, he chooses to use ordinary, mundane people, like me and you, yes, I'm sorry, but that is us, to do extraordinary things for his glory. I just think that's wonderful. What an incredible privilege. And if you really are still hurting and struggling and suffering and maybe even struggling for joy right now, look at verse 9. He says these words to you. As the Father has loved me, I'll need to remind you so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. Stay connected to Jesus. That is the best and the best place to remain in his love, connected to him. Just uh many years before, Jesus invited people to stay connected to him, and he made this wonderful promise, okay? It's a famous promise that lots of you would have heard. Uh, and here's what it says He says, Come to me. That's the invitation to stay connected language. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn like a disciple from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart. And you, you, Turkey Street Communion Church, will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. That's his invitation for all of us. And if you're not a Christian here this morning, and I know there are people in the room that have not yet committed their life to Christ, who have not yet connected to him. Let me encourage you to hear what he says. This invitation, to ask him, Jesus, please save me, and then to obey him, to follow him all the days of your life. Our time is up. Would you like a free gift? Just the people in the front row, the rest of you, you don't get anything, okay? Okay, so if you haven't all if you've done the colouring, then great, you can take this home. But I've got this little card for you, which is um the whole sermon in a card, and you can take it home and stick it on your fridge or put it in your wallet or put it as a bookmark in your Bible. I'll do that. I've got one of my Bibles has got loads of these kind of cards everywhere. But just keep it and it will remind you this week of the things you've been learning. Does that sound good? So I'm gonna put them at the front here. You can just come and take one if you want one. Make sure you use it. Should we pray? Let's pray. Lord Jesus, you are the true vine. The wonderful, glorious true vine. You are the source of all life. And we thank you this morning that you've reminded us so many wonderful gospel truths. Help us to remember the great privilege of being connected to you, the great joy that comes from being connected to you, the great glory that is on offer for you, the Father in Heaven. Help us to hear. Help us to be faithful in asking, and help us to obey you. For the building of your kingdom here in Turkey Street, for the fruit that will be for much fruit that will be borne over these next few weeks and months, and always for your glory. And in Jesus' name. Amen.