ITR Sermon 4 Scripture:

Encountering / Person / God / Scripture

1999 Transition / FL

Transition

Unknown / Prince 17 years / Frenzy

Transition

Youth / Prison / VBS / SS / Evangelism / Rap

Average Attender

Volunteer / BUT / balancing

College / Barber

Vocationally / Unfulfilled

Educationally / Lost

Know Interest:

Bible / Church

1999 / Left / Goals

1) Understanding / word

2) equip / ministry

Arrived NPR

Cows / sand hill cranes

Matrix / Entertainment / Philosophy

Categories: Soteriology / Pnematology / Eschatology / Epistemology / Exegesis / Isigesis

Aware / Tribalism

Denominational / Doctrinal

How / interacted / spoke / private

Dissonance

1 hand “We have truth” / translated

Biblical fidelity = 1) study well 2) think well 3) live well

Professors / fallen / sin

Classmates / drifted

Friends / addictions / marriages / unloving / arrogance / positions

Stuck / me / talk / “good theology” / translate / where / MATTERS

Example / Dyson

Issue / less / theological / info / accululate, / more / how / encounter God / thru / Word

CENTRAL IDEA 1:

Word / more / text / studied / rather / Word / person / encountered deeply / relationship

≠ Pre-conversion / POST

CENTRAL IDEA 2:

If / don’t encounter / person / deeply / through / Word / life / produce / fruit

≠ transformation

CENTRAL IDEA 3:

Deepest need / accumulation / information / Biblical study / transformation

Happens / intimate encounter / person

SERMON 4: Encountering / Person / God / Scripture

John 15 / Way / JC / describes / His / personal / intimate / encounter / BETWEEN / us / Him thru / Word / by / “abiding”

≠ Accessing info / engaging / Person

≠ casual / frivolous encounter / profound impact

As / read / attention

John 15:1–8 (ESV)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you (1st). As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him (again / picture / intimate connection), he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you (again / 3rd X picture ), ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

1) Father / Son / work / together / make / posssible / us / encounter / God deeply

John 15:1 (ESV)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

PROVISION

Dfn / His Role / Father

From / Father / relationship / mankind

“vine” / source / life

Father / orchestrates / ensures / fruitbearing

( Top Coach / Top Players )

God desires / encounter / deeply

John 15:2 (ESV)

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit

2 Branches

1st: connected / ≠ bear / serves / purpose

? Wonder / How / branch / connected / LIFE / not / bear

OFF !

( Profess / prove / otherwise )

2nd: bears / “Prune” - cleanse / purge / bear more

2) Our / cleansed / Word / essential / us / encounter / Him / deeply

John 15:3 (ESV)

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

“pure” / accepted / word

Affirmed / John 13:8 / wash / feet

John 13:8–10 (ESV)

Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”

Message: Jesus “Only / My cleansing / forgiving / My doing / CLEAN”

Peter: “External washing / sign / submission / ALL IN”

Affirms / Clean / ≠ Judas

3) Practice / abiding / Person / God / thru Word / lifeblood / believer

John 15:4 (ESV)

Abide in me, and I in you (1st). As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me

Despite / “clean” / ABIDE

Ability / bear ≠ conditioned / clean

False / security

ABIDE: Remain / stay / dwell / be present

Picture: Vine / WRAP UP

Intimate connection / interconnectedness / interwoven

“Abide in me and I in you” / picture / dynamic

RETREAT

4) Fruitfulness / comes / natural result / encountering / God / deeply / thru / Word

John 15:5 (ESV)

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him (2nd - verse 4), he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Practice / intimate encounter = fruitfulness

Identifying mark / fruitfulness

Outflow / abundance

Connected

Disconnected branches ≠ fruit

John 15:6 (ESV)

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Corresponding consequences / not abiding

“Does not abide in me” = thrown away

“Does not bear fruit” verse 2 = taken away

5) Fruit / answered prayer / confirms / we / intimately abiding / Person / God

John 15:7 (ESV)

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you (3rd X, verses 4,5), ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

A) Fruit of answered prayer

1 John 5:14 ESV

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

How / wishes / align

6) Our fruitfulness / glorifies God / affirms / identity / disciples

John 15:8 (ESV)

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Not / “mere profession”

Fruit demonstrates / power / one working / in us

Fruit / external sign / God’s inner transformation

Fruit / proof of our discipleship / evidence

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

CLOSING

1) Essential / we / continually encounter / person / Jesus / deeply / thru word (John 15:4)

Post-converstion

Need / Ongoing depth

WHY? ≠ abiding / interwoven / can do NOTHING

False / security / saved = bearing fruit

2) Being clean / insufficient precondition / bear fruit : MUST ABIDE (John 15:4)

Your salvation / not / only thing / after

Santification: FRUIT

WHY: glorified / bear / fruit

Retreat / space / encounter / God intimately / through / Word

How / know / encountering God / intimately

Signs To Look For

Experiencing wonder / presence / God

Struck / stop

Psalm 8:1 (ESV) O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

Psalm 148:13 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.”

Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”

Psalm 104:1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty,”

Psalm 145:3 “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

Recognize / distance / yet / drawn

affections are captured, heart experiences wonder (joy of the lord is my strength, in presence is fullness of joy, how lovely is your dwelling place, I ate your words—there is both a felt inward experience and an outward expression (good meal)

Experiencing renewed affections

Cycle of longing / pursuit / and felt fulfillment / Pancake Saturday

Psalm 84:1-2 “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.”

Psalm 42:1-2 “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

Psalm 63:1-2 “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.”

Desire / do / necessary / presence

Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”

Psalm 84:6-7 “As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.”

Experiencing functional dependency

Attitude / marked less / controlling / reactive disposition

“I trust You”

Psalm 27:1-3 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.”

Psalm 46:1-5 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.”

Experiencing / increased awareness / depth / sin

Gloss / but ≠ Condemn

Brokenness

Isaiah 6:5 “And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!””

Psalm 19:12 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.”

Psalm 119:133 “Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.”

Essential / encounter / person / Jesus

Lectio Divina “sacred reading”

Approach / less academic / more personal

Slow attentive walk / senses

Short sections

Silence: stillness / receptivity

Read: attention / stand out

Reflect: read again / “what in / life / now / speak to?”

Respond: “what / I / invited to?”

Rest: read again / resting / said / trusting / enable / respond

Resolve: live / power / Spirit

COMMUNION

1 Corinthians 11:23-25 “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””