Winter Retreat - Purpose - Useful vs. Useless

Connect: Introduce myself - location - family -

Read: John 15:1-8

Express: Our Purpose is to be loved by God and to Love like God

Pray:

Ask: How many of you remember getting your first phone?

Tell:

Nokia Nuron 5230 - released in 2009

I loved this phone and I know it loved me.

Everyone had a touch screen phone and I had nothing.

SO I wanted a touch screen phone. Just looking at it gives me nostalgia.

However, 2007 two years ago, the iphone was released, and even though i loved my phone, I began seeing an increase of friends getting iphones.

And I began wanting to upgrade. I wanted to get what everyone else wanted because I didn’t want to feel left out.

Sometimes, we feel like we need to increase in our lives because we notice other people have increased. It’s not just with phones either, it can be with clothes, it can be with followers, it can be with grades, sports, make up, money and the list goes on and on.

We naturally want to increase in the world because it might make us feel better about ourselves. So in order to upgrade and become greater in the world, it involves rejecting something. I wanted an iphone so I needed to begin to reject my Nokia. I wanted newer clothes so I began to reject the clothes I had. We want more popular friends so we reject the good friends we have.

However, when we want to increase in the world, it might involve you rejecting God.

You see, our purpose isn’t to increase in the world because it holds false promises of happiness, satisfaction, and feeling good. Things that can be taken away from you in an instant.

Explain: We are called to increase in our relationships with Jesus Christ and to reject the world.

And we do that by our ultimate purpose in life, To be loved by God and to love like God.

SHIFT 1 - Scripture

We read from the book of John, that was written by one of Jesus’ closest followers, he was called the beloved disciple. He was in Jesus’ inner circle with Peter and James, who was John’s brother.

John writes this gospel to teach the church who Jesus is. To help us understand Jesus’ life, his purpose, and His purpose for those who follow Him.

So John 15 is where Jesus teaches one of our greatest purposes and it comes with great encouragement, but also great warning.

John 15:1-3

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

So right away, Jesus identifies Himself and God the Father. Jesus is the Vine and the Father is the Gardener. The vine is where the source of life for the branches comes from. It retains water and shoots it to the branches so that way they produce fruit. The Gardner is the one that determines the usefulness of the branches.

Now what we see Jesus say is that there are two different types of branches, there are the branches that produce fruit and branches that do not produce fruit.

So the Gardener observes the branches, the useless ones are removed while the fruitful ones are pruned so that it will produce more fruit.

We’re going to explain that a bit more in detail but let’s keep reading.

4-5

Remain in me and I in you. 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.

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit because you can do nothing without me.

Jesus now makes it simple for us to understand and gives a command. Remain in me and I in you because He is the vine and we are the branches. The one who produces much fruit are the ones that remain in Him.

Now listen, when I tell someone, I’m going to walgreens, they assume that I’m going to return. But If I tell someone I’m going to remain at my friend’s house, there’s a difference. I’m now implying that I’m going to be staying somewhere for a little bit.

We are called to remain with Jesus by depending on Him and staying close to Him in everything that we do.

There might be some of us that are saying, I’m going to go be with Jesus, but that’s only for when I go to youth group or church on Sunday morning. Then I’m returning to the ways of the world. Going back into sin, gossiping about people, disrespecting our parents, or trying to gain status.

We need to be a generation that remains in Jesus Christ. We need to be willing to reject our desires, reject the world’s ideas of success, so that we can grow closer to Him rather than rejecting Him.

Because if we keep rejecting Him by trying to gain status in the world there is a warning:

Vs 6.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

The understanding here is very simple

If you reject your connection with Christ, He will reject you.

God is concerned about the branches that are connected with the vine. The ones that are useful become more useful, but the ones that are useless and grow no fruit, are thrown away.

The question you must ask yourself is

Are you a useful branch, or a useless branch?

Let me help you understand what it means to be a useless branch.

Useless branches are more concerned about what the world thinks about them than what the world thinks about them

They care more about gaining status with people than gaining a status with Jesus.

Useless branches claim to be Christians but show no evidence of belonging to Jesus.

You might have grown up in the church, but see church as an “I have to” rather than an “I get to”

You don’t take your faith seriously

Useless branches fall into sin too easily

Useless branches are lazy Christians

You do nothing about your faith

You do nothing with your faith

You simply try to gain the benefits of Christ you come to church or youth group but you do nothing else outside of that and show no desire to actually become like Him.

What about a useful branch?

Jesus says you will bear fruit, well what is that fruit?

Galatians 5:22-23 gives us some fruits.

But the fruits of the Spirit are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

These fruits are characteristics that God grows in us so that we can live them out.

To bear fruit means that you grow in these godly characteristics and live them out in obedience through your relationship in Jesus Christ

Useful branches

Show love to others even when it’s difficult

Are passionately committed to obeying the Word of God.

Have a desire to become more like Jesus by being selfless.

Hate their sin and have a desire to get out of addictions.

Are more concerned about growing in their relationship with Jesus rather than their relationship with the world.

Are you Useful, or are you Useless?

Are you fruitful or fruitless?

Now many of us might desire to be a useful branch, but there is still something you need to know about what it means to be pruned.

To be pruned means to be cut so that in the future, you will grow more fruit.

Pruning is not an easy process. It is difficult, it is painful, but it has a purpose.

(Band comes up)

James 1:2-4

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

The reason you might find difficulty in your walk with Christ might be because God is trying to prune you.

You’re finding difficulty and experiencing trial, and pain, and hardship, because God is molding you into the purpose He has called you for.

He desires you to grow to maturity in the faith. So that when you are tempted by sin, you won’t have to think twice about rejecting the desire.

Some of you might be going through a pruning process right now and you wish it wasn’t happening to you, but if you depend on Jesus Christ and let Him have full reign over your life, if you surrender to Him, you will know that the outcome of your trial will strengthen you and prepare you for what God has in store for you.

I don’t know about you, but if my pain means purpose then I will trust in Him through it. If my trial means that I’m coming out with a testimony, then let it be done. If my sorrow means that I get to experience His joy in a greater way, then I will submit.

If you are here today, and you want to be useful, if you want to grow in the purpose that God has created for you, If you say I don’t want to grow in the ways of the world, but rather I desire to increase in my relationship with Christ, I desire to increase in the favor of God and to grow in my purpose that is to be loved by Him and to Love like Him, then I want you to stand up, right where you are, stand to your feet.

I want to pray for you all today, because some of you might be feeling useless. That’s a lie of the enemy. No more of that. I’m believing that God is going to remove those dead branches in you so that you can grow fruit in your lives. So that you can be useful to Him and see that He gives you great purpose.

Pray