YOU HAVE ONE JOB

STAY CLOSE TO CHRIST

You have one job: Stay Close to Christ (John 15:1-10)

Intro: I was fired from my first job in 8th grade. My one job was to go with the Americans and translate between them and the Russians.

*You have one job: Stay close to Christ

The Biblical term for staying close to Christ is to ABIDE.

READ THE TEXT

-Set the stage

· After the upper room, the night before his crucifixion, on foot heading to the garden of gethsemane

Three Characters

1. The Father: Vinedresser

a. Glorified by fruits (2a)

i. Takes away the unfruitful branches (2b)

ii. Prunes the fruitful (2b)

2. The Son: True Vine

a. True vine (1)

b. Foundation of all fruits (3b)

3. Us: Branches

a. Disconnected (v. 4 – “Cannot bear fruit…”)

b. Disinterested (v. 2a & 6 – “Does bear fruit…”)

c. Minimal (v. 2b – “bears fruit…”)

d. Mature (v. 5a & 8 – “bears much fruit…”)

Into which of these categories do you belong? (How close are you to Christ?)

The Bible’s term for this is ABIDE. Before we define it, the text gives us some parameters…

- (v.1) It is an action/verb

- (v.3) Christ reciprocates

- (v.3) Only way to bear fruit

- (v. 7) Answered prayers

ABIDE: Remain; stay; to stay in place; figuratively to remain in a sphere

· In the NT the word is an important one relative to the permanence of God in contrast to human and earthly mutability.

· In the Johannine writings this becomes a more personal abiding in Christ or in God as the converse of God’s abiding in Christ or Christ in them (cf. Jn. 6:56; 15:4ff.; 14:10; 1 Jn. 2:6, 24, 27). In this abiding, eschatological promise is already possession, but the concept of abiding rules out mystical or ecstatic identity.

ABIDE IN 5 TERMS

1. TRUST

2. TIME

3. TOGETHER

4. TEACHING

5. TELLING

1/7 DAYS BELONG TO CHRIST

1/24 HOURS BELONGS TO CHRIST

1/10 DOLLARS BELONGS TO CHRIST

YOU HAVE 1 LIFE AND IT BELONGS TO CHRIST

YOU HAVE 1 JOB: STAY CLOSE TO CHRIST