Relationship - to Christ

ILLUST - IT issue - “is it plugged in?”

reliance on electricity, power, internet,

Read John 15:1-11 - Vine and Branches

The metaphor of the Vine

Father - the gardener, vineyard keeper

Jesus - the Vine, the source of nourishment and strength

Believers - branches - purpose is to bear fruit

This vine - not rooted in this world, but in Heaven, His Kingdom

Jesus - the mediator between us and the Father

Gardener - Vine - Branches

This passage - tempting to over-explain

Especially the branches that are cut off, what’s that about?

Overall - The Father/Yahweh is the one who judges, who is connected, who is not…

He raises up productive fruit-bearing branches

He deals with unproductive branches

Overall plan of the LORD is disciples bearing fruit

Jesus NEVER planned for failure of disciples

Believers’ Connection to the Vine

What this involves

Key Aspects of this connection

1) Necessary

Connection is necessary

Maintained by obedience and prayer

Can do nothing without being connected to the Vine

Branches not connected to the Vine and fruitful are dead, worthless, cut off, burned

To NOT be connected is to die, spiritually, eternally

Fruitfulness is a sort of TEST regarding being attached to the Vine

Not over-explaining - the point of this passage, the focus, is not on the branches cast away, but on the branches connected to the Vine, for life

Productivity and church (another mistake the church has made with this passage)

Not about numbers, not number of professions, etc. (these are good, but not the fruit Jesus refers to)

The fruit is shown by our Christ-likeness, will be seen in the other relationships we discuss later in this passage

SO…This necessary connection

Electricity is there, but if not plugged in, lamp will NEVER work

It does no good to try to connect on your own terms

The dead branches here - simply those who want to define their own terms, and tell God how it’s going to be

Disciples, connected branches, allow Jesus, the Word, to define those terms

Branch - not self contained, not independent

Branch cannot produce fruit if not connected

And fruit fro being connected to the Vine is good fruit

(REM - bad trees produce bad fruit…)

The disciple - also not independent or self-contained - cannot be fruitful if not connected to the Vine, to Christ

Focus of the Vine metaphor- responding to what Christ has done - desiring to be connected

2 Corinthians 5:14 (NASB95)

For the love of Christ controls (compels) us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

Compels - it’s what we do - the new self and new desires

Connection drives prayer, selfless prayer, shapes desire, aligns you with the will of Jesus

Continued connection - requires continued connection with the Vine - fruit inevitable

GOAL - life lived for Christ!

So we desire to grow, be fruitful, OK, good, now what?

2) Pruning

Pruning results in more and better fruit

Necessary for the health of any vine/branches

Dead wood harbors disease, promotes decay in the whole plant

What is this Fruit?

(Describe)

What is this Pruning?

Pruning branches of a grape vine - a crucial part of a bountiful harvest

Pruning decisions impact the volume and quality of grapes come harvesttime

…also present an opportunity to control disease and address damage

Some examples - how Yahweh prunes

1 - removal of sin, bad habits

Dealing with sin is not fun, but necessary for health

How sin is confronted, dealt with…

Much healthier disciple who can deal with and grow from dealing with sin

2 - Cutting off distractions

Even things that are “good” can distract us from the life planned for us by Yahweh

3 - Deepening our trust

Even loss can teach us to rely on Him more

That job that was so good, so fun, so financially rewarding

May have been distracting, and needed to go (BD?)

Friendships that are poisonous - need to go, if they are not willing to be discipled

And God replaces them with Godly ones

Loss of life - very painful, very real

And the fruitful disciples respond with faithfulness

Pruning, cleansing - by the Word of God

Condemns sin, inspires holiness, promotes growth

God removes dead wood

God disciplines the believer - to bear fruit

Obedience, love, fruit-bearing, can seem painful, uncomfortable…

But… pruning (intent to cause growth) only occurs to those who love the LORD, and who the LORD loves

Romans 8:28 NASB95

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Hebrews 12:6 NASB95

For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

Feel like you are being pruned?

It’s because He loves you - INTENSELY!

3) Yahweh is Glorified

Through the disciples - that is why He saves

The mission of Jesus

The mission of disciples/believers

The True Vine here - has expectations

This vine is steadfast, authentic, reliable, always life-giving

This Vine expects the branches to be authentic in sharing the message of life and love of Christ to the world (hostile to the Vine)

Jesus - taught, healed, forgave sins, comforted the weak

Disciples - mirror this when bearing fruit - learning, growing, teaching, being forgiving, comforting, LOVING others…

Bearing fruit = loving others as God has loved you, AND…bearing witness to the world

CLOSE

Failure to abide in Christ, to connect to the Vine, the source of life

Failure in fruit-bearing - won’t happen

Oh, church can grow in size, $$$, etc. but be absolutely fruitless - if disconnected from the Vine

ME? Give me a small, strong, fruit-producing church, who understand pruning for growth any day

Over a large group of people gathered who aren’t really connected to the Vine

An un-pruned branch grows large, and produces little good fruit, b/c energy goes into making the branch, not the fruit

The way that the LORD cares for us - branches - is perfect

Even if we do not understand at times

Why abide in the Vine?

Joy, Delight for authentic disciples

…even though you will encounter pain, trials, frustration, PRUNING…

God desires to produce in us a faith that is genuine, sincere, not some superficial “happily ever after” Christianity

JOY

We bear fruit - b/c we are connected to Jesus

We are the ones who look beyond anxieties, troubles, the ugliness of the world - and praise Jesus!