Untitled Sermon (4)

I would like to start by thanking everybody for allowing me to give God's word. Here again, I had a amazing time last time and this is an amazing Church. For everybody who may not know who I am, I was asked to be here. My name is Pastor Michael.I am honored to be here. I'm from The Jorburg Church. In Johannesburg. And today is a very special day, which I will get to in a few moments. But first I would like to start by reading scripture from the Gospel of John chapter 15, starting with verse one. 

I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You're already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in Him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch. And is withered, and they gather them, and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire And it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. 

Let's pray, Father God in heaven, we give you all the praise for giving us your only Son Jesus Christ, by Jesus becoming sin for us and paying the ransom for us on the cross, for we can be planted in the House of the Lord. The House of praise. Then we will flourish in your courtyard, Lord God. Then we will stay fresh and green, proclaiming the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no wickedness in him. Thank you Jesus, for your precious blood that was shed on the cross. for all of us here today and for all those who take refuge in your mighty name lord holy spirit take over my mind and this message use my tongue to give your word god in the name above all jesus christ amen 

Today. It was Mother's Day. Thank you to all the mothers, grandmothers here today. From the day that we are born. We are deeply connected with our mothers. They feed us, they clothe us, they keep us warm, stand up for us in most situations. So I thank you. I pray, Father God, that. All the mothers receive love in abundance from their children. Rest. And most of all, peace. 

This Mother's Day for me this year. Is the first Of, God willing many to come for me. When I was here last time, my mother was with me. You guys showed Great compassion and generosity, and I thank you all. We left here, feeling the love, of this church. But most of all, how everybody, Loved Jesus. Days after we were here, My mother, Finished the race strong, She is in heaven with Jesus.

The last message Was about having meaningful conversations and for those whom are here, if you can recall, I talked about the best gift, my parents gave me. Which was the gospel of Jesus Christ and receiving him in his Lord and Savior. For that we are a flesh, and if we abide in Christ. And his words remain in us that on our last breath, we will, be received, in the Kingdom of God. That they are going to a better place called heaven. 

Now Jesus in chapter 15, the very beginning which we just read, Jesus. Is making a distinction between two types two kinds of people? The ones there will be cut off completely to wither. And be burned. And the other one,That gets pruned, to promote growth. To become more fruitful. 

A man, I respect deeply has the saying. There's only two types of people in the world, only two. There are those in recovery and those that should be. 

It always makes me kind of chuckle when I say it and every time that he says it because the more I study God's word, the only word. How true that statement has become. 

Merriam Webster 1828 defines recovery. As the act of regaining. Or retaking or obtaining possession of anything lost. The restoration from sickness or apparent death. And the capacity of being restored to health. 

For all my friends that like gardening, we know how to prune something. Literally means to lop or cut off, super flourish branches of a tree to make them bear better fruit, or to grow higher, or to give them more of appealing appearance. 

With that being said. God wants to prune us. To bear more fruit. We are in recovery. For when something is cut off. You have to heal. If you are here today saying yes I'm bearing fruit, I've been walking a long life faith, obedient to God, then that's awesome. You've been in recovery for years and God loves you. He's been pruning you. You're alive and you are one of the branches that is receiving the living water. From the true Vine, Jesus Christ. 

Romans 8:28. It says. And we know that for all those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. 

God's purpose for us is to be a branch. All of us. But, most of all. A fruit bearing branch. Which means. Then we have confessed His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Personal Savior that he died on the cross for us personally and are walking in out in obedience and faith trusting, The Lord, in all of our affairs. 

Jesus, Uses the word abide Eight times in nine verses, which tells me is very important. The word, Abide, means to rest or dwell, to continue permanently, or in the same state to be firm and unmovable. Pretty powerful word. And Jesus says. If we do not abide in Him, we can do nothing. Then we will be fruitless. As my good friend would say, You should be. 

Now what exactly is God pruning from us, cutting off, Taking away. For us to recover, we must be sick, something must be wrong. The prophet Jeremiah. The Lord sat through him.

Jeremiah 17:9–10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Well, there's part of our answer. I would say one of many things, but the biggest we have a heart problem. We have the the stinky think in our in our mind, it is desperately sick and if. We don't have Jesus. We are fruitless. If we're going to be held accountable. Be cut off. We will wither. We will be picked up and thrown into the fire and burned.  Sounds alot like our first death, phyisacl and our secound , our spiritual death.

Romans 12:1–2 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

We must, remain, in Jesus, abide in Jesus. In every situation. Every circumstance. The answer is Jesus 1st and always. If we've lost a loved one, go to Jesus, pray. We've lost the job and don't know how to take care of our family, go to Jesus, pray. Maybe it was a bad car accident. You don't know what to do. Pray, go to Jesus. Possibly. We are at the end, we have ran the race. And we know that we are going to be with him and Go to Jesus, pray. 

And also, when things are going great, we have to remember that we abide in Jesus. We remain in Jesus, so for all the the the small wins, give praise to God the Father who had pruned us, been patient with us, who was faithful. For giving us Holy Spirit.. For giving us the ultimate victory, which is Jesus Christ. 

Now in John 15:7 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Just recently. I was in a group of people recovering. They believe that if they do ABC D. That everything will be OK. But they don't know Jesus. One of these. Individuals. Constantly says if only I had more money this problem wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have given my life to drugs because I would have had the money to go on trips and vacations and buy automobiles and property. They pray that God blesses them. With a loaded bank account. But they don't know Jesus. They don't have a relationship with Jesus, and apart from Jesus we can do nothing. All the money in the world cannot get you into heaven. You can only get there because of Jesus Christ. 

See, what they don't understand is we have a heart problem. We have a sin problem. We, from the moment we are born, we are selfish. I laugh every time I see a newborn and then they start to speak. The word that is used the most. Is mine mine mine. 

God wants our hearts to say his, his, his. The money is his, the cars, the property, it's his. The trips we go on our missions trips to glorify him. That's what God wants. To be glorified through His Son Jesus. In all of our affairs. We love Him because he first LOVED us.

John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

John 15:10–12 “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”. 

Give a short testimony. About my life. Not. Being on. The true Vine. The healing that came when I accepted Christ. In the joy that is filled today and every day as I remain in God's Word. The Gospel of. Jesus Christ.

Abide always in Jesus and receive the power of the Holy Spirit, 

(revievceing HS power, pray, what happens if we dont)

I would like to end today a little differently. I want to read a Psalm, A Psalm that I'm sure. Many of us have heard. However. A song that we should have memorized. In our minds. For it is powerful. 

Psalm 23:1–6 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  

lets pray Holy and gracious father in heaven, we give you all the honor and praise, letting us dwell in the house of the Lord, for being a fruitful branch Lord, on the true vine , recieveing living water, from Jesus christ, we ask Jesus for healing of our hearts and minds, for you are our praise. i ask for grace,peace and love to be in abundance for every family represented here today, thank you Lord for such a wondering family full of brothers and sisters that abide in you, in the mighty name of jesus, Amen.