Super-Sizing Our Growth

CJ DICKENSON

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INTRODUCTION

Good morning church I pray that everyone had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the Gift that God gave us. This morning we are going to be taking a look at the year to come. But I am not Vision casting for the Year.

I want to speak on something that is deeper than vision. In fact the topic that I want to speak to you about this morning is a vital precursor to vision, and without this element in your life it doesn’t matter how much vision you have if you lack this element in your life ill not have the strength to accomplish or obtain the vision. What am I speaking of? The topic this morning is joy!

Why do I say that without joy you will not fulfill your vision. Because Joy is the believers strength. The nature of the Fruit should bear the nature of the tree. To be fruitful means that we asre having more of his character, we are bearing the iamge of the tree that we are apart of.

Nehemiah said

English Standard Version Chapter 8

for the joy of the LORD is your strength

In fact when you look at the early church it was a church that was being persecuted, believers were being imprisoned, others were being killed, but the had a contagious joy about them.

When the Lord led me to the passage, I almost did not preach from this topic, because if I would be honest with you I have not had this type of joy in a while. over the last few years we have really weathered some storms. My heart has been wrenched more than I care to admit and I have wrestled with God more than I could have remembered. But the Lord brought this key piece to my understanding, that my joy is not contingent on my circumstances, it is not contingent on other peoples expectations of me. The joy that is available on the days when everything is going good or when everything is going wrong. It is not contingent on the storms of life, rather they be normal storms that come from life, or the fierce demonic storms when the devil is working overtime to destroy you. Really all your joy depends on is your proximity to Jesus, and because it is based in Him we know that it is always available. You can have joy when the kids are sick, the bills are due and there is not enough money to go around. You can have joy working a crappy job, and you can lack joy working at an awesome job.

You can have joy when your marriage is on the rocks, or you can lack joy when it is smooth sailing.

YOU HAVE A CHOICE THIS MORNING YOU CAN HAVE JOY OR YOU CAN HAVE MISERY.

jOHN 15:1-11

John 15:1–11 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 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. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 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. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 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. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

THE SOURCE OF THIS JOY

Now understand this, Jesus is speaking about joy not in the context of drawing large church attendance, not only the heals of being anointed King, but he is speaking about joy heading to a cross. But jesus wanted to tell them on how to have more of Him..

There is more!! Not only do you probably wantmore, but today I want to tell you how to get more.

How to get more of Christ

Think about this for a second, did you know that when Jesus was being beatenby the Roman Scourge, while he was carrying his cross, while they nailed him to the cross and crucified him to die a slow torturous death, he had joy.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

He had his eyes focused on the bigger picture. And that was he despied its shame, because He had his eyes focused on the prize. So if the Lord can have joy bearing a cross, you and I can have joy in the midst of our circustances, the key is to remember the bigger picture.,

But what is the source of this joy. Is it a feeling? Lord I hope not, because I lack that feeling. I am by nature a half empty guy. The source of our joy in not a feeling, it is a person. Look again at verse 1 of ch 15

John 15:1 ESV

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

John 15

and then at

John 15:11 ESV

11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

This joy is not just a silly smile. It is not happiness that comes from everything going right. It comes from a person. It is a supernatural joy, one that the Lord said is his joy, and his joy will be in you. Nehemiah said the joy of the Lord is your strength. It is a supernatural inner gladness that the Lord supplies even in the midst of the worst storms.

Now notice in verse 1 Jesus said I am the True Vine. Now to understand this imagery correctly you need to understand the image of the grapevine throughout of scripture. In the Old Testament there were times when God described the his chosen people the Jewish nation as his choice vineyard.

And the point, Everybody say whats the point?

The point was that in all of pagan, lost, worshipping false Gods and idols sea of humanity, God chose a particular people: the Jews to reveal himself, his purposes and His ways. And the Jews were to be a light to the nations, a bright light in humanity’s hopeless darkness. While the world wallared about in spiritual filth, much like an uncultivated piece of land that is overran with weeds, briars and Bullnettles, God’s people were cultivated like a well ran vineyard. Planeted with choice seed, God himself planted and cultivated, took care of them. But time after time they failed to live up to the Covenant. In Isaiah 5

Isaiah 5:1–5 ESV

1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

They failed to bear fruit, the fruits of God. The world was supposed to see the power, the majesty, the Love of God in the way that His people flourished. But they failed. So Jesus is now applying this parable, this imagery to himself. Where Israel failed, He would succed, and they would be removed and now the new covenant people, God’s vineyard is the church. And now the source of life is now found in creeds and laws it is found in a person.

Jesus is the True Vine… That is where the source of our Joy comes from. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

So why is it that so many Christians lack joy.... Well because like the Old Country song goes, looking for love in all the wrong places.

Ladies have you ever lost your keys? Only to find out that they were in your purse the whole time? You search all over the house, pulled the couch cushions out, looked in every crevasse, you dumped out the dirty laundry not once but twice and maybe even a third time. Now why did you not find your keys in those places? Because that is not where you left them. As Christians we can do the same thing. We can start looking for joy in all the wrong places. We can look for them in our family and kids, but what happens if they are taken? We can look for joy in our vacations, but what if you can’t afford one. You can look for it in your job, you can look for it in doing ministry. But joy, this type of joy is not found in any

What you and I need is to hard a burning, simple pure love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

You say well I just cannot do this? This sounds hard. Staying connected to Jesus. Following Him day by day. Well we will get to your responcibility in just a second. But lets look at the help.

Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Introduction

Yukon. Ha, they were out, and they, they found an incredible load of gold. And they came back into town to get supplies and to get the materials that they would need to go out and claim the gold, to stake a claim, and to claim the gold. And they covenanted it among themselves, “We will not tell anybody what we have found, because if we do, they’ll all follow us out there and we’ll have to share what we found.” And so, they made a solemn pact.

They went into town and bought the supplies. And on their way back a horde of people was following. The reason was this: That what they’d seen showed all over their faces! They could not hide the excitement that was there, even though they had determined not to tell it. It had to show! And, you know, I believe that those of us who are Christians have found something far better, ha, ha, than gold. And the, and the joy of the Lord ought to be so real in our hearts that there ought to be those who will want what we have because it has shown on our face and we cannot hide it

This morning we are going to be taking a look at the secret of joy.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

for the joy of the LORD is your strength

This morning we are going to be taking a look at the secret of joy.

OUTLINE

Theme- Fruit bearing and answered prayers

The True Vine- Connection

THE Vine Dresser- Father is preparing

What does a withered branch look like?

- Dead

- leaves are withered

- The wood breaks easily- there is no flexibility because there is no life.

- When people become rigid, and everything is about them and what they want and how they want it… Sign tht there is no life

Answered prayer and abundant fruit- Proof that we are his disciples v 7 and 8

Abide in my Love

End with how do we want our lives to look by the end of next year? I want to be prosperous in Spirit. I want to look a little more like Jesus

The Problem of Success

This is the time of year when people start taking inventory of their lives, the last year, they tend to start cooking up some vision for their life and how to conquer that. And vision is good, But if your vision doesn’t include God in your plans

This next year I do not want you to be successful. Because a major problem is that we might become successful at the wrong things. When success takes you further from Christ rrather then closer there is a problem. When we become more dependent on our strength and will to get things done, rather than his strength and living for His will, We are succeeding at the wrong things.

When success leads to stress rather that His rest, we are succeeding at the wrong things

TRUE VINE

John 15:1 ESV

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

FATHER IS THE VINEDRESSER

John 15:1–2 ESV

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 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.

The vine was one of three trees that symbolized the nation of Israel. It is referred to as such in , for instance, and in Isaiah's famous song of the vineyard (). John Phillips Commentary Series,

John 15:

True

True- real, not imaginary- something trustworthy

You don’t only have a Lord that loves you but you have a Father that will correct you. Prune. Now if you have ever grown anything like roses or grapes, you understand that the pruning process is paramount to your success. God’s plan for you and I is to bear fruit. For our lives to look more like Jesus Christ. This is important to your joy.

Used in - My flesh is true food

Vine- Illustration of

Its not enough just to be saved, God’s goal is to make you mature, like a mature plant. One that bears its fruit year after year

Ephesians 4:13 ESV

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Vine wood cannot be used for making furniture, for building, or for making a kitchen utensil. It will not even serve as a peg on which to hang a hat. A vine branch that does not bear grapes is worthless.

The great Vinedresser alone knows how and where to bring the knife to bear both in the life of an individual and in the corporate life of a local church.

. The great husbandman alone knows how and where to bring the knife to bear both in the life of an individual and in the corporate life of a local church.

The branch is not responsible for pruning itself. That is the husbandman's duty. A branch is not responsible for other branches, to censure them or to prune them. The husbandman takes care of that. All a branch does is abide and abound. John Phillips Commentary Series

What types of things have God developed in me?

Not having a desire to be acknowledged by men. Because when you feel rejected, inadequte you will find yourself

Story of Football awards

Now most of my football career in Junior High and JV I was a slow white running back that weighed 145 pounds. Made B Team full back my 8th grade year. Made Starting running back by soft more year, and that because Chase Hopson broke his collar bone. But Midway my Junior year being a back up tail back. I broke loose midway through the season, and had several games with over 200 yards rushing. And my senior year, though we had a crappy team, with a crappy line. up until our 7 or 8th game of the seasonI was the sixth leading rusher in east Texas up until we paidCrandall. And Crandall had a great team that year. But I ran hard, had over a hundred and something yards rushing, and after the game, Coach Golf which was a well known coach for years and was our athletic director down on the field , caught me by the shoulder pads, and He said CJ tonight you ran as good as any running back that I have ever seen come through Van. In that game I broke by big toe, and played the rest of the year with a broke toe. Then I got strung out on dope.

it went downhill after that.. I remember they had the end of the year football awards. And after they made it all the way through the football section, they not once acknowledged me for anything. I made an abrupt departure from the ceremony and left humiliated, where I carried that humiliation with me for several years. I felt rejected. but more than anything I needed to feel validated. And when you have a severe need to be validated by men

2. The next few years I was broke and having a hard time finding a job, and got sucked up into this con business called Fire Specialist. Selling fire extuiguishers. Really what they were doing is making $60 a pop of their new employees. Yeah in order to work there you had to have. Anyways didn’t take long before I found out that the owner was a slimy guy, a real piece of work. And they had like a company wide gala

They were doing another awards ceromony, and I was good friends witht eh VP. I knew if anyone was going to be recognized it was going to be me. Well name after name was called out, but not mine. kept waiting, still no recognition. Then finally guess who’s name was called out? Mine, I got up adjusted my belt, walked up on stage, gave the VP a big bear hug, made a complete fool out of myself. And then they called a few more names, and do you know what all it was was a big participation trophy. Everyone that was a manager for that business got a little stupid reward, for just being there, nothing was really accomplished.

Now I share that because I think that need for recognition is probably latent within all of us. That is one of the things that the Father has been preparing in me. And because of this work I don’t typically work well with others when I sense that type of need in their life. Because when I read this book, do you know what I find. I find this call to be a sacrifice.

One thing that will rob you of joy, is always trying to meet others expectations. Some are real, some are just perceived. But when you follow Jesus it really doesn’t matter who

THE SECRET TO Fruit

John 15:3–6 ESV

3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 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.

John 15:3

Three things about fruit

It bears the image of the fruittree

There is no invisible fruit, there are no secret service Christians. Everybody else is coming out of the closet we might as well to

Fruit is designed to be eaten by another. The only type of fruit that eats itself is rotten fruit. If you are only seeing what you can get you have turned from being a Christian to being a leech.

Your experience of Jesus of Jesus Christ and bearing a blessing will be tied to someone else.

Everybody want to be blessed

To most people a blessing is the favor of god to you, but in the bible its the favor of God to you that flows to others.

Now if you are a little overwhelmed with all this. I want you to see the secret to joy. The secret is abiding.

The secret to joy is not serving. There is definently a joy that will come through serving. But serving is not the secret, abiding is.

Show picture of grapevine

Now we are the baranches, Jesus is the vine, and the Father is the gardner.

First speaks to the branch that bears no fruit. A rotten saint. To take away in the greeks means to encourage, to lift up. The gardner will take the branchand lift it up, encourage it. Take it away from the ground. strap it towards a branch, or a pole. Doesn’t want you to be a SMO. Sunday morning only.

Bear fruit, now you are showing that you want more, your bearing fruit, You are wanting to be closer to God.

Pruning means to take away something that is sucking the nutrients and prune it away. And the way he gets you to be more fruitful he takes away the suckershoot. THe suckershoot is siphining nutrients. In order for the Vine dresser gets away to

He prunes us with trials. Sometimes the suckershoot is a sin, and he will bring tribulation. Sometimes its not a sin, sometimes its just in the way

We abide in our TV. We can abide in our alcohol. We abide in our jobs. But these things will drain you of joy not produce it.

God is tryiing to move you to

he prunes of of people. He prunes us of problems

When you were in school there were different types of tests.

pop tests, and final exams. The final exam is meant to take us to the next level.

He wnats tp supersize our fruitbearing. He wants you to be a super sized saint through ABIDING

Abiding- Meno to stay, hangout, remain, or loiter

If you abide, you will bear MUCH fruit. He wants to super size your sainthood. He wants your fruit to be huge, and that only comes through abiding. Remaining connected.

Different types of tea drinkers.

There are dippers, in and out, there are dipper Christians. They dip in out of service. they dip in and out of mens group. prayer group.

But then there are abiders, i just let the hot water flow and a plop it down. You let the tea bag hangout, let it abide Let it soak in. and the water will just change

A lot of Christians are just trying to change things in their life. . Anfd God says if you will just hang out iwth me and I will change things.

Thats why God says pray without ceasing, bring me into the equation and I will change things.

Dont get religion get confused with relation

Going to church because its Sunday rather than going because you want to grow closer. The difference of a pacifyer and real food. Theology of pacification. the pacifier is jsut meant to fool the baby. After a while that baby is thinking momma you must think Im a fool. thats how religious activity

NOw God says if you start hanging out some things will start taking places

Useless saints cant be used because they will not abide. They are in it for themselves

BUt God says to abiding Christians he says that is how you will get prayers answered. If you are not abiding, I do not have the obligation to answer you the way I will an abiding one.

How does this work. Well when you abide with someone you know them, how they act, how the respond. because they are in sysnc. You can know when a marriage is out of sync. They are like rotting fruit, devouring themselves

THE FATHR AND SON ARE IN SYNC< SAME PAGE< whatever the son thinks the Holy Spirit thinks.

Conclusion

Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Introduction

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 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.

I watched part of a documentary last night called Sheep among wolves, and it is about the high cost that Christians pay in the Middle East. They live in constant fear of some radical Muslim or the secret police coming in and ravishing their home. And in Islam, Christians are considered infadels, and because of that view, there really is no limit to what Muslims can do to Christians. For the glory of Allah they can murder, they can rape the women, they can kidnap, they can do the most attrocious things. Its a double edge sword that serves to instill fear in the Christians and also serves as a deterent to Muslims to come to Christ

And while even talking about something like that can be offensive to most Christians, this is their reality. And so they have to have those tough conversations beforehand with one another. So this Arabic brother in Christ shared those conversations he has had with his wife. He said basically what do you want me to do if they come in here and they bagan to do these types of things, what do I do? He said that when you are living in the enemys territory and you are serving the Living God, the enemy will use fear to intimidate you with torture, and bloodshed.

And she responded with the most beautiful response. She said if that happens, I don’t want you to do anything. I understood that when I surrendered my life to Jesus I died to my rights. She said if that happens to me she will say to the Lord I present my body a living sacrifice to you.

Serving jesus comes at a cost, the problem that most of us have, is it doesn’t cost us anything. We have created a form of Christianity where following him doesn’t cost us anything, I can continue to be a consumer, i can continue to live selfishly and it doesnt cost. But can I tell you that when you settle for that, it may not cost you persecution, but it is costing you fellowship with the Father. it is costing you in the sense that you are not in His presence allowing him to give you the rest and the strength that you truly desire

English Standard Version Chapter 10

39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:39–45 ESV

Mark 10:39

What are some things that are important to me? As a believer?

Being a servant and not pushing my way o the front

loving unconditionally

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