Fir Lane 9 May 2021
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Heavenly Father, we thank you for all you’ve done in our lives, we thank you because you counted us worthy to be among the living souls and to know you the only true God. Accept our thanks in Jesus name.
406 Have you heard the good news.
Prayer of Adoration and confession.
O Lord,
How we adore you.
How we marvel at the depth of your love.
How we wonder at the waves of your grace.
How we are astounded by the glorious balance of the earth.
We are in awe of the vastness of the universe.
We are so privileged to be called your children.
We are accepted and forgiven and embraced.
You are mighty, above and beyond everything.
You are victorious. Darkness, sin and death are under your feet.
You are holy, beautiful and full of love.
How we adore you
Dear God,
We are sorry when we get so carried away with the business of each day,
never stopping to dwell in your love.
We are sorry when we allow the stresses and demands of work or family to erode and wear away our hope.
We are sorry when we are caught up in conflict and frustration,
when we harbour resentment, instead of giving out forgiveness.
We are sorry when we seek to be fulfilled by food, drink or entertainment,
Yet fail to feast on your truth.
We are sorry when we desire the wrong things, blinded by the media, and forget to engage with the real treasures of love and justice.
You are all love, all hope, all forgiveness, all truth and all we really need.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
363 My Jesus my Saviour
Readings
Psalm 80 8-13
Hebrews 12:1-5
John 15: 1-17
243 A new Commandment
SERMON
Sermon
Jesus on his way to the mount of olives
In our from the Gospel this morning we find Jesus on his way with his disciples to the mount of olives. Thinking about olives, Karon and I visited Terry and Ann the other week, meeting as you should in keeping with the current rules in the garden even though we ended up with addtional coats to keep us warm, as we chatted I noticed we were sat next to a plant, now I’m no gardener I consider weeds as easy to grow flowers, so asked Terry what it was it seemed to have some small berries on it, Terry told me that it was an olive tree, and as we talked about this rather small tree that had produced some rather small olives. Terry told us about a holiday He and Ann went on to Greece and outside a resturant they saw an olive tree and were told by the owner it was calculated to around 1,000 years old.
Just imagine 1,000 year old, but even more amazing after some reserch I found olive trees can live for between 2,000 and 3,000 years.
Something else I found out, is that it appears that olive trees are often planted around vineyards as they make good companion plants.
This morning we join Jesus, and his followers they had just celebrated together the passover meal, during this time together Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, much to their discomfort, the master washing the servants feet! he then spoke directly about what was about to happen that night, but within this dialogue he gave them the promise they will not be left alone I really like the wording in the ESV Bible it says they will not be left orphaned, and that after he has gone he will send a helper in the form of the Holy Spirit,
but I suspect at that point they still didnt really fully understand what lay ahead for themselves, and what was in store for Jesus.
I would like you to imagine that we are there with Jesus and his followers as they leave the upper room we can find this at the end of John 14:31
but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
and we set off on the way to the mount of olives, be warned you will need to put on your walking shoes on its around 3 kilometers just short of 2 miles.
Just imagine there may still be trees around that Jesus saw and even ate from on the mount of olives.
Now as we continue to walk along, with Jesus and his companions we pass a vine and Jesus stops, and uses this as a example for his statement “ I am the true vine” this is the last “I am” statement in John’s Gospel.
and what he had to say would be very clear to his Jewish disciples, they would recognise this from the Old Testament, and their heritage as throughtout the history of Israelites, the image of the vine or vineyard, is a very cultural image as an example of God’s relationship with his people we can see an example of this in Psalm 80:8
You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
Jesus the True Vine
Jesus is the true vine the real deal compared to Israel. The Jewish nation who had tried to acted inline with it’s calling.
Israel had attempted to obey the laws set by God through Moses, but as we know these are impossible to keep. It is only by the grace of God that people can be saved.
Jesus was obedient to God, he was the promised Messiah the people had been waiting for.
He was one with Father, in fact we can look at it in light of todays reading you could think of it like this,
the Gardener is the Father who is responsible for caring for the vine which is Jesus, demonstrating the closeness of Jesus to the Father.
Tending the vine
If you ask anyone who grows vines they tell you the only way to get a good crop is to cut off any branch that does not bear fruit. It must be cut off as it will drain the goodness from the other branches, but also by pruning the weaker branches they can be stenghtened and they will begin to grow good fruit.
that is what it is all about at the end of the day each of us is called to producing good fruit.
during the time he spent his disciples ,they had been pruned, as they had spent time with Jesus although the process was not as yet complete, Jesus emphasises the importance of abide in me
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
If a branch is unattached from the vine there is no chance of it bearing any fruit, so it is imperative that his disciples then and for us today, that we heed the words of Jesus “abide in me” we need to remain in Christ to build not only our own faith, but the faith of those around us. we need each other to grow in Christ we cannot do it on our own. A vine branch cannot grow on its own it needs to be attached to the vine.
This will lead us to abide in his love, in the reading today Christ repeats this in these verses three time that we need to be in his love.
So what does it mean to remain in Christ love, and what does it mean to us today?
We need to ensure we keep our focus on Jesus and the words God provides through reading and prayer
We live in a world certainly in the west where God is becoming less and less central to peoples lives,
Jesus said he would come back ,but its been a long long time and people are rather like the unprepared servants that feature in some of Jesus’ parables,
It seem as though most people have given up, they have given up the chance to have a more fulfilled life. At one time in England the Churches were full Churches sprung up throughout the land, we are told times have changed as as a nation we have become more insuler, the dictionary give this definition “ignorant of or uniterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one’s own experience”
We may need to look at new ways to gather the fruit for Christ, in this day and age, but not to the extent of watering down or compromising the word of God.
So the world has changed and it is now us who are swimming against the flow, we need to keep true to our faith in the knowledge that we can trust in the Lord.
he told his disciples then, and he tells us today that following him will not be easy, that we will face persecution, we may not suffer to the same extent and the original follower did and certainly in some parts of the world today, but if we hold Jesus in our hearts we still suffer in what we see around us. so much need, so many lost souls.
Through his love we are promised the son’s Joy, this is the basis of both the disciples and our Joy in Christ. in some ways in the reading today it seems an odd time for Jesus to speak of joy as he is approaching the passion and suffering on the Cross. But he was aware of the joy that will follow after his resurection.
Paul brings this truth in his letter to the Hebrews.
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.
As we continue on our journey to Gethsemane with Jesus we see the change of status open to us as it was to his earlier followers. the change from servant to friend this is very significant. its not exactly a change of attidue both the servant and friend are expected to obey the rules layed down, the major difference is a servant just follows orders doing as one is told, not intellectually involved, but a friend is another thing altogether, friends are taken into confidence. Friends are brought into a closer relationship.
Mary descibes herself as a servant of the Lord
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
She was willing to obey God without the full knowledge of what lay ahead.
The disciples are now called friends and although Jesus said to them“All that I heard from the Father I have made known to you” seems to be a completion of the disciples training, the revelation was not fully understood by them until after the death and resurrection of Christ.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
In verse 16 Jesus reminds his followers that “ I Chose you you didnt choose me” he says this to remind them and us today that we are not special, we are not better than anyone else this is the point that Jesus is making here it was not a career choice to raise through the ranks, no this is by God’s bountiful grace that we are chosen and can never be earned by our own actions. no matter how well intended.
then at the end of this verse we read “so whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give to you”
Are we moving to the idea of God in your pocket? The God who is more like a genie than the creator of the world, ask for a new car and God will give it you?
No definitly not. sorry to disappoint you, the caviate to this promise is that what we pray for is in line with bearing fruit for the Father.
JESUS IS LOVE
These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
This final verse of the Gospel reading is really the most important we can look back on the questions of the Pharisee who asks Jesus who is my neighbour?
The answer is everyone. whom should we love everyone, it may be hard, but its so easy to love those who love us the challenge comes when we need to love those who dont love us.
Jesus Loves you as the Father loves him? to all who belive that God’s love is so much more than any concept of love we have ever experienced. So remain and abide in his love, by keeping his commandments we will remain in his love.
We are called to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
do these things and we can all experience the joy and freedom of knowing this love in its completeness.
in verse John 15:13 we read
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Do you beleive in your heart that God loves you? if you do then let him know it in you actions and thoughts.
We are friends we are no longer servants,but friends and more than this we are sons and daughters of the creater of the world this given to us through the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus, and through him God’s plans are revealed throughout the world to those who listen.
We also are blessed by the promise of a helper in the form of the Holy Spirit who will build up our faith.
So lets us go out today with the Joy that can only come from our Lord let him in our hearts so people can see a reflection of Christ in us.
Amen
Christ Sacrifice
439 Abba Father
Prayers
We thank you for this day: for life
and one more day to look, for opportunity
one more day to work for justice and peace, for neighbours
and one more person to love and by whom be loved,
for your grace and one more experience of your presence,
for your promise: to be with us,
to be our God, and to give salvation.
Dear Lord, you are the Great Physician. You can heal this hurting world. As we pray for your will and your power over this current disease that troubles our world today. We will honour and trust you regardless of what happens, but we pray for your healing and deliverance and we pray for your Spirit to be strong in us today to accept your will. Help us to communicate your love and power to everyone.
We bring those we know before you now in a moment of silence.
in Jesus’ name, Amen
487 You shall go out with Joy
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Blessing
The Lord bless us and keep us,
THe Lord make hs face to shine on us,
and be gracious to us:
the Lord look to us with kindness,
and give us peace.
Amen
Music