Sermon Tone Analysis

Connected to the True Vine

Text:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

(Jn 15:1-3)

Abide in me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

(Jn 15:4-5)

Jer 2:21 “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?”

Introduction

We experienced the power and function of the true vine last Sunday.

To clarify, I’m not trying to preach the same message, but want to introduce a different insight from the same text.

John records the words of Jesus in Jn 15, where Jesus is completing the definition of who the I Am is to the world.

The usage of I am in the OT applied to the name God originally gave to Moses to present to the Israelites.

The meaning of this name had a futuristic tense within it that could be better interpreted as “I will be who I will be.”

The gospel of John utilizes 6 other I am statements to confirm who Jesus was.

He was the fulfillment of the I Am.

He was who God intended humanity to see in the flesh.

He was the -

Bread of Life

Jn 6:35 “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

He is the nutrients unto salvation.

Without him no man will know God.

Light of the World

Jn 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

He is the creative power from the beginning.

He is what is and what was and what is to come.

Light institutes time and order over the formless void in Genesis 1:2.

The chaos will be for a limited season because God ordained it from the beginning.

Genesis provides insight to the characteristic of what God will do once again in the last days

The Gate

Jn 10:7 “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.”

- Insert the Gateway who is Jesus Christ

The Resurrection and the Life

Jn 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Believest thou this?”

I want you to note that Jesus didn’t just say that He was the resurrection, but that he was the life as well.

Jesus didn’t dye for His saints so they could only live to anticipate the resurrection.

He died so that you could have life and life more abundantly.

He didn’t die for you to live with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, addiction, dependencies on things other than him, and bodily sickness.

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The way to eternal life

The truth unto the nations…for He is the Messiah.

God manifest in the flesh.

The life that provides healing and resurrection

Jn 14:5-7 “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Jn 14:10-11 “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”

The Network that Christ Operates Through

Abide in me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

(Jn 15:4-5)

Jesus’ last major miracle was the resurrection of Lazarus in the gospel of John.

It is here where Jesus proclaims His power, not only in the resurrection, but in life.

Often we fail to realize that God has power over our mortal bodies.

If we be a part of the true vine, there is nutrients to be found in Christ and those who dwell in Him.

It should be understood that nature will often testify to those things that transpire in the supernatural.

In other words, yes, God can use nature to speak to His people.

He can use signs to speak to His people, however, it should never be forgotten that those things revealed in the Spirit will never contradict the Word of God, that is the Bible.

The Smithsonian Magazine illustrated a new scientific discovery found within Germany.

A man by the name of Peter Wohlleben, who had been in the logging industry prior to becoming a forester, did a study on Beech trees which provided insight to the fact that Beech trees may very well have a means to communicate.

Such communication is done through mycorrhizal networks.

These networks are made of the tree’s fine hairlike roots that connect to fungal filaments.

As a result to this connection, the trees are able to communicate in a primitive sense.

Warnings of drought, disease, and predators can supposedly be detected.

However such networks bring life because nutrients can be passed from one tree to another.

Older trees are identified as providing nutrients to younger trees that can’t quite reach the top of the canopy.

Without this fungal network, the younger trees would starve and as a result, die.

A network within the forest is vital for the reproduction and growth.

If this be the case for nature, how much more so is it for the church.

You see trees that were afar off fell prey to predators, failed to have the nutrients they needed, and usually did not live to maturity.

Trees do not complain where they fall, they simply just grow and provide nutrients to younger trees.

They protect one another through electrical synapsis carried through their given medium.

The church is able to do this through prayer.

It is by prayer that one can impact the spiritual warfare across the globe.

Wohlleben would go on to say that some call the tree’s network the “wood wide web.”

Such a network is alive and well within the Church.

It is there for you to tap into.

If you need healing - there are gifts in operation

There are connections made in the Spirit

There are miracles within the sound of one prayer, but the question you must ask is do I believe that God can do it

Mk 11:23 “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Wohlleben had once came upon a giant beech stump, where it had fallen over 500 years ago.

Under normal circumstances a tree without the means to complete the operation of photosynthesis would die, however, to the forester’s astonishment this one was not.

It was the root system that kept this tree alive.

There are going to be those who are cut down and nearly dead spiritually and physically and this Church will be the only means of life for them.

It isn’t us but the God that abides in us and works through us!

If you are sick physically, there is a God that abides in us that we can pray to.

Will this root system be the conduit for life to come into existence!

I Am the True Vine

John 15 takes place directly after the passover dinner or ‘last supper’ with His disciples.

It was on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus told the disciples where their life would come from.

It will always be in a place of death that true life can be gathered

Things of the flesh must die out before the fruits of the Spirit can manifest

A man cannot please God in the flesh

Jesus physical application of what He would do in the Spirit pointed to a plant that grew all over Palestine.