Rooted in Vision

Rooted in Vision

well, good morning. So our church family, my name is dan if I haven’t met you and for those of you who know me so good to see you, it’s been three months Yeah, it’s good to be back with you guys, I was on a short sabbatical, some of you forgot who I was, I forgive you, still love you but my family and I blessed tremendously by that sabbatical break, really refreshing the Lord and also encouraged by your prayers. Uh some of you sent notes of encouragement and gift cards, just did little things to let us know that you were thinking about us and we certainly appreciate that we’re so blessed by that. So thankful for a church family like you all and my Children every saturday night would ask one of them would ask that why aren’t we going to our church and that also blessed me because they feel loved here and they love being here and so I’m thankful and I’m glad to be back with you. But anyway, that’s enough about me, Let’s get into the word of God, open your bibles to john chapter 15, The Gospel of john chapter 15 Today we’re kicking off a new series um we are doing a series called rooted and the first two weeks of this series mike and I will talk about being rooted in the vision of sewer church and rooted in the values of sewer church and then in the following weeks will unpack some of the rhythms that we think are necessary for disciples to grow in this rooted faith in christ and so um that’s just kind of a introduction of where we’re going with this series. Um so john chapter 15, beginning in verse one, I’m gonna read the passage all the way to verse 11 and then I’ll pray for you all. You need those prayers, somebody you’re like, what did I get myself into? He just got back, what you gonna do? The Lord is good, Let us read his word, I am the true vine and my father is divine dresser, 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. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you 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. 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 if anyone does not abide in me, he’s thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered thrown into the fire and burned if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you by this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples as the father has loved me, so have I loved you abide in my love. 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 as the word of God. Let us pray father in heaven, thank you, thank you for this day, thank you for the truth of your word, thank you for the reality that you are indeed gathering of people to yourself for your glory and God, we’re so thankful that the gospel invitation was presented to us that we might come to you and be called Children of God. We ask that Lord in this time that we have together as your people, God, that you would help us to understand exactly what it means to abide in christ that we might be more fruitful in christ that we might bring more glory to your name with our lives God, that is our desire. Work in this way. Holy Spirit move among us. We ask in jesus name. Amen, Amen. So as I said in the beginning that this is the beginning of a new series entitled rooted and today we’re gonna look at being rooted in the vision of sword church being rooted in what we believe God has called us to do in terms of our goal of instruction in terms of what we are about as a church, and that is simply that we believe that God has called us to make authentic disciples of jesus christ who love him and who worship him in all that they do, but that is the goal of our instruction, that is the goal of everything that we put before you is that you would grow as an authentic disciple of the Lord, jesus christ, that you would love him and that you would worship him in all that you do. So the series rooted is for the purpose of us revisiting some of these things that we’ve touched on throughout the past years or so, so that we can again recommit ourselves to being firmly planted in christ rooted in him, so that we might prove to be his disciples, showing that we love him and that we worship him and all that we do, and so when we talk about this authentic disciple, we have to begin with this idea of salvation in christ, we know that that is by grace alone, working through faith alone, leading us to trust in christ alone for our salvation to the glory of God alone. That’s so important for us as christians and when that has happened in our lives, the word of God for an authentic disciple is something that we love hearing preached, we love hearing it read, we love praying it, we love hearing its song and we love singing it ourselves and we are committed to applying the word to our lives. We want to be authentic disciples in that way and in the passage that I read to you this morning, Jesus is reminding his disciples and by way reminding us as well that if we are to be authentic disciples of his, we must abide in him and that passage I read to you, that’s the middle portion of a significant discourse that Jesus is having with his disciples, it spans about three chapters or so, he’s preparing his disciples for dark days that are approaching quickly, Jesus is about to go to the cross, he’s about to be crucified, he’s about to die on that cross and his disciples will be terrified, they’ll be fearful of the same fate coming upon them. And so Jesus is giving them a pregame speech, getting them ready for the coming days, how will they stand in this hour? Well, he wants them to know that they need to abide in him, we must abide in him. And so as we read in the middle of this discourses, he’s sharing us with his disciples, talking with him, he wants to make sure that they are prepared for the dark days that are coming, But in verse one the first four words so important, jesus says, I am the true vine Now, maybe for you when you read that you didn’t grasp the significance of it, but it’s incredibly important again, these are the words of christ preparing his disciples for the dark days that are quickly approaching and these four words so important, so theologically rich, beginning with the I am, This is the last of the seven Great I am statements that Jesus is recorded saying in the gospel of john and this I am statement ought to take you if you’re familiar with your bible back to moses and the story of taking the Israelites out of Egypt where moses before he launches on that incredible rescue mission by the hand of God. Doing incredible signs and wonders moses, first encounters God on a mountain by way of a bush that is on fire, but yet not being consumed by the fire. What a prophetic image that was. That’s called the a funny meaning God revealing himself in the creation moses says to God in that moment, if I am to go into Egypt to approach the most powerful man on the planet pharaoh king of Egypt and asked him to set free a couple million slaves. Just at my word. What should I tell those people and Farrell the name of the God who sent me, what should I tell him your name is because this is kind of a big deal God simply says to moses. In that moment I am, I am, I am the eternal Being without beginning or end. I am the all mighty one. I am the only totally independent being in all of existence, I am the creator of everything, I am, there’s not a word in your human language that could properly and adequately describe who I am, and Jesus says, I am, Jesus declares his deity that he is fully God, that’s what Jesus said about himself, that he was fully God, but then he goes on to say that I am the true vine, the true vine, The Prophet Isaiah, Chapter five says that God is the vine dresser and that in his vineyard, Israel was one of his vines, But in Chapter five, Isaiah warned Israel that God was going to remove them because they were not bearing fruit. & Isaiah 27, God promises that in his vineyard that he would plant again Israel as his vine and that this vine would indeed grow and bear much fruit and bless the whole world and Jesus says that he is the true Israel, the true vine, I am the true vine, fully God, fully man coming to bless all of the world, bringing people back to the father. He says, I am the true vine, he says, my father is divine dresser, meaning that the father is deeply concerned with the growth of his people. The father is glorified when his people grows in christ, The father is blessed when he looks at us and sees that christ is being more and more revealed in and through your life, he says, that’s an authentic disciple right there, he loves jesus, he worships him and everything that he does and I see christ in him, my father is concerned for that is blessed by his glorified by It Verse two says 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 again. The father has a concern for growth in christ and just like Israel and its unfaithfulness and the old testament, they were uprooted from their land, they became an oppressed people. They were dispersed throughout the nations of the world because they were not bearing fruit and as christians, this is a sobering warning that God is concerned to see fruit in our lives, who wants to see fruit in our lives that bring glory to his name and that if he’s not seeing that while you have breath in you you ought to repent. But he also says that if you are bearing fruit then he prunes you that you might bear even more fruit. Now I’m not a gardener, I was gonna say a word that I really don’t know the meaning of and probably was gonna butcher in pronouncing it. So Gardner is better. Um but the term pruning just simply doesn’t seem like it feels good, it just doesn’t sound good, like jesus said well if you bear fruit, the father’s gonna prune you so that you bear more fruit. Okay, jesus doesn’t sound good, the pruning part bearing fruit. Good. Yes, but can we do that without pruning? No, we can’t. So he says, the father will prune you that you might bear more fruit. Imagine a day when your faith was tested when you did exactly what God expected you to do. And at the end of that day people hated you for it. Imagine a day when you kept his commandments, you were faithful to do all that he commanded you. And by the conclusion of that day, all of your circumstances were turned upside down hard, not comfortable. Very, very discouraging. In that moment you attempted to think God, where are you? I did what you asked me to do. I kept your commandments. Why are these things happening to me? And you’re tempted to believe that God is upset at you, that you didn’t quote, do it right or that God is furious with you. According to jesus, what you’re experiencing in that moment is the exact opposite. You’re experiencing a loving father who is concerned to see the growth of the image of christ in you so much so that he’s willing to prune you that you might be even more fruitful what you are experiencing in that moment? Are the skillful loving hands of your father again, the pruning doesn’t sound fun, but it’s for your good God’s glory in your life. Moving on, verses three through six, jesus says already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you 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, 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 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. 1st, Jesus says his disciples when they heard the Gospel, when it was proclaimed, when it was preached, when it was declared to them, his disciples heard it received it believed it, he says in the process, their faith justified them. They were justified by this faith and believing that Jesus is the one to save their souls, that he is the messiah, that he is God’s anointed deliverer for for Israel that they believe that he says that that word made them clean the blood of christ, makes us clean the result of believing the same word, the same gospel. I heard a man say this once, that really struck me, he said, you know, the Apostle paul, he might be a better theologian he is than any of us. You might have a deeper understanding of the implications of the gospel than any of us, but he’s got to preach the same gospel that we’ve got to preach, he’s got to believe the same gospel that we have to believe, He can’t improve on the Gospel. We can’t improve on the Gospel. We need the same Gospel. And when you believe Gospel, the Lord jesus christ his blood makes you clean. And this is more than just a clean slate. This is the gift of a new nature, new desires, fresh new abilities, but the ability to obey God from a pure heart, this is a new vision for life when where God is glorified, not us, these disciples are born again. These are authentic disciples who love and worship him and all that they do and they abide in christ, which jesus makes absolutely clear that apart from him, we can do nothing. We can do nothing apart from him. No. When he says, you can do nothing, there is a very literal sense to that. But really, this is a theological statement that he’s making literal sense. You’re saying, well, I got up this morning and I picked out these clothes that I’m wearing and even if I look a little goofy, it was still my choice. I did that. Well, you only did that because he allowed you to, but he’s not really talking about to speak those things, although that’s true. You can’t do anything, colossians says that we in him, we live and move and exist, that he holds all things together. That’s you and me, that’s every moment of our day, were held together by him. But what he’s saying here, when he says, you can do nothing, he’s talking about pleasing the father, you cannot please the father in your own strength, you cannot please the father in your own righteousness, you cannot please the father in your own wisdom, you trying to please God in your own strength, that’s like a man trying to jump over a mountain. It’s physically impossible, It’s foolish and it’s a dangerous game to play because the end result will be that you will die in your sins. So jesus says that when we say that we are in him, but we really live for ourselves and when we really give ourselves to our own pride and strength, he says that we will be like branches that are severed from the vine and a wither eventually they’ll be given to eternal judgment, but that’s not the christian, the christian born again, christian, the authentic disciple, that disciple has been washed in the blood, that disciple, even in weakness is able to say I am strong even in weakness is able to produce fruit that will remain. Why? Because he is in christ, he feels weak, but christ in him is strong, these are the promises of christ to those who abide in them. Now by this time you ought to be asking yourself a question, what does it mean to abide? We’ve so muddled up this word, we’ve made it so mystical and mysterious and confusing. It’s really simple, it means stay stay in him, stay in christ stay some of you have animals, dogs And your dog isn’t well trained, so when you say stay you have to say like 10,000 times and he still doesn’t stay. that’s like sinful nature. So as you train, your dog realize that you’re you know human sinful nature is even worse than this, but abiding stay keep remain in him, always moving on verse seven and eight he says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you by this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples, I love this disciples who love him and worship him and all that they do. They abide in christ, they abide in his word and he promises that one of the results of that is that their desires are so shaped by his word, by his character, that whatever they ask, he grants it because they are in him and they have abided in his word and they have this new nature, these new desires, this new ability to obey God from a pure heart. And so when they ask he grants it because the father is glorified, jesus said, they ask for the things that glorify the father in their lives and through their lives. So they are granted those things, but he says they abide in his word, I have to say something here because what we’re tempted to do is to read into this passage, all of our modern amenities and technologies and we think that jesus is saying go have a personal quiet time, go have a private devotional life. We have so relegated abiding his word simply just have your five or 10 minutes or if you’re really legalistic, you’re our power that’s abiding in him. Which of the disciples carried around a copy of the SV or the NTSB or the king James version, which is the one jesus used right know if you read the Book of Acts, you see repeatedly too often oftentimes to our own bewilderment. These disciples can’t stay away from the synagogues. Why that’s where the word of God was being read. They had to go and read. By the way, they were hearing the old testament. Again, something we do. Old testament means old as in bad, not good. Don’t need for them. They needed it for them when it says and john one that the logos or the word of God became flesh, they understood that as meaning all of the words of God. The full revelation of God was made flesh in the man, jesus christ, that’s all the new testament is the complete and perfect revelation of God. That’s why he says to them. If you’ve seen me, you have seen the father and you’ve understand you’ve understood all of his commandments when you see him and so when he says abide in his word, he’s not saying go have a little quiet time, although you should read your bibles, you should be in the world, it’s good for your soul, but don’t just read it as James says be a doer of it, he says abide in this word, he’s saying. There will be moments. In fact there there’s a time coming where you will be tested to the part from me and my words and to be ashamed of christ and his word. But you if you are an authentic disciple of christ, you will abide no matter what it costs you, no matter what it costs you, no matter what circumstances befall you, you abide because you know that in abiding in his word, you are abiding in him and the world is testing us in this. The world is totally fine with you. Having a private little relationship with jesus, totally fine. Keep that in private, says the world also says the world, the things that we celebrate, we don’t care what your God says about it. In private, you must celebrate it. Will you will you celebrate those things because if you do, you’re not staying in christ, you’re straying from christ, you don’t have to be a jerk about it, but you must be firm in him, stand firm in him, abide in him because in doing so the father is glorified in you and they feel like the whole world is against you, Jesus felt that on the cross he was not alone. The father never stopped loving him and so he will be with you, he will keep you, it will strengthen you and he will give you a peace that surpasses all understanding if you abide in him, jesus says christians who are not ashamed of his words, who keep, who stay, who remain in him, fathers glorified by this and they proved to be his disciples. You need to pray, I need to pray that is to be us, this is why we can’t do it in our own strength. We need the strength of christ enough. Moving on verses nine and 11, Jesus says as the father has loved me, so have I loved you abide in my love. 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. True disciple must abide in christ by abiding in his word and by abiding in his love, I love how he pulls the two together. He’s basically saying the same thing over and over again. Abide in christ means abiding in his words, abide in christ means abiding in his love abide in christ means keeping his commandments, they all mean the same thing, stay in him abide in his love and I gotta tell you this, love is more than just warm, fuzzy thoughts about God, more than just some frivolous, flattering words that we like to maybe throw at ourselves and say this is how God thinks or feels about me, look I want you to know that God loves you, but I want you to have a sense of that love being on a sure and strong and firm foundation, that’s why jesus says as the father has loved me, so I have loved you, that is eternal love, that is perfect love that is holy love, that is unbreakable love that is a love that will always endure, that is a strong love, that’s not a superficial love, that’s not a love that easily turns it back on someone that is the kind of love by which christ wants you to be secure in life, he says I want you to know that’s the love that compels be to go to the cross on your behalf, I love that because jesus in saying as the father has loved me, so I have loved you, he has done something here when it comes to this love, he’s shown us two dimensions, it’s vertical and it’s horizontal, most of us love and appreciate the vertical aspect of it. God loving me God loving you, we love that component of it. Oh man, yes, it’s the horizontal part that we take issue with love, people like be around them like being a church with them being a community group with them, like I don’t like that just me and you, jesus, not these dudes, it’s almost as if we think that somehow there’s gonna be a private little space reserved for us in heaven, just for you alone, I got news for you that’s called hell, that’s not heaven, it’s gonna be a big family celebration in heaven with the father, with a love for the father and a love for his Children. Mr jesus shows us this these two dimensions of the love of God. First of all none of us in and of our own strength and love in that way we need him, we must stay in him to be able to endure them to be long suffering to persevere to be steadfast in our love towards one another because we get on each other’s nerves, We annoy one another, we’ve got weird idiosyncrasies, we rub each other the wrong way, This guy likes the chiefs, this guy likes the packers, we can’t get along, but if we abide in him we can we can forget and the disciples had the same issues, Someone had got on Peter’s nerves six times, he said God I got maybe one more, forgive one more ability to forgive him, so I need to ask you upfront should I forgive him seven times and then bring the hammer and jesus says no you need to abide in me seven times 70. So he says, we must abide in his love and this involves keeping his commandments again abide stay abide in christ abide in his word, Abide in his love Abide by his commandments, stay in him, stay in here, make that your heart desire and if that’s not your desire and you’re not in christ, here’s your moment to realize that if you’re not in christ you’re playing a dangerous game. Don’t leave this place, don’t go another moment in life. Being content to not have christ in you to not have this desire to want to honor and glorify him, do not be comfortable not do not play this game, You must be in here and if you are in here that’s what he is in you and greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world and if he is in you then his strength which overcame the grave is also available to you by faith. This is why paul wrote to the romans and he said you know what? You guys won’t just win a little bit but you will be called more than conquerors because of him loved you because he’s in you more than conquerors, authentic disciples, they abide, they stay, they remain, they keep, they are rooted in christ, jesus in his word, in his love and his commandments and at the end of the day, as jesus said in verse 11, his joy Joy will be to the full in their lives. How can you have joy so much around you? Seems to be going pets. It’s supernatural, it’s from him. It’s because we are in him the church. If there’s anything that has stirred your hearts this morning to either want to repent, commit yourself to being in christ, talk to someone, talk to someone wearing one of those lanyards to say, I can help you talk to a community group leader, one of the elders here. Or if your hearts have been stirred to do something for the glory of God, talk to someone, let’s do it in christ and let’s do it together in him. Amen. Let’s pray father in heaven. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your concern for our growth. But most importantly for your concern for your glory, May that be our concern as well Father. We love you and I thank you for loving us enough to warn us not to build our lives on that which is shaky and uncertain but to build our lives on the firm foundation of your love for us in christ May that become a reality for those in this room who don’t yet know christ and for all who do know christ God make them more fruitful for the glory of your name, christ. I pray Amen

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