John- Believe In Jesus And Live!-Part 9- " Stay Hooked" Series

John – Believe in Jesus and live!

Part 9

“Stay hooked”

John 15:1-8

For many years I have loved fishing

All the way back to my very early years my fondest memories of my Dad and my Granddad on my mother’s side revolve around some type of fishing

My Dad loved to fish for crappie and sunfish – you know minnows – worms – crickets and bobbers

My Granddad was a bass fisherman- his favorite lure was a hot spot

I actually have one of them in a frame in my office

These were my roots in fishing

I added trot lining - fly fishing and saltwater fishing to the list and have passed those memories down to my kids and grandkids as well as adding to my own memories

All types of fishing

Whether with tiny flies

Rattle traps

Mullet or minnows

Have one thing in common

In order to put fish in the boat

Or in the freezer

You have to hook the fish

But they have to stay hooked

Many a time I can remember

That Giant fish

A world record

Coming right to the boat

So close I could almost touch it

And then

Coming unhooked

It is ironic that it is always the big ones that get away

And

Truth be known

They are always remembered and described bigger than they were

But big or small

In order to catch the fish they have

To get hooked

And to stay hooked

In my younger – thinner years

I rode Bulls and bareback horses

Same deal

In order to make the buzzer

In order to get a buckle or a check

I had to stay hooked

You cutting horse folks

Ya’ll know that a horse that does not stay hooked to a cow

Is not a very good cutter

And certainly won’t win much money

It is so amazing when I begin my studies to bring you a message

God opens my mind and causes me to remember things in my past

Good things

Bad things

Things that at time seemed insignificant

Even things that I had thought I had forgotten

Or wished I had forgotten

And he shows me how to use these things to preach his word

And

How to use real life situations to bring clarity to spiritual situations

This is the case here

I have for years when counseling people told them

To stay hooked

I actually learned this from Mike Morrow over at Cross Brand

As a lay Pastor there

He often told me and the others to stay hooked

You see

If you want to grow spiritually

You must

Stay hooked

If you want to straighten out the mess of your life

You must

Stay hooked

If you want to fix your marriage

Stay hooked

Even Jesus himself tells us to stay hooked

You may be asking

Preacher

Where in the bible does Jesus Christ

Say to stay hooked?

Well

I am glad you asked

Please open your bibles this morning to John chapter 15

We are in part 8 of our study of John

And have been studying what it takes to live in Jesus

We have over the last couple of months

Seen and learned that it is belief

That brings life

Eternal life

Abundant life

Life to the full

Belief in Jesus

Belief that he is the only way

Belief that he is the answer

So now in John 15 we see Jesus tell us to stay hooked

Let’s read John 15:1-4

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

In the book of John we see have read many I am Statements from Jesus

And this morning he says

“I am the way to stay hooked”

Ok

That is not really what he said

He said

I am the True grapevine

And my Father is the gardener

So you may ask

Preacher how do you come up with stay hooked from that

Ok let’s read verse 4 again

Verse 4

4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

Remain in me

Abide in me some versions say

Hooked to the vine

Hooked to Jesus

Look at verse 5-6 with me again

Let me replace the word remain in