Abide

If I preach this sermon without abiding in Christ, it is a 40 minute trip to nowhere! It will make no progress and produce no results.

To teach a class without abiding is a one hour trip to nowhere!

To witness to someone without abiding is promised to go nowhere.

To work in children's ministry without abiding is to babysit.

You may post something real spiritual online, and it may get likes and comments, but God wants most of all to be connected to you for real, and promises that if we are not abiding in Him, it's a cyber-trip to nowhere!

We want to make a real difference, amen? Let's abide in the Vine!

Christ is our pattern:

John 5:19

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Yes, Jesus IS God. But in taking on human flesh, He laid aside some privileges of His deity, and became like us, and had to rely on His Father! It was for the same reason He was baptized...to give us an example!

Abiding in Christ is possible largely thru prayer...simple reliance on God.

To preach without relying on God is to say "I can do it myself."

[teach / raise a family / succeed at work / make plans / draw up a budget]

Abiding isn't just having a prayer 'time', it's having a 'prayer life.' It's a moment by moment awareness that I can do nothing without Him!

"I thought that number one would surely be me

I thought I could be what I wanted to be

I thought that I could build on life's sinking sand

But I can't even walk without You holding my hand."

1. Rely on His strength...

2. Receive His Word.

James 1:22

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

This speaks of a 'receiving' [lit. 'welcoming'] of the Word.

Back to ch. 15, v. 7 These 'words' are the life-giving 'sap' we need.

Matthew 4:4

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

John 6:63

... the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

In other words, make this abiding a 2 way street. Prayer is you talking to God, but allow God to talk to you thru the Word!

Can you go from Sunday to Sunday without cracking open your Bible?

"These two hath God married, and never shall part:

Dust on the Bible and drought in the heart."

Disconnected, I'm dead, and ready for the burn pile. Abiding, I have abundant life, love, and longevity!

I'm having an affair. Yes, it's a love affair. The best times in my day are in my prayer closet, alone with God, and in His Word, drawing closer to Him! He helps me know how to live, and He helps me know what to say [to you now], [to others].

Christ is our pattern:

John 12:49

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Jesus says, God tells me what to say. My words are 'God's Words'.

Doers, not just hearers. Reading and doing are different. God didn't give us His Word to INFORM us but to TRANSFORM us.