Trim your Branches
Scripture: John 12:45- 46 Date: 3 October 2010
Purpose: To share how we need the light of Jesus in all areas of our lives in order to be effective in our calling.
Illustration: Since our arrival in Leon we have been very busy getting settled into the church, community and the parsonage. Each area has had various things to care for and to get used to. For example, we have had to learn how to slow down when we drive. Most places we have lived in have speed bumps to slow you down. However Leon has what I like to refer to as speed holes. And I have found that these speed holes are much more effective in slowing you down.
At the parsonage we have been painting the inside. This has been an ongoing project that seems to be almost complete. Outside the parsonage we began some work as well.
Many of you have been to the parsonage and maybe you have noticed all the branches around the property. They seem to engulf the house and keep it dark as the branches rob the sun light, keeping it in a darkened lightless state. I for one do not like dark areas and I enjoy seeing to sun light shining.
I borrowed some chain saws from Tom Evans last week and have been cutting a good amount of branches away from the house. It is amazing what a little sun light can do isnt it. The parsonage is really coming along and looking a lot better.
As I have been trimming the branches at the parsonage, I have realized a lesson that I believe God wants us all to hear. Please stand with me this morning for the reading of Gods Holy Word.
John 12: 45-46 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Branches hide things. You dont see very well when things are hidden. You need to have light in order to see. And branches.
I. KEEPS LIGHT OUT!
A.The amount of light at the parsonage has increased dramatically. As I have been cutting the branches at the parsonage, we seem to have light coming from all directions. The branches really kept a good amount of light out.
1.Light is good isnt it? I for one am a lover of light. Something about it attracts me. Even children realize that light is good.
Illustration: 5-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"
2.I believe you dont have to be a rocket scientist to realize that Light is good.
Why even bugs realize light is good. Just turn on your porch light at night and you will attract hundreds of new friends.
B.All throughout Scripture we read about the importance and the beauty of light.
1.Darkness is never described as being a wonderful place in which we want to be. Scripture even associates darkness with death and separation from God.
Mark 15:33-34 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
2.As Jesus life slipped away, we read of the darkness that came, the separation not only from life but from God.
3.To be separated from God is to be in darkness, to be without light.
4.Darkness has always been viewed as the opposite of good and represents evil. DARKNESS IS THE OPPOSITE OF GOD.
1 John: 5-8 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
5.God is not darkness, God is light. And if we desire to have or maintain a relationship with Him, we must stay in the light. We must be willing to trim some branches in our lives.
6.What is it that may be keeping the light out in your life? Do you have some branches that need to be cut? Taken away to allow the light back into your life.
7.It doesnt matter what may be causing your shade, what it is that is robbing you of the light that God wants to give you. Nothing is too great for Him to cut away. Whatever it is that is keeping the light out, just give it to God and allow Him to take it.
Psalm 18:27-29 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
8.There is nothing too big that God cannot deliver us from! Its time we clip away the branches.
- Not only do they keep the light out, branches also.
II.KEEPS PEOPLE OUT!
A.Have you ever been to someones house that needs the branches trimmed? The house seems very uninviting and you feel uncomfortable being there. Normally people are not drawn to places like these. In general, people enjoy the light and people that are living in darkness usually spend a good amount of their lives separated from others.
1.I believe that many people hold onto things that allow darkness to creep into their lives. And this is an area that leaves people lonely and without friends.
Isnt this what we teach are children?
VIDEO: Kids Talk Forgiveness
2.Grudges come when we hold on to hurts that other people have caused us. We get mad at them and we wont let that anger go. The people may not have even planned to intentionally hurt us. But we got hurt just the same. So we develop a grudge and wont let it go.
3.I feel guilt when I have hurt people, I feel grief when I have suffered lose, but I hold on to grudges when someone has caused me pain. Guess what? In this world you are going to be hurt. Life isnt fair. You are going to suffer pain. You are going to get bumped, bruised, scratched, scraped and dinged up in this world. How you handle it will either make you bitter or better.
4.What do you do when the hurt has piled up? What do you do when the emotional branches have overgrown in your life? You can become angry with the people who have hurt you you can hold a grudge.
But look at what Job 5:2 says: Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
5.Why? Because wrath revenge and envy are self-destructive. They hurt you. They cause broken relationships. They make a person bitter. They hurt you in the NOW. And thats stupid because the reason you hold a grudge is because of something in your past.
6.Your past is past it does not need to last. Your past cant hurt you today unless you keep going over and over it in your mind. The person who hurt you may not even be alive. They may have died years ago yet you are still holding a grudge. Theyre still hurting you from the grave because you wont let it go. You cant bury your anger with them. You wont let your resentment go. But you need to. All you are doing is hurting yourself and keep others away.
Romans 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[a]says the Lord.
7.In other words dont hold a grudge dont take vengeance into your own hands thats God job not yours He will eventually make everything right. Thats His job. He is the judge of the world youre not!
8.Get rid of all your bitterness. Stop holding grudges. Doesnt the scripture say, "Forgive as you have been forgiven." How have you been forgiven? Completely, totally, absolutely. If you have been forgiven; God expects you to forgive.
Even the Lords Prayer says: in Matthew 6:12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
9.We feel guilt when we hurt others but when others hurt us we hold on to a grudge. It should not be this way. We want others to forgive us but we have a difficult time forgiving others.
10.You dont need a self-help book to deal with your guilt, your grief or your grudges. You need a Shepherd. You need a Savior. He is ready to help you trim the branches that are keeping others out. All you have to do is ask him.
Let Him restore your soul today because the branches that are keeping the light out in your life...
III.KEEPS YOU FROM GROWING!
A.Have you noticed what happens when you are overcome by branches? The ground usually is full of leaves, shade, and dirt. Grass cant grow because not only do the branches keep the light out but the rain as well. The branches keep life from growing below.
1.Likewise, Spiritual growth will cease when we live in darkness. When we live a life full of bitterness, un-forgiveness, anger, hurt, rage, selfishness, and sin our growth in Jesus halts.
2.It is time to trim your branches. We need to cut away whatever is plaguing you today from living the life that God so desperately desires you to live.
3.Gods Word is here to show us what we are like spiritually and to shine light on the areas that need to experience and learn spiritual growth.
4. James 1:23-25 declares Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing ithe will be blessed in what he does.
5.Its easy for us to point out others failings isnt it? How many times have you came to church and heard a perfect message for someone else? You know what I am talking about, those sermons that you know should convict someone else because you know the sin in their lives and you know they need to hear it.
6.Its harder for us to see what we need to change in our own lives. We dont like to feel convicted do we? When someone points out those negatives in our lives we cant stand it.
Illustration: Some years ago I had a family stop coming to church. This family had just begun coming to our church and I saw that God was really working on them. They slowly they slipped away and stopped coming all together. Come to find out that the reason they stopped coming was, They didnt appreciate the pastor preaching about their dirty laundry each week.
7.The truth with this family was that God was working on them and convicting them. God was speaking to them each week but they were not willing to hear Him. They were complacent and satisfied with the branches that had grown in their lives and were un-willing to have them trimmed in order to grow closer to God.
8.I have no idea about your personal lives and I promise you that, (not if), but when you feel convicted here at church. It is God speaking to you and not Pastor Kelly. I do not have you home bugged. God sees all and he can even see the things you may be hiding in your closet and he can definitely see through your branches.
Conclusion: I believe we all have some branches in our lives we need to trim. I also believe that this is a never ending process. God desires to give us so much more than we can imagine but in order to receive all the blessings we need to be open to what He has for us. How about it, are you willing to cut away some of the obstacles that you have allowed to grow between you and God? Are you ready to clean up your life and allow Gods Holy light to shine in your lives?
