One Shot
Alexander the Great conquered the entire known world by the time he was 33 years old, and then he died.
Mother Theresa won a Nobel Peace Prize for her work among the poor before dying at the age of 87.
Abraham Lincoln failed many times as a businessman and politician before becoming the 16th president of the United States. He goes down in history as the man who issued the Emancipation Proclamation. He died at the age of 56.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died at the age of 39, but not before becoming known as perhaps the greatest crusader for human rights.
No one really knows how old the Apostle Paul was when he died, but he is remembered as the greatest missionary ever.
Do you know what these folks have in common?
Each of them used the one life they were given
to accomplish great things and leave an incredible mark on history.
Each of us here today has been given one life;
• We’ve been given one shot to do something great.
• Now Maybe we aren’t called to go down as anything special in the history books,
• but greatness isn’t necessarily measured by what people know
or what they remember.
Jesus tells us in Jn 15:8 My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father..”
I can’t imagine anything greater happening in my life
• Than knowing that God is glorified by the fruit I bear.
• By what I do , how I act
• But at the same time I’m ashamed to admit that alot of the pages in the book of my life
• are filled with sin that dishonors Him.
• Many of the pages record nothing more than the routine of my religion.
• The part to me that is hardest to accept is there’s no erasing what’s been written. What I’ve already done
• If I could go back and erase every sinful thing I hate about myself, I would do it.
• If I could go back and give meaning to the ruts of Christianity
• in which I’ve often gotten stuck, I wouldn’t hesitate to do that either.
If I could, I’d make sure every page in my book of life recorded me bearing fruit to God’s glory. But I can’t.
• But, at the same time I know that there is at least one blank page left in my book.
• I alone decide what is going to be written on that page
• I alone have the power to decide what kind of fruit I bear.
• So it all comes down to What will I write in my book?
• And today What will you write in your book?
Today we’re going to look at John 15:3-10
And I want to talk about using our one shot
• Today each one of us has one page left to write that we can write
• Each one of us has “one shot” to live for His glory.
• And I want to offer up five questions that I hope that you’ll consider
• as you think about what you’re doing with this one shot:
1 Am I Living Like I Am Changed? (:3)
John 15:3 says, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
• Each one of us here today were at one time capable of producing nothing but sin
• Each one of us here today were at one time capable of producing nothing but selfishness.
• Now we have been given the opportunity to produce fruit that has eternal value!
But the problem is that many Christians haven’t really changed;
• Maybe they’ve changed their language, / friends, / practices have
• But spiritually they aren’t bearing eternal fruit.
• So the question now becomes
• What are you doing to bear the most fruit that you possibly can for His glory?
2. Which leads to Am I Living Like I’m Clean? (:3)
We just read in John 15:3 that we are already clean
• One of the things that can really bog a Christian down and keep him from producing fruit is their past.
• Maybe you’ve got a little history;
• maybe you’ve got some skeletons in your closet.
• Whatever it is, the first thing we have to understand is that if God has forgiven you,
• He has completely forgiven you.
This is one of the most amazing things about the gospel—
• Is it’s all done by God’s power,
• We didn’t have to do anything
• We didn’t have to order it / subscribe to it / pay for it / beg for it
• it’s all done by God’s power, And God’s power is complete.
When Jacob was about to die he brought all of his sons before him for the blessing.
Listen to what he says about his son, Levi:
Genesis 49:5-7
Ge 49:5 “Simeon and Levi are two of a kind— men of violence.
Ge 49:6 O my soul, stay away from them. May I never be a party to their wicked plans. For in their anger they murdered men, and they crippled oxen just for sport.
Ge 49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; cursed be their wrath, for it is cruel.
Therefore, I will scatter their descendants
throughout the nation of Israel.
Levi’s past wasn’t a good one.
• He had committed cruel and senseless violence.
• But if we fast forward about 400 years,
• We see Moses coming down from Sinai with the Ten Commandments
• Only to find the people in sexual immorality:
Ex 32:25 When Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control—and much to the amusement of their enemies—
Ex 32:26 he stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, “All of you who are on the Lord’s side, come over here and join me.” And all the Levites came.
Ex 32:27 He told them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Strap on your swords! Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, killing even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.”
Ex 32:28 The Levites obeyed Moses, and about three thousand people died that day.
Ex 32:29 Then Moses told the Levites, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers. Because of this, he will now give you a great blessing.”
• Part of confessing our sin is giving it over to God
• And letting Him deal with it
• But the most important part of this process is once we give up that sin
• It’s over / it’s gone once and for all
• And it should never be thought of again
3 Now that we have determined that we are living clean
We have to ask Am I Living Like I Am Confident? (:4-7)
Jn 15:4 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 apart from me.
Jn 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
Jn 15:6 Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
Jn 15:7 But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted!
Other versions of verse 4 say
JN 15:4 “ Abide in Me, and I in you.
• To abide means that a person is completely dependant.
Some people have a hard time actually trusting God
• For everything they need.
• That’s why we spend so much time
• Trying so hard to produce spiritual fruit.
• But Look what Jesus says: “For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me.
We Cant bear fruit on our own.
• We are going to have to learn to trust God and rely on Him.
• I think this reliance is demonstrated in our prayer life.
• When was the last time you acknowledged
• that you can’t do ANYTHING for yourself? (ELAB)
4. Now that we have acknowledged that we cant do it on our own
We have to ask Am I Living Like God Is Central? (:8)
John 15:8 says, “My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.
“Years ago a Russian scholar wrote, ‘Life in time remains without meaning if it does not receive its meaning from eternity.’
Since we only have one life,
• it is eternally important that we make the right decision on how we spend it.
• If we dedicate our lives to things that don’t mean anything in eternity,
• Then all we are doing is wasting our lives
• The philosopher William James said it best when he said,
• ‘The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.’” (1)
• How much of what you do is about you?
And while you’re at it Consider this also:
• Are you simply participating in life,
• or are you producing eternal fruit for God’s glory?
5. This leads us to our 5th and final question Am I Living Like I Am Controlled? (:9-10)
Jn 15:9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.
Jn 15:10 When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.
• When we are being obedient we are letting God have control
• Being uncontrolled is the single greatest hindrance to bearing fruit!
Ro 6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Ro 6:9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
Ro 6:10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
Ro 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
It has been said that we may be the only Bible that some people ever see
• That’s why it is so important when it comes to writing the final page in our book
• that we do it so that what we stand for will be remembered
Ro 6:10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
Since we have been forgiven for our sins
Since we have been made clean
Now that we are living confidently
Now that we are putting God where He belongs / in the center of our lives
And letting Him control Us
Our we willing to use our one shot to live our lives for God
