What Kind of Branch Are You?
May 25, 2003 Chester’s FBC, Chester, IL Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction
A It’s getting warmer and people are getting their gardens ready!
a Corn, tomatoes, beans, flowers.......
b Winery in Red Bud has their rows all staked out and ready for growth.
B Our message is "What Kind of Branch Are You?".
(Jesus and his disciples had just had the Lord’s Supper, Judas had done disappeared from the disciples. Probably going up to the Mount of Olive’s to pray. He looks over a valley filled with a huge vineyard.)
a JN 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. [3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. [4] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. [5] "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. [7] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. [8] This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
b Jesus told his disciples the secret to being a fruitful follower. (ETS)
C We become fruitful by staying connected to Jesus. (ESS)
a I hope you stay connected to the vine. (Objective)
b What kind of branch are you? (Probing Question)
T.S. b Let’s look at three branches that will describe each one our spiritual walks.
Conclusion:
Jesus told his disciples the secret to being a fruitful follower. We become fruitful by staying connected to Jesus.
A We’ve looked at 3 branches that described each one our spiritual walks.
(1) Disposable (2) Prunable (3) Fruitful
B I hope you stay connected to the vine.
a Flourish or squeak by. Grumble or Grow.
b You chose which branch that describes your spiritual walk.
C What kind of branch are you? (P.Q.)
a Anybody ever use honey? A bee works it’s whole life gathering, making, storing and producing honey. The average bee spends its entire life producing 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey. (Doesn’t seem like much, but you get a lot of bee’s making honey...we can dine fine!)
b You may think your fruit doesn’t matter, you’re just one person. When we all produce much fruit...we become a branch that produces a bumper crop for Christ.
I The first branch that describes our Christian growth is....a disposable branch.
A The vine-dresser, always looking out for the best interest of the vine, removed the fruitless branches from the vine. (2 reasons: (1) Justice to the unfruitful branch & (2) Kindness to the fruit bearing branches.)
a At one time these branches appeared to be promising, full of potential,. . . but they dried/died on the vine.
b (v.6) If anyone does not remain in me, he is.....put on an inactive membership list. (The first century church didn’t have inactive members.)
like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
These unproductive/unfruitful branches were not HELPING the vine. (Actually serving as a detriment to the other branches.)
The vine provided sap to the unproductive branch. The vine was getting nothing in return, that sap could be used by productive branches.
B Why do some professing Christians who start out with so much potential, promise, and possibility just fizzle out? (v.6 If anyone does not remain in me...)
a The vine supplies life giving sap to the branches, if the branch disconnects from the vine....it dies.
[4] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
b When people stop going to church, Sunday School, giving, reading the Word, praying...they are becoming unattached to the vine. When you come detached from the vine...you do two things.
(1) Do not bear fruit.
(2) Die
C Many years ago at the Tournament of Roses parade, the Standard Oil Company (now Chevron) had a beautiful float in the parade.
a In the middle of the parade route the float came to a grinding halt and stopped the entire parade in it’s tracks. Why? The Standard Oil Company float had ran out of gas!! (Had to wait for somebody to go get a gallon of gas in order to get the float going again!)
b Same thing happens to Christians.
They run out of steam in the middle of live and start living the same way they use to before they met Jesus, telling the same jokes, watching the same shows, sleeping in on Sundays, and using the same language.
Run out of steam, yet we have access to an endless supply of living water...and we never tap into it. (Become unfruitful, die...disposable.)
T.S.: Some branches are cut because they don’t yield fruit, some are cut for another reason.
II The second branch that describes our Christian growth is....a prunable branch.
A The vine-dresser, who always has the best interest of the vine, only prunes fruit bearing branches. (v.2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
a He wants to se every branch flourish and produce EVEN MORE FRUIT.
b The vine dresser removes seemingly perfect good growth, trims the branch way back till it looks like it nothing but a bare twig.
Why? So the branch can reach it’s full potential.
Sure enough, in a few months, that little ol’branch produces a bumper crop all because the vine dresser did all the cutting.
B Some of you are in the pruning process right now.
a God is cutting into your life,
removing things you don’t want him to remove,
changing things you don’t want him to change,
moving things you don’t want him to move,
pruning things you don’t want him to prune!!!
b If you’re being pruned, I’ve got two items of good news for you!!!
(1) You are bearing fruit. (God only takes the time to prune the branches that are doing something right.)
(2) God’s enabling you to reach your full potential. (Teaching, training, and getting you ready to go another level spiritualy)
C God’s been in the pruning business for years. Look at Jonah.
a God sent him to a wicked town that was on course for destruction, he didn’t want to go to, Nineviah. Jonah tried to flee, wound up sitting the belly of a big fish for 3 days. Wound up preaching to Nenivah and revival broke out.
JNH 4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. [2] He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. [3] Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
People got saved and forgiven. Jonah was seething and furious!
Jonah was a fruitful branch....just needed pruning!
b JNH 4:5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. [6] Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. [7] But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. [8] When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live." 9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." 10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. [11] But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
God pruned Jonah to make him more fruitful. Useful. You’re blessed if God does the same for you!!!!
III The third branch that describes our Christian growth is....a fruitful branch.
A The fruit bearing branch held a special place in the vine dressers heart.
* [8] This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
a The reason they held a special place was because they were close/connected/remained/abided.
b The word "remain" is used 8 times in this text. The word "fruit" is used 7 times. The only way to be fruitful is to remain in Christ.
*Being good, decent and kind is all well and good, but if your not doing it to glorify Jesus...you’re not being fruitful. It means NOTHING!
[5] "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
B What does a fruitful branch look like?
a Galatians 5:22-23
[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Little Johnny Playfully Punches & Kicks Girls For Grandma Smith.
Love Joy Peace Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness Self-Control
b A Christian will bear these fruits in their lives. (If there not there...you have become disconnected.)
*These fruits aren’t forced out of us.
A grape vine NATURALLY produces grapes.
An apple tree NATURALLY produces apples.
Christians NATURALLY produce Fruits of the Spirit.
(Where connected to the vine and his sap is running in us.)
*If it’s hard for you to show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control....your not connected tight enough!)
C Christian NATURALLY produce Christians.
a Have a video clip w/o audio. Then show clip w/ audio but w/o video .
b Believers need not only the Christian lifestyle that people see, they also need the verbal witness that people hear.
*You do this...you’ll bear much fruit.
***Notice: I have used Sermon Central sermons for a VERY long time. If this or any of my sermons are similar to a sermon that is already on Sermon Central by another pastor or teacher....chances are I have used it. Actually, there is probably absolutely nothing in this sermon that hasn’t been preached before! If I used your sermon and haven’t given you credit, please write me and I’ll give you credit by name. I have in no way intentionally withheld credit to any work I’ve used/borrowed from. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF I HAVE "USED" YOUR WORK IT WAS BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU HAD A SUPER SERMON! I prefer to preach with an outline and just rearranged your sermon. My intent is to make sermons relevant and easy for outline guys to use. If you use MY work, feel free to claim it. I do not care!! Simply realize that I have borrowed from other preachers, too.
Mike Fogerson, Pastor, Chester’s First Baptist Church
