Staying Connected

STAYING CONNECTED

Text: John 15:1-8

Introduction

1. Today we begin a year of rest and reflection.

A. Resting from outreach.

B. Reflecting on our ministry.

2. We will be seeking God for...

A. A New Vision: What does the Lord want our church to look like

B. A New Focus: Who does the Lord want us to reach?

C. A New Way Of Doing Ministry: Everything will be centered on our new vision/focus.

3. The key to hearing from God in this next year is going to be staying connected to Jesus. We need to make sure that we are...

A. Staying Connected To The Grapevine

B. Producing Fruit

C. Prayer And The Word Are The Keys

4. Stand with me this morning as we read John 15:1-8.

Proposition: In order to hear from the Father we must stay connected to Jesus.

Transition: The first thing that we must make sure we are doing is...

I. Staying Connected To The Grapevine (1-4).

A. The True Grapevine

1. Due to the recent storm we had some of us were forced to do without two things that we think we cannot live without: electricity and the internet!

A. Come on now, let's be honest most of us in here were like, "No! I can't do this! I need power! I need Wi-Fi! I need to be connected!"

B. Let's be totally transparent here; things that 25 years ago we didn't know existed, and now we cannot go without for a few hours.

C. Isn't it sad that we don't feel that way when we lose connection with Jesus?

2. That's the whole point of this passage, when we lose connection with Jesus, we are totally helpless. In v. 1 Jesus says, "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener."

A. Jesus often used images in his teaching that were familiar to his audience.

B. For example, he often used terms like sheep, shepherd, bread and light. He did this because he lived in an agricultural society where most of the people were farmers and shepherds so these terms were have created mental images they could relate to.

C. Here he uses another image that would have been familiar to them grapes and vineyards.

D. The vine and the vineyard were old and sacred images in Judaism (as did most Mediterranean societies).

E. The vine represented the covenant people of God, planted and tended by him so that Israel would produce fruit (Burge, John, 416).

F. Another key is that both Jesus and the Father are connected. Throughout John's Gospel Jesus and the Father are always seen as working in harmony.

G. So when he says that Jesus spoke of himself as the true grapevine he immediately goes on to the idea that the Father is the "gardener." (Morris, The Gospel According to John, 593).

H. The point that Jesus is trying to make in this entire section is that if we want to bear spiritual fruit, we have to stay connected to him. The Father does whatever is necessary for the fruit to grow.

3. Now what Jesus says in v. 2 can be a little hard for us to take. "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."

A. In this verse we see that the Father's role is for us to produce more fruit.

B. Jesus tells us here that the Father does two things to help us produce more fruit.

C. First, he cuts off every branch that doesn't bear fruit. These branches are those believers who either never grow or stop growing.

D. He is referring to those believers who have no spiritual life growing in them that comes from faith and love for Jesus.

E. What the Father does with these people is that he cuts them off. In other words, they are separated from a life-giving relationship with Jesus.

F. While this may seem harsh, we need to keep in mind that the Father only does this to those who choose to be cut off by either their action (sin) or their lack of action (they stop seeking God daily in prayer, Scripture reading, and in attending church).

G. The reason that the Father cuts them off is they are hindering the branches that are growing fruit.

H. The second thing that the Father does is prune the branches that are bearing fruit.

I. In a vineyard fruitfulness is not simply desirable; it is absolutely necessary; that is the whole point of the vineyard; it is what the vineyard is for.

J. Pruning is resorted to to ensure that this takes place.

K. Left to itself a vine will produce a good deal of unproductive growth (Morris, 594).