John 15:1-8, 16:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
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.
“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. 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. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
Galatians 5:16-25:
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
But if you are led by the Sprit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
It is always interesting to me how our morning evolves and we learn to which church we are headed. Today my daughter was without a car, so we put the car seats in my truck and took her to church. I think it was one of the first times we have had grandchildren ride in my truck. I had the joy of my granddaughter falling asleep in my arms during worship.
I was impressed with the prayer time, how many joys and concerns are lifted by these believers.
The sermon, from what I could catch, wove around the vine and the branches, the oneness and need of completeness in being grafted in. I did notice how attentive the congregation was during the sermon.
We were welcomed by a number of people including some who welcomed us back, important to a guest.
I was asked to stand as a veteran and we were thanked for our service. I am always grateful for this humbling experience.
Although we had worshiped here recently, today we went along to help with our grandtwins.
The moment we walked in I was extremely grateful for the air conditioning. Lots of people spoke with us and with the little cuties with us (and who can blame them? J).
I enjoyed hearing the praise band again as they have a great sound, although I was familiar with only one of the songs.
The pastor took a moment during the service to acknowledge and thank the veterans present for their service, a moment I deeply appreciated.
The message introduced an upcoming series on the Fruit of the Spirit, which I found appropriate for Pentecost Sunday.
He began with an excellent question: “Why doesn’t the Good News sound like good news anymore?” (The answer came later: Because believers fail to take God’s warnings seriously, so we look too much like the world. Ouch.)
The part of the message that really caught my attention was when he pointed out that it is our most difficult challenges that inevitably produce the most fruit if we will embrace these painful experiences redemptively. However, remaining in the vine is vital to the production of fruit, and the production of fruit is evidence of having remained in the vine.
We need to ask ourselves: “How do I want to finish my life?” (Refer to the Galatians passage above.) The question at this point was, “Which list (in Galatians) would describe us?” Our answer would be an indicator of how we might anticipate finishing our lives…no fruit = no presence of the Spirit. A chilling thought.
I appreciated the message for its perspective and focus on remaining in the vine in order to see fruit produced in our lives. There is a particular area of my life wherein I am hoping to see fruit, and I suspect God brought us here so I could receive His guidance and reminders.
Our prayer for this church:
Father, We pray that this congregation continues to grow in service to You. We ask Your blessing on the leaders as they discern Your direction for this church. May they experience the joy of serving as You direct. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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