He is D vine I am D branch

He is D vine I am D branch Mountain Life Church/Life Pack/Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 2013

He is D vine, I am D branch Sermon Notes August 31-September 1, 2013 I. The Highest Priority A. The True Vine 1. Is this arrogance? 2. The confidence of Jesus B. The Gardener 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. His focus on the branches Prunes what bears fruit Cuts off what does not bear fruit His goal is to see fruit in the branch He is glorified by the branches that bear much fruit C. The Branches 1. Bear fruit or die! 2. Self manufacture of fruit is impossible 3. Their primary purpose is to abide in the vine II. Abiding in the True Vine A. Intimacy with God 1. Daily time alone Requires discipline I WILL be rewarded Overcome all obstacles to intimacy 2. Grace, not law! Get to, not got to! Don t get under condemnation when you miss a day B. Practicing the presence of God (Brother Andrew) 1. 2. 3. 4. 2 Developing God consciousness throughout the day Moment by moment repentance Be aware of when you grieve or quench the Holy Spirit Be aware of the peace that guards the heart 19

Table Talk Teens Read John 15:1-8 In John 15, Jesus now instructed His disciples on three vital relationships. Disciples are to be rightly related to Jesus, to each other, and to the world. Disciples have three respective duties: To remain (abide), to love each other, and to testify. III.Bearing Fruit A. Abiding in Jesus (vs. 4-5) B. Abiding in the Word (v. 7) C. Brings glory to the Farmer (v. 8) D. Brings joy to the branch (v. 11) E. The friend of God (vs. 12-15) Question One: In John 15:1, describe who the true vine is and who the Gardener is. Question Two: The Father desires fruit from his disciples. Name the three fruit progression in John 15:2-5. Question Three: Fruitfulness is the result of the Son s life being reproduced in a disciple. The disciples part is to remain (abide). The word remain occurs 11 times in this chapter and 40 times in the entire Gospel. What does it mean to remain? Question Four: For the branch to produce more fruit, it must abide, which means to dwell, to stay, to settle in, and to sink deeper. The way to abide in Christ is to obey. The believers who lovingly obey the word of God will produce much fruit. What are ways that you can produce much fruit? 18 3

Life Group Questions for August 31-September 1, 2013 Message =He is D vine, I am D branch Ice Breaker: Tell about the best or worst car you ve ever driven. Read John 15: 1-15. 1. What do you observe about this passage? 2. As you read about branches that are cut off and thrown away, what do you think Jesus is saying about people who do not bear fruit? 3. How does the message that Jesus taught (verse 2) prune us? 4. What is the Gardener s greatest goal for the branches on his vine? 5. Randy talked this past weekend about two kinds of fruit. If you were present for the message, please define the two kinds of fruit and tell if you agree or disagree with Randy s definition of these fruits. 6. Have someone read Galatians 5: 22-23. What fruits of the Holy Spirit do you see that are growing in you recently? Table Talk Elementary Topic Abiding in Jesus Day 1 - Read John 15:1-11. What does the word abide mean? (In this case it means to stay in fellowship with Jesus so that He can work in and through us to produce fruit.) If you were to produce fruit, what might it look like? Your life produces fruit all the time. Not fruit that you can eat or even touch, but fruit in the sense that your life leaves a mark or impression on others. This can be good or bad. Have you ever eaten a rotten/old piece of fruit? My guess is if you have, that it was not not a pleasant experience. What do people see in you, someone who produces good fruit or not-so good fruit? Day 2 In order for grapes to grow they must be attached to the plant, or the vine. The same goes for you, if you wish to produce good fruit then you must be attached to the Source, Jesus. Do you spend time with Jesus? Explain. Day 3 Have you ever tried to get through something (a problem or difficult situation in your life) on your own? What was it like? What are some ways you can abide in Christ? Do others see Jesus in the way you respond to problem? 7. Based on verse 8 of John 15, how is the Father glorified? 8. Verse 11 tells us what happens to us as we abide in the Vine and bear fruit. What does the verse say happens to us? 9. Pray for one another. 4 17

Table Talk Preschool & Nursery John 15:1-8 Day 1: Read John 15:1-8 As a family, discuss what a grape vine looks like and how it has a vine, branches, and fruit. Ask if they think grapes will grow on a branch that is not connected to the vine. Jesus was explaining to His believers that He cannot do great things through them if they do not stay joined to Him. Talk about ways we can stay joined to Jesus. Day 2: Read John 15:1-8 Discuss what it means to have Jesus in your life. Jesus wants us to let Him be in control of our life and work through us in our daily activities and interactions with others. Jesus wants to help others through us. Pray together, as a family, to have Jesus come into your daily life and work through you. Memory Verse: I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 Day 3: Read John 15:1-8 (yes, again...repetition is important for toddlers and preschoolers) Share some ideas of what good things you and Jesus can do together to help others. Share an example of a time in your life where you tried to do something without Jesus and what happened. Then, share what happened when you did something with Jesus. Activity: Have a grape themed day... wear purple, eat grapes for a snack, have some grape juice with dinner, make a grape themed craft (include the vine, branches and fruit). Work on the memory verse together. 16 Personal Devotion Pages The following pages are designed to help you enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relationship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom. LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God. BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol: INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol: ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their relationship with Him. These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a regular basis. There are no rules here. Please don t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in better than cramming. Enjoy! 5

Day One 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Meditate on John 15: 1-5. 3. Write down in this space what the Holy Spirit says to you through your time of meditation. Day Five 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. John 15:5, NLT 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! ~John 15:7, NLT So, how do I abide in someone I can t see, touch, feel, or even hear with my physical ears? How do I have relationship with Jesus regularly if He is invisible? Jesus makes it simple. In verse 5, instead of saying, if you stay joined to me, and I remain in you, He says, if you stay joined to me, AND MY WORDS REMAIN IN YOU... Memorize John 15: 5 Memorize John 15: 1-5. Memorize John 15: 1-8. Basically, Jesus is telling us to remain in His word on a daily basis. The word is tangible and provides us with examples, truths, and principles that we can practice daily and even hourly. If I become a listener to the word, as well as a doer of the word, I abide in Jesus. When I pray in the mornings, I enjoy taking time to read the word while I pray and talk to the Lord. The Bible provides vocabulary for the Holy Spirit abiding inside of me to speak and minister to me. The word is how the Holy Spirit keeps me anchored to Jesus, enabling His life to live through me. He takes the word and speaks it to my heart, convicting, encouraging, edifying, and counseling me. My first goal must be to overcome the pillow. Whether I meet Jesus at night or in the morning, sleep and comfort are my enemies. I have to rouse and discipline myself to be with Him. As I practice this, the joy of the Lord will come and it will gradually become easier and easier to make Him my greatest priority. 6 15

Day Five 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. Day One I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. John 15:1, 2, NLT 2. Take time to thank God for victory and fruit that you are able to see in your life. What all of us would love to hear is that the gardener loves his branches and desires the best for them. However, the first words out of Jesus mouth in this metaphorical story have to do with suffering. Both kinds of branches suffer. The branches that bear fruit suffer from pruning and the branches that bear no fruit suffer by being cut off completely. Apparently, suffering is part of the grape growing business. 3. Pray for people you love for a few minutes. Ask the Lord to lead you as you pray, teaching you to pray in the Spirit. The first few verses hit us with hard prophetic reality. The farmer removes branches that bear no fruit. His goal for His branches is that they bear fruit. He is glorified by branches that bear much fruit (verse 8). Branches that do not bear fruit are removed and thrown into the fire where they are consumed (verse 6). This is most certainly a picture of judgment. Jesus audience is made up of Jews. They have long thought that the Abrahamic blood in their veins gives them an instant ticket to paradise after death. Jesus words are a wet blanket to that line of thinking. 4. Finish your Bible memorization today. In America today, the great majority of people think just like the Jews. They believe they will go to heaven. Most do not even believe in Hell. Jesus words slap us awake from a dull stupor. Salvation is not automatic in this Farmer s vineyard. God, confirm to me deep in my heart if I am truly a branch that bears fruit. If I am not bearing fruit, would you teach me how to abide in Jesus? 14 7

Day Two 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Meditate again on John 15. 3. As you pray, ask God to show you anything that keeps you from receiving and acting on His word. 4. Pray for Jesus to make Himself real to you as you go through the rest of the week, through the day, and hour by hour. 5. Continue memorizing and meditating on the scriptures for this week. Day Four 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. ~John 15:5, NLT The secret to abundant life, says Jesus, is to abide in Him. This involves regular time alone with Him, as well as an ongoing consciousness of His presence through the day. Could you imagine a marriage working out without personal time spent together? A husband and wife need intimate time of communication and care. Without it, their relationship will devolve into a roommate situation, rather than a vibrant marriage. Jesus words imply an intimacy that comes from being alone with Him. Without such one on one time, fruit will not emerge on our branches. Just as vineyards face all sorts of pests and diseases that attack it, so does the follower of Jesus. When the enemy of bitterness creeps into our lives, it s very difficult to have fruitful, intimate time with God. His word will grow stale, and His voice will seem far away until we deal with our unforgiving heart. All of our idols need to be continually and unmercifully eradicated from our lives. If I continue to hold idols in my heart, my fruit will dry up. When Jesus tells us to abide in Him, He is wisely telling us to keep all enemies out of our life. If we are not vigilant, we will not be fruitful. Apart from Jesus, we cannot live the abundant life He promises. I cannot manufacture the fruit of the Spirit, nor can I have real influence on others if Jesus is not living through me. Father, prune all my idols away. Show me where I hide sin from You. Cleanse me and make me whole! 8 13

Day Four 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Enjoy several minutes of prayer for your family and friends. Pray also for your pastor and other people who lead you spiritually. Day Two You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. ~John 15:3, NLT This is a strange verse. Think about it. Jesus disciples are metaphorically fruit bearing branches simply because they accepted by faith the message Jesus gave them. The New Testament writers believed the Word of God was a sharp sword. The writer of Hebrews says it for all the writers when he says, For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires (Hebrews 4: 12). 3. Meditate on Psalm 51. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any sin in your life. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. In this passage, Jesus not only boldly proclaims that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, but that His words ARE the Word of God. Whew! His words divide. They divide between believers and nonbelievers, between the proud and the humble, between fruit bearers and the barren. The Gardener has already done His job - the simple men who chose to follow Jesus had been pruned out from the proud, unbelieving hordes. It was not enough to love Jesus sermons, to be awed by His authority. It was not enough to think highly of Him and His character. Pruning removed the doers from the listeners, the faithful from among the lukewarm. Jesus, thank You for Your life changing message. I receive it with joy and ask that You begin or continue to bear fruit through me in the coming days. 12 9

Day Three 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Read Ma^hew 14: 23, Ma^hew 26: 41, Mark 1: 35, Luke 5: 16, and 6: 12. What do you see about Jesus prayer life? Write it down here. 3. Bring at least three friends or loved ones to the Lord and ask Him to bring them to repentance and faith. Ask Him to show you how you can boldly love them and speak the words of Jesus into their lives. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Three 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. ~John 15:4, NLT Remain has several synonyms. Abide, continue, and stay all convey the same idea of intimate relationship that is anchored by devotion and loyalty. Jesus tells His disciples that this is the key to real fruit bearing. Looking at Jesus life, we see two kinds of fruit that He bore in large amounts. First, there is the inner fruit of character development. Paul calls it the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5). This fruit emerges as we hang out with Jesus regularly. The Holy Spirit, as He is free to be Himself in me, develops Christlike character from the heart outward, causing me to act and think more like Jesus. Jesus also bore the outer fruit of Kingdom influence. Outer fruit is seen when God uses me to give joy, peace, and the Gospel to others. It s seen when I boldly live out the Gospel and share it openly with others. Outer fruit reveals itself as people are edified and grow spiritually because of my influence in their lives. Father, I chose You. Be my greatest priority, my highest value, my closest Friend. I pray that Your life will begin to be lived through my life. 10 11