Today we enter week 4 of 12 in The Abide Project which includes the most vexing part of Jesus’ vineyard teaching. Who and what does Jesus have in mind when he declares in John 15:2, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away”? Is he opposing what many call the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints? Further, what is this verse’s connection, if any, with verse 6 in which he says branches are “thrown away … gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned”?
Sermons from September 2018
In the vineyard teaching, Jesus often describes fruit as being the result of abiding in Him. So, what is fruit? We believe fruit is anything and everything Jesus is doing in us and through us—in our community and other communities—all of which is worth celebrating.
Why does Jesus seemingly complicate the simplicity of His invitation to abide by introducing His Father as the vinedresser who cuts some branches and prunes others? Apparently, maintaining a close, dependent and life-long attachment with Jesus also requires a wholistic view of life. Here is good news for followers of Jesus – when life doesn’t make sense and when we feel alone, this more comprehensive view of reality includes the presence of a sovereign and loving vinedresser.
Today we begin The Abide Project, a 12-week journey to better understand and experience Jesus’ invitation to abide. In this teaching (John 15:1-11) on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus started by identifying Himself as “the true vine.” Why does He liken Himself to a vine and is there any significance to His use of the adjective “true?” As we explore answers to these questions, we discover that these words are more than the beginning of Jesus’ vineyard teaching, they are the beginning of life as we were created to live!
“If I find in myself a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”1 In one sentence C.S. Lewis exposes the universal hunger of our souls. It is a craving for more joy, strength, comfort, peace, help, guidance, love, awe, gratitude, compassion, self-control and more. Today we prepare in a variety of ways to begin a journey this fall to explore Jesus’ proposed solution for this longing. His answer comes as an invitation to “abide” so our focus for the next three months will be called, The Abide Project.
1 C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Glasgow: Fontana Books, 1975), 118.