Hello friends!

Here we are at the last week of our series “I AM: Who Jesus is and what He came to do”. We really hope that this deeper look into Jesus’s life and self-descriptions has been encouraging and empowering for you. Now more than ever we, the people of God, need to seek after Jesus and place Him in the center of our lives. This last statement that Jesus makes ends up being the culimination of all the “I AM” statements. Again, I would HIGHLY recommend checking out any of those other sermons that you missed. As we examine this last statement and what it means for us, please know how much we, the staff of Phos, love you all and are praying for you continually. We are here for you and are grateful for the opportunity to serve with you. More than that, know and believe that Jesus loves you!

Abiding in the Vine

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” —John 15: 1 - 11

As you will hear in the sermon, I share a piece of my life story about my struggle with major depression a few years ago. Without fleshing all that out here, that struggle left me very, very low and weak, fighting suicidal thoughts, feelings of worthlessness, and a complete lack of trust in God and people. And so I withdrew into myself and began isolating from friends, church, and God, because of that lack of trust. What I truly didn’t understand and had forgotten was that withdrawing from God and people would make my struggle worse.

This last “I AM” is apart of Jesus’s last teaching to His disciples before He went to die on the cross. He is trying to encourage and prepare them for His soon departure by tying up all of His teachings in this last discourse. Jesus is the Light of the world, shining light into the darkness of our lives and showing the way out. He offers us the Living Water to be the source of true life for us. He is the Bread of Life and by taking in the fullness of God, trusting our Savior and obeying our Lord, we will find and share true life with others. Jesus is the Door, allowing us out of sin and death and opening the way to abundant life. He is the Good Shepherd, leading and guiding our lives with new and full purpose. Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, giving us the Holy Spirit to fill us with the power and life of God in order to live like Jesus in this world.

And so all of this combines into Jesus saying, “I am the true vine…”. Jesus is the vine, literally life itself and produces new life, the branches, who are us His people. We are extensions of His life and produce fruit, which also provide sources of life for others. The fruit that we produce is the Fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness, self-control“. This “fruit” can help others come to know who God is, as it is the life and attributes of God and allows others to see God through us, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” The key to all of this for us, to all of the I AM statements lies in one word: “ABIDE”.

To abide means to remain in, to stay connected to, to dwell in, to exist or manifest in, to live in. Jesus is saying that He is the source of life, of hope, of power, of purpose, of identity, of joy, of comfort, of peace, of contentment, of truth, of love. He has provided all of that for us. He has done all of the work, all of the heavy lifting for us. All we need to do is seek, and know, and pursue, and live in what He has provided for us. If we stay connected to Him, we will live in Him and all that He has done for us. We will look like Him, be like Jesus, and produce His fruit if we abide in Him. As we abide in Him, He may prune us, strip and cut away the parts of us that don’t look like Him, the parts that are dead. It may be painful. But if He doesn’t, those dead spots will spread and poison us, poison our fruit, and threaten our lives. And so the parts of us that don’t look like Him: sin, addiction, overreliance on earthly wells, bad relationships, bad careers, unwise choices, poor habits, etc., Jesus will prune away for our spiritual health.

When we are not abiding in the Vine, intertwined and connected to the other branches of the Vine, we are disconnected to the source of life itself. We dry up, grow malnourished, become empty and hollow and diseased, and we die. If we are not connected and living and abiding in the source of life, Jesus, we die.

Branches and Fruit

That’s what happened to me. I allowed some diseased things to grow in my life. So I grew sick. And I stopped abiding in God. I disconnected myself from the Vine and other branches. And so I became empty, hollow, dried up, and started to die. But it was through some very good friends, Christ-followers, other branches who were abiding and producing the fruit of the Spirit, that led me back. They shared their fruit, love and joy and peace and all the others with me. They did what we are supposed to do, they produced the fruit of the Spirit from abiding with God and shared it with me, the broken and helped heal me and reconnect me back to the Vine with the other branches. They didn’t judge me for my sin and brokenness because they had been there too at points in their lives. They showed me the light and truth of Jesus and helped me walk back and trust God and His people again. I am alive today because of their life.

We cannot live apart from the Vine. Branches who are not intertwined with other branches, who are not abiding in the Vine dry up and die. By abiding in Jesus, we produce the life of Jesus in us and so others gain access to the life of Jesus through us! We know this season has been a very hard one on so many people. We know that many of you, of us, are struggling and feeling empty and dried up and need to be connect to the Vine and with the other branches. But currently it is difficult to do that because of the pandemic.

That is why we are HIGHLY ENCOURAGING you to get connected to a small group/porch party. You can find ways to do that through our wedsite, through the Phos App, or even just by emailing/calling/texting one of the staff. Perhaps we can’t all be together in one room right now but that doesn’t stop us from being with one another! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, engage in one of these porch parties. And if you can’t do that because of health reasons, call or text someone. Zoom with someone. But don’t just withdraw inward. Don’t hide in the shadows. You cannot live apart from life Himself. Let us help you! So that you can help someone else.

Consider these questions this week:

1.) What does the life of someone look like who is connected to the Vine? What about someone who is disconnected?

2.) Are you in a season where you feel connected to the Vine or not? How can you tell?

3.) What step can you take this week to connect or connect better to the Vine?

You are loved! Believe it!