John 15:1-17
Jn 15:1“I
am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. 2Every
branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch
that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3You are
already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in
Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless
it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
5“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I
in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. 6If
anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers.
They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If you remain in Me and My words remain
in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8My
Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My
disciples.
9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Remain in My
love. 10If you keep My
commandments you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s
commandments and remain in His love.
11“I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12This is My commandment: that you love one another just as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends. 14You are My friends, if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you slaves any more, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from My Father. 16You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you should go out and produce fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 17This is what I command you: that you love one another.[1]
[1]
Knight, G. W. (2001). A simplified harmony of the Gospels (pp.
215–216). Holman Bible Publishers.
Intro Questions
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
https://youtu.be/z7PF7g26f0k
https://youtu.be/oNNh33e1S98
Series: Connected “Abiding in Christ”
In a time of growing isolation and individualism, we are
reminded of how important it is to stay connected to God and to each other.
Jesus’ metaphor of the vine and branches calls us into a life of connection
over production as we abide in Him.
Title: “Greater Love” (John 15:9-17)
Bookmark: Click Here
Opening Thoughts:
Jesus makes it clear-our connection to him and to each other is rooted in
genuine, sacrificial love. We are called to a "greater love."
v Introduction.
===============================================================
Text: John 15:9-17
9 “As
the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If
you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s
commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you
this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My
command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater
love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You
are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I
no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s
business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned
from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did
not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and
bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the
Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love
each other.
===============================================================
Summarize the main story: Describe the events of the story in your
own words.
v Review and
retell the story.
Reflections for applications:
v Simon Sinek book title: Start
with Why
o What is your Why?
v Jesus’ Teaching on Love:
o Jesus loves us as the Father loves Him (v. 9)
o We remain in Jesus’ love by keeping His commands (v. 10)
o Obeying Jesus’ command to love leads to His joy filling us (v. 11)
o We are to love others as Jesus has loved us (v. 12)
o Jesus-style love is selfless and sacrificial (v. 13)
v What is your WHY?
o Putting others before yourself in a ME-FIRST world.
§ Picking up a family to take to church.
o The ME-FIRST
Mindset:
§ Craving recognition, admiration, and applause.
§ Taking credit for what others have done.
§ Becoming defensive when differing views are presented.
§ Rarely acknowledging sins or mistakes.
§ Blaming others for your own failures.
§ Resisting advice, new insights, or ideas.
·
1 John 3:16–18 NIV - 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his
life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but
has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear
children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
o The OTHERS-FIRST Mindset:
§ Put the spotlight on others.
§ Give others credit even when you’re being applauded.
§ Listen carefully to others. Stay teachable!
§ Confess your sins and acknowledge wrongdoing.
§ Share your resources easily and cheerfully; live from abundance, not scarcity.
o “No one ever changed the world by doing what the world was already
doing.” – Ian Simpkins
Philippians 2:5–11 NIV - 5 In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who,
being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death--even
death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him
the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue
acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
==============================
Digging Questions:
·
How
will you respond to making “Connection to Jesus”? What transformative move
needs to be made?
·
What do these biblical texts tell you about God and His nature?
·
What is God calling us (me and you individually) to do?
Take Away Challenges
·
What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you in
this passage? How will you apply it to your life this week?
·
Whom do you know who needs to hear this?
·
What is God bringing to your attention in this discussion? What
beliefs, thoughts or actions need to be addressed or changed?
Hashtags #Connected
#Unselfishness #ME-First #OTHERS-FIRST
Sunday sermon link https://youtu.be/vSwAYBaeg2k
Kevin’s Blog Link to more
resources: Click here for Kevin’s Blog Notes
Comments and resources with some more
resources:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A9-17&version=NIV
=====================
Series: Connected “Abiding in
Christ”
In a time of growing isolation and individualism, we are reminded
of how important it is to stay connected to God and to each other. Jesus’
metaphor of the vine and branches calls us into a life of connection over
production as we abide in Him.
Title: “Be the Branch” (John 15:1-8)
Bookmark: Click Here
Opening Thoughts: We often measure our value by what we produce. But as we
abide in Christ, our focus should be connection before production.
v How do we make assessments?
o Jesus answers that
question
===============================================================
Text: John 15:1-8
The Vine and the Branches
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also 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.
5 “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. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
===============================================================
Summarize
the main story: Describe the events of the story in your own words.
v Review and
retell the story.
Reflections
for applications:
v Identifiers
o Jesus = The Vine
o Disciples = The Branches
o God = The Gardener
§ Isaiah
5:2, 7 NIV - 2 .... Then he
looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. ... 7 The
vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah
are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
§ HEADLINE: A California woman cared for her ‘perfect’
succulent plant for two years. Then she found out it was fake.
v We
are expected to bear fruit
o The fruit we bear comes from the connection we have.
§ As you pour yourself into producing,
are you investing the same energy into connecting?
·
Luke 10:38-42 NIV - As Jesus and his disciples
were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her
home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening
to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to
be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister
has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the
Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few
things are needed--or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it
will not be taken away from her."
o Focus
on connection before production
§ Luke 24:50-51 NIV - When he had led
them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them,
he left them and was taken up into heaven.
§ Matthew 28:20 NIV - … And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age."
==============================
Digging
Questions:
·
How will you
respond to making “Connection to Jesus”? What transformative move needs to be
made?
·
What do
these biblical texts tell you about God and His nature?
·
What is
God calling us (me and you individually) to do?
Take
Away Challenges
·
What has the Holy Spirit revealed to you in this passage?
How will you apply it to your life this week?
·
Whom do you know who needs to hear this?
·
What is
God bringing to your attention in this discussion? What beliefs, thoughts or
actions need to be addressed or changed?
Hashtags #Connected #Branch #Production
Sunday sermon link https://youtu.be/x5kvUhjsc1M
Kevin’s Blog Link to more
resources: Click here for Kevin’s Blog Notes
Comments
and resources with some more resources:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A1-8&version=NIV
No comments:
Post a Comment