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.
CAN ONLY GOD OPEN DOORS?
"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7
Do you want to know the will of God in your life? Here's a test: how much time do you spend reading the Bible?
Do you think God really believes we want to know His will when we don't take even 15 minutes a day to read the one book above all books that God has specifically written to show us His will, to reveal His will to us, to unfold His will to us? We must surrender our will to His, and we must read His Word, meditate upon it, share it, and study it. When we bow to His will and read His will, we will begin to know His will.
Commit to reading God's Word at least 15 minutes a day for 30 days. When the month is over, reevaluate what you have learned and ask God to help you be obedient to daily Bible reading from this day forward.
Are you doing the will of God that He has already given you? God's Word is filled with His will for every one of us. If we are not actively doing what He has already revealed in His Word, then how can we expect that He will show us more of His will?
Some believe in the "open door" approach to finding God's will. We wait until a door opens, assume it is God who is opening it, and then go through it believing this to be God's will. The only problem with this approach is that it is not only God who opens doors. An open door is not always a sign of God's direction.
The Lord is never going to punish you or be disappointed in you when you genuinely seek Him and His will, the way He instructed you to.
Thought of the Day: Now go out there in the revealed will of God, submitting yourself to Him, and see and experience His will for you today!
"Staying Connected, Bearing Fruit"
“This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
What are you doing to fulfill God’s purposes in your life? In other words, how is God bearing fruit in your life?
Most of us believe our purpose is to glorify God, but we often don’t understand that bearing fruit is one of the clearest ways we bring Him glory.
In John 15:1-8, God’s desires are laid out with instructions in at least five succinct points. They are not difficult. They just require us to allow God to be God!
First. In John 15:3, Jesus explains, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” You must be a Christian. You are not cleansed by the blood of Christ unless you have wholeheartedly committed your life to Him as your Lord and Savior, expressing your faith in him and being buried with him in baptism. Romans 6:4 explains: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Second. Develop an intimate, passionate relationship with Jesus as He says in John 15:5, “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.” You must cultivate a growing relationship with Christ that allows Him to captivate and own your life.
Third. Allow God to continually bring ongoing convictions of who you are and what you are doing, so that you might be pruned for righteousness. Jesus, in John 15:1-2, teaches, “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.” A powerful way of doing this is to allow God’s word to speak at least one truth into your life each day in your daily quiet time. End your time with God each day by writing a very brief application that records what God revealed to you and what God wants from you. Remember, pruning may even be painful at times, but the result is growth!
Fourth. Pray for God to help you bear fruit through personal change or in showing Christ to the world around you. Trust God to enliven His truth in you as He uses you to reveal His Kingdom on earth. Jesus explains in John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” Do not allow God to be mere written words on a page. Pursue God through prayer, humbling asking for Him to continually work in and through your life.
Fifth. Repeat the first through fourth points every day throughout the rest of your life. In John 15:6, Jesus warns, “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.”
Failing to stay engaged with Jesus usually results in Christians lifelessly going through the motions of the Christian life. God wants you to not only experience Him, but to also live in His power.
When Jesus was asked when the Kingdom of God was coming, he said it was meant to be experienced now – not just in the future: “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is within you’” (Luke 17:20-21).
“Growing & Bearing Fruit”
“This is to My Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
When we give our lives over to Christ, God works in us and through us to bear fruit. Three Spirit-led actions will pave your road to fruitfulness.
Fruitfulness in your life with Christ almost always begins with repentance. Jesus said in Matthew 3:8, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” Real fruit is often born out of God’s conviction on where you currently are and where He wants to take you. When you ask new Christians whether their life has gotten easier or gotten more difficult, they almost always they say more difficult.
God has a lot of issues to work through with new believers as well as longtime followers of Christ. It is out of our repentance that God produces the change and fruitfulness for our new lives in Christ.
The second action, or posture, is obedience which naturally follows repentance. Matthew 12:33 illustrates the change that comes through obedience: "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.”
It is never enough to know where God wants to take you. You must repent and obey, so that God can produce the fruit He desires for you. Obedience is making the daily decision to live from Kingdom values rather than worldly values. It is the follow-through born out of conviction and faith.
Obedience leads to decisions that honor God, express genuine love to others, seek justice, and demonstrate the lordship of Jesus in our lives.
The final action, or posture, is being good soil. Transformation through fruitfulness is an ongoing process that will only happen if you continue to make your heart and mind fertile for God’s work. Jesus said in Matthew 13:8, “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
God’s work in each believer is not static; it involves continually moving toward hearing Him, obeying, and becoming more Christlike.
Psalm 1:3 further illustrates becoming good soil, so that God can make you fruitful: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
You plant your life in Christ throughout each day, establishing roots in him. You do this knowing that everything in your life will flow out of your relationship with Christ.
Your life in Christ is not frozen in time; it is growing, expanding, and maturing. Planting your life in Christ each day allows for constant feeding and refreshment from God which results in a fruitfulness that satisfies that soul.
Never remove yourself from the Source of your life, but rather continue to grow in how you dwell in Him. Fruitfulness may not always look positive, or be comfortable, or easy. But know that God is using it for His kingdom purpose!
John 15:1-4 “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.”
“Loving Like Jesus”
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” (John 15:9)
Have you ever felt incapable of loving others as Jesus has commanded you to love? As we read in John 13:34, Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
These two verses provide the standard for love— Jesus loved as God loved him, and we are to love as Jesus loves us. Such perfect love is impossible for us as imperfect people, but the standard and the objective remain. We are to love each other with the same type of love God has for us.
One of the keys to loving this way is to remain in Jesus. Walking with Jesus in authentic discipleship enables you to better understand and reflect the heart of Christ. As you walk with Christ, your life takes on the Godly qualities that were so representative of his life.
Jesus was able to love in the full spectrum of life’s situations. He was able to love when impatience was expected, anger was appropriate, and during times of disgust, hurt, agony, despair, betrayal, disappointment, and the list goes on.
The incredible power of love that Jesus possessed was a byproduct of the relationship he had with his Father. Listen to Jesus’ words in John 14:11: “Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”
Jesus remained consistent and faithful in his relationship with his Father throughout His life on earth. Jesus lived in constant connection and in communion with God the Father. It was out of this enduring relationship that the love that so represented his life flowed.
You too can have this power to love. If you remain in a relationship with Jesus, walk with Jesus, and grow in discipleship, you can reflect the heart of Jesus.
The incredible power of love that flowed from Jesus’ life can be yours too by learning to follow in his footsteps.
John 14:20-21 -- “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
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
The Image of Christ: Love - Tim Pyles - July 20, 2025
https://youtu.be/AZwQPKvOB_E?t=2156
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