1 00:00:06,390 --> 00:00:12,000 Let's pray for the message and also have a time of pastoral 2 00:00:12,010 --> 00:00:13,400 prayer. Let's pray. 3 00:00:14,350 --> 00:00:18,060 Loving Father, we thank you so much for your grace to us. 4 00:00:18,070 --> 00:00:21,320 Thank you that today we can draw near to you. 5 00:00:21,390 --> 00:00:26,700 You are a God who is not far away, and you delight to draw 6 00:00:26,710 --> 00:00:30,380 near to us. And so as we have sung these 7 00:00:30,390 --> 00:00:34,400 praises and these words of assurance, we thank you for who 8 00:00:34,410 --> 00:00:37,520 you are. Thank you that you are a God who 9 00:00:37,530 --> 00:00:40,390 cares what a friend we have in Jesus. 10 00:00:41,500 --> 00:00:44,820 Thank you so much that during this past week we have 11 00:00:45,510 --> 00:00:49,520 experienced your hand of protection, your hand of 12 00:00:49,530 --> 00:00:54,940 provision and guidance, your love to us as a shepherd, your 13 00:00:54,950 --> 00:01:00,160 care for us as the living eternal God, the Sovereign one 14 00:01:00,270 --> 00:01:03,540 who cares for your children. And now as a church family, we 15 00:01:03,550 --> 00:01:06,140 want to give thanks for answered prayer. 16 00:01:06,150 --> 00:01:10,540 Thank you for bringing Dan and Nikki back safely from overseas. 17 00:01:10,550 --> 00:01:14,220 Thank you for bringing the Fiji team back safely. 18 00:01:14,610 --> 00:01:18,500 Thank you for all your mercies to us and your provision today. 19 00:01:18,510 --> 00:01:22,860 Lord, we bring you our offering. We bring you this in worship to 20 00:01:22,870 --> 00:01:28,190 you with the gratitude and with the prayer that it will be 21 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,790 blessed and multiplied, that you will bless your people, bless 22 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,890 the missionaries and those who receive these gifts that we have 23 00:01:34,900 --> 00:01:37,410 brought to you. Further, we pray for those who 24 00:01:37,420 --> 00:01:41,310 are unwell at this time. We thank you for continued 25 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:44,220 blessing and recovery for Ria and for Eleanor. 26 00:01:44,990 --> 00:01:46,910 We continue to pray for their healing. 27 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,130 We pray for those who are unwell amongst us. 28 00:01:50,140 --> 00:01:55,050 Lord, we remember those who are seriously unwell and requiring 29 00:01:55,060 --> 00:01:57,680 treatment. We pray for your peace and your 30 00:01:57,690 --> 00:02:00,950 comfort for them and your strength day by day. 31 00:02:01,270 --> 00:02:03,530 Father, we remember the families amongst us. 32 00:02:03,660 --> 00:02:07,590 Thank you for the young ones. Thank you for the gift of new 33 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:09,470 life. Thank you for the little ones 34 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:13,610 and for those who care for them. Father, we pray for our elderly 35 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:15,850 today. We thank you for them. 36 00:02:15,860 --> 00:02:19,450 Thank you for their wisdom. Thank you for their experience 37 00:02:19,740 --> 00:02:21,610 and for their friendship with us. 38 00:02:21,620 --> 00:02:26,240 And we pray that they'll be encouraged in these days that 39 00:02:26,290 --> 00:02:29,300 may be difficult, maybe cold. We pray that they might be 40 00:02:29,310 --> 00:02:31,690 encouraged and strengthened for each day. 41 00:02:32,670 --> 00:02:36,420 Father, today as we approach your word, Lord, we come to you 42 00:02:36,430 --> 00:02:39,780 with reverence as Lee brings the message. 43 00:02:39,790 --> 00:02:43,180 We pray that we'll have open hearts that you will bless your 44 00:02:43,190 --> 00:02:47,280 word to us, that you'll help Lee as he speaks your word. 45 00:02:47,410 --> 00:02:50,410 We thank you for the true vine. We pray that we might abide in 46 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:52,840 you. And we pray this in Jesus name, 47 00:02:52,910 --> 00:02:56,660 Amen. All right, if you have your 48 00:02:56,670 --> 00:03:00,340 Bibles this morning, go ahead and grab them and turn to John 49 00:03:00,350 --> 00:03:05,970 Chapter 15. We are in the 4th week of our I 50 00:03:05,980 --> 00:03:11,400 M series and this is looking at the seven I AM sayings of Jesus 51 00:03:13,110 --> 00:03:19,930 as John recorded them. And today we're looking at I am 52 00:03:19,940 --> 00:03:24,760 the True Vine. Dan asked me to share from this 53 00:03:24,810 --> 00:03:27,030 passage as I've spoken from here before. 54 00:03:28,100 --> 00:03:30,570 So if you one of those people with a really good memory, some 55 00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:34,130 of this might be familiar. If you're new to Hook Annoy, or 56 00:03:34,140 --> 00:03:36,070 if you're bit like me and can't remember what happened last 57 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,280 week, little one, a couple of years ago, this will all be new, 58 00:03:39,540 --> 00:03:43,300 so that'll be good. Alright John, Chapter 15. 59 00:03:43,310 --> 00:03:45,950 We're just gonna read out the 1st 11 verses. 60 00:03:49,270 --> 00:03:52,600 Jesus says I am the true vine and my father is the vine 61 00:03:52,610 --> 00:03:55,650 dresser. Every branch in me that does not 62 00:03:55,660 --> 00:03:59,330 bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear 63 00:03:59,340 --> 00:04:02,180 fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 64 00:04:03,020 --> 00:04:05,350 Well, really you are clean because of the word that I have 65 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,230 spoken to you. Abide in me, and I and you. 66 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,310 As the branch cannot be a fruit by itself unless it abides in 67 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,620 the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 68 00:04:17,579 --> 00:04:19,910 I am the vine, you are the branches. 69 00:04:20,339 --> 00:04:24,110 Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that be as much 70 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:26,770 fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 71 00:04:27,570 --> 00:04:31,120 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch 72 00:04:31,130 --> 00:04:34,220 and Withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the 73 00:04:34,230 --> 00:04:37,990 fire and burned. If you abide in Me and My words 74 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,590 abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for 75 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,620 you. By this my Father is glorified 76 00:04:44,630 --> 00:04:49,010 that you bear much fruit, and so proved to be My disciples. 77 00:04:50,190 --> 00:04:53,380 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 78 00:04:53,460 --> 00:04:57,230 Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you 79 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,410 will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's 80 00:05:00,420 --> 00:05:02,070 commandments and abide in His love. 81 00:05:03,030 --> 00:05:07,200 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you 82 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:11,950 and that your joy may be full. This is probably given this 83 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,560 morning. Dear Lord, we thank you for 84 00:05:15,570 --> 00:05:18,140 these words of Jesus. Lord, I pray that you would be 85 00:05:18,150 --> 00:05:21,450 with us this morning as we unpack some of these and look 86 00:05:21,460 --> 00:05:24,940 into them. We just pray that you'd guide 87 00:05:24,950 --> 00:05:28,400 our thoughts and hearts. Help us to have ears to listen 88 00:05:28,490 --> 00:05:30,080 to what you'd have us to learn this morning. 89 00:05:30,090 --> 00:05:36,060 We pray in Jesus name, I mean. So this morning we're going to 90 00:05:36,070 --> 00:05:41,470 look at three things. We're gonna look at the troubled 91 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,180 vine, the true vine, and the triumphant life. 92 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:51,240 So first of all, why did Jesus use this imagery of a vine? 93 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,830 Like many of the iron statements that we've seen last week, we 94 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:58,510 looked at shepherd and sheep, other things like bread, light, 95 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,690 door, Rd. These things are just object 96 00:06:01,700 --> 00:06:05,550 lessons from everyday life, and Jesus used these to teach 97 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:07,810 theological truths to his disciples. 98 00:06:08,510 --> 00:06:12,020 And vines and vineyards were a big part of the life in Israel. 99 00:06:12,850 --> 00:06:16,380 In fact, in the 39 books of the Old Testament, 34 of them 100 00:06:16,390 --> 00:06:20,580 mentioned vines or vineyards. So there's some history to this 101 00:06:20,590 --> 00:06:24,590 imagery as well, this idea that Israel was a vine or a vineyard. 102 00:06:25,970 --> 00:06:28,490 And a number of these times are mentioned in the old system. 103 00:06:28,500 --> 00:06:30,110 And so I want to look at a couple of these. 104 00:06:30,950 --> 00:06:34,700 And so if you want to turn, turn to Genesis chapter 49, almost 105 00:06:34,710 --> 00:06:36,170 all the way back to the beginning. 106 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:42,790 And where? Read this together. 107 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:44,630 This is from the new King James version. 108 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,390 It's a little bit clearer than the SV in this instance. 109 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,710 It says the sector shall not depart from Judah, nor a 110 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,490 lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. 111 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,440 And to him shall be the obedience of the people, binding 112 00:07:00,450 --> 00:07:03,730 his donkey to the vine, and his donkey's cult to the choice 113 00:07:03,740 --> 00:07:06,930 vine. He washed his garments in wine 114 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,260 and his clothes in the blood of grapes. 115 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,410 So this piece of scripture is a prophetic blessing. 116 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,340 And like a lot of prophecy, there's some dual meaning in it. 117 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,610 The context is Jacob is blessing all of his children, and this 118 00:07:20,620 --> 00:07:23,630 part of the blessing is for Judah and for Judah's offspring. 119 00:07:24,980 --> 00:07:28,150 And the blessing of Judah is that rulers and lawmakers and 120 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,270 kings would come from his descendants. 121 00:07:31,290 --> 00:07:33,890 And then he paints this picture of rich blessings for Judah, 122 00:07:34,490 --> 00:07:36,600 that there would be so many grapes on the vine that you 123 00:07:36,610 --> 00:07:40,010 could tie a donkey up to it and not even worry about how much of 124 00:07:40,020 --> 00:07:42,920 the fruit and the vine that the donkey would eat. 125 00:07:44,030 --> 00:07:48,610 Or the wine flowed so freely you could wash your clothes in it if 126 00:07:48,620 --> 00:07:51,750 you wanted to. And so this is the direct 127 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,490 listing to Judah. But on top of this, we see this 128 00:07:54,500 --> 00:07:58,110 mention of Shiloh. And this is the Messiah. 129 00:07:58,220 --> 00:08:02,330 And the promise is that he will come through this line of kings, 130 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,890 through the line of Judah. And of course that was fulfilled 131 00:08:05,900 --> 00:08:08,760 in Jesus. You can't help but notice the 132 00:08:08,770 --> 00:08:10,470 other parallels though in this passage. 133 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,910 You know Jacob spoke these words 1700 years before Jesus came 134 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,110 into Jerusalem. Riding on a donkey's coat is the 135 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,730 true vine to spill his blood so we can have our garments washed 136 00:08:23,740 --> 00:08:27,480 clean by his sacrifice. Even today when we take 137 00:08:27,490 --> 00:08:31,240 communion, we use grape juice as a reminder of the sacrifice His 138 00:08:31,250 --> 00:08:34,679 blood spilt for us. No, this was a positive 139 00:08:34,690 --> 00:08:36,429 blessing. It was good. 140 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,770 This blessing of riches. It was a blessing. 141 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,280 Promise of the Messiah coming there was all very positive. 142 00:08:43,990 --> 00:08:47,930 So if we zoom forward 1000 years, we get to Isaiah the 143 00:08:47,940 --> 00:08:51,540 prophet and he tells us that there's some problems and Israel 144 00:08:53,410 --> 00:08:56,800 and Isaiah chapter 5, it's like a love song. 145 00:08:57,130 --> 00:09:00,140 It's a love song about God lovingly building a vineyard, 146 00:09:00,210 --> 00:09:04,930 vineyard for his people, Israel. He made it the very best. 147 00:09:05,100 --> 00:09:08,910 He gave it the best location, the best soil, the best 148 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,850 protection, everything the vineyard could need to flourish 149 00:09:12,900 --> 00:09:16,590 and produce the best grapes. But if we pick it up there in 150 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,810 verse 3, it says, and now our inhabitants of Jerusalem and men 151 00:09:20,820 --> 00:09:25,730 of Judah judge between me and my vineyard, what more was there to 152 00:09:25,740 --> 00:09:28,010 do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? 153 00:09:28,340 --> 00:09:31,630 When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild 154 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:33,890 grapes? And now I will tell you what I 155 00:09:33,900 --> 00:09:37,060 will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it 156 00:09:37,070 --> 00:09:40,170 shall be devoured. I will breakdown its wall and it 157 00:09:40,180 --> 00:09:44,050 shall be trampled down. Despite the very best of 158 00:09:44,060 --> 00:09:47,430 everything that God had provided for Israel, the vineyard was 159 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,070 failing. That was producing bad fruit 160 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,680 rather than good. This even tells us, for the 161 00:09:53,690 --> 00:09:57,310 vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the House of Israel, and the men 162 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,360 of Judah are his pleasant planting. 163 00:10:00,090 --> 00:10:03,280 And he looked for justice, but behold bloodshed for 164 00:10:03,290 --> 00:10:05,950 righteousness. But behold an outcry. 165 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,130 The vine. This vineyard was producing bad 166 00:10:10,140 --> 00:10:14,770 fruit and the reason for this in Israel was means sin. 167 00:10:15,510 --> 00:10:18,220 Sinful men had taken God's blessing the very good 168 00:10:18,230 --> 00:10:21,800 conditions He had provided and used them for their own gain, 169 00:10:22,780 --> 00:10:27,410 bringing evil and not good. So God says he will tear it down 170 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,510 and he will replace it. The broken vineyard would be 171 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,760 rebuilt when Shiloh the Messiah comes. 172 00:10:33,990 --> 00:10:37,980 And so from Isaiah, we zoom forward another 740 years and we 173 00:10:37,990 --> 00:10:40,620 find Jesus, the promised Messiah. 174 00:10:41,620 --> 00:10:44,530 And as he journeyed through Israel, he saw the results of a 175 00:10:44,540 --> 00:10:48,390 broken religious system, a system that was meant to produce 176 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,710 good grapes but that only produced wild ones. 177 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,430 And the side came, not as many were expecting. 178 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,330 They thought he would come and rid Israel of all its enemies, 179 00:10:58,340 --> 00:11:01,170 to get rid of the Romans who were ruling over them at the 180 00:11:01,180 --> 00:11:04,430 time. But he came to replace a broken 181 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:10,340 vine with the true vine himself. We see Jesus constantly fought 182 00:11:10,350 --> 00:11:12,990 with the religious leaders. He called them things like 183 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:17,320 Vipers and whited sepulchres because they were responsible 184 00:11:17,330 --> 00:11:19,420 for the spiritual wellbeing of Israel. 185 00:11:20,420 --> 00:11:22,710 They were meant to be looking after God's vineyard. 186 00:11:23,330 --> 00:11:25,180 They've taken something which should have been good and 187 00:11:25,190 --> 00:11:27,850 twisted it for their own greed and pride. 188 00:11:29,350 --> 00:11:33,200 So this troubled vine, this religious vineyard needed to be 189 00:11:33,210 --> 00:11:36,680 torn down and replaced with something bitter, something that 190 00:11:36,690 --> 00:11:38,720 couldn't be corrupted by man's sin. 191 00:11:39,490 --> 00:11:42,640 So in Jesus is saying, there I am the true vine. 192 00:11:42,890 --> 00:11:45,810 He's saying that this broken vineyard would flourish again. 193 00:11:47,020 --> 00:11:50,470 This time the vine couldn't fail because it was not reliant on 194 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:52,810 sinful man. It was built on a sinless 195 00:11:52,820 --> 00:11:54,760 Messiah. That's fine. 196 00:11:54,770 --> 00:11:59,070 Was the perfect vine. So we come to the true Vine. 197 00:12:00,130 --> 00:12:04,350 We come to Jesus, you know, in Jesus day there was a lot of 198 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,730 different religious ideas, beliefs and practises. 199 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,080 There was a lot of different vines in the vineyard and this 200 00:12:11,090 --> 00:12:14,730 hasn't changed even to today. So thought I'd have a little 201 00:12:14,740 --> 00:12:16,910 look at the vineyard of New Zealand. 202 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:21,190 Oi dug into some of the stats from the last century in census. 203 00:12:21,270 --> 00:12:25,530 That's not century last census in 2023 to see what vines we 204 00:12:25,540 --> 00:12:30,790 have in our country. And so the biggest vine is this 205 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,680 ugly thing. This is the vine of no religion. 206 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,940 51% of our population in the last census have passed the 50% 207 00:12:38,950 --> 00:12:43,550 mark for the first time. It's sad to think that as you go 208 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:47,710 about your day at work or school in your neighborhood, did over 209 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,370 half the people that that you see have no belief in anything 210 00:12:51,380 --> 00:12:54,620 outside of themselves? They're their own God. 211 00:12:54,700 --> 00:12:58,280 There's no higher purpose, no direction, no power in their 212 00:12:58,290 --> 00:13:01,370 lives, Sandy. This number goes up. 213 00:13:01,380 --> 00:13:03,380 The quality of our society goes down. 214 00:13:04,580 --> 00:13:07,150 You have to look in the news to see that's the case. 215 00:13:07,540 --> 00:13:11,130 A self focused society based on what man thinks and not what God 216 00:13:11,140 --> 00:13:15,080 sees will not thrive. So what's the next step? 217 00:13:15,090 --> 00:13:16,770 Well, this is one we could be happy with. 218 00:13:17,620 --> 00:13:21,270 This is the Christianity, Those Who took Christianity and the 219 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,790 religious column 32%. But even that number has gone 220 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,140 down in the five years since the previous census has gone down 221 00:13:29,150 --> 00:13:33,810 5%. There was 37 and of course not 222 00:13:33,820 --> 00:13:36,630 all that claimed to be Christian are Christian and will have a 223 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:38,920 look at that a little bit more shortly. 224 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:46,420 So there are some other vines in there, Hinduism, Islam, LDS for 225 00:13:46,430 --> 00:13:48,240 the most and the next most common. 226 00:13:49,900 --> 00:13:53,410 I was all I was surprised to see this number was quite small. 227 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:58,630 Atheist .13 and they gave the gave the punchline away there. 228 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,110 There's more. You're more likely in New 229 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,210 Zealand to meet a Jedi than you are an atheist, which I thought 230 00:14:05,220 --> 00:14:10,520 was kind of interesting. I want to zoom in on the the 231 00:14:10,530 --> 00:14:15,080 vine of Christianity. 32% claimed to be Christian in our 232 00:14:15,090 --> 00:14:18,270 land. So big some question how do we 233 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,580 know where the true Vine is? And all of us? 234 00:14:21,910 --> 00:14:23,840 Jesus helps us out a little bit there. 235 00:14:24,010 --> 00:14:28,210 He sees you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to 236 00:14:28,220 --> 00:14:29,530 you. That's one verse three of our 237 00:14:29,540 --> 00:14:30,940 passage that we read this morning. 238 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,830 Jesus words, his message, what we call the gospel is the only 239 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,760 true path to forgiveness and to wholeness. 240 00:14:40,330 --> 00:14:42,880 The disciples, they didn't have the completed word of God like 241 00:14:42,890 --> 00:14:44,860 we do. They couldn't read the New 242 00:14:44,870 --> 00:14:46,440 Testament cause they were still living in it. 243 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:51,770 So Jesus is the living gospel. They were forgiven and made 244 00:14:51,780 --> 00:14:55,540 clean because of their faith in what Jesus said and who he 245 00:14:55,550 --> 00:14:58,990 claimed to be. As Jesus was walking with his 246 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,590 disciples, He was teaching them what this new vine would look 247 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,430 like, tearing down the old religious fines to replace it 248 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:10,860 with something better and new. The New Vine We're pleased to be 249 00:15:10,870 --> 00:15:14,160 able to read the Bible, the completed Word of God today, and 250 00:15:14,170 --> 00:15:18,280 specifically the Gospel of John. John was the one disciple who 251 00:15:18,290 --> 00:15:20,960 really stressed this need for faith in Jesus. 252 00:15:21,860 --> 00:15:25,090 He was led to write this gospel at the end of the 1st century, a 253 00:15:25,100 --> 00:15:28,410 little bit later than the other synoptic gospels of Matthew, 254 00:15:28,420 --> 00:15:33,860 Mark and Luke, And John focuses on the deity of Christ and 255 00:15:33,870 --> 00:15:36,640 belief in their truth. In John's Gospel, the word 256 00:15:36,650 --> 00:15:40,760 believe is used about 100 times, almost twice as many as the 257 00:15:40,770 --> 00:15:44,340 other gospels. So what did John emphasise? 258 00:15:44,350 --> 00:15:47,520 Belief so much? Because it's not enough to know 259 00:15:47,530 --> 00:15:49,730 about Jesus. We have to do something with 260 00:15:49,740 --> 00:15:52,350 that. Your faith and trust and belief 261 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,630 must be in Him. So what about those who look 262 00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:58,530 like the Vine and our illustration but are not part of 263 00:15:58,540 --> 00:16:01,800 the true Vine? Well, this is where we see the 264 00:16:01,810 --> 00:16:06,030 God here that work in perfect unison, God the Father working 265 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:11,670 with the God the Son. We see this and this is 12 N six 266 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:16,290 of our passage and verse one that we see that Jesus sees my 267 00:16:16,300 --> 00:16:20,370 father is the vine dresser in verse 2. 268 00:16:20,380 --> 00:16:24,230 He said every branch in me that he does not bear fruit He takes 269 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,660 away, and very sexy says if anyone does not abide in me, he 270 00:16:28,670 --> 00:16:31,340 is thrown away like a branch and Withers. 271 00:16:31,350 --> 00:16:35,070 And the branches they gathered, thrown into the fire and boomed. 272 00:16:36,660 --> 00:16:39,340 You might have noticed that illustration on the PowerPoint 273 00:16:39,350 --> 00:16:41,130 this morning. It's got a bit smaller. 274 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,770 God the Father is the vine dresser and He removes anyone 275 00:16:45,780 --> 00:16:47,450 who is not genuine in their faith. 276 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:51,520 I think one of the scariest passages in the whole Bible was 277 00:16:51,530 --> 00:16:56,680 Matthew Chapter 7. This is 21 to 24 sees not 278 00:16:56,690 --> 00:16:59,860 everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of 279 00:16:59,870 --> 00:17:03,890 heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in 280 00:17:03,900 --> 00:17:07,690 heaven on that day, Minnie will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we 281 00:17:07,700 --> 00:17:12,230 not prophecy in your name and cast out demons in your name and 282 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,190 do many mighty works in your name? 283 00:17:14,900 --> 00:17:17,750 And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. 284 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,349 Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. 285 00:17:22,020 --> 00:17:24,690 The scary thing about this passage is that these people 286 00:17:24,700 --> 00:17:27,069 that Jesus are talking about here would call themselves 287 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:30,080 Christians. They would be within our 32%. 288 00:17:31,410 --> 00:17:35,200 They proclaim Jesus as Lord. They prophecy in Jesus name. 289 00:17:35,290 --> 00:17:39,470 They even do mighty works in his name, even casting out demons. 290 00:17:40,490 --> 00:17:44,160 And yet they lack one thing. They look like the vine. 291 00:17:44,810 --> 00:17:47,950 They're next to the vine, but they're not in the vine. 292 00:17:49,660 --> 00:17:51,820 Anyone can call themselves a Christian. 293 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,810 People tend to do it all the time that you're not on the 294 00:17:56,820 --> 00:17:58,940 vine, you're not a Christian just because you claim the 295 00:17:58,950 --> 00:18:01,950 title. You know you're not in the Vine 296 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,520 by how religious you look, the family you grew up in, the 297 00:18:05,530 --> 00:18:08,450 church you go to, the people you hang out with, or even the 298 00:18:08,460 --> 00:18:11,580 Christian service that you do. None of that makes you a 299 00:18:11,590 --> 00:18:15,260 Christian. You must repeat of your sin and 300 00:18:15,270 --> 00:18:18,480 your faith and trust fully be in the true vine. 301 00:18:18,530 --> 00:18:22,210 There can only be 1 Lord of your life and it has to be Jesus. 302 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,750 Jesus experience at first hand someone who looked like the vine 303 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:31,520 but wasn't in the vine. He had these 12 men and didn't 304 00:18:31,530 --> 00:18:34,130 eat 12 disciples and he was close to. 305 00:18:35,220 --> 00:18:38,530 If we look at that just after our passage this morning in this 306 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,790 15, this is no longer do I call you servants, for the servant 307 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,810 does not know what his master is doing. 308 00:18:45,820 --> 00:18:48,970 But I have called you friends for all that I have heard from 309 00:18:48,980 --> 00:18:50,810 my father. I have made known to you. 310 00:18:52,130 --> 00:18:54,860 He was closer to these men at times than his own family. 311 00:18:55,780 --> 00:18:58,040 They've been with them through his whole journey. 312 00:18:58,180 --> 00:19:01,790 They'd heard him preach, seen his miracles, and even done some 313 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:05,450 miracles themselves in his name. And you win. 314 00:19:05,460 --> 00:19:07,580 One of these men were not in the vine. 315 00:19:08,730 --> 00:19:10,810 Judas looked like all the other disciples. 316 00:19:10,890 --> 00:19:14,460 His faith was not in Jesus, though he was not in the vine, 317 00:19:14,470 --> 00:19:16,380 and he would ultimately betrayed Jesus. 318 00:19:17,340 --> 00:19:21,150 We can see the difference in attitude if we go to the Last 319 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,440 Supper. It seems there. 320 00:19:24,450 --> 00:19:28,100 Matthew 26 verse 20. When it was evening, he reclined 321 00:19:28,110 --> 00:19:31,800 at table with a 12 and as they were eating he said, Truly I say 322 00:19:31,810 --> 00:19:34,110 to you, one of you will betray me. 323 00:19:35,470 --> 00:19:39,880 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him, one after 324 00:19:39,890 --> 00:19:45,770 another, Is it I, Lord? If you jump down to this 25, it 325 00:19:45,780 --> 00:19:50,390 says Judas, who would betray him, answered and said, Is it I, 326 00:19:50,540 --> 00:19:54,220 Rabbi? He said to him, You have said so 327 00:19:55,230 --> 00:19:58,810 you see the difference there? Leaving the disciples said to 328 00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:01,590 the Lord, Is it I Lord, that will betray you? 329 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:07,360 And one of the side will see is that I, Rabbi Jesus was not his 330 00:20:07,370 --> 00:20:10,400 Lord, he was just a teacher to Judas. 331 00:20:11,530 --> 00:20:13,850 So the question is, who is Jesus to you? 332 00:20:14,550 --> 00:20:18,060 Is he just a teacher? Did he say and do some good 333 00:20:18,070 --> 00:20:25,480 things, or is he your Lord? Romans 8 or sort of Roman's tin 334 00:20:25,550 --> 00:20:29,800 this nines he's If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is 335 00:20:29,810 --> 00:20:33,770 Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the 336 00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:38,300 dead, you will be saved. So we need to be sure of this 337 00:20:38,310 --> 00:20:41,930 this morning. Can you confidently say that you 338 00:20:41,940 --> 00:20:47,070 are in Christ and that He is in you, that He is your vine and 339 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:51,600 you are His branch? From their starting point, we 340 00:20:51,610 --> 00:20:55,760 can have a triumphant life. You know, most people out there 341 00:20:55,770 --> 00:20:59,560 think that Christianity limits your ability to enjoy your life, 342 00:21:00,220 --> 00:21:03,650 that it's all about rules and regulations that holds you back 343 00:21:03,660 --> 00:21:07,120 from living free. Like so many things. 344 00:21:07,130 --> 00:21:10,700 And in life, the truth is often the opposite of what our culture 345 00:21:10,710 --> 00:21:14,120 tells us. So let's see what Jesus sees. 346 00:21:14,130 --> 00:21:18,680 A triumphant look, life look, look looks like and verse 11 347 00:21:18,690 --> 00:21:22,250 there he says these things I have spoken to you that my joy 348 00:21:22,260 --> 00:21:26,130 may be in you and that your joy may be full. 349 00:21:28,230 --> 00:21:30,140 Most people are pursuing happiness. 350 00:21:30,150 --> 00:21:34,280 We all want to be happy, right? To experience joy in our lives. 351 00:21:35,030 --> 00:21:37,490 As parents, we want our kids to grow up and be happy. 352 00:21:38,610 --> 00:21:41,400 The world tells us that to do that, you have to have lots of 353 00:21:41,410 --> 00:21:47,430 money, a nice house, nice car, good job, respect, fun, bigger 354 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,830 muscles, all that kind of stuff. If you get all those, you'll be 355 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,570 happy. That's what the world tells us. 356 00:21:53,220 --> 00:21:56,390 But we know that this endless pursuit is never satisfied. 357 00:21:57,180 --> 00:21:59,790 Chasing these things and even attaining some of them doesn't 358 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,030 bring the satisfaction we are told it will. 359 00:22:04,020 --> 00:22:07,570 All these things can come and go either instantly or over time. 360 00:22:08,690 --> 00:22:11,630 If your happiness is tied up in them, it can be devastating. 361 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,780 So when Jesus says he wants to give you his full joy, he's not 362 00:22:18,790 --> 00:22:22,130 talking about a life of comfort or of ease or of getting all the 363 00:22:22,140 --> 00:22:23,660 things that you want out of life. 364 00:22:24,780 --> 00:22:28,470 It's actually better than that. The joy that Jesus talks about, 365 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,610 this full joy comes from two things that we're going to look 366 00:22:31,620 --> 00:22:35,380 at now, relationship and purpose. 367 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:37,550 I'm going to see this from our passage. 368 00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:42,440 This you want to see that full joy comes from relationship. 369 00:22:44,090 --> 00:22:46,300 God created all the emotions that we feel. 370 00:22:46,310 --> 00:22:49,020 Love, joy, contentment, happiness. 371 00:22:49,390 --> 00:22:53,240 God created these. So it makes sense that we need a 372 00:22:53,250 --> 00:22:56,480 relationship with the author of these things to fully experience 373 00:22:56,490 --> 00:22:59,500 them. The 1st and most important 374 00:22:59,510 --> 00:23:03,110 relationship is of course with the true Vine, with God the Son. 375 00:23:04,820 --> 00:23:11,350 And verse 9 Jesus sees as the Father has loved me, so have I 376 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:13,750 loved you. Abide in my love. 377 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:17,010 Think about that love for a second. 378 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:23,480 As the Father loves the Son, so Jesus loves you in the same way 379 00:23:23,550 --> 00:23:26,480 as the with the same magnitude. As the Father loves his Son, 380 00:23:26,490 --> 00:23:30,160 Jesus loves you. It's an unconditional, 381 00:23:30,170 --> 00:23:34,950 unchanging 100% love and abiding, and their love is a 382 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,440 pretty good place to be. Sometimes we don't think we're 383 00:23:39,450 --> 00:23:41,430 very good at giving or receiving love. 384 00:23:42,430 --> 00:23:44,800 We might not think ourselves to be worthy of love. 385 00:23:45,900 --> 00:23:48,630 We might not trust the motives of someone trying to give us 386 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,750 love. Many times in this fallen world 387 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:57,090 we are hurt by those who are supposed to love us that we 388 00:23:57,100 --> 00:23:59,010 humans fail. God does not. 389 00:23:59,830 --> 00:24:03,360 His love is pure, reliable, and perfect. 390 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,140 You can experience true joy in your love and your life by 391 00:24:07,150 --> 00:24:11,420 abiding in His love. For John, the author of our 392 00:24:11,430 --> 00:24:15,300 Gospel this morning, this was an amazing thought to him. 393 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,940 In fact, in the Gospel of John, he never even uses his own name. 394 00:24:20,300 --> 00:24:24,390 He only ever refers to himself as the disciple that Jesus 395 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,480 loved. He was so blown away by the fact 396 00:24:27,490 --> 00:24:30,890 that God the Son would love him and would treat him as a friend 397 00:24:31,780 --> 00:24:34,950 and would put him at the centre of his earthly ministry, that he 398 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,070 used that title instead of his own name. 399 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,850 And we can claim that title too. That disciple that Jesus loves. 400 00:24:43,180 --> 00:24:46,770 What a privilege that is. There's a little verb that 401 00:24:46,780 --> 00:24:50,820 happens all the way through this passage this morning, and the 402 00:24:50,830 --> 00:24:54,640 word is abide, and the triumphant life is a life of 403 00:24:54,650 --> 00:24:58,160 abiding in Christ. So what does that mean? 404 00:25:00,090 --> 00:25:03,160 Certainly doesn't mean coming to church on a Sunday morning and 405 00:25:03,170 --> 00:25:05,100 forgetting about Jesus for the rest of the week. 406 00:25:06,550 --> 00:25:09,300 To abide with Christ as an even closer relationship than you 407 00:25:09,310 --> 00:25:14,400 would have with your husband or wife or a best friend is to do 408 00:25:14,410 --> 00:25:16,640 every moment of everyday with Jesus. 409 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,050 And the more we abide with Jesus and involve Him in the 410 00:25:20,060 --> 00:25:23,450 day-to-day activities of our lives, the more our friendship 411 00:25:23,460 --> 00:25:28,220 with Him develops. It's doing all of life with Him, 412 00:25:28,260 --> 00:25:30,850 the big important things down to the smallest things. 413 00:25:32,420 --> 00:25:35,720 Paul tells the Philippian church to pray without ceasing. 414 00:25:36,870 --> 00:25:38,630 And we think, how is that possible? 415 00:25:39,070 --> 00:25:40,530 We have other stuff to do, right? 416 00:25:40,540 --> 00:25:42,660 We've got to work and we got commitments. 417 00:25:42,700 --> 00:25:46,720 We've got family things, but when we understand this idea of 418 00:25:46,730 --> 00:25:49,680 abiding with Christ, we realise it's not one or the other. 419 00:25:50,380 --> 00:25:54,510 It's not prey or work or prey or take care of other commitments 420 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,580 as to do both. To abide is to do all those 421 00:25:58,590 --> 00:26:01,670 things with Christ. It means we leave those lines of 422 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,070 communication open even when we're busy with our day-to-day 423 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,320 activities or even if we don't have anything to say. 424 00:26:09,700 --> 00:26:12,490 Abiding and praying without ceasing is the same thing as 425 00:26:12,500 --> 00:26:15,300 doing everything in life with your best friend. 426 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,490 When we abide with Jesus, something starts to change 427 00:26:20,500 --> 00:26:23,220 within us. As we learn more about Him, we 428 00:26:23,230 --> 00:26:27,520 start to view the war world more through His eyes that priorities 429 00:26:27,530 --> 00:26:31,240 begin to change and we can begin to become more focused on the 430 00:26:31,250 --> 00:26:35,360 things that He cares about. Look at this incredible verse 431 00:26:35,410 --> 00:26:41,860 from first number seven. If you abide in Me, and My words 432 00:26:41,870 --> 00:26:46,140 abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done 433 00:26:46,190 --> 00:26:49,960 for you. When we abide in Christ, when 434 00:26:49,970 --> 00:26:53,320 His words abide in us, we desire what He desires. 435 00:26:54,650 --> 00:26:58,260 The needs of those 51% of people who don't know Christ we 436 00:26:58,270 --> 00:27:01,480 mentioned earlier, or the needs of our brothers and sisters in 437 00:27:01,490 --> 00:27:05,600 Christ become far more important than money, positions or status. 438 00:27:06,460 --> 00:27:09,700 And He promises to answer our prayer in these things. 439 00:27:11,270 --> 00:27:14,860 So full joy comes through a deep relationship with the true Vine, 440 00:27:14,950 --> 00:27:20,020 through abiding with Jesus. Secondly, we also see that full 441 00:27:20,030 --> 00:27:23,280 joy comes from purpose and justice. 442 00:27:23,290 --> 00:27:26,850 As we find joy through abiding in Christ, we find purpose 443 00:27:26,900 --> 00:27:28,850 through abiding in Christ as well. 444 00:27:30,470 --> 00:27:35,890 So what is our purpose? Verse 5 it says I am the vine, 445 00:27:35,900 --> 00:27:39,410 you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in Him. 446 00:27:39,420 --> 00:27:43,250 Here it is the bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do 447 00:27:43,260 --> 00:27:46,430 nothing. The Grapevine just has one 448 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,640 purpose, right? To grow grapes when we were in 449 00:27:50,650 --> 00:27:52,770 the Viner price, we had one purpose too. 450 00:27:53,460 --> 00:27:56,870 To grow fruit. Sounds like it should be easy, 451 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,570 but it's not. Our lives are busy, we get 452 00:28:00,580 --> 00:28:04,610 distracted, we get caught up in the day-to-day things and we 453 00:28:04,620 --> 00:28:07,690 forget our purpose. Sometimes we even fall into the 454 00:28:07,700 --> 00:28:09,400 trap of trying to produce our own fruit. 455 00:28:11,460 --> 00:28:13,270 There is good news from our passage though. 456 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,430 If we are in Christ and we abide with Him, we will bear fruit. 457 00:28:18,970 --> 00:28:23,350 Just as those who are not in the vine cannot be a fruit, those 458 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:25,950 are in the vine can't help but be a fruit. 459 00:28:27,170 --> 00:28:29,730 We are told twice in this passage, though we can't be a 460 00:28:29,740 --> 00:28:33,470 fruit by ourselves. The fruit comes from the life 461 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,920 given from the vine, the strength, the nutrients. 462 00:28:36,930 --> 00:28:40,380 The power is drawn through the vine and out to us, the 463 00:28:40,390 --> 00:28:43,940 branches. The closer we get to Jesus, the 464 00:28:43,950 --> 00:28:47,720 more fruit will be produced. The fruit grows through us and 465 00:28:47,730 --> 00:28:53,020 not by us, and hurting our lives doesn't need to be some green 466 00:28:53,090 --> 00:28:57,330 gesture, right? Some huge thing Jesus tells us 467 00:28:57,340 --> 00:29:00,680 that even giving a brother or sister a cup of water in Jesus's 468 00:29:00,690 --> 00:29:05,670 name is fruit. And Jesus puts a lot of emphasis 469 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:09,090 on loving each other and growing fruit by this means. 470 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,590 We see in verse 12, This is my commandment, that you love one 471 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:18,410 another as I have loved you. So here's the challenge this 472 00:29:18,420 --> 00:29:20,240 morning. Do you love the people around 473 00:29:20,250 --> 00:29:25,270 you, your brothers and sisters in Christ as much as Jesus loves 474 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:29,250 you? So fruit comes in different 475 00:29:29,260 --> 00:29:32,390 forms. There is fruit of evangelism, of 476 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:36,670 encouragement, of practical help as service and inviting in. 477 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,850 Christ will give us clues as to what He wants from us. 478 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:45,030 It will reveal opportunities for fruit to be produced through us. 479 00:29:45,620 --> 00:29:48,350 Jesus didn't seek out people to help. 480 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:52,150 They often came to Him or he just came across them as he went 481 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,220 about his day. And it's the same for us. 482 00:29:56,210 --> 00:29:58,090 We're told to minister where we are. 483 00:29:58,290 --> 00:30:00,760 We God has put you with the people around you. 484 00:30:02,230 --> 00:30:05,150 If they're unsaved, they need to be saved. 485 00:30:06,140 --> 00:30:08,900 If they're Christians, they need to be encouraged in their walk 486 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,290 and that is the fruit that we can produce. 487 00:30:13,990 --> 00:30:17,780 Christ will use what we have. He will do His work through us 488 00:30:18,070 --> 00:30:21,510 and sometimes that might be just small, sometimes it might be 489 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:25,120 bigger. It's fruit when it's done in His 490 00:30:25,130 --> 00:30:30,450 strength and for His glory. 1st 2 says that the triumphant life 491 00:30:30,460 --> 00:30:33,970 is not an easy life. In fact, the opposite is often 492 00:30:33,980 --> 00:30:36,750 true. Often it's the time of ease and 493 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:41,350 comfort in our lives that produces less fruit, and God 494 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:43,790 wants to produce much fruit in our lives. 495 00:30:44,460 --> 00:30:49,010 So we read this and face #2 every branch that does be a 496 00:30:49,020 --> 00:30:52,640 fruit, he prunes that a beer more fruit. 497 00:30:54,180 --> 00:30:58,670 There's a vine dresser prunes the the the the vine to produce 498 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,040 more fruit and the following season. 499 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:06,590 So the Father brings us to to produce more fruit in the 500 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:10,130 following season. He lovingly brings temporary 501 00:31:10,140 --> 00:31:14,250 pain into our lives for long term blessing to produce more 502 00:31:14,260 --> 00:31:18,700 fruit in our lives. And sometimes that pruning is in 503 00:31:18,710 --> 00:31:20,950 the form of cutting sin from our lives. 504 00:31:21,740 --> 00:31:24,600 The Holy Spirit convicts us through the Bible or through His 505 00:31:24,610 --> 00:31:28,230 people through circumstances that our sinful attitudes and 506 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,130 actions must be cut away for fruit to grow. 507 00:31:32,620 --> 00:31:35,430 Sometimes it's just the difficulty and stresses of life. 508 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:38,550 Now they are a form of provement, pruning from our 509 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,810 loving Father. The pain of losing someone close 510 00:31:41,820 --> 00:31:44,730 to us allows us in the future to comfort others. 511 00:31:44,740 --> 00:31:47,490 Brothers and sisters in Christ who are going through the same 512 00:31:47,500 --> 00:31:50,930 thing. Having to endure physical injury 513 00:31:50,940 --> 00:31:54,630 or poor health equips us to help others who are in the same 514 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,680 situation. Even the heart of our own 515 00:31:57,690 --> 00:32:02,180 failures can sometimes be used by God to produce fruit, helping 516 00:32:02,190 --> 00:32:04,250 others who struggle with the same sin. 517 00:32:05,710 --> 00:32:09,990 We produce more fruit because of the pain and providing pruning. 518 00:32:11,350 --> 00:32:14,800 The true path of following Jesus is called the narrow path, and 519 00:32:14,810 --> 00:32:18,720 it's called that for a reason. That's not a popular or easy 520 00:32:18,730 --> 00:32:21,820 path, but it leads to a triumphant life. 521 00:32:22,510 --> 00:32:25,710 A life that is not reliant on things going well, it's not 522 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,820 reliant on you getting all the things you want. 523 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,970 It's relying on two things that you can never lose and that can 524 00:32:31,980 --> 00:32:35,870 never be taken away from you. Your relationship with Christ 525 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:40,700 and your purpose in life. Christ is the true Vine, the 526 00:32:40,710 --> 00:32:44,010 sinless Son of God, the great I am. 527 00:32:45,110 --> 00:32:47,510 We have the privilege of being His branches. 528 00:32:49,190 --> 00:32:51,930 So my prayer for you this morning is that you are sure of 529 00:32:51,940 --> 00:32:56,750 your position and the true vine, that you abide with Christ, that 530 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:00,190 He is the most important relationship in your life, and 531 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,010 that you be a fruit so that your joy might be full. 532 00:33:04,610 --> 00:33:11,840 Let's pray together. Dear Lord, we thank you that we 533 00:33:11,850 --> 00:33:13,350 can have a relationship with you. 534 00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,970 We thank you Lord that we can walk with you everyday. 535 00:33:17,790 --> 00:33:20,020 We thank you that we have the privilege of joining you in the 536 00:33:20,030 --> 00:33:23,690 work that you are doing. I pray that you would be with us 537 00:33:23,700 --> 00:33:25,750 this week as we go out into a week. 538 00:33:26,450 --> 00:33:29,520 Pray this is if there's anyone here today who doesn't know you, 539 00:33:29,530 --> 00:33:33,100 who is not in the vine, that today would be this day of 540 00:33:33,110 --> 00:33:39,750 salvation for them. We thank you for all the good 541 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,610 things you've placed us with everyday for the privilege of 542 00:33:43,620 --> 00:33:48,650 calling Jesus a best friend. Help us to abide in the love of 543 00:33:48,660 --> 00:33:53,770 Christ, to produce food, fruit for your glory and your honour. 544 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,490 We thank you Lord, in Jesus name, Amen.