1 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,680 Well, good morning, church. It is great to see you take your 2 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:23,240 Bibles and open up to the Gospel of John chapter 15. 3 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,640 John chapter 15, that's page 958. 4 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:30,320 If you're using a Bible in the seat around you, if you don't 5 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:31,920 have a Bible, please take that one. 6 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,400 And we would love for you to have that as our gift to you. 7 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,360 I want to welcome those of our church family at Forward 8 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,040 Kitchener who are joining us throughout the month of 9 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:46,480 September for our series as we walk through this journey of 10 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:49,520 being devoted as a church family together. 11 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,320 And earlier on, when you came in, both in Kitchener and here 12 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:55,680 in Cambridge, you would have received a Communion Cup. 13 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:58,400 If you did not receive a Communion cup when you came in, 14 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,200 would you just raise your hand? We're going to make sure that 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,560 you do receive 1. And we will be having Communion 16 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,640 together a little bit later in the service. 17 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,880 Communion is a sacred time for us as Christians to come and 18 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,560 remember what Jesus has done for us on the cross. 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,600 And just as those community cups are being handed out, I have a 20 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,440 privilege of announcing a marriage that's coming up here 21 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,000 in our church family. So my pleasure to announce the 22 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,040 marriage between Bradley James Francis Bates of Cambridge, ON 23 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,200 and Liza, Virginia Nil of Guelph, ON. 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,280 The wedding is to take place, Lord willing, on Saturday, 25 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,200 September 27th in the Township of Puss Lynch in the county of 26 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,480 Wellington. And we want to extend God's 27 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,840 great blessings to Brad and on their wedding day and for many 28 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:47,640 years of marriage ahead. Would you join me? 29 00:01:54,610 --> 00:01:56,650 All right. Well, last week we launched into 30 00:01:56,650 --> 00:02:01,650 this series called Devoted, and we heard this one really simple, 31 00:02:01,850 --> 00:02:04,610 important, critical, foundational truth for our 32 00:02:04,610 --> 00:02:06,810 lives. And it's simply this. 33 00:02:06,810 --> 00:02:12,720 Jesus has won the victory over sin, that all of us are sinners 34 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,560 by nature and by choice, that we have all failed. 35 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,480 God created this barrier between US and God. 36 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,560 But Jesus came, paid the price, so that you and I could be 37 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,360 reconciled and made right with God. 38 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,040 That there's nothing you or I could ever do or ever need to do 39 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,440 to be made right with God. It's the best news in the whole 40 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,040 world. It's the news that gives life 41 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:41,640 and joy. It is God's gracious good gift 42 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,120 to us. Amen. 43 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,480 Well, as we start into the second week of the series, I 44 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,440 want to ask you this question. How would you define success in 45 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,240 life? How would you define success? 46 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,560 If you're like most people, success probably looks something 47 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:00,520 like this. Do. 48 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,560 Are my family relationships in a good place? 49 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,280 Are my friendships in a good place? 50 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,480 Do I have a career that I like and enjoy? 51 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,880 Am I advancing in the career that I want to advance in? 52 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:16,760 How's my schoolwork going? Am I passing in my my classes 53 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,200 and all that I'm trying to get involved in? 54 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:24,120 Do I have good physical health or my finances in good order? 55 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:25,880 Do I have a healthy bank account? 56 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:30,440 Some of us, you might define success just as am I just 57 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,440 participating? Like am I just existing and 58 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,720 getting through the day and participating in life? 59 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:40,320 And I, I, I just want to say, I'm not sure how you define 60 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,360 success, but participation awards are not success. 61 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,720 OK, I'm not sure what they are, but they're not success. 62 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,520 They're something for some of us, success might just be, hey, 63 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,400 did I make it through the night and sleep the whole night 64 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:56,960 without having to get up and go to the bathroom? 65 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:03,520 That's success in life. And it is fair for every single 66 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,440 person to have their own definition of what success is. 67 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,400 You can have that, your own dreams, your own ideas of what 68 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,880 success looks like in your life. But in John chapter 15, Jesus is 69 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:20,120 going to give to us his definition of success, that 70 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:25,200 Jesus has one goal, one definition of success for every 71 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,320 single one of his believers. It is one overarching thing that 72 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,920 all of us have in common that has been given to us by our 73 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,320 Creator and our Redeemer. This is what our Savior wants 74 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,560 for us. So turn to John 15 beginning at 75 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:44,240 verse one. I am the true vine, Jesus says, 76 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,960 and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not 77 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:53,120 produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that 78 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,040 produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 79 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,000 You are already clean because of the word that I've spoken to 80 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,200 you. Remain in me, and I in you. 81 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:09,080 Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless 82 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,080 it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 83 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:18,400 I am the vine, You are the branches, the one who remains in 84 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:23,560 me, and I and him produces much fruit because you can do nothing 85 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:27,440 without me. If anyone does not remain in me, 86 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,120 he's thrown aside like a branch, and he Withers. 87 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,240 They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they're 88 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,200 burned. If you remain in me and my words 89 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,440 remain in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for 90 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,720 you. My Father is glorified by this, 91 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:48,480 that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. 92 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,440 As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. 93 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,360 Remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you 94 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:00,080 will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands 95 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:05,080 and remain in his love. Here's what Jesus teaches us in 96 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:10,600 these verses, that the goal of the Christian life is increasing 97 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,960 fruitfulness. He uses this metaphor of a vine 98 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,280 and branches in this passage. And sometimes when people are 99 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,400 studying John chapter 15, they're putting a lot of energy 100 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,160 and trying to identify what does he mean by vine? 101 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,280 What does he mean by branches? And we miss a theme that keeps 102 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:30,360 repeating throughout these verses, and it's the theme of 103 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,600 increasing fruitfulness. In verse 2, he says every branch 104 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,080 that produces fruit is to produce more fruit. 105 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:43,440 In verse 5, he says every branch should produce much fruit. 106 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,320 In verse 8 he says it again produce much fruit. 107 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,360 Some translations will even say produce much more fruit. 108 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,360 And there's this progression, as Jesus is teaching in John 15, 109 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,720 that as we go through the journey of our lives as 110 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:03,120 Christians, your life, my life, should be increasingly bearing 111 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,400 more and more fruit. And this idea of fruitfulness is 112 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,200 not a brand new idea in Scripture. 113 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:14,560 In fact, if you go back to the book of Genesis chapter 1 and 114 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:19,040 verse 28, God gives to the very first humans before sin ever 115 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,280 comes into the world and messes things up. 116 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:26,800 God and his created design for humans says this is part of the 117 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,920 mission, the purpose that is given to every one of us. 118 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,000 And it's this to be fruitful and multiply. 119 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,160 Now most of the time when we hear that word be fruitful and 120 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,560 multiply, we think go and make lots of babies. 121 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,880 And there is a part of that that's true. 122 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:45,560 But fruitfulness is not limited to making lots of babies. 123 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,720 God made humans from the very beginning of creation to be 124 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,200 people who were fruitful. We've talked about this before. 125 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:57,040 As humans, we are made in God's image, which means we're not 126 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:03,240 God, but we are made by God to reflect what God is like, to 127 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,240 give the world, the people around us, all of creation, a 128 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:07,840 little taste of what God is like. 129 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:12,080 If you want to best sum up your purpose in life as a human 130 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,960 being, it is in everything you do, wherever you are, that you 131 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,720 are always reflecting God to this world. 132 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:25,560 That is your ultimate purpose. And so fruitfulness is the 133 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,960 evidence of the fullness of God in your life. 134 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:36,480 It's when everything about you is reflecting everything about 135 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,960 what Jesus is like. It's when you are filled with 136 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:44,400 love and joy and peace and gentleness and goodness and 137 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,160 patience and all those words in Galatians 5 of the fruit of the 138 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:52,560 Spirit, when all of that is just normal for you and increasingly 139 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:54,520 normal. It's when you are filled with 140 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:59,040 both grace and truth, just as Jesus was filled with both grace 141 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,000 and truth. Everything that you see about 142 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:07,840 who Jesus is, fruitfulness is the more that Jesus is in you. 143 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,200 It is coming out into every part of your life. 144 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,640 That is the idea of fruitfulness. 145 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,000 Your life, my life, will produce the same kind of fruit that we 146 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,800 see in the life of Jesus. It's going to impact your 147 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:22,280 character. It's going to impact your 148 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,320 behavior. It's going to influence how you 149 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,080 spend your time, your energy, the way you think. 150 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,000 It's going to influence the way you work, the way you relate to 151 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,400 people. It's going to influence every 152 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:37,040 single part of your life that it would be increasingly become 153 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,840 more and more fruitful. The Christian life is ultimately 154 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,520 about you and I as humans becoming who we were always 155 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,160 meant to be, people who are more fruitful. 156 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,400 Now. One of the great tragedies in 157 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,440 the lives of so many Christians is that we end up in one or two 158 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,000 different ditches as we journey through the Christian life. 159 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:06,080 On one ditch, one side of it, we go, as long as I said a prayer 160 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,320 and ask Jesus into my heart and, and now everything's OK because 161 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:13,120 now I know I'm going to heaven and it's all good. 162 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:14,600 I've got the gift of eternal life. 163 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:16,560 And this is where the story ends. 164 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,120 And so we go on with the rest of our life to to just continue 165 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,400 pursuing our dreams, our goals, our ambitions, our desires to be 166 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,160 able to create our own version of a fruitful, successful life. 167 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,080 But the problem with that thinking is you have not yet 168 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,040 actually started to reveal the fruitfulness that you were 169 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:40,680 created to reveal. So don't stay stuck in that 170 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:42,720 ditch of just saying, hey, I said my prayer. 171 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,600 I'm good. No, you're not good. 172 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:51,160 You've just started and now is the opportunity for you to begin 173 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,680 to learn what it means to be increasingly fruitful with your 174 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,080 life. But there's another ditch on the 175 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,320 other side of the road. And the other ditch is this 176 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,640 people who've been around Christianity for a long time who 177 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:07,560 go Kirk I've, I've done it all. I've gone to every Bible study 178 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:10,720 there is to go to. I've read my Bible every single 179 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:15,320 year from front to back. I know exactly everything there 180 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,080 is to know about the Christian faith. 181 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:21,640 I've served everywhere there is to serve and I'm good. 182 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:27,040 I've I've had people come to me and say, why long time 183 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,800 Christians who've come to me and said, why do you and Derek keep 184 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,240 telling everybody that they have to keep growing as disciples of 185 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,920 Jesus? I'll let you know a little 186 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,520 secret because you still have to keep growing as a disciple of 187 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,240 Jesus. You're not nearly as fruitful 188 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:47,520 yet as Jesus wants you to be. All of us are designed, until 189 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:52,120 the very last breath we take on this earth, to be increasing in 190 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,000 fruitfulness. That is what Jesus is calling us 191 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:57,240 to. So I want you to ask yourself 192 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,160 this question. Is my life reflecting more of 193 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:04,640 the fullness of God today than it was five years ago? 194 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:11,440 Are you increasing in fruitfulness? 195 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:21,240 Jesus says this is so important that the fruitfulness that we 196 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,760 exhibit with our lives is actually how we glorify God and 197 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,200 how we prove that we are disciples of Jesus. 198 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,160 That's how important this is. This is not something that you 199 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,920 can just Passover now. As soon as I give a challenge 200 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:40,000 like this, if we have to have increasing fruitfulness, I also 201 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,280 know that there are kind of a couple different personalities 202 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,400 that respond in different ways. So some of you, you love a good 203 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,480 challenge. You're like, he's challenging me 204 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,400 right now to step up and be more fruitful. 205 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,520 I received that challenge. I am going to prove myself. 206 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:58,440 You are like people who go to Looney Dog Night at Blue Jays 207 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,240 games, OK. I was at a Jays game a couple 208 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:08,720 weeks ago and there were 96,000 hot dogs that were eaten in one 209 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:13,640 night by Blue Jays fans, 13 of them by three members of my 210 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:18,640 family. I did not have one. 211 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:28,520 I had a son who had eight. But it was hilarious watching 212 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,920 people in the crowd because there's just this sense of a 213 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:32,840 competition. People are watching the numbers 214 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,040 show up on the screen and going, oh, man, we think we're going to 215 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,360 break a record tonight with how many hot dogs we're going to 216 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:39,920 eat. And so people kept ordering more 217 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,160 and more hot dogs because they're wired for that kind of a 218 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:47,000 challenge. Now, on the other side, some of 219 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:48,720 you are going, Kirk, you're challenging me to greater 220 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,760 fruitfulness. And I actually don't think I 221 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,320 could ever do that. I don't think I could measure up 222 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,400 to that. I, I don't think I can ever get 223 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,760 to that kind of place because of all the stuff that's going on in 224 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:06,760 my life and the places where I'm feeling broken and wounded and I 225 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:08,280 don't feel very close to God right now. 226 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,960 I don't think I could ever get there for greater fruitfulness. 227 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,440 But I I think that this passage, if that's you, this passage is 228 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:20,400 an amazing gift to you because it shows us that no matter where 229 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:24,880 you are, there is always hope for your life to have greater 230 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,920 fruitfulness in it. Here's the catch for all of us 231 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,920 that we need to understand. Great greater fruitfulness can 232 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,280 only happen when we abide in Christ. 233 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:43,080 It's the only way. That idea that I can work hard 234 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,880 enough to bear more fruit with my life, that I can work hard 235 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:52,800 enough to be good enough, is not what Jesus is teaching here. 236 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:58,800 In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is often referred to 237 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:04,400 as a vine. And what we see is that over and 238 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,840 over again, no matter how hard the nation of Israel tried to 239 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:13,200 live up to the standards to do the right thing, all that it did 240 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:17,320 was over and over again reveal how they could never measure up, 241 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,680 that they weren't able to be a true vine that could produce 242 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:27,080 good fruit. Over and over, the Bible reminds 243 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:32,680 us that when you put your hope in a country or a leader or 244 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:38,000 being religious or anything else to help you produce good fruit, 245 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,040 all of it's going to come up short and producing the kind of 246 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:46,080 fruit that God wants because only one is perfect. 247 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,120 Only one has been everything that God wanted humans to be. 248 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:54,800 And his name is Jesus. So Jesus comes along into a 249 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,960 culture that understood Israel as being the vine. 250 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:00,760 And Jesus says I am the true vine. 251 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,000 I'm the only one who has honored God. 252 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:08,480 I'm the only one who's capable of producing the kind of fruit 253 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:13,240 that God wants in your life. And then Jesus makes this mic 254 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,520 drop moment. It is one of my favourite verses 255 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,640 in all of Scripture. And I think it's also one of the 256 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:21,720 most jarring verses in Scripture too. 257 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:27,560 He says you can do nothing without me. 258 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,760 Just think about that. Think. 259 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,760 Think about the last seven days of your life. 260 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,040 Think about all the things that you tried to do over the last 261 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,800 week. Think about all the ways that 262 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:50,280 you try to care for your family, to work hard at your job, all 263 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,760 the things that you tried to do to maybe help someone who is in 264 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,960 need. Think about all the things that 265 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,000 filled your calendar over the past week. 266 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:07,440 And Jesus comes along and says this, You can do nothing without 267 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,920 me. That no matter how many projects 268 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,359 you completed, no matter how many hours you spent being nice 269 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:20,280 to people, no matter how many items you checked off your To Do 270 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:26,280 List this week, in the eyes of God, all of it amounts to 271 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:30,520 nothing if it's done apart from Christ. 272 00:17:35,810 --> 00:17:40,170 Most of us are really, really busy with our lives. 273 00:17:42,530 --> 00:17:48,680 But what if, in the eyes of God, many of us are really busy doing 274 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:54,200 nothing that actually matters? It's kind of a sobering thought, 275 00:17:54,200 --> 00:18:01,840 isn't it? Jesus uses this picture of a 276 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:06,360 vine and branches, and what he's trying to say is that it's not 277 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:11,240 about you trying harder to produce more fruitfulness in 278 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:16,440 your life, that he is the one who actually produces the 279 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,000 fruitfulness. What Jesus wants to do is to 280 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:26,240 take the fullness of who he is and have that flow into you that 281 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:32,240 he would flow into your life. The vine exists to give the 282 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:36,480 branches every single thing that you and I would need to be 283 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:41,480 people who are increasingly fruitful with our lives, that we 284 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,880 would be people who are creating the fruit that we were always 285 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:50,400 meant to produce. Pastor Charles Price, who is 286 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,200 formerly from the People's Church in Toronto, he said it 287 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,240 this way. He said there is only one who 288 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,320 can live the Christian life and it's Jesus. 289 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,840 But but what does abiding mean? And I want you to think about 290 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,360 this. Every person already knows how 291 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,400 to abide. The question is more who or what 292 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:17,840 are you abiding in? See, what you pay attention to 293 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:21,760 is what's going to shape who you are and who you're becoming. 294 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,440 Everything you put your attention on is shaping you into 295 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:30,560 someone. So abiding requires making space 296 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:32,920 for your attention to be on Jesus. 297 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,640 We, we live in a really unique moment in human history. 298 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:41,400 There is this endless amount of information that you and I have 299 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,040 access to. Honestly, there are not enough 300 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,800 hours of the day or days in the week or, or days in a year or a 301 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,560 lifetime for you to access every ounce of information that is out 302 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,280 there. We it's not that we have limited 303 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,000 information, it's that we have limited attention to put on the 304 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,800 information that's available to us. 305 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,080 Right. And some of you know exactly 306 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,120 what I'm talking about because you already know that you can't 307 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:10,640 have a conversation for more than 30 seconds and put your 308 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,480 full attention on the conversation, right? 309 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:18,240 Our attention spans are limited. Every single day you and I are 310 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,560 bombarded with people trying to get our attention. 311 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,280 And there are some things that you will make a conscious choice 312 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,720 to put your focus on. You're, you're going to make a 313 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,280 conscious decision to put your focus on your work, on your To 314 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:34,760 Do List, on your family, on your friends, on messages that are 315 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,200 coming to you when your kids are crying, whatever it may be. 316 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,680 You make conscious decisions to put your attention somewhere. 317 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,840 And then sometimes there are things that happened that will 318 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,040 will interrupt where you're putting your attention. 319 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,120 And now you have to put your attention in two or three other 320 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:53,560 things because somebody else wants or needs your attention in 321 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,680 some way, shape or form. The currency of having your 322 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,480 attention is what most businesses are actually in 323 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,720 business to do right now. They are trying to capture your 324 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,360 attention. They put so much energy into 325 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,320 capturing your attention and my attention and then trying to 326 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,720 keep it. It's the psychology behind the 327 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,840 news that you watch. It's the psychology behind the 328 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,800 video games that you play and the social media that you use. 329 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,560 Once Upon a time, way, way back in the old days in the early 330 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:35,720 2000s, you used to be able to scroll a website. 331 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,080 And eventually you would reach the end of a page on a website. 332 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,640 And then you would have to make a decision, Do I want to keep 333 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,440 looking at anything on this website? 334 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,640 Well, that became a bit of a challenge for businesses. 335 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,640 And they started to go, hey, we've got this problem. 336 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,000 People are tuning out. At a certain point, we're giving 337 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:01,160 them an exit to their attention. And so along came a guy named 338 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,400 Aza Raskin, who works in Silicon Valley. 339 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,680 And Aza says, I've got a solution for that. 340 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:13,680 So Aza is the guy who got rid of the end of the web page. 341 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,400 He's the one who made it possible for everything to be 342 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,200 endless scrolling. So today, when you scroll 343 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,280 through any of your social media feeds, the reason why you can 344 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,640 keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and 345 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:32,680 scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, you can 346 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,840 now blame ASA. It's his fault, OK, he's the one 347 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,880 who set that up. But after he created this, as I 348 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,400 had a moment of reckoning, he calculated the total number of 349 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,760 hours his invention created in people's usage, and this is what 350 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:54,840 he figured out. The combined total of 200,000 351 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:59,320 more human lifetimes is now spent scrolling through a screen 352 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:06,080 every day. May not be social media or your 353 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,040 phone, but I want you to think about all the things that have 354 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:14,880 your attention on a daily basis. Now, let me ask you, what's the 355 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,760 fruit that's coming out of where you're putting your attention? 356 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:21,800 What's the fruit coming out in your life? 357 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:25,680 What's what's it all doing to your soul? 358 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:27,800 What? What's it doing to your 359 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,320 relationships? What what's it doing to your 360 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,800 character? When I look around here, here's 361 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:36,920 what I see. I see a fractured world in 362 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,880 culture where we can't even agree to disagree anymore. 363 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,440 I I see marriages that are barely hanging on. 364 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:51,760 I see couples who are roommates instead of truly being one. 365 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,360 I see families where there's an undercurrent of tension that 366 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:00,160 nobody really wants to talk about. 367 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:08,760 I see abuse and control. I see loneliness and anxiety and 368 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,880 fear and hopelessness and exhaustion. 369 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,680 I see people who are angry and irritable. 370 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,520 I see people who are bored and have no real direction or 371 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:25,320 purpose in life. I see people, some people who 372 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,480 are just working so hard their body is wearing wearing down and 373 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,920 their relationships are falling apart and maybe I'm missing 374 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,680 something. But none of that feels like 375 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:40,400 fruit that comes from Jesus. If you're going to abide in 376 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,480 Christ, you have to make an intentional decision to turn 377 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:48,000 your attention towards Him. What that means for all of us is 378 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,400 you're already maxed out on your time. 379 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,080 I know that. I hear it from everybody. 380 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:55,680 And so it's going to mean you have to give up some other 381 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,320 things in order to put your attention on Jesus. 382 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,000 This is not something you can add on to your life. 383 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:09,440 And I don't know what that looks like for you, but here's a 384 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:12,160 couple things I've had to do over the course of my Christian 385 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:13,360 journey. I've had to. 386 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,080 I've always enjoyed noise. I love noise for whatever 387 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,360 reason. But I've discovered it's really 388 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,800 hard for me to hear God and have good conversation with God when 389 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:28,880 there's lots of noise going on. So I've had to find ways to get 390 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:33,320 rid of noise and be in silence. And you know what? 391 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,720 It sucks at first when you're trying to figure out how to do 392 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,720 that. It's hard, but man is it good 393 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:47,040 for your soul. I've had to cut out some 394 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:52,120 activities I love to do. Like, I don't watch as many Blue 395 00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:56,400 Jays games as I used to. I can't watch all day football 396 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,920 on Sunday. Why? 397 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:04,200 Because it all takes time and I need to have space to spend time 398 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,200 with my Saviour. Life is going to be this 399 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,040 constant tug and pull for your attention. 400 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,600 And abiding in Jesus is going to require you taking the time to 401 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,560 really consider what kind of attention are you paying to 402 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:20,880 Jesus. And He has you put your 403 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,760 attention on him. Here's what He's going to show 404 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,240 you. That abiding is a way of life 405 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:29,400 where you receive God's love for you and express your love for 406 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,720 Him. This is not just about, hey, I 407 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,960 had this moment in my week where I checked the box and said I 408 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,880 abided in Jesus because I spent some time with him, That it's 409 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:44,200 actually meant to be a way of life for us, a love relationship 410 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,160 from him to us and us back to him. 411 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,240 Jesus makes this remarkable statement in verse 9. 412 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:55,600 He says, as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. 413 00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:01,640 Remain in my love. And I don't know how much you've 414 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:06,440 ever thought about how God loved Jesus, but here's a couple 415 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,720 things the Bible says about how God loved Jesus. 416 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,840 The Bible says that God is well pleased with Jesus, that that 417 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,960 God delights in him and enjoys him and cherishes him. 418 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,920 The Bible says that God's love is not found in a moment. 419 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:25,120 It was a love that existed and continued on before time even 420 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:28,960 began. That's how God loved Jesus, and 421 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,680 Jesus says as the Father loved him, he's also loved you. 422 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,680 There are some of us who are so distracted and so busy with our 423 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,360 lives, you have lost sight of just how much you are really 424 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:54,120 loved by the King of all kings. And I want to challenge you. 425 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:57,520 You need to create some space to see the love of God for you. 426 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,960 Even in the hard times of life, God's love is showing up. 427 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,200 Sometimes it shows up by comforting us in the hard times 428 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,640 of life. Sometimes His love is showing up 429 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,560 because He's using the hard times of life to prune some 430 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,640 things away from us so that we can be even more fruitful in the 431 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:20,120 future. But His love is still there, and 432 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:25,200 He's still at work. But there's another side to this 433 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,720 because sometimes we get so focused on, I just want to sit 434 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,720 and enjoy the love of God for me. 435 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,960 But we've missed the other side of what Jesus says here, that we 436 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,800 remain in His love by keeping His commands. 437 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:49,560 That abiding means obedience. It's not simply this warm and 438 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:52,160 fuzzy feeling of I'm just going to receive God's love in my 439 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,800 life. Abiding requires action on your 440 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,640 part. It requires surrender of your 441 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:05,880 whole life in obedience to him. When Jesus was asked, well what 442 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:08,560 is the most important command for us all to know? 443 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,240 Like if abiding is about obedience, what is the most 444 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:16,240 important thing for you to know? What should we obey above all 445 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:20,400 else? And Jesus answer was love the 446 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:25,360 Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all 447 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:32,200 your mind, and all your strength, all of who you are is 448 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:36,640 to be focused on loving God. When you love God with all of 449 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:38,720 who you are, you're abiding in Christ. 450 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,920 You're living in obedience to Jesus. 451 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:48,360 But what does that look like? How do we grow and show our love 452 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:51,320 for God? At this point, I'm going to say 453 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,560 goodbye to our forward Kitchener family and I'm going to ask 454 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:57,920 Pastor Steve to come and share some things with you. 455 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:03,640 For those of you who are here in Cambridge, if you look in a seat 456 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,320 front around you, you will see a brochure we handed out last 457 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:08,720 week. And I want to ask you to pull 458 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:13,640 that out and look at the front panel of that brochure. 459 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,800 There are a lot of things that you can get involved in in the 460 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,040 Christian life. There are a lot of activities 461 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:25,880 you can do. There are a lot of ways that you 462 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,240 can connect, and there's so many things that are great. 463 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:29,960 They're good things to connect with. 464 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,280 We shared a whole bunch of things with you earlier this 465 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,400 morning. Those are great steps to take. 466 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:38,520 But I want to share with you, and we're going to do this over 467 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,280 the next couple of weeks as well, begin to share with you 468 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:46,720 the absolute essential spiritual practices that you need to put 469 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:51,480 in place if you are going to continue to grow as a disciple 470 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,600 of Jesus, if you are going to continue to abide in Christ, if 471 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:58,840 you're going to learn what it looks like today to love God. 472 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:03,760 These are three essential things to put in place, not optional. 473 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:07,040 They need to be part of the normal rhythm of your life. 474 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:11,760 OK. And the reason we want you to 475 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,720 focus on these things is because it's been proven time and time 476 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,240 again that over the long haul of your life, when you do these 477 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:21,280 things, you grow, in this case, in your love for God. 478 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:24,760 For some of you, this is going to be the first time you've ever 479 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:28,400 considered some of these things. For others, you've been doing 480 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,400 them for a while. And right now, I want you to 481 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,680 consider not just checking off something off of a list, but how 482 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,680 does God want me to go deeper into living this out in my life? 483 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,080 The first thing is this spend time with God. 484 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:46,960 I, I don't know about you, but I, I find it really hard to 485 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,400 build a love relationship with someone if I don't talk to them 486 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,760 or don't let them talk to me. Pretty difficult to build a 487 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,400 loving relationship with someone, right? 488 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,880 And so if abiding in Christ is meant to be a love relationship 489 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:03,920 between God and me, I need to spend time with God. 490 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:08,400 I need to spend time praying, which is my time of talking to 491 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,280 God. I need to spend time reading the 492 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:14,640 Bible because reading the Bible is the best way for God to speak 493 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,960 to you. There was a study that was 494 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,200 recently released that that said this. 495 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:25,880 When people read their Bible one or two times a week, it has 496 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,320 virtually 0 impact on their life. 497 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:34,440 Virtually none. But there's a tipping point when 498 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:40,160 people When someone reads their Bible four times a week, a whole 499 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,920 bunch of stuff, for whatever reason, starts to change. 500 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:48,480 People who read their Bible at least four times a week would 501 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:54,120 see loneliness, anger, and bitterness drop close to 40% in 502 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:58,680 their life. People who read their Bible at 503 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:04,200 least four times a week are almost 60% less likely to view 504 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:09,760 pornography or consume alcohol. People who read their Bible at 505 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:15,120 least four times a week were 220% more likely to go and 506 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:20,800 disciple somebody else. See, there is a power when you 507 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,280 get into the Bible because when you get into the Bible, the 508 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,040 Bible starts reading you and changing you. 509 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,280 It is God's word coming into your life. 510 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,520 And some of you go, I don't even remember what I read the last 511 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:36,680 time I read the Bible. And I want to say it's OK, You 512 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,320 don't have to remember every single thing you read. 513 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:42,800 It's about getting God's Word into your head and into your 514 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,080 heart. And he begins to change you 515 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:50,920 through that. So this fall creates some space 516 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:54,120 in your life to spend more time with God. 517 00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:00,440 And we want to help you do that. So if you don't have a way of 518 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,160 regularly reading your Bible, starting tomorrow, we are going 519 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:09,760 to send out five days a week of a scripture reading for you. 520 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,560 It'll be sent directly to your e-mail and also as a 521 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,920 notification in the Church Center app every single day. 522 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,239 What you need to do is just take out your phone right now and 523 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,719 sign up. You take out your phone, you 524 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,560 text the word Bible to our text line. 525 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:30,040 And then starting tomorrow and throughout, as long as God wants 526 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:33,080 us to keep doing this, we are going to send out a Bible 527 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:37,040 passage every day so that as a church, we are making Bible 528 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:38,960 reading a normal part of our life. 529 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,639 Reading the Scriptures is the single most important thing you 530 00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:47,360 and I can do to help us grow as disciples of Jesus. 531 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,639 It's the biggest spiritual formation exercise in your life. 532 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,199 That's the first spiritual practice that's going to help 533 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:56,840 you grow and express your love for God. 534 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,840 The second one is this, give generously to God. 535 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,240 Now I know in Canada, if pastors really want to take people off, 536 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:08,800 talk about money. Matter of fact, I am sure there 537 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,240 is someone who's in the room right now who's like, I knew 538 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:13,760 this was going to come eventually. 539 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,440 I knew he was going to talk about money at some point. 540 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:21,760 And I I want to say to you that from God's perspective, giving 541 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:23,560 is not about God needing more money. 542 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,200 Giving is about where your heart is. 543 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:33,440 But God doesn't need more money. God already owns everything. 544 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,640 Giving is about where your heart is. 545 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,640 Jesus said this where your treasure is there, your heart is 546 00:35:42,720 --> 00:35:46,640 also. And the reality is there's a lot 547 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:51,480 of us here who love what our money can do for us more than we 548 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:56,720 love God. And one of the ways we grow in 549 00:35:56,720 --> 00:35:59,840 expressing our love for God is to say, God, I'm going to give 550 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,800 my finances to you instead of keeping it for myself. 551 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,200 Now, I recognize that for some of you, this is a really 552 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:10,720 difficult thing because of the financial realities that you're 553 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:14,440 facing in life. I want to ask Micah so Farley to 554 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:16,640 come on up and join me here on stage. 555 00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:21,560 Micah serves in as a one of the leaders in our kids ministry 556 00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:24,800 here at Forward Cambridge. He and his wife Samantha have 557 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:26,840 three young children aged 5 and under. 558 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:30,400 You can imagine the kind of genuine chaos that happens in 559 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:34,720 their everyday. And Micah's going to join me up 560 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:37,600 here on stage because Micah recently shared a story with me 561 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,600 that I thought, man, this would be a great thing for us to hear 562 00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:45,400 as a church family. And Micah, thanks for coming up 563 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,560 here and sharing this today. I'm just wondering, could you 564 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:53,720 maybe walk people through the story of what God did in your 565 00:36:53,720 --> 00:36:55,920 life around the whole area of money and giving? 566 00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:00,640 Yeah. So back when I was in college, I 567 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:03,840 had convinced myself because as most college students, I did not 568 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,920 have a lot of money. And so I convinced myself that 569 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,320 instead of giving a tithe or giving anything to the church, I 570 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:14,160 would give God a tithe of my time or my effort. 571 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:21,880 And I remember a little bit of time after that I bought a new 572 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:27,000 car, a car, because my other car was older than me and so it was 573 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,320 breaking down constantly. So it was time to upgrade. 574 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,680 And so I got a new car and I was really excited about it. 575 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,280 And it was going to be this thing that would be a big relief 576 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,520 to have a reliable vehicle. And after a couple months, it 577 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:45,040 stopped being a reliable vehicle where I was constantly paying 578 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,640 for repairs and I used to repair my car myself. 579 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,760 So it was a lot of time, a lot of effort constantly. 580 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:55,160 Every week it was a new problem, a new thing broke. 581 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,840 And I was getting frustrated. I was getting really angry. 582 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:03,160 And I remember I prayed to God and I turned my frustration at 583 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:07,040 God and I said, why would it break down? 584 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:09,440 The whole point of this was that I was supposed to be saving 585 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,000 money. I was supposed to be putting 586 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:12,840 myself in a better position with this. 587 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:18,720 And the Holy Spirit responded immediately and said add it up. 588 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:24,400 And I paused because that's not the response I was expecting. 589 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:31,440 And so I pulled bank statements and I added it all up, and the 590 00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:35,560 number to the cent was 10% of my wage. 591 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:41,880 And I remember the Holy Spirit immediately gave me the 592 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:51,640 revelation that if I give my 10%, God will bless the 90% that 593 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:56,960 I have that remains. But if I withhold that 10%, then 594 00:38:57,480 --> 00:38:59,480 I'm on my own to a certain extent. 595 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:05,000 And so God clearly showed me that he was willing to bless me 596 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:09,280 in this extremely practical way, but I had kind of stopped him 597 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,640 from being able to do that. And so, yeah, that. 598 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:16,440 Was that's gotta be like a moment, aha moment when you see 599 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,800 10% show up on that, adding it up. 600 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:21,960 I froze for a while. Yeah, I stared at a number for a 601 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:23,320 long time. Yeah, I'm sure. 602 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:28,440 How has you know you start to give as a result of what God 603 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:32,040 teaches you in that moment? How has making giving a part of 604 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:33,880 your life help to grow your love for God? 605 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:38,000 So the rest of that story is that that very day I was like, 606 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,600 Nope, I need to. I went to the bank, got 10% of 607 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:44,760 my week's wage, brought it into the church, didn't feel great, 608 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,880 but I dropped it off. And from then on, I never had 609 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,320 another problem with the car. So it was a very clear 610 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:55,120 indication from God being like, hey, this is how it works. 611 00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:59,400 And so it really deepened my love for God because I realized 612 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:02,320 that it wasn't just on a spiritual sense that God was 613 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:04,480 caring for me. It wasn't just my heart or my 614 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,600 mind and a lot of the things that we talked about, but it was 615 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:11,840 a very practical, very real thing that I needed where I 616 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:14,800 didn't have a lot of money and he was stretching my money and 617 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:17,520 allowing things that. Should be breaking down a lot 618 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:19,560 more often. Should be an issue a lot more 619 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:21,400 often. He was extending all of that for 620 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:23,120 me. And it was a great realization 621 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:27,120 of just how much He loves me and just how much He takes care of 622 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:31,640 all around me. And so that now when there are 623 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:35,880 money issues that things are tight, I can give to God and I 624 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:40,240 can say, God, I'm giving this to you and I need you to bless the 625 00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:42,040 rest. And he's been faithful. 626 00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:45,480 So the worry goes, the anxiety goes, all of that goes because I 627 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,960 can trust God with everything. That's amazing, Micah, thank you 628 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:50,240 for sharing that. Appreciate me. 629 00:40:55,820 --> 00:41:01,020 I just want to challenge you and encourage you like where if 630 00:41:01,020 --> 00:41:04,460 someone were to come, if God were to come and examine your 631 00:41:04,460 --> 00:41:08,600 bank accounts and your money, what would it say? 632 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:10,600 What would it reveal about where your heart is? 633 00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:17,640 Is your heart after a love for God or something else? 634 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:23,200 Third way, third practice for us to grow in our love for God is 635 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:25,600 to regularly worship together with God's people. 636 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:30,240 And I don't know how else to say this other than to say it. 637 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:34,600 If you want to love God, you need to keep growing and loving 638 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:40,920 what Jesus loves. And there are is very clear by 639 00:41:40,920 --> 00:41:44,720 the fact that the church is called the bride of Christ how 640 00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:51,080 deeply Jesus loves his bride. You know, even the choice of the 641 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,160 word church is not an accident. When Jesus said I'll build my 642 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:58,120 church, it wasn't an accident because in that culture, in that 643 00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:03,360 time, the word church meant the gathering of a group of people 644 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,520 as an assembly to make decisions for a community. 645 00:42:07,720 --> 00:42:11,280 So when Jesus uses that word that I'm going to build my 646 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,720 church, he's saying I am building a group of people who 647 00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:18,360 are going to gather for the purposes of God. 648 00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:23,680 That's the whole point. If you want to grow in loving 649 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:27,640 God, if you want to express your love for God, gathering with the 650 00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:30,520 church cannot be something that's optional in your life. 651 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,520 It's not. Do I have nothing else to do 652 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:37,320 today? And so, OK, I guess I'll go to 653 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,920 church this Sunday. Hebrews chapter 10 tells us it's 654 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,640 a command. Do not neglect assembling 655 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:48,080 together. And so some of us need to take a 656 00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:51,360 step to gather with the church more often in the coming year. 657 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,520 But then when we do gather, it's not about just checking a box 658 00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:57,640 and going, yeah, Kirk, I come to church every Sunday. 659 00:42:57,640 --> 00:42:59,200 It's fine. I've checked the box. 660 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,080 That's not what it's about. It's also about how do you 661 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:05,040 engage when you are gathered together as the church. 662 00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:10,560 Jesus said true worshippers will worship him in spirit and in 663 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:15,080 truth, that we have to be engaged in expressing our love 664 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,240 for God as we gather together to worship. 665 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,200 The early church, the first Christians, they understood that 666 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:25,040 to me, gathering was to be a place of worship, a place of 667 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:28,360 learning the Bible together, a place of prayer and fellowship 668 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:31,800 with each other. If your idea of coming to church 669 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,040 is I've come, I've checked the box because I came and sat in a 670 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:39,840 seat, but I didn't talk to anybody while I was here, you've 671 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:42,600 missed part of the point of being gathered together as the 672 00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:46,760 church. Stay in fellowship and encourage 673 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:50,440 each other. What step does God want you to 674 00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:54,160 take to keep growing and gathering as a church? 675 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,640 This is essential in expressing our love for God. 676 00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,200 It's not only the reality of they studied the Bible together. 677 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,240 There's one more thing that the Bible said that they did 678 00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:07,800 together as the early church and that was take communion. 679 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:11,520 And we're going to do that right now and you can pull out your 680 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:19,800 Communion Cup. In First Corinthians Chapter 11 681 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:24,360 and verse 26, it says for as often as you eat this bread and 682 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:28,800 drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 683 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,720 If you look a few verses earlier in First Corinthians 11, it's 684 00:44:32,720 --> 00:44:36,040 actually calling out the lack of unity in the body of Christ. 685 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:40,400 It's this sense of you're all living for yourself, which 686 00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:44,120 sounds very familiar to the culture we live in today, hyper 687 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:48,080 individualized culture where we do what I want, when I want, how 688 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:49,560 I want. It's about me. 689 00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:54,760 And what Paul was saying is that when we come together as a 690 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:58,920 church to celebrate communion, it's to be a community activity 691 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:04,200 together because we need to remind each other that none of 692 00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:07,280 this is ultimately about me or you. 693 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:10,960 It's all about the Vine King Jesus. 694 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:15,600 It's all about us abiding in him that matters. 695 00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:20,280 We're here because of his death. We're here because of his 696 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:22,600 resurrection. We're here because of his grace. 697 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:29,080 And that's what communion does is it reminds us again, together 698 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:32,160 as a community, we're proclaiming the Lord's death to 699 00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:34,600 each other and saying it's not about me, it's about him. 700 00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:37,840 So I invite you to pull out the wafer. 701 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:45,200 This represents the body of Jesus that was on the cross. 702 00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:49,520 That Jesus, the Son of God, is a human, came and paid the price 703 00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:52,840 that all humanity was supposed to pay, but he did it in our 704 00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:56,480 place so we could be saved. Take this in remembrance of 705 00:45:56,520 --> 00:46:10,460 Jesus. And if you open up the cup, this 706 00:46:10,460 --> 00:46:16,120 represents the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross, a 707 00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:20,600 blood that promises forgiveness of sin once and for all. 708 00:46:20,600 --> 00:46:26,200 Time, past, present, future. Your sin is fully forgiven if 709 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:29,320 your faith is in Jesus alone. Amazing. 710 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:35,080 We take this in remembrance of what Jesus has done for us. 711 00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:49,040 Father, thank you for sending your Son Jesus. 712 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,840 I pray God that you would help us in a world that is filled 713 00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:06,080 with so much noise and so many distractions and so many things 714 00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:10,280 trying to get our attention. Help us to be a people who abide 715 00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:16,880 in Christ. God, would you grow our love for 716 00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:24,200 you this year And as we encounter your love for us, I 717 00:47:24,240 --> 00:47:29,680 pray that you would make this the most fruitful year that we 718 00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:35,280 have had as a church family. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 719 00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:37,320 Let's stand and worship the Lord together.