Remember the invitation to become a disciple

Matthew 4:19 (ESV) — 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

• Jesus said about Himself – I am …I am the Light of the world, The Bread of Life, The Door, The Good Shepherd, The Resurrection and the Life, The Way, the Truth, the Life….Restored relationship through Christ – “In Christ”
• What they first thought their message would be versus what it was
• This week – I am the True Vine

John 15:1–18 (NIV) — 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

1. The true vine (The Way the Truth and the Life)

• We have been grafted into the Vine –the Root
• I have become a Child of God – adopted

Galatians 3:26 (NIV) — 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,

Romans 5:10 (NIV) — 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

2. The Fathers role – pruning –

• Discipline – coaching
• What the Father allows or causes is for our good

Matthew 7:15–20 (NIV) — 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

3. The purpose of all of this – Getting us ready for the mission and resulting battle

John 15:18–27 (NIV) — 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’ 26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

4. Gods desire for us – that we remain and bear fruit

• Stay connected to the vine – so we develop spiritual fruit
• So that we play the part of a reconciler no matter what the world does –until He comes
• Jesus even reveals how we fight – by his actions – strength in service
• Take the message which will be opposed but keep going

John 18:31–38 (NIV)

5. The way we fight the battle –spiritually –we are different and it draws people –it reaches

• Spiritual fruit in the face of struggle – unique in the world –when we have this fruit it is unusual
• The harvesting of the fields – that are white unto harvest –

Galatians 5:22–23 (NIV) — 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1 Peter 2:12 (NIV) — 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

The goal is the mission to reach people – we join Christ in His way of completing the mission

What does that look like in practice

• Intentionally walking with Jesus, we see the spiritual problems and successes not just the physical
• When we are attacked –We answer back kindly
• We see the real enemy and pray
• We suffer with purpose
• We are fighting the flesh and the devil –not the other person –Eph 6:10
• With our kids, our neighbors, our enemies – we fight on our knees and we fight the right fights —

For Small Group Discussion: What have you learned from the “I Am” series?

Opening Question:  Gardening experience: What have you failed at or been successful in growing?

Main Point: After Jesus has declared who He is, we are charged to share the truth of His identity with a hostile world. God provides the Holy Spirit to help and sustain us through persecution.

Main Scripture: John 15

Questions:

Head 

• Why does God prune us?
• What is Jesus preparing His followers to experience? How is He preparing them?

Heart 

• What or who helps you to remain in the vine?
• How has obedience played a role in your spiritual growth?

Hands 

• In light of all seven of Jesus’ “I Am” statements, who is God identifying in your life that needs to know Jesus in this way?
• What support do you need in order to persevere in the midst of persecution?

Additional Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 10:14-15

Tips and Resources: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

For more sermon resources, podcasts, and other tools go to: https://realliferesources.org/current-series/