How to Bear Fruit: Staying Connected to the True Vine

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- What if the most spiritual thing

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that you could do today is just to sit down?

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Seriously, not to do more, but just to be still.

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Welcome to Crossroads. My name is Andy.

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I'm the community pastor of Crossroads Anywhere.

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And you might have noticed today

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we're doing things a little bit differently,

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but here's why we want to give you a chance

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to connect with God today, not to just learn about God

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or to hear what other people think about Him,

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but to experience Him for yourself.

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So here's a few things that will help you

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get the most out of today: a pen, something to write on,

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and then bread and juice

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or something for communion at the end.

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Go ahead and pause this video to grab those things

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and come back when you're ready.

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- Let's go.

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Sing it out.

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- Let me pray for us.

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Lord, I recognize that those words are presumptive,

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that all of us, it could seem like singing those words

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mean that we're all in a place of just immediate trust,

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that we don't question anything You're doing.

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But that's not true.

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Some of us in this room have doubts.

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My prayer is that we wouldn't allow those doubts

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to pull us away from You, but that it would

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cause us to ask more questions.

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God, why does life look like this?

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Why is this situation happening?

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Why is this cancer present, God?

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Will I ever get through it?

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Would we come to You because You said

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if we seek, we will find.

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And that's in every season, whether things are rough

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or whether we're on the mountaintop,

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that when we learn to trust You,

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when we learn to lean on You.

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Because when we lean on You, that's where our safety is,

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that's where peace and comfort is.

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So we thank You for all You have available to us,

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but we lean into You more today.

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It's in Jesus's name I pray. Amen. Amen.

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I love it when we get to sing together in this room.

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It's a special time.

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Hey, if you're new or this is your first time,

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I want you to know I love that you came.

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And when I'm getting ready to say

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maybe you can tune me out a little bit,

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because while this weekend is different than the norm,

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there's something we do every weekend

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for those of us who call this place home.

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We trust God with our money so that we can give

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to the incredible things He's doing in the city,

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in our church, and in the world.

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You know, and it's a discipline to walk with Him every day

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and to walk with Him with our pocketbooks.

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And I do that. It's a discipline I've put in place

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because it helps me to grow in my reliance to God.

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And if I can test it, I can trust it.

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And He's proven time and time and again

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that He's trustworthy, that He's got me.

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So if you want to join that with me,

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you can do that at crossroads.net/give.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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Hey, why don't you turn to someone,

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give them your credit card number real quick

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and your account number --

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No, just tell them, hey, we're one big family

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and you can have a seat.

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- Where are we in the Bible?

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We're in the New Testament,

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in the gospel according to John.

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This is a first hand biography of Jesus

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by one of his closest friends.

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In it, John records seven iconic I am statements

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that Jesus made, seven metaphors,

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seven self portraits of the living God:

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I am the true vine, and my father is the vinedresser.

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Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away.

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And every branch that does bear fruit He prunes,

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that it may bear more fruit.

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Already you are clean because of

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the word that I have spoken to you.

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Abide in me, and I in you.

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As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,

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unless it abides in the vine,

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neither can you unless you abide in me.

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I am the vine; you are the branches.

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Whoever abides in me, and I in him,

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he it is that bears much fruit,

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for apart from me you can do nothing.

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- Well, that's where we are headed today.

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Good morning, I'm Greg, if we've never met before.

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If you're watching online, I'm Greg

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and I'm actually the Community Pastor here in Oakley.

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And I also lead all of our sites.

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I have the privilege of leading our community pastors.

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And if you're in this room, you love me

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because you know that all good things come in moderation.

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And so you love me doing announcements

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3 minutes at a time,

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and that's about all you can handle.

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So buckle up because today we're together the whole time

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and it's actually -- [cheers]

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A little, a little bit of a misnomer because

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you're not just going to hear from me today.

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I'm going to lead you through something different.

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In fact, I hope way more than you hear my voice today

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or Cash's voice today, I hope that you actually

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hear the voice of the one who made you today.

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We're going to be leading us through a prayer experience

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with a lot of music, a lot of prompts,

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and it's different than what we usually do.

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So if you've never been here before,

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this tends to be a little bit more of a sit and get.

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You come in, you get some great worship,

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you sit, depending on the communicator,

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you get anywhere from a 30 to an hour long message,

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and then maybe you have some time

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to think about it on your way out.

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That's different today.

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That's very different today.

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Today we've created something for you to sit

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and have a conversation with Jesus

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through multiple phases in hopes that you can hear from Him.

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Now, if you've never done something like this before,

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I just want to give you some rails.

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I want to give you some rails.

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Maybe you've experienced something like this

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with some headphones in your ears

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and going through prompts.

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We're doing that live, but I've just got to tell you

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right off the bat,

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expect distractions, expect distractions.

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Every single morning, I try to start my time of the day

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before I do anything else, I try to start with time with God.

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Maybe that's reading scripture, maybe that's praying,

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and especially in our Crossroads app,

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I love it because it's easy.

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And also, oh, let's see who sent me a Snap.

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I'm posing. I actually don't have Snapchat.

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Let's see who wrote on my Facebook wall.

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I'm trying to be young for the youth.

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I'm praying, yes, God, thank you.

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Thank you for my wife. Bless her today.

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Thank you for all the things she does to serve us,

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like make amazing dinners.

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And I do wonder what we're having tonight for dinner.

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I just come back. Come back.

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So when you get to a point where you're distracted,

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it's okay. It's normal. Come back.

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The second thing is maybe a little bit harder for you.

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The second thing, whether you've been around Crossroads,

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whether you've been trying to follow Jesus

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for a long time, or maybe you just stumbled in today

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and this is going to stretch you,

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from now on you need to believe that God loves you.

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You need to believe that He loves you

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because if you're going to hear His voice,

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you've got to know that He loves you.

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And not only that, He likes you.

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He's not mad at you.

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He didn't watch you come in the doors today

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and go, "I can't believe they came to church today.

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Did you see what their life is?"

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That is not Him. That's not Him.

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So I got to tell you right out the gate,

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expect distraction and go into this believing

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that God is for you, that He loves you.

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In fact, Jesus has an invitation.

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He says, hey, anyone who is weary, heavy laden.

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Is that you today?

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Did you come in here a little tired, a little weary,

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not sure if you could make it through.?

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His promise is that if you come to Him,

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His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

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He wants to bear the load for you.

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In fact, He wants to exchange it for something good.

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And the way that Jesus says we're to connect,

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to get that kind of life, that kind of rest,

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that kind of restoration is to be connected to the vine.

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That's what we're going to be looking at today.

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How if we're connected to the vine,

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we actually have the opportunity to bear fruit.

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I would love to say that I've been to Napa or wine country.

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Maybe some of you in the room have.

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I have never been. I've never been to wine country.

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The only place I've been close was my wife took me

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close to where she grew up,

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to a vineyard in Colerain Township,

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and the only mountains --

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The only mountains in sight were Mount Rumpke.

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So I'm borrowing, I'm borrowing on what it's like

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to have been to a vineyard.

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But Jesus actually unpacks a lot of us.

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So if you've been to a vineyard or not,

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I think most of us have a basic elementary level

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of science and understanding how not just vines,

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but all plants work.

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They've got to first receive nutrients, right?

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They've got to receive something from the soil,

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fertilizer, water, sunlight, they've got to receive.

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And as they grow, there's going to be sometimes

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a lot of growth, so much growth that it needs to be cut back.

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It's got to be trained.

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It's got to be put in the right direction.

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And when those two things happen,

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the process yields what we're after, it yields fruit.

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It yields blooms.

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It yields fruit season upon season upon season.

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That's what we're headed towards today.

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And the operative word in this metaphor,

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when Jesus says, I am the vine, is the word abide. Abide.

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Look at what it says in John 15:4:

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Abide in me, and I in you.

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As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself,

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unless it abides in the vine,

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neither can you unless you abide in me.

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Today I want you to think of the word abide

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as simply staying. Staying. Remaining.

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Being connected in His love.

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If you're around this place, you're probably someone

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who is more prone to do.

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And so your question is, well, how do I do abiding?

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And the answer is you don't do abiding, you just be.

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Abiding is a state of being.

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Maybe it would help you to be in a state of being

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if you imagined yourself sitting somewhere like this.

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Would you close your eyes?

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Whether you're at home,

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maybe you're already on a sofa, on your couch.

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If you're in a site

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and you're sitting in a movie theater chair,

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I want you to use your imagination

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to the best of your ability to take you

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somewhere a little bit wider.

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Maybe it's the couch in your living room.

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Maybe it's a porch swing on your back deck.

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Because I want you to imagine

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that Jesus is sitting next to you.

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I want you to imagine He's saying, "Stay with me.

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Relax. Sit back.

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I've got so much more I want to show you and give you."

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What if you took the time to stay beside Jesus today?

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What if the two of you ended up

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having a back and forth conversation?

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What if you gave yourself the permission to listen

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instead of running away to the next important thing?

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Scoot a little closer.

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I got to tell you, He wants to know you,

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but not the church version of you,

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not the protected version of you;

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the real you, flaws and hangups intact.

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Things you're ashamed to show Him sitting on the couch.

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But he invites you to say you don't need to be perfect.

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You can relax.

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I want you to be the most real version of you right now.

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So here's how this is going to work today.

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I'm going to take us through a series of prompts.

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The process that a vine and that we will go through

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if we want to bear fruit.

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The band's going to have some moments where they sing

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and it's meant to be sung over you.

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You don't need to stand and sing along.

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You just remain. You just stay.

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First part of our experience is to receive, to receive.

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You got a card and a pen hopefully when you came in.

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If you didn't, we'll have some folks walking around

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and giving them to you.

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Just like we talked, every plant,

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if it's going to bear fruit, it's first got to receive

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the nutrients and everything that it needs.

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And so I just wonder at the top of your page

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if you just write the word receive.

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Jesus says in John 15:7: If you abide in me,

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and my words abide in you,

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ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

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Remember that word abide, stay, remain.

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If you remain in me and my words stay with you,

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ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you.

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Jesus says that He's the true vine

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and those of us who want to be connected to Him,

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we are the branches that bear fruit.

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And so your first prompt is just to write down

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what do you need to receive from Jesus right now?

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What do you need? What do you want?

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What do you desire?

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Maybe you need some help.

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We've got a list that's going to show up on your screen

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and here in the room of all sorts of options.

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You can choose one, you can choose five.

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What do you want to receive?

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I got a vacation coming this week

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that feels like it can't come soon enough.

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And yet I know I'm not good at resting.

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I sometimes come back more exhausted

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and so I'm going to ask God for rest.

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And now I want you to turn it into a prayer.

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Remember, you're on the couch, Jesus is next to you.

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And I want you to just look at Him

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and say something like this:

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Jesus, I need rest.

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I can't give it to myself.

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Would you give it to me?

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Talk to Him.

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- You know, as I hear the words of that song

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and it actually speaks to a lot of people

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who may feel unworthy of asking God for anything.

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And I would just imagine in a room this big,

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there are some of us who are here,

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and we're not quite sure we can ask God for anything.

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Like maybe if you have a rift with someone

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or you owe them something and you see them in public

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and you sort of just turn the other way

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because it's going to be awkward.

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And maybe your card is still blank because you just --

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I'm not in a position to ask; I owe.

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You need to know that is not the way

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Jesus is looking at you today.

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He's not looking at you holding an IOU.

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He's looking at you, waiting for you

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to fix your eyes on Him so He can give you good fruit.

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In fact, He doesn't just suggest to ask;

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He tells you to. He tells you to.

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So lean in.

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What do you need to receive from Him today?

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And when you know what it is, ask Him for it.

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- I'm going to flip into a mode right now

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that's not meant to be an announcement,

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but I just got to tell you, our team wrote that song

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and we released it this week.

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So if you want that tune, go wherever you get music

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and get it because you can have this moment

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wherever you go, wherever you go.

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Marissa sounds incredible on it.

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But that part, that part where we're receiving

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you may be here the rest of our time, and that's okay.

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That's okay.

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But I'm going to move us on to the next part of the process.

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And it is a process.

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And this one is where we're going to look at pruning.

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And if you're anything like me, you automatically

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put this word into the negative column.

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You would say that pruning is painful.

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And I just I have to ask us to suspend our disbelief

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for a moment and know that the pruning is actually

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the thing that might allow us to produce fruit.

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You actually prune, you prune, you prune in your life,

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you may not even know that's what you're doing.

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I'll give you a really light hearted example

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of when I have to prune.

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Sometimes, uh, Ab will ask me,

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"Hey, will you run to Sam's Club?"

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I wish we had a Costco, it's a Sam's Club.

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"Will you go to Sam's Club and buy toilet paper?"

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And then she'll double down and go, "Only toilet paper."

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So I'll go, I'll show them my cart.

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You know, the carts are gigantic.

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And so I get the toilet paper

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and I'm walking to the checkout.

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And then I see something that I need,

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like the jumbo jar of peanut butter filled pretzels.

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Like, "Oh oh, only $17 for that jumbo jar."

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And you know, you get to the checkout

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and you've got way more in your cart than you went in for.

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And there's -- what happens? Some pruning,

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some pruning that has to happen.

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Some good things that actually have to be removed.

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That's what, that's what the invitation for Jesus is

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when He has the shears to prune some things

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that maybe need to be cut off, but other things

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that actually need to be pruned back for growth.

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It's a gardening term. It's a gardening term.

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If you've been to a vineyard before,

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maybe you've seen photos.

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When the vine gets cut back, it's not a gentle trimming.

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Like sometimes 80-90% of the vine goes away.

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It almost looks dead at the end.

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And yet this is the process that allows it

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to bear the best fruit.

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Such a severe pruning with such a beautiful result.

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John 15:2 Jesus says: Every branch in me

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that does not bear fruit, he takes away. He cuts it off.

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And every branch that does bear fruit he prunes.

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Why? That it may bear more fruit.

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God is the one, this is important to remember,

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God's the one with the pruning shears.

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It's not our job to take them.

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It's not our job to start cutting.

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He's the one who offers to gently remove the things

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that will allow fruit to bear in our lives.

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If you're new around here, maybe the receive

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was a good first step.

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But we're about to do something maybe a little more edgy.

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We're about to ask Jesus to cut some things out of our life.

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And if you're going to do that, you've got to remember

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what I said at the very beginning:

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Jesus loves you. He's not mad at you. He's for you.

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And He doesn't have these looking to do damage.

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He has them looking to do good.

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So I'm going to read this verse again.

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Every branch in me that does not bear fruit

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he takes away.

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And every branch that does bear fruit

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he prunes that it may bear more fruit.

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You know, any time Jesus says something this radical,

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it's usually followed up with something amazing. Amazing.

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The idea that something might have to be

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cut out of our lives or pruned back

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is only paired with the promise of bearing something

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that we could never do in and of our own self.

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The fruit that you and I can produce

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with every bit of effort, is nothing

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compared to the fruit that Jesus can grow on us

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if we're connected to the vine.

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He's got fruit that blows away your wildest imaginations.

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But to get it, something might have to go.

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Let's go back to the shopping analogy.

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What if I'm at the checkout and my cart is full of junk,

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but a worker comes up and goes,

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we just want to thank you for your membership,

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you're a ten year member.

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And if we could just remove some of this from your cart,

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we've got a 70 inch LCD flat screen

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we're going to put right in your cart.

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I would get rid of everything in the cart immediately.

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I'd say we can do without toilet paper for a while.

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Give me the TV.

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That's a really dumb example. Why is it dumb?

00:35:41

Because it feels like something that would never happen.

00:35:44

It feels like no one's just going to get rid of

00:35:47

the pretzels and put in a flat screen.

00:35:48

But honestly, I think that's the way

00:35:50

that some of us view God right now.

00:35:53

We don't believe that by Him taking the good things

00:35:57

out of our life, He's actually capable of

00:35:59

replacing them with something so much better.

00:36:03

But that's what He wants to do.

00:36:08

I've got a dangerous prayer that you can agree with,

00:36:11

maybe pray with me.

00:36:16

Examine my heart, God.

00:36:21

What needs to be cut off?

00:36:25

What needs to be pruned?

00:36:30

What good things need strengthened?

00:36:36

What needs my attention?

00:36:41

What needs to be emptied?

00:36:52

I want you to look back at

00:36:53

what you said you needed to receive.

00:36:57

And I wonder if there's anything that needs to go

00:37:00

before you have room to receive that thing.

00:37:06

As God brings thoughts to your mind,

00:37:08

I want you to write down what needs to be cut off.

00:40:03

- We're going to go back to that chorus in just a minute.

00:40:06

My list of things that need to be cut off completely,

00:40:09

there's there's a couple of things,

00:40:11

but there's not as many as the things

00:40:14

that Jesus is bringing to my mind

00:40:16

that just need to be pruned back, pruned back.

00:40:20

I have the blessing of loving, loving, loving what I do.

00:40:24

I love my job and I love the people I work with.

00:40:27

And I also know that sometimes it is not contained.

00:40:30

If you want to see Ab really mad,

00:40:31

watch me reply to a text or an email at the dinner table.

00:40:34

That is no bueno.

00:40:36

And I know that needs to go,

00:40:37

that needs to be pruned back a little bit.

00:40:40

So maybe you've got a list of things

00:40:41

that Jesus is saying, "Hey, that's got to go.

00:40:44

It's got to get cut off."

00:40:46

But I'd also invite you, are there good things

00:40:49

in your life that need to be put back

00:40:51

in their rightful position?

00:40:52

Maybe the way you spend your time,

00:40:54

the way you spend your money, your relationships,

00:41:00

the number of social media platforms

00:41:01

you try to keep up on?

00:41:03

Good things that have just grown a little bit too large,

00:41:09

that don't need cut out, but they do need pruned.

00:41:13

Write that down.

00:41:35

You can set your card on your lap.

00:41:37

I want you to take your hands and just place them,

00:41:40

place them out.

00:41:41

Remember, you're not alone.

00:41:42

Jesus is next to you.

00:41:45

And in your hands I want you to imagine

00:41:47

those things that you feel like He's asking

00:41:50

you to cut out or to prune.

00:41:54

I want you to hold them.

00:41:59

Some of us are open handed, ready for it to go.

00:42:01

Others maybe we're holding it covered

00:42:04

because we're ashamed of this thing.

00:42:06

We've tried to cut it out before, but no luck,

00:42:09

so we're hiding it.

00:42:11

Maybe some -- some of our hands are in like fists

00:42:14

because we know this thing needs pruning,

00:42:16

but we do not want to let it go.

00:42:23

Jesus is with you.

00:42:27

He's got a gentle look in His eye.

00:42:34

And you can just look back at Him.

00:42:36

And when you're ready, say, "Jesus, these are Yours.

00:42:45

Empty me."

00:43:55

- You can stay receiving.

00:43:58

You can stay wrestling with the things

00:44:00

that He might want to prune.

00:44:01

But I'm going to move us to our aim for today,

00:44:04

the reason why we would abide, why we would receive,

00:44:10

why we would prune for the purpose of bearing fruit.

00:44:14

See, fruit isn't just a theme in John 15.

00:44:17

It's a theme all throughout Scripture.

00:44:18

Look at just a couple of places,

00:44:20

like in Leviticus chapter 26, verse nine says:

00:44:23

I will turn to you and make you fruitful

00:44:26

and multiply you, and will confirm my covenant with you.

00:44:33

Or in the very first Psalm, verse three, where it says:

00:44:35

He's like a tree planted by streams of water

00:44:38

that yields its fruit in season

00:44:41

and its leaf does not wither.

00:44:44

In all he does, he prospers.

00:44:49

Remember, the way to bear fruit is never on our own.

00:44:53

It is only in abiding, staying with Jesus,

00:44:59

remaining in Him, being connected to His love

00:45:01

is the only way that we can bear this kind of fruit.

00:45:06

Now, we've been going through a lot of metaphors

00:45:08

in this series, and so this fruit is not like

00:45:11

what Kyle talked about last week with Daily Bread,

00:45:13

where it's our provision, our sustenance.

00:45:15

This fruit isn't primarily to benefit us.

00:45:18

This fruit is meant to benefit others,

00:45:21

and not just others, not just the people

00:45:23

to your right or your left, not just your family.

00:45:25

This fruit, when it bears in our life

00:45:29

with the intent that Jesus made us for

00:45:31

it can have a generational impact.

00:45:34

This fruit has eternal consequences.

00:45:37

This fruit is the way that Jesus's heaven comes to earth

00:45:42

is when we align with Him and we receive from Him,

00:45:45

and He allows good things to come out of us.

00:45:48

Amazing fruit like love and joy

00:45:51

and peace and patience and kindness.

00:45:53

Things that we can't create on our own,

00:45:55

but it's an offer from Him.

00:45:58

This type of generational fruit can actually

00:46:00

be hard to wrap our heads around

00:46:03

because it's not productive type of fruit.

00:46:05

It's kingdom fruit.

00:46:07

And maybe in the very beginning,

00:46:08

why it was difficult for you to ask God

00:46:11

for something good because you feel unworthy

00:46:13

or like you don't deserve it,

00:46:14

or you ask Him of things all the time.

00:46:16

This one might be a stretch as well

00:46:18

for you to imagine your life capable of producing

00:46:21

something that could have an impact on eternity.

00:46:26

But that's the type of fruit that He made you to bear.

00:46:30

And what I love about a room with this many of us,

00:46:32

or as many of us watching online

00:46:34

is we don't bear identical fruit.

00:46:36

Yes, we are a vineyard. Yes, we are an orchard.

00:46:38

But He made every one of us uniquely

00:46:40

to bear a certain kind of fruit that only you can bear

00:46:43

if you're connected to the vine.

00:46:48

So your last prompt,

00:46:50

I just want you to write the word fruit.

00:46:58

And you're still with Jesus, He's still beside you.

00:47:04

And this time you're asking Him for an answer

00:47:07

because you're saying, "Jesus, what kind of fruit

00:47:09

did you make me to bear?

00:47:12

What does the fruit of my life look like

00:47:14

when I'm connected to You?"

00:47:16

And maybe he gives you a word, maybe a phrase,

00:47:19

maybe He gives you a picture that you can sketch.

00:47:24

But whatever it is, I want you to write it down.

00:47:28

We're going to sit here for a minute.

00:47:29

We're not going to sing immediately.

00:47:34

God, show us the type of fruit that You made us to bear.

00:49:40

- I'm starting my morning with trying

00:49:43

to read scripture and prayer.

00:49:45

And prayer is not my strongest,

00:49:48

so I've got a little widget on my phone,

00:49:50

a little reminder, and I pray for

00:49:51

the same three things every morning.

00:49:53

Pray for my wife.

00:49:56

Last ones, pray for Crossroads.

00:49:57

The middle one is I pray for my daughters by name

00:50:00

and I've got a line under there

00:50:02

I ask God to prepare godly husbands for them.

00:50:05

And as I think about generational fruit,

00:50:07

God took that a step further because I don't --

00:50:11

I don't come from families where we have

00:50:13

a lot of strong marriages.

00:50:14

There's a lot of divorce in my family.

00:50:17

And I thought, man, wouldn't it be amazing

00:50:19

if they not only had godly husbands,

00:50:20

but if they stayed married their entire life?

00:50:23

That feels like fruit that I'm incapable of bearing.

00:50:26

Maybe you hear that and and you feel like,

00:50:29

"Well, that ship's already sailed for me."

00:50:30

That is not true for what God can do through you

00:50:33

and your generations and the people that you impact.

00:50:36

He has that type of fruit available to you.

00:50:39

Maybe this part for you is a stretch because this is,

00:50:42

this is a difficult prompt.

00:50:44

You've still got a blank page, we actually created

00:50:47

a tool to help you hear from Jesus.

00:50:51

If you want a word, specifically a scripture,

00:50:53

our team has pulled a lot of verses

00:50:57

and we've put them into a random generator.

00:50:59

So if you go to Crossroads.net/verse,

00:51:02

you're going to get a unique verse just for you.

00:51:05

And maybe it's the one that helps connect these dots

00:51:09

of what Jesus wants you to receive,

00:51:12

what He wants to prune,

00:51:14

and now where He wants to bear fruit.

00:51:15

So if you want that, whether you're in the room

00:51:17

or online Crossroads.net/verse.

00:52:59

- So as we come out of that song,

00:53:00

maybe one of the greatest blessings is simply

00:53:04

remembering God's goodness in your own life.

00:53:07

That's what abiding produces: fruit and peace, perspective.

00:53:12

One of the last things that Jesus did

00:53:14

with His followers was share a meal together.

00:53:16

He took bread and wine and told them do this to remember me.

00:53:22

So whatever you grabbed earlier, bread, crackers,

00:53:25

juice, grapes, those are going to be

00:53:27

your communion elements for today.

00:53:30

And as you take them, just as Jesus did with His friends,

00:53:33

remember because of His death and resurrection,

00:53:37

you don't have to strive to earn connection with God.

00:53:40

You already have access to Him.

00:53:43

His Spirit is with you every day,

00:53:45

not just in church moments.

00:53:48

So as you eat the grape, remember that Jesus died for you

00:53:52

and He beat death so that your life could produce fruit.

00:53:56

We bear fruit, not because of how hard we work

00:53:59

and how good we are, but because God is good

00:54:02

and we're connected to Him.

00:54:04

Take it. Taste and see that God is good.

00:54:12

And as you eat the bread, remember that abiding in Him

00:54:16

can be as simple as turning your mind towards Him

00:54:19

as regularly as you having a snack.

00:54:22

Take it. Taste and see that God is good.

00:54:32

Maybe you feel a little more peace right now,

00:54:33

or got some clarity.

00:54:36

Or maybe you don't.

00:54:38

For me, I've had moments when I've sat with God

00:54:41

that are deep and profound, and I've honestly

00:54:44

had many more moments where it just felt like

00:54:46

there was silence.

00:54:49

In both cases, I found that God is always moving,

00:54:53

even, and maybe especially when we can't always see

00:54:56

or sense or feel Him.

00:54:58

So whatever you've experienced, my hope is that

00:55:00

you don't just leave with notes or ideas,

00:55:03

but with a deeper awareness that Jesus is with you

00:55:07

and that He's inviting you to stay connected with Him

00:55:10

all throughout your week.

00:55:12

We'll see you next week as we continue diving deeper

00:55:14

into who Jesus says that He is.

00:55:16

Until then, have an incredible week

00:55:18

remaining and abiding in the presence of God.

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