Latest / Northwest Students / I AM THE TRUE VINE | Pastor Josh (I Am Who I Am)

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I AM THE TRUE VINE | Pastor Josh (I Am Who I Am) · Northwest Students

0:00
Uh, question for you guys slash
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opportunity to make fun of my wife.
0:03
Okay. Um,
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do any of you guys like gardening?
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>> Hands up. Okay. Some of the girls. Some
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of the girls. None of the guys. All
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right. Very gendered. I get that. So So
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I remember I remember when I was a kid,
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y'all. I remember when I was a kid, uh,
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my mom got in her head that she wanted
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to grow like a vegetable garden in our
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backyard. And so she recruited me and my
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siblings to uh help her out with what
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she was doing, right? So, so we were
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going to help plant seeds in this
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vegetable garden, but she like did not
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know what she was doing. And us being
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like seven really didn't know what we
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were doing. And so what we ended up
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having at the end was just like a big
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patch of dirt in our backyard until my
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mom finally gave up and then she filled
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it in with bricks. And so if you go, you
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see she grew a nice brick garden in our
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backyard. And when Ava and I grew,
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whenever Ava and I moved to Georgia, uh,
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one of the things that people told us,
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one of the things Carrie Rice told us
0:59
was that everything grows, right? Uh,
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Carrie Rice, Abigail and Hannah's mom
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said, uh, you may not think you're good
1:07
at taking care of plants, but just know
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everything grows out here, so it's going
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to be like super duper easy to keep your
1:12
plants alive. Okay. So anyway, a few
1:15
weeks ago, Ava was at the grocery store
1:18
and and she comes home. She had gone
1:20
without me, right? or this wouldn't have
1:21
happened. But she comes home and she's
1:23
got this basil plant, right? And if you
1:25
don't know what a basil plant is, it's
1:27
just like a green plant. It's like a
1:29
green herb. It grows little leaves. You
1:31
take the le the leaves that this is the
1:33
symbol for leaves. If you take the
1:35
leaves, uh you can use it to like flavor
1:36
your foods with and stuff, right? And so
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Ava's all excited about this basil plant
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and she goes, "Oh yeah, it's gonna be so
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cute. We're gonna put it in the window
1:43
sill and it's gonna grow. It'll be all
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cute and aesthetic and cool and
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awesome." But fast forward a week and
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like straight up nobody has been
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watering this basil plant. And another
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week goes by and all or rather sorry,
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nobody's been watering this basil plant
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and all of a sudden its leaves this was
2:01
a symbol for leaves. Now its leaves are
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like brown and droopy and the whole
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plant looks like it's made of cooked
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spinach. It was like terrible. And I
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straight up thought I was like there is
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no hope for this basil plant. we should
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just like throw it away so that I don't
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wake up in the morning and then look at
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this sad dead basil plant that's in the
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window every day, right? But y'all,
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okay, this is the crazy part. All right,
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so I was making fun of her. Now gas her
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up. All right, so Ava starts watering
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the basil plant because you're supposed
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to do that. Um, so she starts watering
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the basil plant and another week goes by
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and all of a sudden this plant is like
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strong and healthy and it's putting out
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all these little mini leaves that this
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is a symbol for mini leaves. Uh, so it's
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putting out these mini leaves and I
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literally thought she bought a new plant
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because I didn't think it was possible
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for sad little dying spinach basil plant
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to be brought back. I was very, very
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impressed. And that is a lesson to show
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you how little I know about plants. So,
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[snorts] I'm super excited for tonight
3:03
because tonight we're going to be in our
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last week of the I am who I am series.
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And I tell you that whole story about
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the basil plant because tonight's I am
3:12
metaphor is going to be a gardening
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metaphor. And if you were here two weeks
3:16
ago, last week we had the trunk or
3:18
treat, but if you were here two weeks
3:19
ago, you already heard me give a little
3:20
bit of a teaser. Our I am statement
3:22
statement for tonight is I am the true
3:25
vine. So if you were like, I got six of
3:27
these locked in, one's missing. I am the
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true vine. That's the last one. So, if
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you have been here for a while or if you
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haven't, every week since the beginning
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of September, we've been going through
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each of these I am statements. These are
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statements that Jesus makes about
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himself. And each one of these things
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Jesus says is a metaphor that tells us
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something about his identity and his
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mission on earth. And I know that last
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time I promised you guys that I will
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bring you ice cream if you have all of
3:55
these memorized. So, just like hands up
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in the air, anyone like I am confident I
3:58
got all these memorized.
4:01
Okay. Like a few of you. All right. For
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sure. Okay. Does anyone want to be
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incredibly bold and brave and go for it
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right now? I won't make you stand up,
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but Harper, I'm going to give it to you.
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Can you do them? They don't have to be
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in order. All right. Hit me with them.
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>> Come on. Can we give it a hand for
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Harper? Wow. That was great, dude.
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That's awesome. All right. All right.
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So, so for the rest of you, um, so that
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we don't spend the next 20 minutes just
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like going through the IMs, uh, one by
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one, I'm going to come in during small
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groups and I will give each I will give
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each group the opportunity to have
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people in your group rattle it off. And
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so when I'm there, you can recite these
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for me. I'll give you ice cream bar.
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Harper has got like the most big smile
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on her face right now. Harper definitely
4:49
is going to get one, but the rest of you
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will have an opportunity then. But yeah,
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those are our seven statements. That was
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that was killer. Okay, so locking back
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in, like we were saying a minute ago, uh
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this last I am statement is going to be
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a gardening metaphor. It's I am the true
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vine. And we're going to jump in in just
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a sec into what Jesus is telling us
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about himself with this metaphor. But
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just to give us like a quick setup for
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what's going on, right? So we talked
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last time, two weeks ago, about the last
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I am statement. I am the way, the truth,
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and the life. We talked about how it
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comes at the very very end of Jesus's
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ministry. And it's at that this last
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meal that Jesus enjoys before with his
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disciples before he's going to get
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arrested and taken to the cross. Right?
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Last time we talked about how Jesus has
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been kind of talking like in code
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throughout the meal about how he's going
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to be going away and how he's going to
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be preparing a place for the disciples
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and how when he comes back he's going to
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take them to the father's house, right?
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That kind of thing. We talked about it.
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We talked about how the vibe in the room
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as Jesus is saying these things was
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probably like kind of sad, kind of
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tense, kind of awkward, right? Because
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all these disciples have spent the last
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three years living with Jesus, learning
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from Jesus, being friends with Jesus,
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and they know that right now it's coming
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to an end. And it kind of reminds me of
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like the last day of summer vacation,
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right? or if you went to mix or move
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over the summer or if you're coming with
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us to the winter retreat in January, it
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kind of reminds me of like the last day
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of a retreat when you wake up and it's
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like Sunday morning or it's Friday
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morning or whatever and you're just
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like, man, I've had this amazing
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experience and something hurts about the
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fact that it's now going to be ending.
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And as a part of that same dinner, that
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same conversation that Jesus is having
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with his disciples, just one chapter
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after the I am statement that we looked
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at last week, Jesus gives us this last I
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am statement to his disciples. And so,
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even before we jump into the passage,
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and when we get there, I encourage you,
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you can grab a Bible off the stack in
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the back if you want to be following
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along in the text. Um, but I'm going to
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go ahead and explain it to you because
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it's important for us to notice as we
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read that this I am statement is going
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to be a little different from some of
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the other ones. You see, all these other
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I am statements that Jesus has given us
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talk about these amazing benefits to our
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relationship with Jesus, right? Bread of
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life. He feeds us spiritually, the light
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of the world. He shows us right from
7:24
wrong. Uh, he protects us. He gives us
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access to God the Father, right? He
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gives us eternal life. Those are the
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things that Jesus is saying. There's so
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many good things. But this last I am
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statement is going to be different. This
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last I am statement is going to be a
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warning for his disciples and for you
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and me to stay close to Jesus, to stay
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connected to Jesus even after he's not
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physically with them anymore. Because
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all of these amazing blessings that the
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other I am statements describe, we only
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have access to those blessings if we
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stay connected to Jesus. So, let me pray
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and then we'll read the passage. Dear
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Lord, I just thank you for tonight.
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Lord, I thank you for these students. I
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thank you for your word. God, I am just
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regularly blown away that we have more
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access to the Bible than any people at
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any point in time. That we can read it
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in old English. We can read it in new
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English. We can read it with a 12th
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grade reading level or a second grade
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reading level, Lord, that we have so
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much access to your word. I pray, God,
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that we wouldn't take that for granted.
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I pray, Lord, that you would open up
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your word to us, that you would speak to
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these students through this text. It's
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in your name we pray, Jesus. Amen. All
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right. So, here [snorts] it is. It's
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John chapter 15. We'll start with verses
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1-4.
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Jesus says,"I am the true grape vine and
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my father is the gardener." He cuts off
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every branch of mine that doesn't
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produce fruit and he prunes the branches
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that do bear fruit so they will produce
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even more. You have already been pruned
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and purified by the message I have given
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you. Remain in me and I will remain in
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you. For a branch cannot produce fruit
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if it is severed from the vine, and you
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cannot be fruitful unless you remain in
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me. So, we'll pause right there. There's
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three pieces in this metaphor that Jesus
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is giving us, right? He says that
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there's a vine, a grape vine, there's a
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gardener, and there's branches. So,
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who's the vine? Shout it out.
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>> Jesus.
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>> Jesus. He's the vine. Who's the
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gardener?
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>> God. And what about the branches?
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>> Us. It's people, right? It could be the
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disciples. It could be us. It could be
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people who are out in the world, right?
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So if Jesus is the vine and you and I
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are the branches, then what Jesus is
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saying is that the fruit that each
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branch produces, right? That's a life of
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transformed character. That is
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overflowing love for other people, that
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is a life of impact for the kingdom of
10:00
God against the kingdom of darkness.
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That that branch can only produce fruit
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if it stays connected to the vine.
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because the vine feeds it and nourishes
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it, right? And if the branch is
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connected to the vine, producing fruit
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is just what it does naturally. It's
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just what it does on its own. And what I
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think is so powerful about this
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metaphor, this I am statement. And the
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reason why I think it's important for us
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today is that Jesus is saying this right
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at the end of his earthly ministry.
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Right? Even after the resurrection,
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Jesus is only going to be walking around
10:38
with his disciples for like maybe
10:40
another month, right? Maybe like 40 days
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before he ascends up into heaven. And
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from that point on, the disciples lives
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are going to look a lot like yours and
10:49
mine, right? They're going to be living
10:51
by faith in Jesus, even though Jesus is
10:54
not there physically with them. But
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Jesus says, "Remain in me." He
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says,"Remain in me and I will remain in
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you."
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That that level of access, okay, that
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level of connectedness that the
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disciples have to Jesus, he's saying
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they will still have that access even
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when he's not with them physically
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anymore.
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And that means that you and I have that
11:25
access, have that level of connectedness
11:28
to Jesus available to us by the Holy
11:31
Spirit. This isn't like like, oh yeah,
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when Jesus was on earth, they had like
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real access like A+ S tier access to
11:39
Jesus when he was on earth, but then
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like after that it was like kind of mid
11:43
like B minus, C++, like that level of
11:46
access. No, he's saying this is real
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access to Jesus. The same access to
11:51
Jesus. The same connectedness to him is
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the same connectedness that you and I
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are to have to him today.
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Jesus says remain in him and he will
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produce fruit in your life. In the
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passage, Jesus talks about how there are
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two kinds of branches. He says there are
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branches that are connected to the vine
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and they produce fruit and there's ones
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that do not produce fruit because
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they're not actually connected to the
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vine. Jesus says in the passage that the
12:21
connected branch produces lots of fruit,
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right? And a disconnected branch can't
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produce fruit. So there's two kinds of
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branches and the gardener takes two
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kinds of actions toward the branches in
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order to make sure that the branches are
12:37
as healthy as possible. In order to make
12:39
sure that the vine is as productive as
12:41
possible, Jesus says that the
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unproductive branches, that means the
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branches that don't produce fruit, the
12:47
garden are cuts off. Or if you read out
12:50
of the the ESV, the English Standard
12:52
Version, it'll say he takes those
12:54
branches away. And we'll come back to
12:55
what that means in just a second. But he
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says that for the second kind of branch,
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the one that produces fruit, the
13:01
gardener prunes it so that it can
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produce even more fruit. Do you guys
13:07
know what pruning means? Hands up if you
13:10
don't know what pruning means. Pretty
13:12
much everybody knows what pruning means.
13:13
All right. Or you're just like faking.
13:14
So pruning is when a gardener takes like
13:17
a tree or a bush and he takes a pair of
13:19
scissors and he starts cutting off
13:22
leaves and shoots and flowers off of the
13:25
branches. And the reason why he chops up
13:28
the tree isn't because he wants to hurt
13:30
the tree, but it's because he wants it
13:32
to produce the greatest amount of
13:35
strong, healthy fruit. You see, what
13:38
happens is the branch starts to put out
13:40
these little leaves, right? It starts to
13:42
put out these more little grape clusters
13:44
or whatever. And that's not always a
13:46
good thing. the new leaves and the new
13:48
grape clusters can sometimes start to
13:50
pull water and pull nutrients away from
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the big cluster, the good cluster of
13:56
grapes that the branch was already
13:58
working on. So instead of the branch
14:00
being able to produce like a couple of
14:02
big juicy delicious clusters, I'm like a
14:05
big grape guy, guys. So instead of being
14:08
able to produce just like mouthwatering
14:10
grapes, the the branch produces like a
14:13
bunch of useless leaves or maybe like a
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couple of half-developed bunches of
14:18
grapes that you can't actually eat.
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Actually, Ava showed me the way this
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works with her basil plant, right? Once
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her basil plant started to actually get
14:27
watered, right, and it started to grow
14:28
again, it started to put out all these
14:30
little tiny baby leaves. And that's the
14:32
symbol for baby leaves, okay? So it
14:34
starts to put out these little baby
14:36
leaves on the sides of the branches. And
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Ava explained to me that to take care of
14:40
the plant, she actually has to go in and
14:42
she has to pull off the baby leaves so
14:46
that the big leaves, the good leaves,
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the part that you take and use to like
14:50
flavor your food, that they can grow big
14:52
and healthy and strong.
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Jesus is saying that if you're a
14:56
follower of Christ, if you're connected
14:59
to the vine that is Jesus, then your
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life is going to look like that. If
15:04
you're connected to Jesus, then the Holy
15:07
Spirit who is living in you is going to
15:10
start to produce fruit in your life.
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That's fruit that's going to look like a
15:14
transformed character. It's going to
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look fruit that looks like generosity.
15:19
Fruit that looks like wanting to point
15:21
your friends back toward Jesus. fruit
15:23
that looks like a life of prayer and
15:25
Bible reading and worship. And what
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Jesus is saying is that in order to make
15:30
your life, your branch, produce as much
15:34
good, strong, healthy fruit as possible,
15:37
what God's going to do is he's going to
15:38
come in with his scissors and he's going
15:41
to start snipping stuff. He's going to
15:43
say, "Hey, this music that you're
15:45
listening to isn't building you up.
15:48
Snip. Hey, that TV show that you're
15:51
watching, it doesn't make you look more
15:53
like me. Snip. Hey, those jokes that you
15:56
tell with your friends, those aren't
15:58
honoring to me. Snip. Or maybe it's
16:01
even, hey, those friends who you hang
16:03
out with, that college you're trying to
16:05
get into, that career that you want to
16:07
pursue because it's going to make bank,
16:08
right? I want something else for you.
16:11
Snip. And I just want to be clear that
16:14
isn't be or it isn't that God is only
16:17
going to bring his scissors in and snip
16:19
things that are bad or sinful, right?
16:21
There are good things, even fruitful
16:24
things that your life might be producing
16:26
that God might come in and snip because
16:29
he's trying to bring even more fruit
16:31
somewhere else. I remember when I was in
16:34
college and I was studying to be an
16:36
actor because I wanted to be a famous
16:38
movie star, right? So that was my plan.
16:40
act in college, famous movie star,
16:43
totally worked out. And I was like,
16:44
"Dang, this is gonna be so good. The
16:47
world needs Christian movie stars like
16:49
Chris Pratt. Think about all the things
16:51
that I could do for the kingdom of God,
16:53
right? Like Chris Pratt."
16:56
And I remember talking to my mom about
16:58
it, right? I remember telling her that I
17:00
wanted to be a movie star. And I
17:02
remember her saying, "Sure, honey.
17:03
That's great. I think you can even pray
17:06
that God would make you a famous movie
17:08
star like Chris Pratt. But she said, 'Wh
17:12
you pray that prayer, are you willing to
17:15
also pray, God, if being a famous movie
17:18
star would draw me away from you? If
17:22
being a famous movie star would make me
17:24
look less like Jesus, if being a movie
17:26
star makes me have less fruit in my
17:29
life, then I don't want it.
17:32
And I remember when my mom said that to
17:34
me. I remember being like, "But I want
17:37
it." Right? And I don't think I'm the
17:40
only one. I've had conversations with a
17:43
bunch of young people over the years,
17:45
right? This is literally my job. And
17:46
I've asked them the same question. I
17:49
say, "If God says no to your plans for
17:52
your career, your college, your spouse,
17:56
can you say, "I trust you, Lord." Can
17:59
you say, 'Lord, I want you more than I
18:02
want the gifts you give. So, we'll keep
18:05
reading verses 5 through8. Jesus says,
18:09
"Yes, I am the vine. You are the
18:12
branches. Those who remain in me and I
18:15
in them will produce much fruit. For
18:18
apart from me, you can do nothing.
18:21
Anyone who does not remain in me is
18:23
thrown away like a useless branch and
18:26
withers. Such branches are gathered into
18:29
a pile to be burned. But if you remain
18:32
in me and my words remain in you, you
18:34
may ask for anything you want and it
18:36
will be granted. When you produce much
18:38
fruit, you are my true disciples. This
18:42
brings great glory to my father.
18:46
I think this passage is so powerful. I
18:50
want us to notice how Jesus says these
18:53
branches produce fruit. It's not that
18:55
the branches like try really hard. It's
18:58
not that the branches have perfect
19:00
attendance at Sunday branch school. It's
19:03
not that the branches sin no more than
19:04
three times a week, right? Or that the
19:07
branches have all the I am statements
19:08
memorized. That's not what it is. The
19:12
branches produce fruit simply by being
19:14
connected to the vine. And so to take
19:17
this out of metaphor land, your life
19:20
will produce fruit simply by you staying
19:23
connected to Christ.
19:25
I think that is such an encouragement to
19:29
realize that I don't produce fruit
19:31
because of what I'm doing. That it is
19:33
Jesus who produces fruit in my life.
19:37
That's the promise in this passage that
19:39
if we stay near to Jesus, he will
19:43
produce much fruit in our lives. He will
19:46
be the one to change your heart. He will
19:49
be the one to fix your relationships. He
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will be the one to teach you how to love
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people the way he loves them. Later on
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in the passage, we won't have time to
19:59
cover it today, but he tells the
20:00
disciples that the love God has for
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Jesus is the love Jesus has shown the
20:06
disciples. And that's the love that you
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and I are supposed to show for one
20:11
another. That's the love God shows for
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Jesus. It's how I'm supposed to love
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Morgan. It's how I'm supposed to love
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Gavin. It's how Samuel's supposed to
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love me and I'm supposed to love Samuel.
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But how do we do that? Right? How can we
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love each other in that unbelievable
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overwhelming abundant way that the
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father loves the son? Right? That's
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impossible
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unless we stay connected to Jesus and
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let him be the one to produce that
20:40
fruit. Jesus is saying that that is the
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mark of a disciple that our lives
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produce lots and lots of fruit to please
20:49
God. So that's what happens to the
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fruitful branch, right? The connected
20:54
branch. God prunes the branch so that it
20:56
produces even more fruit. God like snips
20:59
away the branch's plan to be Chris Pratt
21:01
and it produces fruit, right? And that
21:03
pruning process, y'all, it it can be
21:06
painful. It can be hard, but it is
21:09
necessary for the health of the branch.
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And so before I finish up, I just want
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to say, what about the other branch,
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right? What about the branch that
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doesn't produce fruit? There there's
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some teachers who will take this passage
21:22
and they will say that no, Jesus is
21:24
talking about real believers, that both
21:26
branches are real believers, that these
21:28
are true followers of Jesus, and it's
21:30
just like sometimes their lives like
21:33
don't really produce fruit. they just
21:35
don't produce fruit for the kingdom. So,
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I personally do not think that that's
21:40
what he's talking about, right? Jesus or
21:41
or in verse 6, Jesus talks about the
21:43
non-producing branches. He talks about
21:45
them being gathered up to be thrown into
21:47
a fire and burned. I don't think the
21:49
Bible gives us any reason to think that
21:51
true followers of Jesus are in danger of
21:54
like being burned up in judgment by God.
21:56
Okay? But I think that what the passage
22:00
is saying is that there are branches
22:02
that appear to be connected to the vine
22:05
but really aren't. There are people who
22:08
appear to be followers of Christ. Maybe
22:11
they're in church. Maybe they have a
22:13
Jesus fish bumper sticker. Maybe they
22:16
have a Bible verse tattooed on their arm
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or on their Instagram bio or something.
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There are people who look like followers
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of Jesus. I'm not calling on anyone
22:24
specific, by the way, but there are
22:26
people who look like followers of Jesus,
22:28
but whose lives don't produce any fruit
22:31
for the kingdom of God. I think that
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what Jesus or I don't think that what
22:35
Jesus is saying here is, hey, if you're
22:37
a Christian, you need to have like this
22:39
much fruit in order to make it into
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heaven, right? I think that what he's
22:43
saying is if you are a Christian, if
22:45
you're a true follower of Jesus, then
22:48
someone ought to be able to tell just by
22:51
looking at your life. They ought to be
22:54
able to see the fruit that God is
22:56
producing in your life. I think that
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there are a lot of people out there in
23:01
the world who call themselves Christian,
23:03
but who show by their lives that they
23:06
are not followers of Jesus. I'm I'm
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genuinely not pointing at any of you
23:10
guys or like anyone in particular,
23:12
right? I'm pointing at myself, right?
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I've told you before that that when I
23:17
was your guy's age, I I called myself a
23:19
Christian, okay? I knew that Jesus was
23:21
the son of God. I knew that he died on
23:23
the cross for my sins. I said that I
23:24
believed in him, right? But when I look
23:26
back on that now, I know that my life
23:29
wasn't producing any fruit. I know that
23:32
I was fooling myself. And I think that
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there are a lot of people in a lot of
23:38
churches and a lot of youth groups and a
23:39
lot of Christian schools who are just
23:42
like me.
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So as we finish up here and the band
23:46
comes up, I want to challenge you guys
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during worship, okay? To do something a
23:50
little different. I want to challenge
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you guys to really take an assessment of
23:55
your life with God. to ask yourself,
23:59
really ask yourself, is my life
24:01
producing fruit or am I fooling myself?
24:05
And if the answer is yes, I am fooling
24:07
myself, then like genuinely, even if
24:09
you've been fooling yourself for your
24:11
entire life up until now, I want you to
24:13
know that God will truly save you from
24:16
your sins if you turn from sin and you
24:19
trust in Jesus to save you from God's
24:22
judgment against sin. And so for for all
24:25
of us, students, sponsors, Pastor Ryan,
24:28
Pastor Stacy, I want to give us the
24:31
challenge and the reminder to stay
24:34
connected to Jesus, our vine. As
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Christians, we need to be building a
24:40
practice of regular prayer and regular
24:42
Bible reading. I'm not saying this as
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someone who has all of this figured out,
24:46
right? Or somebody who like every day I
24:49
wake up and spend an hour and a half in
24:51
prayer. Like, ask Ava. I have always
24:53
found it a challenge to stay consistent
24:56
in my like regular devotional prayer and
24:58
Bible reading, right? But I'm telling
25:00
you guys, staying connected to God means
25:03
that we can give him our hopes, our
25:05
fears, our desires, our anxieties, our
25:09
sadness, our depression, and learning
25:12
what his voice sounds like in the
25:15
scriptures.
25:16
And so the second thing, prayer and
25:18
Bible reading. The second thing is that
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we need to be staying close to the
25:22
community of believers. Like keep coming
25:25
to church on Sunday mornings. Keep
25:27
coming to youth group on Sunday nights.
25:29
If you're a high schooler, join us for
25:30
the midweek Bible study on Wednesday
25:32
nights, right? Build friendships with
25:34
people who encourage and pray for you.
25:38
Surround yourself with other branches
25:41
that are connected to the vine. And
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let's all produce a whole lot of fruit
25:46
together. Sound good?