Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
Join me for a more personal look into the weekend sermons, as well as some thoughts on theology, marriage, parenting, and leadership. I will also explore some of your most asked questions throughout the year.
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Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
The Key to a Fruitful Christian Life: Abiding in Jesus
Discover the true essence of a fruitful Christian life through the inspiring example of George Mueller, whose unwavering faith led to the establishment of orphanages without public fundraising. Learn about the often painful but necessary process of pruning, managed by God the Father, to foster greater spiritual growth and productivity. Pastor Nick challenges us to identify aspects of our lives that may need pruning—whether habits or relationships—and encourages us to simplify and focus on what truly matters for deeper spiritual health. Tune in to cultivate a thriving spiritual life that bears abundant fruit.
Hey, welcome to Beyond Sunday, where we bridge our everyday experiences with the depth of biblical wisdom. I'm your host, pastor Nick, and today we're diving into one of the most compelling metaphors Jesus used to describe our relationship with Him the vine and the branches. It's John, chapter 15, the first 11 verses. Jesus outlines what it truly means to live a fruitful Christian life. Have you ever felt like you're just going through the motions in your faith, struggling to really feel connected or vibrant? What if I told you there's a key to not only surviving but thriving in your spiritual life? Today's passage comes from a poignant moment in Jesus' ministry. As he shares the Last Supper with his disciples, knowing the cross is just ahead, he imparts this profound lesson on abiding in him. These words are spoken in a room filled with uncertainty and looming fear, making his message of remaining in him all the more urgent and essential. If you'll remember the last couple of chapters, we've been in the upper room, and at the end of chapter 14, he tells the disciples it's time, let's get up and go. And they begin to make their journey to the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, as they're making that journey, they probably pass the temple, they probably pass the city gates. As they go outside of Jerusalem, they probably pass through some vineyards, and not only is Jesus using what is around him, but he was using something that was significant to the nation of Israel.
Speaker 1:Jesus begins his discourse with a clear imperative abide in me and I in you. The concept of abiding is central to understanding our dependence on him for spiritual life. Verses four and five he says abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. Just as a branch derives its nutrients and life from the vine, so too must you and I draw our spiritual sustenance from Christ. This connection is vital. It's not occasional, it's constant, indicating a living, breathing relationship with Jesus. For just a moment, I want you to consider your daily routines. How can you integrate moments of reflection, prayer or scripture reading to maintain this vital connection? It might be as simple as starting your day with a verse from the Bible or spending a few quiet moments in prayer each afternoon.
Speaker 1:Now Jesus uses this metaphor of fruit-bearing to illustrate the visible outcomes of a life that abides in Him. John 15, verse 8,. He said by this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Look at the life of George Mueller, a Christian evangelist known for his strong faith and prayer life, which led him to establish orphanages in England without ever requesting funds publicly. His life was a testament to fruitful dependence on God's provision. Fruit-bearing in the Christian context includes character development, effective ministry and influencing others for Christ. It's a natural result of a healthy spiritual connection. So let me ask you that how healthy is your connection to Christ? You're going to know the answer to that based on the fruit coming out of your life.
Speaker 1:Now, one of the hard things that Jesus talks about in this passage is this idea of pruning. But he's not pruning for pruning's sake. He's not pruning to be cruel. He's pruning so that you and I have greater productivity, that our fruit is bigger and stronger and more visible. Jesus introduces the concept of pruning as essential for more significant growth and fruitfulness, a process managed by the father. More significant growth and fruitfulness, a process managed by the father, the vine dresser or the gardener. Verse 2,. Every branch that does bear fruit. He prunes that it may bear more fruit.
Speaker 1:Pruning, though painful, involves removing not only sin but also unnecessary encumbrances that hinder our growth. It's about refinement and focusing on what truly matters. As an exercise, just for a moment, identify aspects of your life that may need pruning. Now, you're not the one that's pruning right. God's going to prune you. Perhaps there are certain habits, maybe there are relationships or priorities that don't contribute to your spiritual growth. Consider ways that you might simplify or make changes to facilitate deeper spiritual health. Even though God is the gardener and you and I should not try to be the gardener there are moments that he uses just common sense and wisdom to show us things that need to be removed out of our life.
Speaker 1:Now, jesus links abiding in his love with obedience to his commands, establishing a clear pathway to maintaining our connection with him. John 15, verse 10,. He says if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. The obedience is not about legalism, but about loving response to God's love. For us, it's relational, rooted in desire to stay close to him, just as Jesus did with the Father.
Speaker 1:Here's a practical step. Make a commitment to study and apply one of Jesus' commands over the next week. That doesn't seem hard, right? I'm not asking you to do one every moment. I'm not asking you to do one every day. Just pick one, and over the next week, that doesn't seem hard, right? I'm not asking you to do one every moment, I'm not asking you to do one every day. Just pick one and over the next week, make a commitment to study and apply that command to your life. Perhaps focus on the command to love others as he has loved us, exploring practical ways to enact this love into our interactions.
Speaker 1:Now, probably one of my favorite parts of this passage, even though I love the whole concept of pruning, this was a fun passage to preach on as I studied this whole idea and thinking about Jesus pruning my life and my circumstances. One of the ways it says in Scripture is that he does it through his words. I think he does it through relationships. He does it through hard moments as well, and as much as I loved really just diving into that and studying that, the part that really hit me the most is found at the end of this chapter or at the end of the verses that we're studying today. It says Jesus concludes with the promise of joy, a natural result of a life lived in close fellowship with him.
Speaker 1:John 15, verse 11, this is what Jesus said, these things. I have spoken to you, talking about abiding in him, and, by the way, he said the word abide or remain, depending on the translation you're looking at, 11 times in 11 verses. In verse 4, he said it four times alone, so he's making sure that the disciples around him are getting this concept, that they're hearing what it means, that he's what he's really saying. And so verse 11, he says these things that I've spoken to you, that my joy may be in you that's why I'm telling you these things and that your joy may be complete. Another version says that it may be full, and so the question that I wrestled through this week is why would you and I settle with an incomplete joy? Because truth is, you can have joy apart from God. You find joy in things. I find joy when I go scuba diving. Right when I'm done scuba diving, that joy is gone, and so there are temporary things that we can find joy in, but not long-term things.
Speaker 1:Cs Lewis once said that joy is the serious business of heaven. So I want you for a moment to reflect on how your joy is linked to your spiritual life. How does abiding in Jesus influence your sense of joy, even amidst difficulties? You might even consider journaling about the times you felt this joy most acutely as a result of your relationship with God. I think that's one of the spiritual disciplines that we miss a lot journaling.
Speaker 1:Journaling is a great way to remember. You write down the prayers that you have and then you write down the prayers that get answered, and in the seasons when you feel like God never hears me or God never answers my prayers, you can go back at that journal and think no, these are the moments that's happened. The same is true for joy. There are seasons of life that we walk through and just think man, nothing is bringing joy in my life. What kind of memory would it be, what kind of encouragement would it be, if you and I had a journal that we could walk back into and say you know what? Let me remember those times that I was joyful and let me remember what it looked like with my relationship with God. Man, it was those seasons that I was praying more. It was those seasons that I was spending more time in the word of God. It was those seasons that I was serving in the capacity that God's gifted me in. That joy really filled my life. If we journal those things, we would remember them in the moments that we really need to remember them.
Speaker 1:The last thing I want to give you is this I talked about this a lot yesterday. I want you to spend some time reminding yourself daily that I am a branch. I think that's important and it sounds silly, apart from the scripture, but we're called to remember that God's the gardener, jesus is the vine, and you and I are a branch. And the more we remember that, the more that we'll live the way a branch needs to live. The only way a branch stays alive is if it is connected to the vine, still connected to the source of life. Apart from that, it just dies.
Speaker 1:As I was reading some gardening articles this week, one of the ways it said if you want to figure out if a branch is alive or not, cut it in half and then examine the center. At the center you'll see if there's still life there. And so I wonder if you and I were sitting down over coffee and I asked you what's at the center of your life? Could you truly say that is Christ? Or is it the schedules and the priorities and the pressures of today? Maybe you need to remind yourself today I'm not the gardener. You need to remind yourself today I'm not the vine, but what I am is I'm a branch and I'm going to be the best branch that God's called me to be. And the best way I can be a branch is to stay connected to the life source, and for you and I that's Jesus Christ. And through that connection there's going to be pruning. There are going to be moments that are hard. There are going to be moments that God cuts away things and you're going to wonder why is that being cut away? But the truth is, the more he cuts away, the healthier you become, the more fruit that a branch that has been pruned begins to show.
Speaker 1:Today we've walked through the rich vineyard of John 15, exploring how abiding in Christ is not merely a theological concept but a practical reality that affects every aspect of our lives, from the necessity of staying connected to him to the tangible outcomes of such a connection, like fruitfulness and joy. We've seen that abiding in Jesus is indeed the indispensable key to living the Christian life. Let me say that again. It's the indispensable key If you want to know how do I live this Christian life, how do I live it better, how do I live it more fruitful, how do I live it to where it's a joy? Abide in Christ. So, as you go into this week, I encourage you to reflect on these truths, allowing them to deepen your relationship with Christ and transform your approach to daily living. Thank you for joining me today, on Beyond Sunday. May you live this week connected to the vine, experiencing the fullness of life that he offers. Until next time, stay rooted in Christ.