1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,760 Well, what do you think about that miracle-working God that we have? 2 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,080 You guys, we have had 2 miracles so far in this conference. 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,320 Last night, John MacLeod was in a— what could have been a 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,960 very tragic accident where a car hit him while he was riding a 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,440 bike, and he survived. And, 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,800 and here's the thing, I go over to him last night, he's sitting over there. 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,740 There's so many things you can say in that moment. And he says to 8 00:00:32,740 --> 00:00:36,540 me, "Pastor Kevin, I really think the Lord's trying to teach 9 00:00:36,540 --> 00:00:40,380 me," et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. My 10 00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:43,900 goodness, my word. And then a baby has life. 11 00:00:43,980 --> 00:00:46,540 We sang this morning, "Waymaker, 12 00:00:47,979 --> 00:00:51,340 miracle worker." Do you believe in a miracle-working God? 13 00:00:51,580 --> 00:00:55,220 He is a miracle-working God. Are you paying attention that He 14 00:00:55,220 --> 00:00:59,060 loves us so much that He would connect the dots of the thread of 15 00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:02,660 what He's doing? And He's going to continue to do it this 16 00:01:02,660 --> 00:01:06,360 morning as we bring bring up our next speaker, somebody 17 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,800 who I would— I don't use this word lightly, and I have assigned this word 18 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,560 to under 10 people in this house, but I believe that 19 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,880 Rhonda Frazier is a pillar of Sarna Assembly 20 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,400 Springhouse Church. Her consistency, her faithfulness in the 21 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,080 Lord has helped cultivate the longevity of 22 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,560 this house and what the Lord's doing. Would you guys please welcome my friend Rhonda 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:28,360 Frazier. 24 00:01:34,450 --> 00:01:38,090 Pastor, thank you, Pastor. Oh, good morning. Did Vonda take us to 25 00:01:38,090 --> 00:01:41,810 church? All right, well, in, 26 00:01:43,570 --> 00:01:47,290 um, uh, y'all, if we haven't memorized John 15:1 by now, you 27 00:01:47,290 --> 00:01:50,890 don't need the slides for what— I mean, you know, let's just— we'll just see 28 00:01:50,890 --> 00:01:54,410 about that in a minute. Also, I have some books. One of the 29 00:01:54,410 --> 00:01:57,970 books has a, a— it was written in the 1800s, 30 00:01:58,930 --> 00:02:02,690 so that's a long time ago. And so, people back then were 31 00:02:02,690 --> 00:02:06,370 trying to figure out how to abide in Christ. And so, Andrew Murray wrote some 32 00:02:06,370 --> 00:02:10,130 words about that to try to help them figure that out, and 33 00:02:10,130 --> 00:02:13,770 we're gonna talk a little bit about that today. And in the, 34 00:02:14,970 --> 00:02:18,570 you know, there's— this is not a Scripture, but it's 35 00:02:19,010 --> 00:02:22,650 kind of a proverb or an adage, "Variety is the spice of life." 36 00:02:23,770 --> 00:02:26,570 And now, for something completely different. 37 00:02:27,930 --> 00:02:30,570 Would you roll that beautiful cheese footage? 38 00:02:32,660 --> 00:02:36,380 All right, so I'm just gonna be honest with you and say that 39 00:02:36,380 --> 00:02:40,180 when I read John 15, sometimes, and we've read it a lot, 40 00:02:40,900 --> 00:02:44,700 I can feel like that. I can feel like that scene, 41 00:02:44,700 --> 00:02:47,700 and it goes something like this. The mom, 42 00:02:48,660 --> 00:02:52,380 "Follow Christ." "Oh, I've already done that. What number are 43 00:02:52,380 --> 00:02:56,100 we on?" "I don't know, it's your Bible. Try to 44 00:02:56,100 --> 00:02:59,910 keep up." "Oh, okay, the next step, abide in me." abide in the 45 00:02:59,910 --> 00:03:03,590 vine. What does that mean? What does 46 00:03:03,590 --> 00:03:07,190 abide in the vine mean? You abide in the 47 00:03:07,190 --> 00:03:10,430 vine. Well, I understand that, but how? 48 00:03:10,670 --> 00:03:14,390 How do you abide in the vine? What do you do? David, I cannot show 49 00:03:14,390 --> 00:03:18,110 you everything. Can you show me one thing? 50 00:03:19,230 --> 00:03:22,750 You just, you just, here's what you do. You just 51 00:03:23,310 --> 00:03:27,150 abide in. Okay, I don't know 52 00:03:27,150 --> 00:03:30,470 how to do that. And I don't know how to be any clearer. 53 00:03:31,910 --> 00:03:35,750 You just take this thing and you, if you say 54 00:03:35,750 --> 00:03:37,830 abide one more time, 55 00:03:39,590 --> 00:03:40,870 it says abide. 56 00:03:43,030 --> 00:03:46,830 Abide. It says abide. I also just think 57 00:03:47,230 --> 00:03:50,790 of the Princess Bride and that the 58 00:03:50,790 --> 00:03:54,630 Inigo Montoya, you keep using that word. I do not think it means what 59 00:03:54,630 --> 00:03:55,270 you think it means. 60 00:03:59,410 --> 00:04:03,130 So my assignment this morning is to talk to us and to think 61 00:04:03,130 --> 00:04:06,970 about what it means to abide while 62 00:04:06,970 --> 00:04:10,450 being a human. And my question to 63 00:04:10,530 --> 00:04:13,170 my leadership is, do we have another option? 64 00:04:15,970 --> 00:04:19,770 Is there a way to do this without being human? I don't think 65 00:04:19,770 --> 00:04:23,330 so. So I want us to start 66 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,240 I want us to start just a minute with what the 67 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,040 humans that were walking with Jesus in chapter 15, so we 68 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,760 are gonna be in John 15, and what they might have 69 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,200 been experiencing. So all the 70 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,920 disciples had heard at some point those beautiful 71 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,960 two words, "Follow me." 72 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,400 And sometimes it was literally, "James!" "Follow me, 73 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,360 John, follow me." And other times it also could have been, especially 74 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,960 like if you're, you know, if you watch "The Chosen," it could have been like, 75 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,720 "Hey, Andrew, keep up, follow me." It was repeated 76 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,640 more than 20 times in the gospels, "Follow me, follow me." 77 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,520 And it was a recurring phrase. And when the disciples were called, either 78 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,080 in small groups or individually, it's, "Follow me." 79 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,680 Rhonda, in Matthew 16:24, we've already heard it this morning, that 80 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,840 says, "Take up your cross and follow me." 81 00:05:21,460 --> 00:05:24,900 He says, "Follow me and walk in the light," in John 8:12. 82 00:05:25,060 --> 00:05:28,900 And to Peter, oh Peter, over in John 83 00:05:28,900 --> 00:05:32,260 21:22, it's really like Jesus is saying, 84 00:05:32,340 --> 00:05:35,700 "Peter, worry about yourself and follow me." 85 00:05:37,380 --> 00:05:41,140 The disciples were used to that call. It was familiar. 86 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:44,500 But Jesus had also just said to them, 87 00:05:45,460 --> 00:05:48,130 like in John 14, 13, 14, 88 00:05:50,050 --> 00:05:53,770 "I'm going away and you will not be able 89 00:05:53,770 --> 00:05:57,570 to follow me." Earlier that evening he 90 00:05:57,570 --> 00:06:01,130 had said, "My children, I will be with you only a little 91 00:06:01,130 --> 00:06:04,970 while longer. Where I am going you cannot come." And they 92 00:06:04,970 --> 00:06:08,490 clearly did not understand what he meant. He encourages 93 00:06:08,490 --> 00:06:12,210 them and he promises to send them a helper, the Holy Spirit. 94 00:06:12,290 --> 00:06:16,050 He promises to give them peace. And in the last verse of 95 00:06:16,050 --> 00:06:19,750 John, 14, Jesus says, "I will no longer 96 00:06:19,750 --> 00:06:23,470 talk with you much 'cause I've gotta go do what 97 00:06:23,470 --> 00:06:26,710 the Father has commanded me so the world may know 98 00:06:27,110 --> 00:06:30,710 that I love the Father. Rise up, 99 00:06:31,190 --> 00:06:34,790 let's go from this place." And it's not recorded in 100 00:06:34,790 --> 00:06:38,350 Scripture, but there was an understood, "Follow 101 00:06:38,350 --> 00:06:42,030 me." This leads us to the chapter break and 102 00:06:42,030 --> 00:06:45,870 we get into John 15, and this is the passage that we've 103 00:06:45,870 --> 00:06:49,630 been living in, and dare I say it, abiding in 104 00:06:49,950 --> 00:06:53,750 for this time. Jesus and the disciples were on 105 00:06:53,750 --> 00:06:57,510 the move to the garden. Now, Pastor Kevin alluded to this 2 106 00:06:57,510 --> 00:07:00,990 weeks ago when he brought our attention to Old Testament 107 00:07:00,990 --> 00:07:04,470 passages that refer to Israel as the vine and 108 00:07:04,470 --> 00:07:08,110 God as the vinekeeper. And here in John 109 00:07:08,190 --> 00:07:11,950 15, we hear Jesus say, can we say it all 110 00:07:11,950 --> 00:07:15,450 together? Now, this is from the NIV, so, Vine dresser, gardener, it's 111 00:07:15,450 --> 00:07:18,650 okay. All right, "I am the true 112 00:07:18,890 --> 00:07:21,610 vine and my Father is the 113 00:07:22,090 --> 00:07:25,530 gardener." Some scholars say that since the 114 00:07:25,530 --> 00:07:29,050 disciples were on a walk, in transit, 115 00:07:29,530 --> 00:07:33,170 that it is possible that Jesus was talking 116 00:07:33,170 --> 00:07:36,730 to them in the temple courtyard in 117 00:07:36,730 --> 00:07:40,580 sight of a huge carved 118 00:07:41,060 --> 00:07:44,700 golden vine. This 119 00:07:44,700 --> 00:07:48,220 vine was the national symbol of Israel. Think 120 00:07:48,220 --> 00:07:51,620 Stars and Stripes. Some scholars wonder if Jesus' 121 00:07:51,700 --> 00:07:55,300 statement, "I am the true 122 00:07:55,300 --> 00:07:58,900 vine," might have been made in sight 123 00:07:59,220 --> 00:08:02,900 of that carved vine. And even if it didn't happen like that, 124 00:08:03,860 --> 00:08:07,380 there is no doubt that the disciples knew the 125 00:08:07,380 --> 00:08:10,980 imagery and the pride of the symbol. They would 126 00:08:10,980 --> 00:08:14,660 recall hearing the readings from Isaiah and 127 00:08:14,660 --> 00:08:18,100 Ezekiel where the vine imagery is strong. 128 00:08:19,220 --> 00:08:22,860 In Old Testament passages, Israel is described as a 129 00:08:22,860 --> 00:08:26,620 vine. Israel was to be the channel through which the 130 00:08:26,620 --> 00:08:29,460 blessings of God would flow to the whole world. 131 00:08:30,420 --> 00:08:33,820 That promise was repeated over and over in the Old 132 00:08:33,820 --> 00:08:37,620 Testament. God's life and love and justice and 133 00:08:37,620 --> 00:08:41,440 righteousness were supposed to flow to all the earth through 134 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,520 Israel. But the vine of Israel 135 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,600 repeatedly fails to bear the fruit that God 136 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,280 intended. And now here is Jesus with 137 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,000 all of that strong vine imagery layered in 138 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,840 their songs and their poetry and the prophecy of 139 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,080 the ages saying to the disciples, "I 140 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,440 am the true vine." 141 00:09:08,790 --> 00:09:12,590 David Platt says of this scene, "It's like Jesus was saying to them, 'You thought 142 00:09:12,590 --> 00:09:16,150 it was Israel, but no, it's me. I'm the vine. 143 00:09:16,470 --> 00:09:19,750 I will be the channel through which the fruit of God will flow. 144 00:09:19,830 --> 00:09:23,670 Jesus is proclaiming, 'What I am, what Israel 145 00:09:23,750 --> 00:09:27,390 never could be. Life, love, power, 146 00:09:27,390 --> 00:09:31,110 and goodness will flow to the nations through me.'" 147 00:09:32,070 --> 00:09:35,630 And then Jesus says something so incredibly hopeful to the 148 00:09:35,630 --> 00:09:39,310 disciples, 'cause if you hear that your nation is not the 149 00:09:39,310 --> 00:09:43,130 vine, vine, then where does that place you? He says to 150 00:09:43,130 --> 00:09:46,980 them, "But you have a place. You have a purchase, 151 00:09:46,980 --> 00:09:50,770 a purpose. You are the branches. Your place 152 00:09:50,770 --> 00:09:54,450 in the vine is secured. You are attached to me. You are 153 00:09:54,450 --> 00:09:58,210 mine, joined to me. If you stay here and abide in me, 154 00:09:58,370 --> 00:10:02,050 you will experience my life flowing through you 155 00:10:02,290 --> 00:10:05,970 always." That same declaration is made 156 00:10:05,970 --> 00:10:09,540 to you and me. Jesus says to you and me, 157 00:10:09,700 --> 00:10:13,540 the humans reading this text, "Abide 158 00:10:14,020 --> 00:10:17,060 in me." But how? 159 00:10:17,860 --> 00:10:20,900 How do we abide? How do we fold it in? 160 00:10:22,340 --> 00:10:25,380 This brokenness that we're left with, what does that look like? 161 00:10:29,140 --> 00:10:32,740 We have to remember that we need rest. 162 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:38,320 Come to me and find rest. This came up on Thursday night when the 163 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:40,658 leadership gathered. Matthew 11:28-30, 164 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,640 come to me, all you who labor and are heavy 165 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,359 laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke 166 00:10:49,359 --> 00:10:53,200 upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle 167 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,680 and lowly in heart, and you will find rest 168 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,320 for your souls. For my yoke is easy 169 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,560 my burden is light. And isn't it 170 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:08,000 just like Jesus to marry the 171 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:11,640 language of rest with the language of 172 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:15,440 work? To marry the language of rest 173 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,720 with the language of learning? You are 174 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,720 laboring and carrying a heavy load. 175 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,720 How does it get better? Come, come, come shoulder to 176 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,450 shoulder with me. "Come shoulder to me. Come 177 00:11:30,450 --> 00:11:34,290 be my student. Learn from me. Yoke yourself up 178 00:11:34,290 --> 00:11:38,010 to me. Yield yourself to my words and my ways. Come 179 00:11:38,010 --> 00:11:41,770 in step with me and let your life, all of it, 180 00:11:41,770 --> 00:11:44,850 be synced up." In other words, 181 00:11:45,570 --> 00:11:49,370 "Abide in me." But 182 00:11:49,370 --> 00:11:50,370 this takes surrender. 183 00:11:53,010 --> 00:11:56,090 Surrender of our will, surrender of our pride and our 184 00:11:56,090 --> 00:11:59,490 independence. This yoking up and abiding 185 00:11:59,850 --> 00:12:03,530 requires acknowledgement that we can't do the work without 186 00:12:03,610 --> 00:12:07,050 Jesus. In 1882, Andrew Murray 187 00:12:07,370 --> 00:12:10,930 says, "It's not the yoke, but the resistance to the 188 00:12:10,930 --> 00:12:14,650 yoke that causes the difficulty." Well, that'll preach 189 00:12:14,650 --> 00:12:18,090 on Twitter or X or whatever it is. I don't even know. Okay, that could 190 00:12:18,090 --> 00:12:21,810 be a meme. That could be a meme today, all right? What an incredible 191 00:12:21,810 --> 00:12:25,450 thing to know that when we come to Jesus, we have 192 00:12:25,450 --> 00:12:29,240 access to the Almighty One, and 193 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,960 he will teach us all day and keep 194 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,800 us all day, 'cause he's always speaking, for he has 195 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:40,520 promised he will do it. And what does 196 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,040 that abandon and surrender to the yoke bring? 197 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,840 Rest. I will give you 198 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,840 rest. You will find rest for your souls. Stay 199 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,520 here, dwell here, live here, shoulder 200 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,260 up here, abide here, come to me. Come to me and find 201 00:12:59,580 --> 00:13:03,300 rest. Finding a posture of spiritual rest 202 00:13:03,300 --> 00:13:05,980 in Christ is life-giving and empowering. 203 00:13:06,940 --> 00:13:10,660 Abiding results in work that 204 00:13:10,660 --> 00:13:11,660 brings rest. 205 00:13:15,340 --> 00:13:19,140 For humans to abide, we have to 206 00:13:19,140 --> 00:13:21,580 recognize that we are needy. 207 00:13:24,430 --> 00:13:28,270 Humans, we are needy, but we don't wanna be, 208 00:13:28,830 --> 00:13:32,550 and that's the rub of it all. Our neediness, guess 209 00:13:32,550 --> 00:13:35,870 where it echoes? All the way back to the garden 210 00:13:36,350 --> 00:13:40,190 where Vonda took us. All the 211 00:13:40,190 --> 00:13:43,390 way back to the garden. Adam, in the 212 00:13:43,390 --> 00:13:46,910 perfection of Eden, needed 213 00:13:46,990 --> 00:13:49,710 a companion like himself. 214 00:13:52,070 --> 00:13:55,830 I heard a teacher once, and this was a teaching on the differences 215 00:13:55,910 --> 00:13:59,550 in male and female, and she was saying that she 216 00:13:59,550 --> 00:14:03,310 envisioned when God put Adam to the work 217 00:14:03,310 --> 00:14:07,150 of naming the animals, that part of the process that Adam might have 218 00:14:07,150 --> 00:14:10,150 been doing was, "Giraffe, not like me. 219 00:14:11,110 --> 00:14:14,950 Not like me. Not like me. Not like me." And then, 220 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:18,800 When Eve is presented, like me, 221 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,680 like me, this is what I need. Adam 222 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,240 needed Eve before the fall. 223 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,240 Being needy is a part of being truly human. It's a part of 224 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,840 our— it's not a part of our brokenness or fallen nature. God 225 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:38,480 gave the good gift of Eve to Adam before 226 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,640 the fall and before they decided 227 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:44,400 that the gardener was wrong. 228 00:14:47,310 --> 00:14:50,990 But sin entered the picture and it entered us, and we no 229 00:14:50,990 --> 00:14:54,710 longer understand our neediness correctly. We don't see it 230 00:14:54,710 --> 00:14:58,270 as a strength that keeps us in community and 231 00:14:58,270 --> 00:15:01,870 interconnected. We jockey for position and power. 232 00:15:02,110 --> 00:15:05,670 We grasp instead of help. We lash out instead of 233 00:15:05,670 --> 00:15:09,350 latching on, and we independently reject that we are 234 00:15:09,350 --> 00:15:12,880 truly needy. We forget that 235 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:16,600 we need the vine. We don't want to need the 236 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,000 vine. We forget that Acts 17:28 237 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,800 applies to us. "In him we live and 238 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,440 move and have our being." Or as 239 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,840 Jesus says to the disciples on this walk to Gethsemane, 240 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,800 "Apart from me you can do nothing." Nothing of 241 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,520 real glorifying value for the kingdom can be 242 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,330 accomplished without abiding in 243 00:15:42,330 --> 00:15:46,090 the vine. And what a thing for Him to say, "Apart from 244 00:15:46,090 --> 00:15:49,890 me you can't do nothing," when He just said, "I'm gonna be out of here 245 00:15:49,890 --> 00:15:51,450 and you can't come with me." 246 00:15:55,530 --> 00:15:59,010 I was listening to a podcast this week and Jackie Hill Perry 247 00:15:59,010 --> 00:16:02,570 referenced an exposition that John Piper had done on 248 00:16:02,570 --> 00:16:04,434 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. 249 00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:10,180 And that passage says, "Therefore do not 250 00:16:10,340 --> 00:16:14,140 lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet 251 00:16:14,140 --> 00:16:17,460 inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 252 00:16:17,780 --> 00:16:21,460 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us 253 00:16:21,620 --> 00:16:25,300 an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So fix 254 00:16:25,300 --> 00:16:29,060 your eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. 255 00:16:29,380 --> 00:16:32,680 For what is seen is temporary, "but what is 256 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,440 unseen is eternal." So I looked up 257 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:40,120 that sermon from Piper, and he goes on to say that 258 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,800 what Paul writes here should give us great hope, that 259 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,960 we are renewed day by day. 260 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,400 That is a hopeful idea. Piper says that when we live our, these are 261 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,000 his words, he says we live our life and we leak and we 262 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,680 fade and we must be renewed day by day because, his words, 263 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,530 we can't run on yesterday's gas. And that's 264 00:17:03,530 --> 00:17:07,090 what abiding is. New mercies every 265 00:17:07,090 --> 00:17:09,930 morning. Getting filled up daily. 266 00:17:10,810 --> 00:17:14,610 We see this gift of daily manna to the children. We 267 00:17:14,610 --> 00:17:18,370 see it in that, and for the children of Israel. We well know, we 268 00:17:18,370 --> 00:17:22,050 know the story. They had to get that provision every day, and that's what 269 00:17:22,050 --> 00:17:25,730 Jesus said too in his prayer when he taught us how to pray, "Give 270 00:17:25,730 --> 00:17:29,120 me my daily bread." This act of daily 271 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,560 gathering was a physical reminder that they were 272 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,320 needy, but their needs were met. 273 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:41,080 The same is true for us. The call to abide in the vine 274 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,640 is a daily call, a constant call, an ever-present 275 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,760 recognition that the source of our very life is the 276 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,160 vine himself. Everything else is 277 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,880 powerless, gloryless, and a dim shadow of 278 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,150 what could be. But in our 279 00:17:59,150 --> 00:18:02,710 humanity, we, like Eve, 280 00:18:03,750 --> 00:18:07,590 stand in front of the vine and say, "I won't 281 00:18:07,590 --> 00:18:10,950 die apart from you. I know better than you. 282 00:18:11,430 --> 00:18:15,030 I can sustain myself. This knowledge won't hurt 283 00:18:15,030 --> 00:18:18,630 me. This fruit is for me. It is mine to take." 284 00:18:19,030 --> 00:18:22,470 And we don't believe the truth about the vine. 285 00:18:23,350 --> 00:18:27,190 It's because we can't fathom his love for us. We don't understand 286 00:18:27,350 --> 00:18:31,110 the heart of the vinedresser. We don't believe 287 00:18:31,750 --> 00:18:34,630 what the gardener says is true. 288 00:18:36,630 --> 00:18:40,110 Abide in the vine is the purest picture of our need for 289 00:18:40,110 --> 00:18:43,510 Jesus to sustain and keep 290 00:18:43,590 --> 00:18:47,350 us. And the good news is, 291 00:18:47,830 --> 00:18:51,590 he promised to do that. That he would do it. He 292 00:18:51,590 --> 00:18:55,110 will sustain us. Now, at this point, with all this 293 00:18:55,110 --> 00:18:58,510 abiding and all this spiritual stuff that maybe we're trying to tap into, 294 00:18:58,910 --> 00:19:02,630 one might pose the question that Johnny Cash proffered in 295 00:19:02,630 --> 00:19:06,150 the lyrics of his song "No Earthly Good" back in 296 00:19:06,150 --> 00:19:09,950 1977 when this maybe hit the airwaves, because it probably was on the B-side of 297 00:19:09,950 --> 00:19:13,670 that album. Uh, come heed me, my brothers, come heed me 298 00:19:13,670 --> 00:19:17,390 one and all. Don't brag about yourself or surely you'll fall. 299 00:19:17,630 --> 00:19:21,390 You're shining your light, and shine it you should, but you're 300 00:19:21,390 --> 00:19:24,950 so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good. Now, there's some 301 00:19:24,950 --> 00:19:28,630 scriptures referenced in there, right? There's some scriptures in there, 302 00:19:28,630 --> 00:19:32,390 right? Come, come, listen up, right? He who has ears to 303 00:19:32,390 --> 00:19:35,910 hear, let him hear. Don't brag about standing, or surely you'll fall. 304 00:19:36,150 --> 00:19:39,950 Pride goes before a fall. That's scriptural. You're shining your light, and 305 00:19:39,950 --> 00:19:43,660 surely you should. You're a city on a hill, right? Don't 306 00:19:43,660 --> 00:19:45,220 hide it under a bushel, no. Right? 307 00:19:48,100 --> 00:19:51,820 I can remember my grandmother saying about some people, "They're 308 00:19:51,820 --> 00:19:55,100 so heavenly minded, they're no earthly good." I didn't know she listened to Johnny Cash, 309 00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:58,820 'cause she didn't— Maw 310 00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:02,660 Maw Farley, I don't know, but that's not Scripture. 311 00:20:04,260 --> 00:20:07,940 That's not Scripture. I mean, that's a good lyric in a country song, but 312 00:20:08,020 --> 00:20:11,730 that's not Scripture. Because one could kind 313 00:20:11,730 --> 00:20:15,530 of think like Cash, "All this abiding in the vine will 314 00:20:15,530 --> 00:20:19,370 make me of no value to the people around me. I'll be 315 00:20:19,370 --> 00:20:23,010 so caught up in spiritual things, I can't accomplish this thing 316 00:20:23,010 --> 00:20:25,050 because I'm so busy abiding." 317 00:20:27,130 --> 00:20:30,970 I don't know about you, but that never personally has been my experience about myself. 318 00:20:32,250 --> 00:20:35,810 It is only when I abide that I can be of even the 319 00:20:35,810 --> 00:20:39,580 smallest good to anyone 320 00:20:39,740 --> 00:20:43,300 or myself or any situation. Lazarus' 321 00:20:43,300 --> 00:20:46,940 sister Martha would likely have joined in Cash's chorus and 322 00:20:46,940 --> 00:20:50,460 heartily sang it in pointed direction to 323 00:20:50,460 --> 00:20:50,940 Mary. 324 00:20:54,060 --> 00:20:57,500 In her latest book, Upon Waking, Jackie Hill Perry writes that 325 00:20:57,580 --> 00:21:01,260 Mary was distracted by much serving. She 326 00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:04,860 was anxious— not, sorry, Martha. Martha was distracted by much serving. 327 00:21:04,940 --> 00:21:08,490 She was anxious but still doing something good. No, 328 00:21:08,490 --> 00:21:12,330 hospitality's a good thing. To Jesus, Martha asked, 329 00:21:12,330 --> 00:21:15,970 "Don't you care?" He cares and he loves, and Martha comes to 330 00:21:15,970 --> 00:21:19,730 him not in intimacy, but in accusation. And she says to 331 00:21:19,730 --> 00:21:21,210 Jesus, "Tell her to help me." 332 00:21:24,010 --> 00:21:27,130 And Jackie writes, "When we are 333 00:21:27,130 --> 00:21:30,730 distracted, it shapes the things that we ask God for. 334 00:21:32,010 --> 00:21:35,050 God has to reorient our petitions and 335 00:21:35,290 --> 00:21:38,970 reshape our thinking to let us know what it is that we 336 00:21:39,270 --> 00:21:43,030 really need. You think you need something you don't actually need. 337 00:21:43,350 --> 00:21:47,110 Martha thinks she needs her sister's help, but she actually 338 00:21:47,190 --> 00:21:51,030 needs Jesus to sit at his 339 00:21:51,270 --> 00:21:55,029 feet. She thinks her anxiety and trouble will 340 00:21:55,029 --> 00:21:58,790 be fixed if Mary just scoots on up and helps her. It's reasonable 341 00:21:58,790 --> 00:22:02,630 in human sense, but Jesus says your 342 00:22:02,630 --> 00:22:06,470 anxiety and distraction will not be fixed even 343 00:22:06,550 --> 00:22:10,170 if Mary helps. Sit down next to your 344 00:22:10,170 --> 00:22:12,490 sister and then you can serve without distraction. 345 00:22:14,010 --> 00:22:17,770 Oh, Father, help us to stop asking 346 00:22:17,770 --> 00:22:21,530 for a thing when what we really need is 347 00:22:21,530 --> 00:22:25,130 to be asking for you. And 348 00:22:25,130 --> 00:22:28,650 isn't that what the need to abide is? 349 00:22:29,050 --> 00:22:32,690 Replacing the need for a thing and reaching 350 00:22:32,690 --> 00:22:36,490 in prayer and meditation to the God of the 351 00:22:36,490 --> 00:22:40,070 universe who is the source He's the source of everything we 352 00:22:40,070 --> 00:22:43,550 actually need. When 353 00:22:43,550 --> 00:22:46,550 humans abide, there will be fruit. 354 00:22:47,270 --> 00:22:50,790 And we know there's going to be fruit on the branches because Jesus 355 00:22:50,790 --> 00:22:54,430 says there will be fruit. And this fruit is 356 00:22:54,430 --> 00:22:58,150 evidence of abiding in the vine. It's the 357 00:22:58,150 --> 00:23:01,750 logical, irresistible outcome of being in the flow 358 00:23:01,830 --> 00:23:05,630 of the life-giving, character-changing power of the 359 00:23:05,630 --> 00:23:09,290 vine. John 15 is a rhythm 360 00:23:09,450 --> 00:23:13,250 of abide in the vine, bear fruit, receive the vinedresser's 361 00:23:13,250 --> 00:23:16,810 pruning, bear fruit, abide, bear much 362 00:23:16,810 --> 00:23:20,490 fruit, back and forth, abide, bear, abide, bear, prune, 363 00:23:20,490 --> 00:23:23,530 bear. If there's any formula, that's it. 364 00:23:25,690 --> 00:23:28,810 When the branches, you and me, get busy abiding, 365 00:23:29,290 --> 00:23:32,330 the fruit will come because the vine 366 00:23:33,100 --> 00:23:36,820 the gardener say it will come and 367 00:23:36,820 --> 00:23:40,260 send it. When we are in the vine, 368 00:23:40,820 --> 00:23:44,340 growth and change toward Christ-likeness is 369 00:23:44,660 --> 00:23:48,380 infinitely possible. So many times you and I, 370 00:23:48,380 --> 00:23:51,980 we buy into the babble of the world's phrases like, "People don't 371 00:23:51,980 --> 00:23:55,380 change," or, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them," 372 00:23:56,740 --> 00:23:59,780 or if you've ever seen any episode of Oprah— of Friends, 373 00:24:00,420 --> 00:24:03,980 "Once a cheater, always a cheater." I mean, you know, there's just those things. This 374 00:24:03,980 --> 00:24:07,680 mindset It is incompatible with being a believer. 375 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,280 It's bad theology. This 376 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,760 is unrepentant, unredeemed world speak. 377 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,400 You and I are described in scripture like 378 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,960 putty. We are clay in the 379 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,240 potter's hands. We can change. Only 380 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,680 God does not change. Only God is 381 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,420 immutable. You and me, we change. Thank 382 00:24:33,420 --> 00:24:37,060 God we can be changed. Tim Keller 383 00:24:37,060 --> 00:24:40,900 rolled off this list when speaking about the enormous potential for change that you 384 00:24:40,900 --> 00:24:44,740 and I have when the Holy Spirit is at work in us. And I'm insane, 385 00:24:44,980 --> 00:24:48,620 when the Holy Spirit is at work in us. And he's 386 00:24:48,620 --> 00:24:52,460 reflecting on Galatians 5 where the scripture of the list of the fruit of 387 00:24:52,460 --> 00:24:55,900 the Spirit lives. And he says, this is his list. 388 00:24:56,390 --> 00:25:00,030 The selfish person becomes generous. The controlling 389 00:25:00,030 --> 00:25:03,110 person, a liberator. The cowardly person, 390 00:25:03,190 --> 00:25:06,630 courageous. The worrier becomes a rock. 391 00:25:07,670 --> 00:25:11,430 He continues, the world, I love this phrase, the world 392 00:25:11,430 --> 00:25:14,870 can only offer weak morality, magic, 393 00:25:15,110 --> 00:25:18,790 self-help, and try-hard. But the Word of God 394 00:25:18,870 --> 00:25:22,470 offers us something that transcends all of that. 395 00:25:22,790 --> 00:25:25,060 We get Jesus! 396 00:25:26,260 --> 00:25:29,940 Jesus, real and concrete. We are drawing from 397 00:25:29,940 --> 00:25:33,500 His pulsating life like a branch draws from the 398 00:25:33,500 --> 00:25:37,140 vine, and that's the secret. If we 399 00:25:37,140 --> 00:25:40,660 are connected to Jesus, abiding in the vine, the hard 400 00:25:40,740 --> 00:25:42,740 things that come to everyone 401 00:25:45,780 --> 00:25:49,540 don't break us. They don't make us 402 00:25:49,540 --> 00:25:52,090 hard. They soften us. 403 00:25:53,610 --> 00:25:55,530 They make us more human. 404 00:25:59,930 --> 00:26:03,770 The internal, abiding work of the Holy Spirit 405 00:26:04,490 --> 00:26:08,290 brings fruit. What's 406 00:26:08,290 --> 00:26:12,130 the purpose of this fruit? Look at me, I got 407 00:26:12,130 --> 00:26:15,570 a lot of things on my branches. No, John 15:8 408 00:26:15,570 --> 00:26:19,050 spells it out, "This is to my Father's glory 409 00:26:19,290 --> 00:26:22,870 that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." His disciples. 410 00:26:22,870 --> 00:26:25,430 Glory? Proof of discipleship? 411 00:26:27,510 --> 00:26:31,110 Fruit is the evidence of abiding. A branch 412 00:26:31,110 --> 00:26:34,150 isolated or removed from the branch will never 413 00:26:34,550 --> 00:26:38,390 bear fruit. In the world of botany— okay, let's go 414 00:26:38,390 --> 00:26:41,230 to school for a minute. I mean, a different school. Different— okay. In the world 415 00:26:41,230 --> 00:26:44,710 of botany, there are a lot of elements that come into play 416 00:26:44,950 --> 00:26:48,310 for a vine to bear fruit. There are going to be seasonal temperature changes, 417 00:26:48,950 --> 00:26:52,510 water, hours of sunlight, pollination. It's a complicated 418 00:26:52,510 --> 00:26:56,330 business to grow a cluster of There is 419 00:26:56,330 --> 00:27:00,050 only one component required for you to bear spiritual fruit. 420 00:27:00,690 --> 00:27:04,410 Abide in the vine. Abide. Fruit's been 421 00:27:04,410 --> 00:27:08,090 promised. I cannot manufacture it. I cannot muster it 422 00:27:08,090 --> 00:27:10,770 up. I cannot strive for it as hard as I 423 00:27:11,810 --> 00:27:15,330 want to. Love, joy, 424 00:27:15,650 --> 00:27:19,250 peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 425 00:27:19,730 --> 00:27:23,500 thanksgiving, Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control do not 426 00:27:23,580 --> 00:27:27,140 come by the sheer willing them into 427 00:27:27,140 --> 00:27:30,980 existence. We abide and fruit 428 00:27:30,980 --> 00:27:34,060 will come. But I don't see it yet. Stay put. 429 00:27:35,900 --> 00:27:37,340 Fruit will come. Dwell. 430 00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:43,020 Remain rooted, grounded in the 431 00:27:43,020 --> 00:27:46,440 vine. Fruit will come. Amen. Jen 432 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,040 Wilkin gave this encouragement a couple of weeks ago on the Knowing 433 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,680 Faith podcast. And this season on that podcast, they've been tackling 434 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,760 tricky questions that some believers have, and some of them have been quite 435 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,399 funny, like, will pets be in heaven? It's been a real fun ride. But 436 00:28:01,399 --> 00:28:05,240 this particular one, and maybe you should listen to that one, it was fun. 437 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:07,680 They had different opinions about that. So, 438 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,260 on this question, it was like, how can I know I am saved?? 439 00:28:13,260 --> 00:28:15,300 And I don't know about you, but I grew up in a tradition where that 440 00:28:15,300 --> 00:28:18,220 was a question I was asking all the time, 'cause I did not grow up 441 00:28:18,220 --> 00:28:22,020 in a Reformed congregation, as much as I quote Tim Keller 442 00:28:22,020 --> 00:28:25,620 and John Piper. That was not my experience. I think 443 00:28:25,620 --> 00:28:29,140 I'm enjoying that as an adult because I didn't grow up with that. I mean, 444 00:28:29,140 --> 00:28:32,900 you know, so it was like ride the altar rail to, you know, 445 00:28:32,900 --> 00:28:36,620 to heaven. And we used to laugh. I think somebody said this, I 446 00:28:36,620 --> 00:28:40,310 think maybe at my mom's funeral, that we were, and this is really not as 447 00:28:40,310 --> 00:28:43,110 bad as it was, and I think I've said this here before, I'm pretty sure 448 00:28:43,110 --> 00:28:46,030 we thought we were a white lie and a car wreck away from busting the 449 00:28:46,030 --> 00:28:49,710 gates of hell wide open, right? You know, so insecure 450 00:28:49,870 --> 00:28:53,470 was my hold on my faith. 451 00:28:53,470 --> 00:28:55,630 Hey, I didn't know the vine was strong 452 00:28:57,390 --> 00:29:00,990 enough. I didn't know. I didn't know that 453 00:29:00,990 --> 00:29:03,710 he had me instead of me having 454 00:29:07,130 --> 00:29:10,970 him. So she gives this encouragement that maybe, and for this 455 00:29:10,970 --> 00:29:13,010 conference, like, how do I know I'm saved? Like, how do I know I'm in 456 00:29:13,010 --> 00:29:16,530 the vine, right? It was a great theological discussion. She gave 457 00:29:16,530 --> 00:29:20,250 this suggestion. What if our prayer 458 00:29:20,730 --> 00:29:24,490 journals became not so much a laundry list 459 00:29:24,490 --> 00:29:28,330 of things we want God to do for us? Not maybe 460 00:29:28,330 --> 00:29:32,090 that those are bad things. John Piper says that even unbelievers pray those 461 00:29:33,570 --> 00:29:37,410 prayers. But our prayer journal became a 462 00:29:37,570 --> 00:29:41,290 chronicle of our asking God for the things he 463 00:29:41,290 --> 00:29:43,410 has already promised he would give 464 00:29:47,650 --> 00:29:51,330 us. That prayer book then would become a 465 00:29:51,730 --> 00:29:55,570 biography of the spiritual growth that we are experiencing, the evidence 466 00:29:55,570 --> 00:29:59,240 of abiding faith, of being in the vine. Do you know 467 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,880 what prayers would never be out of God's will for you 468 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:06,560 to pray? Expand my heart. 469 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,400 Give me more love. Increase my joy. Give 470 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:13,920 me discernment. I need wisdom. Glorify your 471 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,080 name. Righteousness be exalted. Bring 472 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:20,960 peace. These are the promises of the 473 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:25,750 vine. When these show up, they are evidence that 474 00:30:25,750 --> 00:30:28,870 in our lives that we are 475 00:30:30,070 --> 00:30:33,910 abiding. C.S. Lewis describes the life of a believer as one of undulations, 476 00:30:33,910 --> 00:30:37,550 and if that's not a word you— it's ups and downs, right? And 477 00:30:37,550 --> 00:30:41,390 in vine speak, that would be like noting seasons, 478 00:30:41,390 --> 00:30:44,990 right? There are seasons of fruitfulness and seasons 479 00:30:44,990 --> 00:30:48,670 of waiting and dormancy. Now, the 480 00:30:48,670 --> 00:30:52,190 real human temptation is to try to pretend that we 481 00:30:52,190 --> 00:30:54,680 have fruit when there is little to 482 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,240 none. Today, work in plastics and fabrics have improved 483 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,000 so much that faux plants have reached new levels in 484 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,640 their mimicry of the real thing. But 485 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:11,160 haven't we all seen the garish look that fake flowers 486 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,440 and greenery have when they've been exposed to too 487 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,160 much sunlight over time? While real 488 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,610 plants can't survive without sunlight, Fake plants 489 00:31:21,610 --> 00:31:24,970 become cartoonish with prolonged 490 00:31:27,690 --> 00:31:31,370 exposure. What once at a distance could pass for a real 491 00:31:31,370 --> 00:31:34,730 blossom or an edible piece of fruit or a lovely fiddly 492 00:31:35,690 --> 00:31:39,090 fig are easy to spot as counterfeit 493 00:31:39,090 --> 00:31:42,650 on closer inspection. 494 00:31:42,810 --> 00:31:45,970 Manufactured pseudo fruit does not bring glory to the vine 495 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:50,240 or meet the desires of the vinedresser. And that 496 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,400 is the purpose of fruit, to bring glory to God, not to the 497 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,720 branch. Who are we trying to fool? Fruit is not for 498 00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:58,760 decoration of the 499 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,080 branch. Stay abiding, and water, the life of water is 500 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,440 flowing to us, 'cause developing fruit has to have 501 00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,320 water. And typically, plants only get their water from 502 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:19,160 their roots. 503 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,680 The life-giving flow of water is upwards 504 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,880 against the pull of gravity. That doesn't make 505 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,200 sense. While rain and dew fall on the leaves, that 506 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,520 water does not benefit the leaf directly. In 507 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,960 fact, most leaves have a waxy coating, a cuticle, 508 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,560 that protects them from that water. The water drips 509 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,280 off, goes into the soil, gets back to the roots, 510 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:49,100 comes up through the vine, and then then 511 00:32:49,100 --> 00:32:52,020 is able to bring life to the 512 00:32:53,300 --> 00:32:57,060 branch. Now, there are some plants that in times of drought have 513 00:32:57,060 --> 00:33:00,900 a special mechanism whereby they can absorb water from 514 00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:04,340 dew on their leaves. This is actually a design feature by our 515 00:33:04,500 --> 00:33:08,300 good Creator that allows these plants to survive the harshest 516 00:33:08,300 --> 00:33:11,300 of conditions for short periods of 517 00:33:12,740 --> 00:33:16,410 time. But I think that you and 518 00:33:16,410 --> 00:33:19,570 I try to do the same thing. We 519 00:33:20,130 --> 00:33:23,490 perceive that we are in a drought. We perceive that God 520 00:33:23,490 --> 00:33:27,250 is silent. And when in fact, there is not a 521 00:33:27,490 --> 00:33:31,330 time that the vine is not sending up water. There is not a 522 00:33:31,490 --> 00:33:34,050 time when the voice of God is not 523 00:33:35,410 --> 00:33:38,610 speaking. The living water that we long for is 524 00:33:39,010 --> 00:33:42,550 there. But in this perceived drought, brought about 525 00:33:42,550 --> 00:33:46,390 by any number of external circumstances or internal struggles, 526 00:33:46,390 --> 00:33:50,150 we think that the flow of life-giving water from the vine has been 527 00:33:50,150 --> 00:33:53,550 cut off and strangled, 'cause we feel 528 00:33:53,950 --> 00:33:57,230 parched. And instead of remaining and 529 00:33:57,310 --> 00:34:00,910 tapping deeper into the vine, abiding 530 00:34:00,990 --> 00:34:04,350 here, we grasp for drops of water around 531 00:34:04,430 --> 00:34:07,950 us, lapping up mist and fog, when all the 532 00:34:08,030 --> 00:34:11,730 time the vine has roots that are 533 00:34:11,730 --> 00:34:14,650 reaching down to artesian wells of 534 00:34:15,610 --> 00:34:18,650 refreshing. And we think these surface little 535 00:34:19,370 --> 00:34:23,170 dribbles are gonna satisfy the deep longings that we have, 536 00:34:23,170 --> 00:34:27,010 but in fact, they foster the growth of mold 537 00:34:27,010 --> 00:34:30,770 and mildew and rot. 538 00:34:30,770 --> 00:34:34,170 We only have to look to Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan 539 00:34:34,810 --> 00:34:37,959 woman. She's a great example of someone who's with who was looking for what she 540 00:34:37,959 --> 00:34:41,799 thought she needed in the wrong places. After asking her 541 00:34:41,799 --> 00:34:45,439 for a drink and being rebuffed, John 14:10 says, 542 00:34:45,439 --> 00:34:49,079 "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of 543 00:34:49,079 --> 00:34:52,718 God and who it is that asked you for a drink, you would 544 00:34:52,718 --> 00:34:56,479 have said, give me living water.'" And he goes on to 545 00:34:56,479 --> 00:35:00,319 tell her that drinking this water means you'll never be thirsty again. It 546 00:35:00,559 --> 00:35:04,230 means access to so much water that that springs well up. 547 00:35:04,230 --> 00:35:07,710 That sounds like abiding. That sounds like 548 00:35:11,070 --> 00:35:13,550 fruitful. So we're doing this, but we're 549 00:35:15,070 --> 00:35:18,830 human. 'Cause that vine analogy, you know, that don't play too good on 550 00:35:18,830 --> 00:35:22,630 a Monday morning sometimes. This abiding, it seems 551 00:35:22,630 --> 00:35:26,430 daunting, it seems impossible. No matter how much we think that 552 00:35:26,430 --> 00:35:30,190 we can hold two thoughts at once, we actually can't. Thus 553 00:35:30,190 --> 00:35:33,750 the phrase, "You can't walk and chew gum." Now, there are some, right? You can 554 00:35:33,750 --> 00:35:36,510 do some, you can have a conversation and walk. In fact, they say walking, or 555 00:35:36,510 --> 00:35:40,190 running, or having a conversation with someone is good for your older brain. So, 556 00:35:40,190 --> 00:35:43,950 you know, take that for, I have an older brain. So, you 557 00:35:43,950 --> 00:35:47,590 know, so we can do things like that, but holding two thoughts at the same 558 00:35:47,670 --> 00:35:50,550 time. So how do we manage 559 00:35:50,870 --> 00:35:54,510 this abiding all the time, and being 560 00:35:54,510 --> 00:35:58,360 cognizant of our Creator, and being in the vine, yet But we still 561 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:02,160 have to do things like take out the trash, and wipe 562 00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:05,680 a snotty nose, and pick up car line, and cook, 563 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,480 and clean, and place a Walmart order. You know, 564 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:11,400 there's all the things that we have to 565 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,480 do. Vonda hit this too. There are big 566 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,720 times that we label as, "Oh, we're abiding," right? And those 567 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,160 are the spiritual disciplines of prayer, and Bible reading, 568 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,040 and fasting, and study, and meditation on the 569 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:31,700 Word, generosity, worship, gathering with believers, and 570 00:36:31,940 --> 00:36:35,580 more. Those abiding times are easy to identify 571 00:36:35,580 --> 00:36:39,340 and label, 'cause— and we go, "Oh yeah, we're connected. We're in 572 00:36:39,340 --> 00:36:43,140 the vine. We're here." Those are as important to 573 00:36:43,140 --> 00:36:46,780 our relationship with Christ as long conversations with a 574 00:36:46,780 --> 00:36:50,460 friend to catch up, or a regularly scheduled date night, or 575 00:36:50,460 --> 00:36:54,100 a game night with the family, the things that we plan to 576 00:36:54,340 --> 00:36:58,100 do. But let me tell you, if you have anybody in your family 577 00:36:58,100 --> 00:37:01,670 that you love, you know that they are never not far from 578 00:37:01,670 --> 00:37:05,430 your mind. It's just 579 00:37:05,430 --> 00:37:08,710 one little thing and you can be like— and if you've lost someone that you 580 00:37:08,950 --> 00:37:12,550 love, even a smell can like bring back to you 581 00:37:12,790 --> 00:37:16,510 like a conversation that you had, or a way that you loved 582 00:37:16,510 --> 00:37:20,190 them, and it is very present of mind. So how 583 00:37:20,190 --> 00:37:23,670 do we have that presence of mind while 584 00:37:23,670 --> 00:37:27,400 still doing the dishes and the trash and the taxes and the things 585 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:31,200 and the money and all the things that we are required to do 586 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,000 to also be human. Andrew Murray describes 587 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:38,400 it as kind of an undercurrent of our life because apparently 588 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:42,160 in 1884 he would not have known to use the phrase background 589 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:46,000 music or soundtrack. I don't know about 590 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,840 that. Or maybe there's just not a good translation from Dutch 591 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,560 into I'm sorry. Murray writes, "Even when 592 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:02,200 our attention shifts to the demands of the 593 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,960 day, your fellowship with Christ does not 594 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:10,040 subside because Christ himself is 595 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:13,160 maintaining the fellowship." 596 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,170 Christ himself is doing it. The 597 00:38:17,730 --> 00:38:18,450 thing for 598 00:38:22,210 --> 00:38:25,410 us. How do we know? How do we know that's what's 599 00:38:26,610 --> 00:38:30,170 happening? It's in Romans 8. Romans 8:38, 600 00:38:30,170 --> 00:38:33,250 "For I am convinced that neither 601 00:38:33,650 --> 00:38:37,250 death, nor life, nor angels, nor demons, nor 602 00:38:37,570 --> 00:38:41,330 present or future, nor any powers, neither height nor 603 00:38:41,330 --> 00:38:44,670 depth, nor anything in all creation, "Will be able 604 00:38:44,670 --> 00:38:48,070 to separate me from the love of God that is in 605 00:38:48,070 --> 00:38:51,870 Christ Jesus our Lord." That is abiding. That is 606 00:38:51,870 --> 00:38:55,350 the power that our abiding comes from. So, we 607 00:38:55,350 --> 00:38:58,750 can sing then and celebrate the song of 608 00:38:58,750 --> 00:39:02,390 Isaiah 27:22 and 23. Sing about a 609 00:39:02,390 --> 00:39:06,230 fruitful vine. Sing about a fruitful vineyard, 'cause 610 00:39:06,390 --> 00:39:10,150 I, the Lord, watch over it. I water it 611 00:39:10,690 --> 00:39:14,130 continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm 612 00:39:15,170 --> 00:39:18,890 it. What a song! So if 613 00:39:19,370 --> 00:39:22,770 abiding is like music, a 614 00:39:22,770 --> 00:39:26,609 soundtrack that's playing, sometimes we hardly notice it. 615 00:39:26,609 --> 00:39:29,730 There's music like all around and you don't notice it 616 00:39:30,850 --> 00:39:34,130 until, well, maybe there's a shift in the melody or there's a 617 00:39:34,130 --> 00:39:36,600 new harmony. They hear, "Oh, I didn't know. Oh, that 618 00:39:38,030 --> 00:39:41,670 chord." That kind. There's something in the refrain and it catches our attention 619 00:39:41,670 --> 00:39:45,150 and in that moment we can lock in 620 00:39:45,150 --> 00:39:47,790 and praise or prayer or 621 00:39:48,590 --> 00:39:52,310 both, worship are on our lips. 622 00:39:52,310 --> 00:39:56,030 It's the easy and natural, "I 623 00:39:56,030 --> 00:39:59,630 love you, Lord," that breathes out of us when we're 624 00:39:59,710 --> 00:40:03,520 just doing the next thing. It's the hearty 625 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:05,980 and "Thank you, Jesus," when hearing good 626 00:40:06,940 --> 00:40:10,700 news. It's "God is good" at the sight of something 627 00:40:11,180 --> 00:40:14,780 beautiful, or a trembling "Help me, Father" 628 00:40:14,780 --> 00:40:18,620 in moments of weakness or despair. It is the silent 629 00:40:18,620 --> 00:40:22,460 cry for wisdom, hopefully before we open 630 00:40:22,460 --> 00:40:26,300 our mouths. It's Barbie's 631 00:40:26,380 --> 00:40:29,900 "Ah, Jesus," when there are 632 00:40:30,530 --> 00:40:33,730 not other words to say. 633 00:40:33,890 --> 00:40:37,090 These prayers and petitions and little 634 00:40:37,410 --> 00:40:41,170 acknowledgments grow from abiding, and they remind 635 00:40:41,170 --> 00:40:45,010 us constantly that we are in Christ. They remind 636 00:40:45,010 --> 00:40:47,970 us that He is right 637 00:40:48,530 --> 00:40:52,370 here always. We are 638 00:40:52,370 --> 00:40:56,050 in the vine no matter where we are or 639 00:40:56,050 --> 00:40:59,790 what is happening around us. But again, we might come back 640 00:40:59,790 --> 00:41:03,590 to how, how the children of Israel could 641 00:41:03,590 --> 00:41:07,110 not do this, and they were experiencing, they 642 00:41:07,110 --> 00:41:10,750 experienced powerful deliverance and visual and verbal 643 00:41:10,750 --> 00:41:13,950 daily manifestations of God's presence. 644 00:41:14,190 --> 00:41:17,910 Manna, cloud, pillar of fire, and they couldn't 645 00:41:17,910 --> 00:41:20,910 do it. How can 646 00:41:22,350 --> 00:41:25,870 we? Because their measure was the law, And 647 00:41:25,870 --> 00:41:29,670 our measure is love. Jesus 648 00:41:29,830 --> 00:41:32,470 said, "As the Father has loved 649 00:41:33,430 --> 00:41:36,870 me, so have I loved you. 650 00:41:36,870 --> 00:41:40,470 Now remain in my 651 00:41:41,670 --> 00:41:45,510 love. If you obey my commands, you'll remain in my love, just as 652 00:41:45,510 --> 00:41:48,950 I have obeyed the Father's commands and remain 653 00:41:49,110 --> 00:41:52,220 in his love." And he goes on, Why am I telling you 654 00:41:53,980 --> 00:41:57,020 this? So that you can have 655 00:41:58,860 --> 00:42:02,700 joy. And what was that command He mentioned? Love 656 00:42:02,700 --> 00:42:05,340 each other. Dear sweet 657 00:42:05,980 --> 00:42:09,660 branch, that's fruit. All 658 00:42:09,660 --> 00:42:12,820 this is possible, all of this, even in 659 00:42:12,820 --> 00:42:16,420 our humanness, being able to acknowledge and know that we are in 660 00:42:16,420 --> 00:42:19,980 the vine and fruit will come and trust it. It's all 661 00:42:20,610 --> 00:42:22,610 possible when Jesus says back in verse 662 00:42:24,290 --> 00:42:27,890 4, "Remain in me and I 663 00:42:28,130 --> 00:42:29,730 will remain in 664 00:42:32,370 --> 00:42:36,050 you. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, 665 00:42:36,050 --> 00:42:39,890 God gets the glory." See, sometimes we are so focused 666 00:42:40,130 --> 00:42:43,610 on I remaining that we forget he 667 00:42:43,610 --> 00:42:44,130 is 668 00:42:47,900 --> 00:42:51,660 remaining. He calls and we come and 669 00:42:53,180 --> 00:42:56,940 rest. He sustains and we admit that we need 670 00:42:57,980 --> 00:43:01,260 him. He prunes and we bear 671 00:43:02,460 --> 00:43:05,660 fruit. He pours out love and 672 00:43:06,060 --> 00:43:09,700 we get joy. He 673 00:43:09,700 --> 00:43:12,620 loves us and we get to love 674 00:43:13,860 --> 00:43:17,700 others. He abides so we 675 00:43:17,700 --> 00:43:21,540 can abide, all to the glory 676 00:43:21,540 --> 00:43:25,100 of God. So I'm 677 00:43:25,100 --> 00:43:27,700 feeling that some of this is 678 00:43:28,740 --> 00:43:31,540 about— Vonda gave us some things about 679 00:43:33,060 --> 00:43:36,420 distractions and listening, active listening. And I feel 680 00:43:37,140 --> 00:43:40,620 like a word that could kind of sum it up is, 681 00:43:40,620 --> 00:43:44,060 is noticing. We notice. That's 682 00:43:45,260 --> 00:43:49,100 actually a little term that's come up in some gentle parenting 683 00:43:49,180 --> 00:43:52,980 circles about helping your kids notice things. Instead of telling them to do things, you 684 00:43:52,980 --> 00:43:55,420 help them to notice it, right? So if they notice it, then maybe they'll do 685 00:43:55,420 --> 00:43:58,900 it of their own volition. I don't know. We try that with middle schoolers sometimes 686 00:43:58,900 --> 00:44:02,380 at school, and they don't notice that they are made of paper and pencils, and 687 00:44:02,380 --> 00:44:05,160 by the end of the day, all of it has leaked out of their lockers 688 00:44:05,710 --> 00:44:08,630 and their themselves, and so, you know, the area in front of their lockers is 689 00:44:08,630 --> 00:44:12,470 just trashed. And we have a proverb 690 00:44:12,470 --> 00:44:16,230 at school, "Don't walk by a piece of trash without picking it up." 691 00:44:16,230 --> 00:44:17,070 They have not 692 00:44:20,430 --> 00:44:24,190 noticed. They have not noticed that a semester 693 00:44:24,190 --> 00:44:26,910 worth of papers is now, you know, 694 00:44:28,030 --> 00:44:31,550 right? Noticing. What are we 695 00:44:33,850 --> 00:44:37,210 noticing? What is God drawing our attention to? And you may 696 00:44:38,090 --> 00:44:40,810 say, "That seems little. That seems 697 00:44:42,810 --> 00:44:46,010 dumb." Notice, and 698 00:44:46,330 --> 00:44:50,170 then notice what happens after you 699 00:44:50,730 --> 00:44:54,010 acknowledge and notice. God 700 00:44:54,330 --> 00:44:58,170 is so good. His love is 701 00:44:58,490 --> 00:45:02,270 unfailing, and he is He does the keeping of 702 00:45:02,270 --> 00:45:05,950 the vine. God is more gracious to 703 00:45:06,430 --> 00:45:10,190 us than we could ever be faithful to 704 00:45:11,630 --> 00:45:12,430 him. Let's 705 00:45:16,750 --> 00:45:17,790 pray. Heavenly 706 00:45:22,030 --> 00:45:25,710 Father, would you cause our eyes and our ears and our 707 00:45:26,610 --> 00:45:28,690 hearts to notice the things that you are 708 00:45:30,770 --> 00:45:34,210 doing. Would you help us more and more that as we 709 00:45:34,370 --> 00:45:37,650 stay in you, abide in you, that we 710 00:45:38,370 --> 00:45:42,009 see the work. May our prayers become things that 711 00:45:42,210 --> 00:45:44,690 we're asking you to grow in 712 00:45:47,010 --> 00:45:50,690 us. Father, we give our surrender 713 00:45:50,690 --> 00:45:54,460 to you. And we say, "Oh Lord, we cannot 714 00:45:54,460 --> 00:45:58,140 do it." If you don't keep the vine, 715 00:45:58,140 --> 00:46:01,980 there is no keeping. So do what 716 00:46:01,980 --> 00:46:05,260 only you can do as you mold us and shape 717 00:46:06,220 --> 00:46:10,060 us more into your image. And would you cause 718 00:46:10,620 --> 00:46:11,820 us to be 719 00:46:14,460 --> 00:46:17,040 fruitful? In Christ's name we pray, 720 00:46:21,830 --> 00:46:25,030 amen. Amen. What are 721 00:46:25,350 --> 00:46:28,870 you noticing? What do we need to see, 722 00:46:29,750 --> 00:46:33,390 Lord, in this leaning into that posture? Would you guys show 723 00:46:33,390 --> 00:46:34,790 your appreciation for 724 00:46:41,110 --> 00:46:44,120 Rhonda and her word? Somebody said, I didn't know it was going to be this 725 00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:49,680 good. But don't we just sow when we're— when we, when we don't 726 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:52,840 pay attention to the vine? It is so much 727 00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:57,040 better than we can ever imagine. And 728 00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:00,840 we're plugged in. We are going to take a lunch break, and then 729 00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,600 we're going to come back to some phenomenal 730 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:08,280 workshop sessions, 2:00 and 731 00:47:09,270 --> 00:47:12,990 3:30. So we have Pastor Sherri and Pastor Wayne, 732 00:47:12,990 --> 00:47:16,390 and we have Pastor Will, and we have Josh McLeod that will all be 733 00:47:16,390 --> 00:47:19,470 doing workshops. And I pray that you're going to be here. Now, if you've got 734 00:47:19,470 --> 00:47:23,230 friends that are like, I decided to stay home on the couch today, and you 735 00:47:23,230 --> 00:47:26,270 see how good it's been, they have time to get here for these workshops. So 736 00:47:26,270 --> 00:47:27,830 text them and say, you need to get 737 00:47:30,070 --> 00:47:33,790 here and, and, and see, taste and see that the Lord's good. Amen. All 738 00:47:33,790 --> 00:47:35,350 right. There are food trucks. Are they 739 00:47:38,780 --> 00:47:40,380 here? They're here and they open at 12. Okay, so by the time you hit 740 00:47:40,380 --> 00:47:43,640 the restroom and make your way out there, they're going to be open out there. 741 00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:47,180 Uh, if you do decide to go elsewhere, which we encourage you to stay and 742 00:47:47,180 --> 00:47:49,380 hang out, but if you do go elsewhere, come back and be a part of 743 00:47:49,380 --> 00:47:52,820 the workshops, uh, at, uh, at 2 744 00:47:53,020 --> 00:47:56,580 o'clock. Okay, does that sound good? All right, bless you, and we will see you 745 00:47:56,580 --> 00:47:56,990 at 2 o'clock.