A Good Church Connects and Supports

A Good Church Connects and Grows

A Good Church  / John 15:1–17

We make choices based on what we are connected and closest to.  We will entirely change our lives based on where we are and what we are connected to. 

Connecting is finding your “no matter whats” In life. That no matter what this will remain.

Jesus makes the claim that He is the best no matter what And that it is worthwhile listening to and responding to Him 

When we remain with something or someone, we eventually being thinking of it as a “no matter what.” 

To connect in Christ is to discover you are a “no matter what” to Him. 

Jesus has already created an entire eco system for you to thrive in. Look back at the Scripture. 

John 15:1 ESV

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

We become cared for and we recognize that as we determine our “no matter whats,” to remain in Christ is to realize that we are God’s “no matter what.” No matter what you belong to me, you abide in me. You grow in me. 

We are created in His image and we are now being called to be cared for in His actions. 

John 15:5 ESV

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

In fact this is what Christ tells us. That to remain in Him is to listen to HIm. To listen to Him is to do what He calls us.  To do what He calls us is to love one another. This is the mark of the church 

But there are times when things feel less that comfortable.  There is change or there is shifting.  Our lives may take a suddent jolt, something comes up we weren’t expecting.  Or we are in a season that feels less than good or helpful. 

This can be the experience of pruning.  Pruning is a common action, in fact a necessary one, in gardening. 

John 15:2–4 ESV

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to 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.

Pruning is a saving act for the plant. 

When Christ says that we will be pruned, it is a life giving act, even if it doesn’t feel good at the time. 

To Connect in Christ is to love God enough that it spills out into love for another 

John 15:12–15 ESV

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

What are you connected to this morning? 

So we connect to things that promise big but never deliver. This is what any destructive behavior does.  It gives big promises with no return

How is it working out for you? 

Maybe you are a Christ follower and you have found yourself connected to something less than Christ Himself. 

Come back, remain in HIm.  God is your God, He has called you His No matter what. 

› Christ has invited us further in to find our no matter what in Him. He is an ocean without a shore.  

Page .  Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:11PM February 3, 2024.