Abiding in Christ: The Path to Fruitfulness
Oct 20, 2024
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1) "And you know, if we're not wise, we can live our lives like that. At the end of our lives, when the dust settles, the activity stops, we honestly look, what are we going to see? And I can tell you right now that God's loving heart for us is not to be left with that gut -wrenching, empty, defeated feeling at the end of our lives. And some of you are already a little bit uneasy about this subject because you're kind of like, oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Maybe you're even getting the nervous bubble guts. You know, oh gosh, have I wasted my life? Some of you are cringing because you already kind of feel this way. I've just wasted so much time. But God this morning wants to change that and exchange that for joy. He wants to replace that feeling for joy. And he wants you to keep it." [36:03] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2) "Trees don't just live, they give. They live to give. Jesus is saying that his and the Father's plan is to produce fruit and life through us. And we are the branches. So we're going to have something to give. Why? Because that's how he decided to make it work. Elias is in this stage, my four -year -old, where everything is why? Why? Why? Why? Sometimes I give him an answer, it's like, because that's the way it is. Well, this is the way it is. But it's because we're made in his image. Genesis 1 .27 says, So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. So we are extensions of that tree of life. We live to give. We have a purpose. We don't just take up space." [42:42] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3) "God wants us to be fruitful and have fruitful lives. And he's going to tend us carefully and intentionally, just like a gardener does. He's going to do it if we let him. So how many of you know that a garden doesn't just happen? I wish. I wish we could find a forest and the garden just, like, appears. Like, wow, that's the kind of garden I need. I would love that kind of garden, because I'm good at killing stuff. I'm really good at it. And then Lauren helps me kill stuff. We do it together. It's a family thing. But a garden takes someone with intention, knowledge, wisdom, investment, and time. And God's promised to do that for us, to faithfully tend us." [44:47] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4) "The fruit that we're supposed to bear as his disciples is not the things that we do. It's the life of Jesus inside of us. It's his character and his love reproduced inside of us. And then we get to turn around and share it with each other. It really comes down to like how we respond to the life around us. It has to change. Because life be lifin'. Right? I don't know about you, but when I came to Jesus Jesus didn't like change all of my circumstances. They were the same. But Jesus changed my insides and the way that I responded to the world around me changed. Because he started changing me." [50:47] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5) "Jesus says, live in me. Make me your home. Make me your hiding place. Don't run to those other things. Come to me for life. Run to me. Other translations say, abide with me. Have you ever taken some guests to your house and been like, welcome to my humble abode. It's where I live. Abide. Make me the place that you live. Just be with me. Jesus doesn't say, try harder. Do more. Do better. Be more than you are. Jesus doesn't say, hide from me. He says, just be with me. Remain in me. Can you imagine getting married and then going separate ways? What's the point of that? Never living together. Just seeing them on Sundays." [55:35] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6) "Jesus says, As much as the Father has loved Jesus, the Son, that's how much Jesus loves me. That's how much Jesus loves you. And he knows what he was getting into. And he says, Remain there. I love you. Live in it. Stay in it. He knew what he was getting into when he chose to love us. He knew what he was giving himself over to when he gave himself to us. He knew what he was doing. So we have to live there. We've got to receive it. We've got to trust it. And you can fully trust who fully loves you. He fully loves us. He sees us exactly for who we are and loves us." [57:43] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7) "So Jesus says, you are my friends. So that's our identity. That's our identity now. We are the friends of Jesus. And so why is identity so important? Because who you are determines who you are. Who you are determines who you are. Who you are determines what you do. It drives everything you do, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Our identity, our sense of identity, drives everything we do. So Jesus takes this whole passage to tell us, if you remain in me and you make me your identity, you're going to do different things. You're going to love people. You're going to be my friend because you're going to love the people that I love. You're going to love my kids." [01:08:56] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8) "He wants us to love each other and lay our lives down for each other in the same way that he's laid down his life for us. This is his command. Man, loving people is hard. Especially to the degree that Jesus loves them. And it's so opposite than what we're just constantly bombarded with in this world. It's opposite of what the world tells us will make us happy. To love other people. To bear other people's burdens. To put up with people. To love them anyways. Because inevitably, because people are selfish. I'm selfish. People are out for themselves. Loving people will leave us hurt and disappointed sometimes. And that's scary." [01:11:27] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9) "And just in case you're wondering, I'm not a Christian. Just in case you're sitting in this room and you're telling yourself, I could never do that. He's not talking about me. God wouldn't choose me. I want you to hear this last part as Jesus finishes talking about fruit in John 15. He says, You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last. And so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. This is my command. Love each other. And so I believe that if you have ears, and you're in this room, and you're watching online, that God worked it out so that you could hear those words. Because he chose you. He appointed you to produce lasting and eternal fruit." [01:14:50] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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2) "Trees don't just live, they give. They live to give. Jesus is saying that his and the Father's plan is to produce fruit and life through us. And we are the branches. So we're going to have something to give. Why? Because that's how he decided to make it work. Elias is in this stage, my four -year -old, where everything is why? Why? Why? Why? Sometimes I give him an answer, it's like, because that's the way it is. Well, this is the way it is. But it's because we're made in his image. Genesis 1 .27 says, So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. So we are extensions of that tree of life. We live to give. We have a purpose. We don't just take up space." [42:42] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3) "God wants us to be fruitful and have fruitful lives. And he's going to tend us carefully and intentionally, just like a gardener does. He's going to do it if we let him. So how many of you know that a garden doesn't just happen? I wish. I wish we could find a forest and the garden just, like, appears. Like, wow, that's the kind of garden I need. I would love that kind of garden, because I'm good at killing stuff. I'm really good at it. And then Lauren helps me kill stuff. We do it together. It's a family thing. But a garden takes someone with intention, knowledge, wisdom, investment, and time. And God's promised to do that for us, to faithfully tend us." [44:47] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4) "The fruit that we're supposed to bear as his disciples is not the things that we do. It's the life of Jesus inside of us. It's his character and his love reproduced inside of us. And then we get to turn around and share it with each other. It really comes down to like how we respond to the life around us. It has to change. Because life be lifin'. Right? I don't know about you, but when I came to Jesus Jesus didn't like change all of my circumstances. They were the same. But Jesus changed my insides and the way that I responded to the world around me changed. Because he started changing me." [50:47] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5) "Jesus says, live in me. Make me your home. Make me your hiding place. Don't run to those other things. Come to me for life. Run to me. Other translations say, abide with me. Have you ever taken some guests to your house and been like, welcome to my humble abode. It's where I live. Abide. Make me the place that you live. Just be with me. Jesus doesn't say, try harder. Do more. Do better. Be more than you are. Jesus doesn't say, hide from me. He says, just be with me. Remain in me. Can you imagine getting married and then going separate ways? What's the point of that? Never living together. Just seeing them on Sundays." [55:35] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6) "Jesus says, As much as the Father has loved Jesus, the Son, that's how much Jesus loves me. That's how much Jesus loves you. And he knows what he was getting into. And he says, Remain there. I love you. Live in it. Stay in it. He knew what he was getting into when he chose to love us. He knew what he was giving himself over to when he gave himself to us. He knew what he was doing. So we have to live there. We've got to receive it. We've got to trust it. And you can fully trust who fully loves you. He fully loves us. He sees us exactly for who we are and loves us." [57:43] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7) "So Jesus says, you are my friends. So that's our identity. That's our identity now. We are the friends of Jesus. And so why is identity so important? Because who you are determines who you are. Who you are determines who you are. Who you are determines what you do. It drives everything you do, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Our identity, our sense of identity, drives everything we do. So Jesus takes this whole passage to tell us, if you remain in me and you make me your identity, you're going to do different things. You're going to love people. You're going to be my friend because you're going to love the people that I love. You're going to love my kids." [01:08:56] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8) "He wants us to love each other and lay our lives down for each other in the same way that he's laid down his life for us. This is his command. Man, loving people is hard. Especially to the degree that Jesus loves them. And it's so opposite than what we're just constantly bombarded with in this world. It's opposite of what the world tells us will make us happy. To love other people. To bear other people's burdens. To put up with people. To love them anyways. Because inevitably, because people are selfish. I'm selfish. People are out for themselves. Loving people will leave us hurt and disappointed sometimes. And that's scary." [01:11:27] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9) "And just in case you're wondering, I'm not a Christian. Just in case you're sitting in this room and you're telling yourself, I could never do that. He's not talking about me. God wouldn't choose me. I want you to hear this last part as Jesus finishes talking about fruit in John 15. He says, You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last. And so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. This is my command. Love each other. And so I believe that if you have ears, and you're in this room, and you're watching online, that God worked it out so that you could hear those words. Because he chose you. He appointed you to produce lasting and eternal fruit." [01:14:50] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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