What's Next? - Week 1 | Zac Case - 8:30 AM Sunday Worship Experience

Psalm 42 and 43 give the starting note. David’s soul says one thing and feels another, so he tells his soul, why are you discouraged, hope in God, and I will praise him again. The text refuses fakery and invites honest gratitude that leads the heart back to praise. God receives people as they are, and gratitude becomes the handhold that pulls a weary soul toward worship.

A word from the Lord then presses a direction: seek the deep things. Breadth has been visible, but the call is depth before breadth. The growth God builds must sit on a foundation God lays, or it will not last. The word points to the old path that Scripture already marks out.

John 15 carries that path right into the room on the night before the cross. Jesus gives one picture and one command that he hammers into memory: I am the vine, my Father is the gardener, remain in me. The repetition matters. The temptation will always be to do something for Jesus instead of stay with Jesus. The deep things of God are not found by going further but by staying closer.

The vine then defines remaining by what it is not. Remaining is not visiting; a branch does not drop by. Remaining is not religious activity; doing church things is not the same as being with Jesus. Remaining is not striving; the branch does not grunt to grow grapes. The branch simply stays connected, and life flows. Activity without intimacy leaves people busy and empty.

Culture worships motion, but God rewards roots. Remaining often feels like nothing, but that nothing is everything. Unseen roots become tomorrow’s visible fruit. Verse 5 settles it: apart from me you can do nothing. Fruit is promised, and much fruit at that, but it is produced by the vine through a connected branch. Work still comes, but it comes as overflow rather than output scraped from an empty soul. Remaining changes the source, and the source changes the durability.

So the call is concrete and simple. Take five quiet minutes a day and say, here I am, Jesus. No playlist, no journal, no list to check off. Sit, stay, and let roots go down. The vine is not asking for performance. The vine is asking for presence.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Remain in Christ, not just work [55:10] Remaining is the command Jesus repeats, because the pull to do for him instead of stay with him is constant. Work that flows from union bears fruit that lasts, while work from self runs dry. The vine produces; the branch receives and carries. Presence before performance becomes the new order of life. [55:10]
• 2. Seek depth before breadth [48:15] God’s word to the house is to seek the deep things first, then trust him with breadth. Foundations laid in hidden places carry visible growth without collapse. Depth is not against growth; it is what makes growth safe. Go down so that later you can go wide. [48:15]
• 3. Religious activity can mask distance [55:58] Bible reading, serving, giving, and attending can become a project called God if connection is missing. Jesus warns that impressive outcomes done apart from him will not stand in his presence. Intimacy is the measure, not itinerary. The branch that stays bears better fruit than the worker who performs. [55:58]
• 4. Roots grow in quiet nothing [01:03:35] Remaining often feels unproductive, but that is where roots go down. God trains attention to love him without needing a result in hand. The unseen becomes the seen in due season. The nothing that offends hustle is the everything that builds weight. [63:35]
• 5. Start with five minutes of presence [01:10:50] Sit daily and say, here I am, Jesus, without an agenda. Fight the itch to make it useful, and let staying itself be the offering. Over time the soul learns to settle, and the heart becomes a place where fruit shows up naturally. Simple faithfulness opens a deeper well. [70:50]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [27:55] - Honest gratitude in heavy seasons
• [28:20] - Psalm 42 and 43 frame the soul
• [29:50] - Tell the soul to hope again
• [33:52] - Gratitude as a path back to praise
• [43:03] - Series launch: What’s Next
• [44:06] - Confession of a doer’s impulse
• [46:20] - Turning God into a project
• [47:23] - Prophetic call: seek the deep things
• [48:34] - Breadth reported, depth required
• [51:47] - Upper Room context for John 15
• [53:26] - I am the vine; remain in me
• [55:10] - Do for Jesus vs stay with Jesus
• [55:26] - Remaining is not visiting
• [55:58] - Activity without intimacy
• [56:38] - Striving cannot make fruit
• [62:16] - Culture rewards motion, God rewards roots
• [65:13] - Apart from me you can do nothing
• [66:54] - Overflow work vs burnout work
• [70:08] - Practice: five minutes of remaining
• [73:37] - Summer prayer and fasting call
• [75:53] - Prayer, commitment, and benediction

Bible Reading
John 15:1-5 (ESV)
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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. 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.”

Psalm 42:5 (ESV)
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

Psalm 43:5 (ESV)
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”

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Observation Questions

1. In John 15:5, Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” What specific examples of “doing nothing” does the sermon give when we are disconnected from Christ? [55:58]
2. How does the psalmist in Psalm 42:5 and 43:5 confront his own discouragement? What two actions does he take toward his soul?
3. According to the sermon, what are three things that “remaining” is not (e.g., visiting, religious activity, etc.)? [55:26]
4. What contrast does the sermon make between how culture values “motion” and how God values “roots”? [01:02:16]

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Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think Jesus repeats the command to “remain” or “abide” so many times in John 15? What does this repetition reveal about human tendencies?
2. The sermon warns that “religious activity can mask distance” from God. How might practices like prayer, serving, or Bible reading become disconnected from intimacy with Christ? [55:58]
3. The psalmist tells his soul to “hope in God” even while feeling turmoil. How does honest lament (like in Psalm 42-43) actually lead us back to praise instead of keeping us stuck in despair?
4. Jesus says fruit comes from “remaining,” not striving. Why is it difficult to trust that connection—not effort—produces lasting results? [56:38]

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Application Questions

1. What does your current rhythm of “remaining” look like? How could you implement five minutes of quiet presence with Jesus daily, as suggested, without turning it into another task to check off? [01:10:50]
2. Reflect on a time when you prioritized “doing for God” over “staying with God.” What drained you in that season, and how could abiding have changed your perspective?
3. The sermon says, “Activity without intimacy leaves people busy and empty.” What one spiritual habit or ministry commitment might you need to reevaluate for deeper connection with Christ?
4. When discouragement weighs on your soul (like the psalmist’s), what tangible reminders of God’s faithfulness could you speak to yourself to “hope again”?
5. How can you create space for “roots” in a culture that glorifies hustle? What distractions or pressures do you need to confront to prioritize depth over breadth? [48:15]
6. The sermon warns against turning God into a “project.” Where in your life do you feel tempted to measure your worth by productivity rather than presence?