Purpose Driven Life 3
Call to Worship
Jesus said "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
Let us worship Him in spirit and in truth today.
Prayer Chorus: Jesus be the Centre
Prayers
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Confession
Gracious God, we know love because you made it eternally visible in
the person of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. He revealed the depth of
that love by laying down his life for us. We pray that our gratitude for such undeserved gifts may be demonstrated through our sacrificial love and compassionate care for others and in the way we care for this world in which
we live. Jesus showed us that love was not confined to words alone, nor was
it ever an abstract quality but was at all times a heart-centred activity. Stir
such a love in our hearts, we pray, so that all we do may be pleasing to you
and be the very best evidence of our identity as people with the risen Christ
living within us - giving us life. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen
PRAYER OF CONFESSION: Based on 1 John 4:7-21 NRSV
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In these words, we learn that our human love becomes possible because of God's love for us. Jesus came so that we might catch a glimpse of that love and learn to love one another as he loves us.
It is so easy to say that since God loves us so much, we also ought to love one another, but we confess that it is not always so easy to do.
We know in our hearts that the love we have for one another should make
God's love visible to the world, but we confess that even in the church, our words and actions are not always grounded in love. We squabble over things which in the light of God's love for us are insignificant and petty.
We get caught up in power-struggles and the urge to control, sometimes through deeds and language which make others powerless.
(silent confession)
We love because God first loved us and those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
Fill our hearts anew with your love, O God, turn us away from anything which causes pain for you or each other.
May Jesus' commandment of love become the chief desire of our hearts, the source of all our thoughts and the inspiration of our lives.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
Jesus invites us to remain in him as he remains in us and he tells us we have already been cleansed by the word that he has spoken to us. So, hear and believe the good news that through Jesus who dwells in us, we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God Alleluia! Amen
Notices and Offering
Hymn:Empty broken here I stand
Setting the Scene:
Setting the Scene: Who are you?
Song: Lord Jesus Christ, you have come to us
Bible Readings:
John 15:1-11 - Reader
Acts 17: 22-28 - Reader
Hymn: Christ be beside me
Talk:
When I was only 14 years of age I knew God had a calling on my life, and being the enthusiast I was then and am now, I wanted to do all I could to prepare for this calling. I preached my first sermon at the tender age of 17, by the time I was 20 I was preaching regularly within my denomination around small fellowships without a minister. At 17 I was timid and hesitant, yet also certain that this was the life I would lead. My grasp of theology was not large, but my Youth Bible class teacher was so very encouraging and wanted to support me in anyway she could.
One of the first sermon titles I wrestled with was simply called "Holiness - the impossible goal?" In the tradition of faith that I was nurtured Holiness was not an option, it was a top priority - yet Holiness, Holy living, being like Christ - to a hot headed, sometimes downright disobedient 17 years old seemed so far removed from where I was, yet the call to be like Christ was constantly before me. I assured myself that Holiness – being like Christ would become easier as life went on, as I matured, as temptation was removed from me, as I settled into marriage, family life, more stable structures – but when your young, following the way of Christ, a way of holy living, seemed nigh on impossible at times. I had a naive understanding then, yet as I have grown older I have realised that it still remains a calling on our lives that seems impossible at times.
A few weeks ago there was a visitors to our church, a lady who introduced herself to me as Methodist - I asked her the question that I ask many Methodists - what do you say is the method then to Christian life? Her answer was quick and simple - Holiness - being like Jesus!
The challenge this morning is to look at Christ and be like Jesus. Yet, holiness – to be like Jesus seems to set us up to fail. How can we be like Christ?
As we read the Bible we see a picture of Christ who poured himself out in love - when at times we can find no love inside us.
We discover the Christ who knew how to hold his peace under persecution, yet how often we shout and complain;
we witness a Christ who could sit and eat with his enemies, when we can't stand to be on the same side of the road as them .
O to be like Him!
What is clear is that being like Christ is something that takes much more than wishful thinking. We are to choose to follow him, to be committed to be like Him.
In John 15 Jesus said: "I am the vine." These are Christ's words to His disciples after the events of Palm Sunday, following the Last Supper, after Judas left in order to betray Him.
Here we find one of the seven "I AM" statements of Jesus, as he endeavours to reveal to us his true self, his purpose, mission and glimpses of the Father. In these "I am" statements Jesus takes us back to that conversation between God and Moses at the burning bush; the time when God identified Himself as "I Am Who I Am." By using the same expression, Jesus declares his divinity, He claims to be God's equal, He claims to be part of the eternal Godhead.
Israel as the Vine
"I am the vine." Imagine that you are a Jew living at the time of Jesus.
You go to the Temple for worship. As you enter the temple you see a hand-made vine made of solid gold with grape clusters as tall as a man.
This imagery we can read about in Number 3: 23 - when Moses sends in the spies into the land of Canaan, and as they come to the brook of Eshcol, and cut down a branch from the vine it takes two men to carry one cluster of grapes on, This is living imagery of the vine to a first century Jew - it speaks of God's promise, God's provision, and God's amazing goodness. It was so significant they put this image of a vine on their coins.
But much more than the Vine speaking about Gods blessing on Israel - Israel saw themselves as the vine God, imagery that is found over and over again in the pages of the Old Testament
Psalm 80. says: (Ps 80:8-9) You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. (9) You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
And in Isaiah 5. Isaiah sings "The Song of the Vineyard," a song the Lord put in his heart.
Is 5:1-2 I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. (2) He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines.
(Is 5:7) The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight.
Again and again Israel is painted as God's strong and healthy vine. Until the prophet Isaiah looks to the future of Israel and sees a new shoot on this precious vine.
(Is 11:1,10-11) A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit ... (10) In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. (11) In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people ...
Here we see Isaiah speaking about a branch, a shoot, a choice vine that will bear the fruit Israel did not seem able to bear.
II Jesus is the True Vine
Some 700 years after Isaiah, this is what Jesus "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener." Everyone listening to Jesus knows exactly what He is saying because they know what the Old Testament says about the vine.
First, Jesus is saying He is the branch, the shoot, the choice vine that Isaiah and the other prophets saw coming.
Second, Jesus is contrasting Himself to Israel.
Jesus says He succeeds where Israel fails.
Jesus says He takes Israel's place as the vine of the Lord.
Jesus says He bears the fruit Israel never did or could.
Jesus says He fulfils the Father's expectations so that the Father is never disappointed when He looks for fruit on the vine of His Son.
"I am the vine." Jesus says. The culmination and fulfilment of all the Old Testament language and imagery about the vine. The vine of Israel had been planted in a good land, but it failed to produce and therefore was pruned. Whole branches had been cut off and thrown away. In the midst of all that destruction comes Christ, the true vine! Jesus is the One who bears the fruit the divine Gardener is looking for.
What is the fruit Jesus produces that makes the divine Gardener happy? Surely this fruit is found in His life of obedience.
(John 4:34) "My food," said Jesus "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
And, Jesus was obedient in a way Israel never. He was obedient to death – even death on the cross. We have been put on the earth to glorify God and to live for Him forever. Israel did not do that and if we are honest, neither do we.
III Bear Fruit by Remaining in Christ
Jesus says: "I am the vine." But how do we fit into this? In our text for this morning Jesus says, "I am the vine; you are the branches." Let's make sure we properly understand this. Often we have the wrong idea here and think of Jesus as the main part of the tree, as the trunk of the tree - and we see ourselves as the branches that grow on and get their nourishment from and through the trunk. But Christ does not say, "I am the trunk." Rather, He says "I am the vine."
What is the vine?
The vine is the whole plant – trunk, roots, branches, leaves, and all.
"I am the vine; you are the branches." Do you realize what Jesus is saying about us here? We can highlight three things:
First, He is saying we are part of Him.
The vine/branch imagery means that we are "in Christ," "with Christ," "united to Christ," "one with Christ." Between the Saviour and His people there is a unity, a bond of fellowship, love and life.
Second, the vine/branch imagery also means that we, in and with and through Christ, have now replaced Israel as the vine of the Lord. Something new has happened with the coming of Christ; this new vine that we are part of is indeed chosen and blessed by God. We can know God's blessing, we can celebrate God's provision and care.
Third, the vine/branch imagery means that when Christ, the vine, produces the fruit Israel never did, Christ produces fruit through us.
In other words, when we bear fruit, it is Christ's fruit we are bearing and it is Christ Who is bearing fruit in us. So, when the divine Gardener walks through His vineyard looking for fruit, He looks for it in my life and your life, and in the lives of all those who are part of Christ.
Yet the key to holy living, to being like Christ is simply found in this word that Jesus comes back to time and time again in John 15. Depending on your bible translation it may differ from "Abide" "Dwell" Remain" . We are invited to remain in Him, to dwell in Him, to Abide in Him. This is how we will become like Him, by remaining in His presence, by being part of his life, and allowing his life to flow through us. This we do through a life of obedience to Him.
Intercession:
Hymn: All I once held dear (Knowing you Jesus)
Benedction:
Go, empowered by the goodness and mercy of God,
the compassion and love of Jesus Christ,
and the energy and enthusiasm of the Holy Spirit.