Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

Luke 15:1-8

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ 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. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

Summary and Function

Summary: God expects us to bear fruit. We are the branches and Jesus is the vine. As long as we remain in Jesus, we will bear much fruit. This brings up the following questions: What does it mean to remain in Jesus? and What is meant by ‘fruit’? We remain in Jesus by acknowledging Jesus as Savior and Lord and developing a close, love relationship with him. As we do this, the Holy Spirit develops within us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. With these characteristics, we become a catalyst for love throughout the world. This is the fruit we bear as we remain in Christ. In this way, more and more people will come to know Christ.

Function: To encourage the congregation to walk with Christ and bear fruit.

The Sermon

I. Introduction

A. Many of us have a results oriented mentality

· When I was on the high school swim team, I expected certain results. I expected my swim times to improve

· When we diet and exercised, we expect certain results. We expect to lose weight.

· At church, we expect our worship and Sunday school attendance to increase

B. Jesus is also results oriented

· Jesus expects certain results from our lives. He refers to these results as ‘fruits’

· He stated that we will recognize false teachers by their fruits

· He talked about how good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit. In the same way, a good life results in good things and a bad life results in bad things.

· In today’s passage (John 15:1-8), Jesus tells us that he expects us to produce good fruit.

II. Jesus’ admonition to produce good fruit (John 15:1-8).

A. John 15:1-8 has many nuggets of truth. Today we will look at two of these nuggets.

· First nugget of truth: We must remain in Jesus

· Second nugget of truth: If we remain in Jesus, we will bear good fruit

B. This brings up two questions

· 1^st question: What does it mean to remain in Jesus?

· 2^nd question: What does it mean to bear good fruit?

C. What does it mean to remain in Jesus? Remaining in Jesus means maintaining an intimate love relationship with Jesus as Savior, Lord and Friend.

· Jesus as Savior

- John 1 declares that Jesus is the Word and the Word became flesh. Jesus is God in the flesh and that’s why he can save us from our sins.

- John the Baptist called Jesus the ‘Lamb of God’. Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins and this enables us to receive God’s forgiveness.

- In Matthew 1, an angel of the Lord told Joseph that Jesus will save his people from their sins.

· Jesus as Lord

- As previously stated, Jesus is God in the flesh. This means he is Lord

- We obey Jesus and live our lives in accordance with his teachings. Whenever we have a decision to make, we go to Jesus in prayer and ask for guidance and discernment.

- John 15:10 and John 14:23

· Jesus as Friend

- Jesus wants to be our friend: John 15:15

- Jesus is God in the flesh. When Jesus says he wants to be our friend it is God saying he wants to be our friend

- This is what makes our relationship with God an intimate, love relationship. Whenever we need to talk or have a serious problem, we can go to God as our best friend.

D. What does it mean to bear good fruit? It means having the right results from your life.

· Answered prayer is one of the fruits

- John 15:7

- As you remain in Jesus, God’s will becomes your will. You align yourself with God’s will.

· Joy is one of the fruits

- John 15:12

- Jesus is not a party-pooper. He’s not a cosmic kill-joy. He promises us joy if we remain in him. This joy will last through the good and bad times.

· Love is one of the fruits

- John 15:11

- As we remain in Jesus, our hearts will change and we will become more like Jesus.

· Righteous character is one of the fruits

- In Galatians 5:22 the Apostle Paul refers to this righteous character as the fruit of the Spirit. It consists of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

- As we remain in Jesus, the Holy Spirit develops these character traits within us.

E. Bearing fruit will enable us to influence society for good.

· As our fruit develops, we will stand out and people will notice us. They will wonder how and why we are so different. This gives us the opportunity to witness.

- I know a person on a KAIROS ministry team. He became a Christian in a New York prison. According to him he noticed a joy and peace emanating from the prisoners who attended Bible study and worship services. When he asked them about it, they introduced him to Jesus Christ.

III. Conclusion

A. If you want to bear good fruit but have not yet acknowledged Jesus as Savior, Lord and Friend, you can do so right now. Don’t wait.

B. If you are already a Christian but have not been bearing good fruit because you have not remained in Jesus, you can take care of that right now. Go to Jesus in prayer and he’ll wrap his arms around you and tell you that he’s glad you’re back home. Don’t wait.