John 15:1-8: “1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 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. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that 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. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like 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 wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
Boys and girls, so far, we have learned 6 I AM’s Jesus proclaimed. Today commander will talk the #7 I AM: “I AM the True Vine.” Jesus said He is the vine, and we are the branches, what does it mean the vine to branches? This is from Bible John 15:1-8. Well, commander would like to ask Timothy to read these verses for us. Let’s listen carefully, and follow Timothy’s reading:
“1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 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. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that 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. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like 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 wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:1-8)
Commander have questions to ask you: Who is the vinedresser or saying gardener? Tiffany said it is our God, the heavenly father. Very good! Then who is the vine? Oh, Daniel said it is Jesus! Yes, Jesus is the vine, and we are? Yes, Taylor said we are the branches. Then what does the Gardener, our heavenly father do? Those branches didn’t bear fruit, He cut them off, and those branches bearing fruit, He prunes them to make them more fruitful.
Well, does it matter for the branches to connect to the vine? Now Commander take you to see how the branches grow grapes.
See the grape vine – this is the vine, which is rooted to the ground to take up nutrition from the ground and give it to the branches which are connected to it. Jesus said that He is the vine, and we, Jesus’ followers are the branches, who are connected to Him. Well, be careful, not every branch grows fruit, though. What happens to the fruitless branch? Our heavenly Father will cut them off and burn them to the fire. How about for the good fruitful branches? Still sometimes you may feel hurting, that because God is pruning you to make you better and more fruitful.
We, as the branches, what happens if we separate from the vine? See this branch, can it grow fruit? No way! It is very obvious if we separate from the vine, our Lord Jesus then we will not receive nutrition from the vine and definitely will wither not mentioning no fruit bearing. So boys and girls, be sure we all stay in the Lord and have good connection to Him.
Then, how to grow when we connect to our Lord Jesus? Commander have 4 things for you to do in order to grow:
G – Go churches. We should participate in the church activities. Even in the coronavirus outbreak, we have children church online worship, we have Sunday school online, and we will soon start Awana online, as well. Commander encourage you participate the activities as much as you can.
R – Read Bible and pray. Do you have your own bible reading plan? Do you have your personal prayer time with God? Remember, commander talked about the full armor of God, what is the powerful weapon God gave us to fight against the devil? Yeah, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. God’s word is not only the weapon it is also our spiritual nutrition to grow. It is our spiritual food. And also we should have a regular prayer time with God. Lord Jesus wants us to have a good connection with Him by praying.
O – Obey the word, apply God’s word to our daily life. God’s word is living word, we are not memorizing God’s word for no purpose. We will let God’s word be living in our life, reveal The power of God throughout our life changes. For examples, we know the fruit of the Spirit – love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control. Then, we will be willing to show those good characters in our life and let people really smell those good flavor in us.
W – Witness God’s name – shine for Jesus. If you want to grow, you should never feel shy for letting people know you are a Christian. From the way you behave, the way you talk, and the way you love, people will know you are Jesus’ followers. Just as Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Be a good witness for our Lord Jesus and courageously and happily tell people about Jesus share His gospel to others.
So how to grow in Jesus? G – go churches, R – read Bible and pray, O – Obey God’s word, W – Witness God’s name. Commander believe then you will grow healthily in your Christian life.
Then what happens when you grow? – you will bear fruit! The last thing, commander like to say is in verse 8 we just read: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” Waah, we grow to bear more fruit to glorify God’s name and prove that we are Jesus’ disciples, His followers. When you bring your friends to know Jesus, you bear fruits. You bring many people to Jesus, you bear many fruit. A branch bear good fruit is for others to taste and appreciate God’s abundant love and salvation.
So, boys and girls we all want to be a healthy branch connecting to the vine, our Lord Jesus, and grow healthily and bear much fruit, right? Remember, if we don’t grow and bear fruit, what will happen? God will cut those branches which bear no fruit into fire. Therefore, we must grow and bear fruit and waah with this we give glory to God and prove that we are Jesus’ disciples, His followers!
Boys and girls, commander have completed the talk for Jesus’ seven I AM’s. let’s have a quick review. Jesus said “I AM the bread of life,” “I AM the light of the world,” “I AM the gate for the sheep,” “I AM the good shepherd,” “I AM the resurrection and the life,” “I AM the Way the Truth and the Life,” and “I AM the true Vine.”
keep this verse in your heart – John 15:5, “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. “