Christian-ish: Week 6

Good morning everyone, Good morning. Let us pray.

Father, we just thank you for this opportunity to come together,

to be community, to be in your presence, to.

Learn, to be stretched and to grow.

I pray the Lord God that as we're in this

time together, in this last message of this series, that

you will speak to us directly. You know what each

and every one of us need in this place. So

I pray that you would just do what you can

do only you can do.

In our lives.

I pray right now where God, that you would speak

through me. I sit down, that you might stand up,

I become silent, that you might speak have your way,

Holy Spirit.

Amen. Well, good morning. Is so good to see you

this morning.

We have been in this series christian Ish and man,

it's been a series about you. But I have been challenged,

I have been stretched, I've been pulled.

I have had to take inventory of my own.

Life to see where I fall with certain things ideas,

and it's been so good and so helpful. I know

many of you have been saying, like, man, theyrewn a roll.

We went from Joe to Christianish. Maybe we'll give you

some relief in the next series. I don't know, but

it's been good to be able to be pulled and

stretched as believers because God is doing a work in us.

And if we're just gathering and not growing, then we

shouldn't be gathering. And so today's message is, with this

thought in mind, christian Ish fruitless Christianity. As Christians, we

should be bearing fruit. There should be something that is

seen out of our lives that resembles Jesus, that looks

like him, that walks like him, that speaks like him.

And so today the big idea is this, if we're

not abiding.

We're not alive. We're just looking the part.

And I don't know about you, but I just don't

want to look the part. I used to do performing arts,

and quite often you would be an understudy and just

in case something happened with the main role, you would

just jump in and do the role. I had one

guy who was sick one time, and I had to

actually be dressed ready to go just in case he

lost his voice again. So I was looking the part,

but I was never gonna play it. We don't want

to be like that.

As believers, as Christians.

When I was younger, my grandmother would take me quite

often to her cousin's house, Cousin Ethel and cousin Phoebe.

And every time we would go, oh, she would always

have this little speech before we would leave.

I just fed you, don't ask for anything.

But when we would arrived to their house, we would

I would always see on their table they would have

a basket of fruit, and for some reason I wanted

the fruit.

But I still heard my grandmother's.

Voice saying, don't ask for nothing, and so I wouldn't ask.

But I didn't notice things as we kept going that

that fruit was always on the table.

It never changed.

Did they not eat fruit at this house? Because I

sure wanted some. As I got older, I started to

discover that the fruit that was on the table was

not real. On this table here there's actually real fruit,

and then there's some it's not so real fruit.

And from a distance you might think.

Something is real that isn't real, But the closer you get,

you start to discover that it's not real. So this morning,

for sake of being together, I'd ask you, I have

two pieces of fruit here, which one would you say

is real?

If you think that the apple is real, raise.

Your hand, Okay, all right, put him down now, by elimination.

I should think, right, how many you think the arms

is real? Uh huh?

All right, Well, the truth of the matter is, it's

gonna take me a minute to eat this apple.

Somebody catch that.

Great, he's got a good arm baseball, baseball. Well, the

scriptures teach or something I'll remember, never to do that again.

Well he had a good armist now now in front

of the church anyway. Galatians five twenty two says this.

It says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

for bearings, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness.

And self control. Against such there is no law.

So the scriptures help us to understand these are the

byproducts that come from Jesus. And here many of us

in this room, we remember we were children growing up

going to Sunday school and they would have the posters

of or they would do activities and they would talk

about the fruit of the Spirit, and all the fruit

of the Spirit represented some type of fruit. And so

we remember that. But the question is how do I

get to the product? And is the product real or

is it fake? Because we can make it look like

but is it authentic? Well, Jesus helps us out in

John fifteen. John fifteen one says this, I am the true.

Vine, and my father is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,

while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so

that it.

Will be even more fruitful.

You are already clean because of the word I have

spoken to you. Remain in me as I also remain

in you. No branch can bear fruit of itself. It

must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit

unless you remain in me.

I am the vine. You are the branches.

Just for a moment, Jesus clarifies to the disciples what

he's saying.

He wants it to be understood.

This is not just some story I'm telling you about

vine and branches and fruit. I want to let you

know this is reality. This is who you are. But

this is who I am. I am the vine. You

are the branches. If you remain in me and I

am you, you will bear much fruit.

Apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do

not remain in me.

You are like a branch that is thrown away and withers.

Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

If you remain in me, and my words remain in you.

Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

This is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit,

showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has

loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in

my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain

in my love, just as I have kept my father's

commands and remain in his love. I have told you

this so that my joy may be in you, and

that your joy.

May be complete.

My command is this, love each other as I have

loved you. Greater love has no one than this, to

lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my

friends if you do what I command. I no longer

call you servants, because a servant does not know his

master's business. Instead, I call you friends. For everything I

have learned from my father, I have.

Made known to you.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and

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.

Now that's a lengthy passage, but I want to pull

out five things that distinguish those who are Christians and

those who are christian Ish. These distinctions help us to

understand or help us to search ourselves to figure out

where we fall and how we need to proceed. One

Jesus is the source, not just the example. I don't

know about you, but several years ago, several moons ago,

and there are people probably in this room who have

no clue to what I'm about to say, but there

was this slogan, this term that everyone was talking about,

what would Jesus do WWJD.

Remember that we had T shirts, we had.

Bracelets, we had I even saw somebody with sneakers. But anyway,

what would Jesus do? And people would ask that question

all the time, even if people would do something wrong

and they were not a believer. You know, like when

I was growing up in school, people were slapping in

the back of the neck and then say what would

Jesus do? There were times I failed that test, and

so it was an example because we were trying to

show the things that Jesus would do. But Jesus is

recaquiring more. He is the source in this passage. He

is letting us know that no branch can bear fruit

by itself. It must remain in the vine. John fifteen

and four.

The vine connects everything else. Now hear this.

When we talk about the vine, of course we're not

talking about trees. And I've showed you all this fruit,

and they came from trees, right.

But the vine is representative of grapes.

And every grape vine has branches to it, and those

branches produce fruit or produce.

Grapes, bundles of grapes.

And so we understand that he's saying the connectivity produces

an end result. But if we're not connected, you cannot

produce an end result.

It might look like, but it will not.

Be the real thing. He says, apart from me, you

can do nothing. He doesn't say you can do less

or you can do a little.

He says you can do nothing.

So if we are Christians, we must stay connected to

the vine. We must stay connected. I don't know about you,

but when I travel, I never really unpack, right, it's

a nuisance to take all your stuff out of your

suitcase and put it back.

And all that.

So I kind of pull out a couple of things,

you know, you take out the tail trees put in

the bathroom recently, I've celebrated a big birthday.

Woo. Right.

It always bugs me to say it, but I just

turned fifty, right, yeah, yeah, amen, Amen, Amen, that's a

big deal.

Right.

Just never tell me I look fifty. Okay, I don't

know what fifty looks like anymore.

I don't know.

It's different times. I don't know what's best in the water.

But fifty doesn't look like fifty more.

When I was a.

Kid, fifty was like, oh right, But now fifty people

are doing all kinds of sports at fifty, not soccer.

You guys heard that story. But anyway, so I.

Never unpacked because I know I'm not going to be

there long. And some of us we create this relationship

with the Lord where we never really unpack. We only

take out a few items and we keep going and whatnot.

But the Lord wants us to move from a traveler

in him to someone or someones who actually live in him.

It's about living. A body is not a weekend event.

It's a twenty four to seven environment. We can't visit

the Lord. We can't do the Lord like we do

our cell phones. We charge them up and then we

take them off the charger and then we run about

our day and then we plug it back in at

the end of the day. I want to let you

know some of us do that with our spiritual lives.

We charge up on Sunday and then we try to

make it the next several days without having.

A charge again.

I want to let you know that we must stay

connected to the vine. Without connection, we will fall apart.

Without connection, we will wither and die. Without connection, we

will not make it and we cannot produce fruit. Christianity

is not behavior modification. It's a life flowing from connection

with Jesus. Because of the connection, things start to happen

in your life. It's not about looking Christian, but it's

staying connected to Christ. As I was in Europe, I

saw a lot of churches, through a lot of churches,

these beautiful buildings.

Oh man, it was just so wonderful. I was like,

Jesus is here.

But as I got closer, I realized that many of

those churches were just buildings, but inside were bars and

restaurants and discothechts.

Do they still disco I'm not sure, But there.

Were all of these things inside of these buildings.

That look like churches.

But that's not what was happening on the inside of

the building.

God wants us.

To let our inside resemble the outside.

Point two. Pruning is a sign of love, not rejection.

In the Passage, Jesus says the Father is a gardener,

and he prunes the branches that already bear fruits so

that they can bear more.

Pruning feels like loss. Pruning hurts, Pruning devastates. Pruning is

not good for most of our thoughts.

When we think about the idea of a sharp blade

cutting into something in order to get an end result,

it hurts us in the temporary moment, but the residual

effect is greater, and the Lord sometimes not Sometimes. If

you are a Christian, Amen, you will be prune. If

you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you will be prune.

You will go through something. I want to let you know.

If you're Christians, you will avoid these things at all costs.

You're gonna avoid it, and so you fall away because

you say, hey, I just don't want to go through that.

So we take the easy role and we refuse to

stay connected to the vine.

Pruning is a must.

If you are a believer, you will go through some pruning.

John fifteen to two says.

He prunes every branch that does not bear fruit, so

it will be even more fruitful. I want to let

you know that everything you're going through is reducing something

greater in your life. If you're a believer in Jesus

and you're connected to the vine. When he cuts on you,

he's not just cutting to cut. He cuts with an

understanding that this is going to produce something out of

your life. This is gonna produce more joy, This is

gonna produce more peace, This is gonna produce more love.

He is producing something in you that you don't have

right now. You might have a little bit of it,

but he is going to produce more at.

A greater level if you will allow him to cut

on you. Are you feeling the cuts? Yeah?

I felt a couple of cuts in my life, but

every time the Lord has done greater. I'm standing here

today because of a cut, because the Lord was cutting

on me.

Hear this.

Back home in Lynchburg, we have two trees in our

front yard. We have a pear tree and an apple tree.

And so in our neighborhood, one of our neighbors has

a good friend who's an arborist, and they came in

the community was just talking and sharing about how to

maintain these trees and take.

Care of trees.

Now, we spend a great deal of time in Indiana,

and we really we had trees, but they didn't have

any fruit. It was just like, you know, an oak

tree or you know something weird, but make you guys

look at trees different, right, And so we didn't know

anything about maintaining a fruit tree.

And so we learned so much.

Actually, my wife Melanie, who's tuned in today, and she

sent me some notes because the first service I got

it wrong. Anyway, thank God for her because she will

get it right. And and so.

The arboris talked about pruning and how to.

Cut it at a picular angle and the angle that

you cut, and where to cut and how long to cut.

And she actually went out there and did the cutting.

She cut up that pear tree. And I'm gonna be honest,

when I was watching, I was like, does she know

what she doing? Well, obviously she did, because the next

season that tree brought so much fruit.

It yielded so much fruit.

And this was the best pairs I have ever had

in my life in my front yard. It obviously was

the best pairs that the deer had too, because they

lived in my front yard, and so we enjoyed the pears.

We gave some to our neighbors, we froze some.

We talked about making all kinds of pear pies, and

I don't know if he did even a thing called

a pear pie, but we were gonna make it right,

and so we did. We had a great season with

the peers. The next season we did not through. She

did not proom because I didn't trust myself to cut anything.

And we got peers again, but they were not as sweet,

they were not as plentiful. Pruning is essential to growth.

There's some things that you're crying over that God is

cutting on purpose. Some relationships, some situations, some jobs, changing

some environments.

Those cuts are essential to your growth.

You don't see it now, you don't feel it now,

but it's going to help you in the long run. Christian,

lean in to the vine.

He's working on you.

Number three, Abiding is about relationship.

Not rules.

Most of us be like rules, and I remember a

couple weeks ago Pastor James was talking about how many

rule followers are there and how many people don't like

the follow rules. But most of us be like rules.

We want to know how to play the game. We

want to know how to check the boxes. And so

we wake up in the morning and say, let me

check all the boxes. Say your prayers, be nice, be kind,

do good.

Things, all those things. We check all the boxes and whatnot.

But I want to let you know this is not

about rules.

This is about relationship. So in this passage, Jesus repeats

this term over and over. Abide, Abide, Abide, abide.

Remain, remain, Remain.

He's asking us to abide in him because this is important.

This is an imitation for us not to check off things,

but for us to be in a relationship that exchanges love.

That God loves us and his word shapes our daily lives.

Verse eight says this, this is to my father's glory

that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciple.

There is a result from being with Jesus. When we

are connected to the vine, we start looking like the vine.

Oh my God, we start acting like the vine. We

start talking like the vine. You know, some people talk

to talk, but it's different when people say, you know,

people walk around, they say, uh, praise the Lord. Praise

the Lord. Some people they're gonna say, how are you

doing today? I'm blessed in highly favor?

Will hold up?

Is your life acting blessed in highly favor? Is your activity?

The way that you operate in the world. Are you

doing the things that God deemed.

For you to do? Do you look like Jesus? So

us not? What would Jesus do?

I'm doing what Jesus is doing because I'm connected to him.

I'm not waiting to check a box. But because of connection,

there is production. So at the end of the day,

your fruit is your proof. You can hang around and

be a branch.

For a long time.

But just being a branch and there's no production, that's

a problem. You remember the scriptures, Jesus curses a fig

tree because in season it was not showing.

Fruit. It's not producing.

A body means living in awareness of Him, talking to him,

trusting him, obeying him. Every day in our lives we

are in communion with the Lord. True Christianity isn't about

trying harder. It's about staying close. Stop trying to be

a Christian. Oh, stop trying to be a Christian. Be

a Christian. How do I become a Christian. I am

surrendered to the Lord. I surrender all some of us

sing that song you're like, I surrender, some surrender it

all that Lord. I want you in every part of

my life. I want you to be a part of

everything that goes on in me. And I want to

feel and see you operating in my life. I don't

want to take first place in my life. You take

the first place of my life. You take the seat

on my heart. I want you to rule because I

know that when you are ruling and that I am

tied into you, there's gonna be good fruit that comes

out of it. I'm gonna be a blessing to the

world because that's what you brought me here for.

That's why you called me. Stop trying.

Just be.

Zero point four.

Love is the greatest fruit. Jesus spends a lot of

time talking about remaining and abiding if you abide in

Me and my word abiasa. He spends a lot of

time about abiding, but then he ends this whole passage

with a command, speaking to the disciples as he's preparing them.

Notice this this is preparation for the disciples, because in

chapter eighteen, Jesus is arrested, but in chapter fifteen, he

is preparing them. He's saying, this is what you're gonna

need when things go bad. Oh my God, I wanna

let you know that you're gonna need connection. You're gonna

need to abide, You're gonna need to remain in.

Him when things go bad.

You will not be impacted like everyone else, because you

are a bidying in Jesus.

Things are different when you live.

In Jesus because He gives you preparation for the things

that are to come, so you don't look at it

too strangely.

I remember a time, and I'm.

Gonna say this real quick, right before I had a

really crazy explosive moment where I was going to be

spiritually attacked, my spiritual mother called me and she said

she let this voicemail and I keep it on my

phone all the time to remind me who I am

and the Lord. She says in this message, She's like, hey,

Satan does not have the victory. God has already given

you the victory. And the day she tells me, guess what,

the sun was shining. We were having a wonderful day,

and I get this voicemail. I'm like, what the heck

is she talking about little did I know that from

that day, which was a Saturday, that Monday, I would

face all of those things in preparation.

But if you are living in the spirit, you're.

Going to be prepared for the storm. So I told

you a little bit about my journey to Europe. And

so it's interesting when you go to little places and people.

I like people. Most of you know, I kind of

identify myself as a introvert who operates as an extrovert.

Now many of you don't believe that, right because you

see me now, but catch me at six pm. Matter

of fact, you won't catch me at six pm.

Because I will.

We know where to be found, right because I have

so much that I can give externally, but then I

have to recoup that and be alone. And so I

am in Europe with my big brother, who God so

graciously blessed me to be able to take this trip with.

And my wife was like, you go ahead and have

a good time. And I was like, Wow, this is

so cool, and I'm nervous going across all of this water.

There's a lot of water to get to Europe, y'all.

I thank god they yelled us uping men, and I

just I'm telling you it was hard, but.

We made it. Amen.

And so my brother, on the other hand, he is

a introvert who performs as an introvert, all right, And.

So he's not gonna engage you.

If you engage him, fine, but he's not gonna be

the one to engage you.

And so and he's a believer. I'm a believer.

We we we we we go about it different ways

that he loves deeply. Like he's the one who if

you're going through something, he is gonna walk you through it, right,

But when it comes public, he's just not gonna be

a prayer.

I'm the one.

I don't care who you are. I'm just gonna say hello.

So we get on the elevator, I'm like, oh, look

at the little baby, so cute. How are you doing today?

All that?

This is me all day a long, right, everybody was

really nice. Accept in Paris. I don't know what that is,

but we gotta figure that out.

And so I'm having these experiences and whatnot, and uh,

and my brother's like, okay, I'm gonna wind down.

You go ahead and do what you gotta do.

And so I went to the reception where they have

food and or dirbs and all those things at this

particular hotel and I walk in and I'm looking for

a place to sit and I see a sofa because

all the tables were gone, and I decided to sit there.

There was one person sitting there, but literally, I know

there was a family that was coming, so I said,

I'll slide over and let them sit down. And before

I knew it, I saw a kid who had on

a Celtics jersey and I said, are you a Celtics fan.

He's like, yeah, I'm a Celtics fan. He's ten years old, right, And.

I was like cool. I was like, that's so great.

His name is just seen, and you see, knows everything

about the Celtics, everything.

About the Celtics.

Not only does he know about the Celtics, he know

about other players who played on the Celtics and other

teams and.

Who was traded and all that.

So for the next forty five minutes might have been

an hour, we talked about sports, we talked about the Celtics,

we talked about and we're having a good time. And

his parents just kept apologizing, We're so sorry, Oh, we're

so sorry, We're so sorry.

And whatnot. But me and this kid were making a connection.

Your scene was making an impact on my life, and

I can feel me making an impact on his.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to

be known.

For a book where I lived, what I drove, who

I knew.

I want to be known by love.

I want people to experience the love of Christ, whether

I am their friend or I am a stranger. And

your scene was a stranger for a moment. But before

I knew, we're taking pictures. We're taking pictures. I'm exchanging

information with his parents, and his mom sends me the

sweetest note, and she says, we've been all over Paris,

but this was the first time I saw him light up.

That blessed me more deeply than I can say. I

made a friend with a ten year old. I actually

messaged mom and said, can I share the story in

the picture?

She gave permission. Amen. Love is key. John fifteen twelve says.

My command is this, love each other as I have

loved you. We gotta love each other. Jesus spends so

much time on this. Why do we love each other?

Because love is the one fruit that does not rock.

Love will not rock, Love lasts forever. Some of us

in this room, you are still experiencing the love that

you have received from others. Some of you can remember

the love of your grandmother, your grandfather. You can remember

the love of people who are no longer here to

tell the story, but you are still impacted today by

their love.

Love makes an impact on us, and it lasts forever.

To remain in Christ.

Is to live a life that pours his love into others,

even when it cost us something.

That's how we show the world who Jesus really is.

Zero point five.

Jesus reminds the disciples by with this point, You're chosen,

appointed and secured. Chosen, appointed and secured, Jesus reminds his disciples.

You did not choose me, But I chose you, man,

That's huge to me. I chose you not because you

were so good, because you were so great, because you

were taller and the rest saul, Not because you were

in the crowd, not because you had the degree and

you had the pedigree and you knew the right people,

and no I chose you when you were no one,

when no one knew your name, and no one even

even thought of you.

I chose you. I picked you out, I appointed you

for a task.

I have a picture on my phone of ten year

old me, and most people say that's weird. Who walks

around with a ten year old picture of their ten

year old self? I do, and the reason why I did,

And actually I probably a couple of weeks before I

turned fifty. My wife sent it to me, and Melanie

sent it and I was like, oh, man, And I

looked at that kid, and I said, kid, you have

no idea. You have no idea what God will do

in your life.

I want to let you know.

That God has chosen you for a purpose, and even

though things may be difficult, you don't have to compromise

being a believer and become a Christian Ish with the

practices of faith.

But there's no subsistance.

No, you have been chosen for a purpose and God

has designed you with a strategy in mind. There are

people that you are signed to in places that you

are signed to go, and things you are signed to

do that God has.

Already walked out.

You have been chosen, you are appointed for a task,

and the relationship is secure. Well, what do I mean

when I say it's secure? He won't leave, He won't

leave you he won't.

Let you go.

And even when things get hard and you want to leave,

somebody really knows. That's an amen right there, because it

got so hard that you wanted to walk out the door.

But he keeps calling you back over and over again

because he says, I secure you, I won't go.

He remains. And so.

You're worth the calling. Your worth and your calling are

not fragile. They rest on the fact that Jesus chose you.

It's notot fragility.

We're in this place where if I'm messed up, am

I still called? No, You're still called. You just gotta

stay connected. I want to let you know that as

you are connected to the vine, some things are going

to fall off.

Some of you don't talk like you used to.

I work with kids in the juvenile justice system, and

I'm gonna let you know my kids they cuss.

No, no, they cuss.

And sometimes I'm sitting there and I'm like inside, I'm

going right, But I sit there, I compose myself and

I say say what you need to say?

Why do I do that?

Because at this point in their lives, they're not tied

to the vine.

But in time, if a person is walking with.

The Lord, and you're connected to the vine, those things

start to fall off, things start to change.

You don't think the way you used to do. You

don't do the things you used to do.

Your mind has been transformed by the renewing of it

in Christ.

Jesus. He renews your mind. You just can't think like

you used to think. It's a change.

If you're in Him, you're not an accident. I want

to help somebody today. You're not an accident. You have

been appointed for a life of lasting impact. Well, I

want to let you know, the greatest impact that's in

the room is not the person with the loudest voice.

It's not the person with the platform. It's not the

person with the mic.

It's you.

God has called you to make an impact in the world. Well,

a true relationship with Jesus is not performance. It's about connection.

Abiding in Him brings real life.

It prunes and brings growth.

His love brings identity, and his choosing brings purpose. Without him,

we can do nothing. We're either connected or we're withering.

We're either fruitful or we're firewood. We don't get to

stay christian Ish. Many of us in this room today.

You might be struggling because you had a lot of

stuff hit you. That you may be doing the practices,

but you don't feel the connection. Galatians five twenty five

reminds us, since we live by the spirit, let us

keep in step with the spirit. You started with the spirit.

Stay in step. He chose you. And when Jesus chooses,

he chooses right. No matter what happens in your life,

no matter what storms come, you're still his choice.

Well, I think we beat on you enough. Job wore

us out, didn't he?

And then we came along with christian Ish. Well, if

you felt challenged, that's okay. If you felt the pull.

The tug, that's good because it gives you a moment

to align yourself with the vine.

One other thing we learned in the process of learning

about how to take care of the pier and apple

tree was that sometimes life will happen and you might

lose a branch.

Wow, you might lose a branch. It might fall away.

Storm make and make the branch fall away.

But there is a method.

That Arbois call grafting, And you can take that branch

and connect it to the place where it fell off,

and you strap it, tie it to tape it to

that tree, and.

In time it will begin to mend.

I'm talking to the one who feels like they're falling

off and they feel disconnected, and they feel so far.

It's not too late.

You don't have to live Christian nish anymore. You can

be reconnected. Well, how do I reconnect? I need to

confess and I need to submit. And if I confess

and I submit, the Lord is waiting because he doesn't

leave for you to come back.

And to join in your space, your spot. Will you

staying with me today?

I pray that you have felt the challenge of all summer,

but I pray more.

That you will develop fruit that will last, fruit that.

Will feed generations to come. A word of prayer, consistency,

be in the vine. Let's pray buy your heads this morning.

If you're saying this morning, hey Mike, I heard the message,

and yeah, I can be honest. I've been challenged this series,

and I haven't been feeling like myself. I don't feel

as connected as I've been before. There's been some storms,

there's been some things that battled against my life, and

I want back. I want back in the vine because

I want to produce fruit.

That will last.

And today I want to acknowledge that in this space,

while every head is bowed and every eye is closed,

if that's you today, would you just throw your hand

up and put it right back down. See that hand,

See that hand, See that hen see those hands, I

see you.

Let us pray. God, We thank you.

That you are the true vine and we are the branches.

I pray right now in the name of Jesus.

That every hand that went up, Oh God, in every

heart that had their hand raised, I pray in the

name of Jesus, that you will meet them where they are,

that Lord God, as they are confessing and submitting to

you your will and your way, that you will help

them through.

The reconnection process of Father God, that.

They conceive their value, that they'll know Lord, that they

are still chosen, and that you still have much that

you want to do in and through them, Oh God.

I pray that, Lord God, that as you would prune them,

O Father God, once they go through the healing process

of God, that they will produce much fruit, Lord God,

fruit that will feed O God, so many, O God,

that Lord God will be attractive fruit, O Father God,

that would be drawing fruit, O Lord that they would

want Lord Father God to be Lord God. The ambassadors

that you've called them to be Lord, we don't want

to look like it anymore. We just want to be it.

Real fruit on a real branch from the real vine.

Heal us, make us your disciples in Jesus' name.

Let everybody say amen and amen, God bless you.