How To Produce A Fruitful Life

Good morning. It's good to see you. Glad you're here

with us. If you everybody was turning with me to

John chapter fifteen, John chapter fifteen, this morning, glad that

you're here with us. We've normally are in the Book

of Acts, and we're going to take a break for

a week or two. So tonight let me today, Tonight,

this morning, we'll be in John fifteen. Next week we'll

be in Safe the Human Life Sunday, and then following

will be Mother's Day. So we'll have some good times

the next few weeks. I'm kind of surveying some different passages,

but John fifteen this morning is where we'll be the

title of my sermon this morning is how to produce

a fruitful life now today as you could see, or

brought this little jewel this morning with me. This right here,

I don't know if you can tell trying to sticker

around if she couldn't, this right here is a one

and only to make a plan. To be specific, it

is a better boy, which I think are one of

the better ones, hence the name. But you know this

is tomato plant. So you can see a little picture

now tomato plant. Verify that I'm telling you the truth,

not that I would want to tell a story about

what a plant is. But this is tomato plant. Now

I'm going to plant plant this tomato plant in my

little raised bedgarden. Now, if me planting this plant, I

have a purpose. I don't just say, you know what,

I'd like to have tomato plant or two just put

it in my yard. No. I I plant this tomato plant.

Not because I just want something else to do and

want to water it a few times a week and

just see how big it can grow. No, I have

a purpose. I plant this tomato plant for a purpose.

You know what the purpose is. I want it to

bear fruit, and for me, that means tomatoes. And you

know what, I long for a big tomato for a

tomato sandwich. So that is the end goal. Right, It's

got to produce a tomato because I need tomatoes for

my tomato sandwiches in mid July. Right, that's its purpose.

I don't just plan it a few years ago. I

told you the story before. Probably you know I grew

up from my dad and my grandpa. They all farmed

and had small gardens, and I remember them growing up

and how good the tomatoes were. Was fresh tomatos and

so a few years ago I decided I was going

to plant my own tomatoes, and I got me tomato plants,

two or three of them, I think maybe even six.

That year I planted them all. And they were the

best looking tomato plants in Durham County. I tell you.

They were pretty even had a little flowers on them.

But you know what, they didn't produce any tomatoes any

And you know, I was upset. I was frustrated because

I planted you for a purpose, and that is to

bear fruit. Now I use this today because as we

come to this passage scripture, Jesus is using the idea

of a mine with the idea that when God planted you,

God planted you for a purpose. As you know that

this morning, as we come to this passage scripture, God

put breath in your lungs. God planted you as a

seed in your mom's belly to be a life that

would bear fruit. He didn't just plant you just so

he could watch you grow. He just didn't plant you

just so you could have life. He planted you for

a purpose. Did you know that? You know what the

Bible tells us in Genesis what that purpose is. In

Genesis one, twenty seventh through twenty eight. He says, so

God created a man in his own image and the

image of God. He created him male and female. He

created him, and God blessed them and sending them be

fruitful and multiplied. Feel the earth and subdue it. Have

dominion over the fish of the sea, of the birds

of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves

on this earth. God created you, and one of the

purposes that he created you, he created you in the

image of God. Do you know One of the purposes

of why God created you is that you might bear

witness and you might bear image of your creator, that

your life would reflect that who created you. Your life

would look like God, that you would reflect the image

of your Father. Out of all the things on the earth,

there's only one thing that was created in God's image

that was male and female. The purpose of creating male

and female was that they would bear the image of

their creator. That's one of your purposes in life. God

puts you on this earth that you might reflect the

image of your Creator. The second reason that God puts

you and put you an eye on this earth, as

he put us on this earth, that we also might

multiply his image. Scripture says he told them God blessed him.

That God said, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. See,

God created you for a purpose, and that was to

bear his image, but also that you might lead others

also multiply his image. That would be there would be

people all over this earth that would bear the image

of the Father. The bears the image of creators. So

part of your purpose that God created you is that

you would lead other followers to accept the Lord and

also bear image of God the Father. That's what God

created you for. I'm this passage of scripture. We were

thinking about how can I live a life that's a

fruitful life, that that accomplishes the purpose that God put

me on this earth for. I've told you before many

years ago. I was I think, right when I was

in college, I was in a car accident, and I

remember it's probably you know you hear people say they

have kind of life or death experiences, experiences it seemed

like they really evaluate the brevity of life. It's probably

the closest thing in my life to a life of

death experience. At that time, I'd hit a car head

on and I put my head through a windshield. And

I remember in the ambulance on the way to the hospital,

not knowing what was going to happen to me, knowing

the injuries I had, and I remember sitting in that

ambulance and started thinking about my life. And you know,

I'll just be totally honest with you. In that moment,

I was not afraid of where I was going to

spend eternity. I knew I was saved. I was not

a fearful of that. What I was fearful of did

I accomplish what God put me on this earth for?

Was that fruitful? God? You put me on this earth

for a purpose, and then I accomplish that purpose. And

I ask you this morning, as we come to this

passage scripture, I think the Lord is very clear to us.

He plants us for a purpose. He created you to

bear his image. He created you that you might multiply

that image. Today I ask you a very simple question,

how are you doing? Have you ever considered God as

am I producing the fruit that's pleasing to you? That God,

that is my life? Fruitful? And so this morning we

will look at how Jesus and John fifteen talking to

disciples like you and I. He teaches them how to

produce their fruitful life. And this morning I want to

walk you through jesus instructions using the imagery of a vine,

of how we can have a fruitful life. Let's stand

together and read God's word. It's John fifteen, and we'll

read fifteen one through seventeen. This morning, he says this,

I am the true vine, and every and my father

is the vine dresser. And every branch in me that

does not bear fruit, he takes away. In every branch

that does not bear fruit, he prunes that it may

bear more fruit. Already you're clean because of the world

that I've spoken to you. Abide in me and I

in you. And as a branch cannot bear fruit by

itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you

unless you abide in me. I am the vine, and

you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I

in him, it is he who bears much fruit. Apart

from me. You can do nothing. If anyone does not

abide in me. He's thrown away like he throws. He

is thrown away like the branch and withers. And the

branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.

If you abide in me and my words in you,

ask whatever you wish, and it'll be dumb for you.

By this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit.

So prove to be my disciple. As the Father has

loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,

as I've kept my father's commandments. Abide in his love.

These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may

be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Let's pray together, Father, I pray today, Lord, everyone, that

you've brought to this room, you brought for a purpose,

and God you've planted us Lord, that we might bear

your image, that we might be fruitful. So today, Lord,

may we examine our own hearts. May we consider Lord,

how we are doing and being fruitful for you. Lord.

So Lord, I pray you'd use your word to speak

to us, to lead us, and how we can be

fruitful for you. God. We thank you Lord today, O Lord,

that you love us, that you draw us, that you

speak to us, that you have your word for us.

And Lord, today, may we abide in your word. May

we remain in it. May you use it to speak

to us. Lord today we long to hear from you.

So Lord, I pray, Lord, you know I'm weak. Lord,

do you know I'm broken? And Lord, you know how

much I need you? This morning, said Lord, May Father,

may you fill me with your spirit? Lord, May you

speak through me this morning? And Lord today, may we

be moved by man's word, but by your word. Lord.

We love you. We thank you Lord for today and

your name. We pray, Amen, you may be seated. You

come to John fifteen. John, throughout his gospel he has

several occurrences of what we call the im statements. You

remember the Old Testament, Moses is being sent from Midian

to Egypt to rescue God's people from bondage, and God

can commands him out of the burning bush and says,

go to my people. And he says to them, how

when I go, how will they know that you sent me?

He says, you tell them the great I am sent

you well that that I am statement declaring that who

the divinity of God. Jesus takes on that same language

throughout in John's Gospel, and throughout John's Gospel he uses

I am statements to identify that just as God was

the one who spoke to Moses in the burning bush,

now Jesus is speaking. He is to the Great I Am.

So he does that throughout his writings. John does that

to signify the divinity of Christ, that he is from God.

He says in John fifteen one, I am listen to

this the true vine. It's interesting if you study, and

we won't go into great length at this this morning,

but if you go into the Old Testament, you see

the imagery in the Old Testament that Israel is seen

as God's vineyard. They were God's chosen people. God chose

Israel of all the nations to be a vine to

be a vineyard, to be a nation that would bear

his image to a lost and dying world. But Israel

felt so much so every time God's words speaks about

the vineyard of Israel, it speaks about God's judgment against

the vineyard because they're broken, because they have not produced fruit.

God put them for a purpose, and they disobeyed. They

didn't lived according to giving him glory. They were unfaithful,

and therefore God's judgment came against them. Even so much so,

as we go to Jeremiah uses these words. Yet I

planted you Jeremiah two twenty one. Yet I planted you

a choice vine, holy, a pure seed. How then have

you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? He says

to Israel, Israel, I chose you. You are a pure

holy nation unto me. But you broke that promise. You

broke that covenant, and you did not produce fruit for me.

Jesus using that imagery in John fifteen, he says to

the disciples where the Israel felled, now I'm the true vine.

And so in this imagery he now is talking to

these disciples. He says, now I'm the true vine, and

if you want to be fruitful, you must now remain

in me. Listen to the imagery. I'm the true vine.

And my father is a vine dresser. All throughout John's writings,

every time you see Jesus, you see the Father, and

so you're God the Father. He's described as the gardener.

He's the one who prunes, He's the one who cares

for the vineyard. He plants, he prunes, And so we

see that imagery in this passage of scripture. Look at

verse two. It describes a father's role. Every branch is

in me that does not bear fruit. He takes away.

Every branch that bears fruit. He prunes that may bear

more fruit. The whole purpose of the vineyard which to

produce fruit. The Father, God, the Father, planted the vineyard

of visual Now he planted the true vine Jesus in

this world that he might produce his image. And what

multiplies image in disciples like you and I. What's that

God's care of the vine. He removes the fruitless, He

prunes the weak. The word prune here is that the

idea of cleaning something. He prunes it. He cleans it

so that it can produce more fruit. Now, if you imagine,

not too much going on with this, this little one,

but there's a little weak one here. It's got some

it's kind of dying a little bit on the edges here.

You imagine, if I'm using the imagery, this vine right

is Christ. This is the branch. It's going to produce

a tomato. Well, it was going to produce it tomato

at one point. But it's weak, it's got some disease

in it. I prune it. Now you understand I'm giving

a lot of agricultural ideas here, but if a weak

vine is attached, it's taking nutrition from the rest of

the vine and the rest of the branches. So you

prune so the other vines may grow. And that's the

imagery there. God says there are some that they're not healthy,

and he prunes them. He cleans it so that it

might grow. Says the imagery. Jesus says in this passage scripture,

I think it's very important. He says to these disciples,

you are already clean because of the word I've spoken

to you. It's very important. The word prune in verse

two and the word clean and verse three are the

same Greek word. So the imagery is that God the

Father does the work of pruning. He does the one

of cleaning. You remember in Isaiah one it speaks about

God's cleaning power to cleanse this from our sins. It says,

though your sins might be like scarlet, he will wash

you whatt whiter than snow. You see, when we put

our faith in Jesus Christ and we trust them for salvation,

just like we saw this morning with Colin and Jay

Brown and Kelly, it's God. We don't clean up ourself

right and come to the Lord. No God does work

in us, and he comes in and as he cleanses

our hearts. And that's what Jesus is saying to these disciples.

God's already done a transfer, transformational work in your heart.

He's already clean you. You're already his He's cleansed you.

Now he's talking about now that we received Christ and

He's cleansed us from from within. How we shouldn't just

presume now that's it, that's all we need to do. No,

there are necessary steps for us to continue to produce

food as being a believer, and he walks them through

that verse four. He starts, Now, now that God has

cleansed you and used disciples, now what must you do

to bear fruit? Look at verse four. Abide in Me

and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit

by itself unless it abides in the value. Neither can

you unless you abide in me. If we're going to

bear fruit, how do we produce fruit? How God's already cleanses?

How do we produce a fruitful life? Number one? He

says in verse four and five, we must abide in Christ.

You know you take back this imagery of the vine

here right, the vine is Christ right, the little branches

for us, right, Bill, Teresa, Sharon, Bob, You know these

are different. He's the vine, right, And you think about

the imagery. He says, you must abide in me. You

can't be out on your own and bear fruit. You've

got to remain in me. The word word for abide

means remain or stays. You've got to stay in me.

You've got to abide in me. You've got to remain me.

And here's the imagery. If we stay in lock own

to Jesus, guess what we will be with him, and

He will be with us. You want separate from us.

There's kind of two aspects of abiding in Jesus. I

think Jesus describes in this passage of Scripture. One. Abiding

in Christ means knowing Christ like, intimately knowing and being

with Jesus, being attached to him. Look at what john

Ford says, abide in me and eye in you, and

as a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless you

abide in divine. Neither can you unless you abide in me.

It's a beautiful passage in Exodus thirty three talking about Moses.

You know, in the Old Testament we see the presence

of God called the Chicaina glory. It's where God came

down from heaven and he dwelt with his people. And

when he dwelt with this people, it's called the Chicain

and glory of God. It was the presence of the Lord.

There was a time where they were in the wilderness

and they were going to before they established a tabernacle,

and Moses would take and he would make a tent

outside the camp, and the people would all from what

would go out with Moses. And Scripture says in Exodus

thirty three, verse seven. Now Moses used to take the

tent and pinch it outside, far from the camp, and

he called it the tent meeting, and everyone sought the

Lord would go out to the tent meeting, which was

outside the camp. And whenever Moses went to the tent,

all the people would rise up and would each stand

at his tent door and watch Moses until he had

gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, listen

to this, the pillar of Cloud would descend and stand

at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would

speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar

of Cloud standing at the terance of the tent, all

the people would rise up and worship each at his tent. Thus,

the Lord used to speak to Moses. Listen to this

face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

And when Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua,

the son of None, a young man, would not depart

from the tent. It's a beautiful imagery. Here is Moses,

and he goes out, and he goes outside, and he

pitches this tent to meet with the Lord, and he

goes into the tent. And then when he goes in,

the presence of Chicain of glory of God comes down

from heaven and rests above that tent, and everybody, all

the congregation goes out, and then they're just amazed, and

they get in their little tents and they're watching Moses

as he goes in. And when Moses goes in and

the cloud descends, they all stand at the front of

their tent and they worship seeing that Moses. Listen to this,

Moses is in the very presence of God. He's with God,

he remains with God. It even says that Moses talks

with God one on one. He's with the presence of God,

the beautiful imagery. There is the intimacy which Moses must

have had with being with God. And now in this

passage of scripture, one thing I love about this Exodus

is it says when Moses turned again in the camp,

Joshua is under none, the young man would not depart.

You know what that shows me. Joshua got in there

with Moses and he saw the presence of God. He says, Moses,

you may go back, but I want to stay here.

I want to be with God. I want to have

a relationship with him. I don't want to lose his presence.

And that's what it's like when you and I say, God,

I want to abide Jesus. I don't want to leave you.

I don't want to leave your presence. I don't want

to leave your side. God. I want to be with

you every day. You know, there's an old book by

Greg bill and this it was called We Become What

We Worship was the thesis of his book, and it

means that whatever we revere, whatever we revere we worship,

we resemble, we will imitate. You've heard me tell the story.

When I was a teenager, I really did I worshiped

Michael Jordan. I mean I was loved play basketball, played

basketball a lot in middle school and high school. And

I love Jordan. I had his shoes, I had his shirt,

I had his jersey. I knew his little song. I

did his little moves. I couldn't dunk, but I stuck

my tongue out when I did my laps. I worshiped

him right. And the idea is, because I worshiped him,

I mimicked him right my life. I wanted to resemble

my life like his. Listen to this morning. When you

worship Jesus, when you remain like Jesus, listen to me,

You're starting to look like Jesus. You start to talk

like Jesus. You start to sound like Jesus. Jesus says, hey,

you want to abide in me, Come into my presence,

know me, worship me, and long to look like me.

Another aspect of depending on I mean abiding in chrisis

is this idea of depending upon Christ. He says this,

I'm John five, I mean John fifteen to five. I'm divine,

and you are the branches who are abides with me

and I him. It is he that bears much fruit

from apart from me, you can do nothing. You know,

if you think about this idea, I've pruned this one.

Can this produce fruit? Can? It's not possible. In order

for this branch to doce fruit, it has to be

attached to the vine because of independent of itself, it

cannot produce it alone. Listen to me today, Very clearly

in scripture, Jesus is saying you cannot be a fruitful

disciple apart from me. You may say, well, I know

all the Bible that I need to know, I know

all the songs I need to know. I know what

I need to do I need to know. I don't

really need any more Christianity. I don't need any more religion.

I can be a good man, I can be a

good woman. No, you can't. You can't. I've heard people say, well,

I don't really need church to be a good Christian. Well,

the Bible says that in one Corinthians twelve twenty seven,

you are the body of Christ, individually members of it. Right,

if we're the body of Christ, every one of your

members of it, then we've got to be what attached

to the body. We can't. Here's the idea many times

in that world, especially Western culture. We want independence. We

want to live our lives without any rules and isolation.

Live our world, do our world, live our life, and

live our best life now and we don't want any rules.

Who want a church, we want need Jesus telling us

how to do it. And listen. Jesus says, you cannot

bear fruit in and of your own strength. You've got

to have me. You've got to say, not only you've

got to have me, but you say, Jesus, I need you,

I need you today? Can I say to you we

need if we're going to abide in Christ, we need

to know Christ. But we've got to come to a

place where we depend upon Christ. Lord, I need you

every hour. Lord, I need you. Jes See, how do

we produce a fruitful life? We produce a fruitful life

by abiding in Christ. The next part of this passage,

Jesus says, we produce a fruitful life by abiding in prayer.

Look at verse seven. He says, if you abide in me,

if you remain in me, if you're going to stay

in me, he says, in my words, abide in you.

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

Jesus moves into abiding is about abiding in Christ, and

that means knowing Christ and depending upon Christ. Abiding acts

comes to abiding in prayer. He talks about prayer love

verse seven. He says, if you abide in me, if

you're going to remain in me, if you're going to

be attached to me, you're going to know me, you're

going to depend upon me. But another way you abide

in me, another way you produce food is through prayer.

He uses this idea. Look at verse seven. He even says,

you abide in me, and my words abide in you.

It's the idea that his words are in within you.

You remember those. It's probably so relevant to the disciples. Right,

these disciples he's talking to you. I mean, they had

heard Jesus teach. Right. They were in the boat when

Jesus walked on water. They were there when Jesus healed

the lame, right. They were there when Jesus fed the

five thousand. They were there when he preached the Sermon

on the Mount. They were there every words. They had

given their lives over the next a few years to

hear every word, to eat every meal. They probably knew

his words, They knew his little mannerisms, they knew different ways.

And he said they had those moments where Peter Parr

remembered when Jesus rebuke rebut rebuked him. He they remembered

his words. And he's saying, listen, if you're gonna stay

with me, and you're gonna abide in me, and you're

gonna abide in prayer, and part of prayer is abiding

in my words. And then he goes into.

Further to say in verse seven that if you abide

in me and my words and you ask ask is

in regard to prayer, Ask whatever you wish, or pray

whatever you wish.

And it will be done for you. So he says, disciples, hey,

you know my words, you know my teachings. By the way,

this is all throughout Scripture Romans ten eight says, what

does it say. The word is near you, it's in

your mouth, it's in your heart. If you're a believer

in Jesus Christ, listen, God has put his word in

your heart. Scripture says Jesus will telling disciples in Matthew

twenty eight, as he commissioning, go therefore and make disciples

of all nations, baptizing them. And Father's son of the

Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I've teaching them to

observe all I had commanded you, disciples. You know my words,

they're in your hearts. I've given them to you that

you might teach others abide in those words. You know,

when you know someone and you know what they teach,

and you know what they think, and you've been around

them many times before they before you ask a question,

you know how they're going to answer. Right. Peanut butter

fudge milkshake. It's Caroline's favorite cookout milkshake. Brandy. If we're

going to Good Berries, I can tell you right now

what she's going to order, sugar free vanilla with wet

wall nuts mixed in. We go to Chick fil A,

Brandy's going to order eight count chicken nugget meal with

a large sweet tea, unsweet tea sweet tea, and ketchup,

none of the other sauce stuff. Caroline, She's gonna probably

order a grilled chicken combo, at count fries and a

large sweet tea chickil A sauce can I tell you?

I can tell you that because throughout by the way,

Chloe's favorite milkshake app cookout was Oreo. Got to make

sure I mentioned that one too. There's three of them.

I can tell you that right now because after twenty

years of raising my girls that before we've we've been

to so many restaurants together. Before we go, I've asked

them before what they wanted. I know before they order

what they're gonna order. Why, Because I've been with them,

I know the words. Listen to me today. When you

abide with Jesus and you spend time intimately talking to

your father, You'll get to a place that you know

what God. You know the heart of God, you know

what God's word says, and you'll ask according to his

will before you pray, because you know what your father's

will is, and your prayers will line up with the

accordance of the will of God and Jesus says. Listen

when you ask, you know you know my words. Ask ask?

Can I ask you today? Do you abide in prayer?

I want you to see. Thirdly, here this morning, we

produce fruit by abiding in Christ. We produce fruit by

abiding in prayer. Lastly, we produce fruit by abiding in love.

Look at verse nine, maybe one of the most powerful

verses in all this section, that we read verse nine says,

as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.

Just think about that for a minute. As much as

God loves his son Jesus, Jesus says, so does God

love you that same way. Can I tell you this morning,

no matter how unloved you may feel by this world,

can I tell you that God, the Father loves you

as much as he loves Jesus. That's a powerful thought me.

You just know today that God loves you, and just

as much God loves you, so does Jesus love you

with that same love. And in verse nine he says,

I abide in my love. You look at the verses

here he says, abide in my love. If you keep

my commandments, you abide in my love, just as I've

kept my father commandments, abiding his love. These things I've

spoken to you that my joy may be in you,

and that my joy may be full. You know, my dad,

he grew up in home that he never heard his

dad telling me he loved him. It was not after

to my grandmother passed away and my dad was in

his sixties that after his mom died and he started

caring for his dad, that he heard his Dad tell

him for the first time that he loved him. Sixty

years had passed and he never heard that he his

father said he loved him until the end. I think

at times because of that. As I got older, Dad,

he wanted me to know how much he loved me.

And so every time I talked to him, didn't matter

if it was on the phone, or if I went

out to eat with him, or every time I saw

him before I left, he wanted me to know he

loved me. He would tell me over and over, I

love you. He never got tired of telling me and

making sure he knew how much he loved me. Can

I tell you this morning? God wants you to know.

Jesus wants you to know that he loves you. And

every time you read his word, every time you hear

a song ahem, may you hear it cry out to you,

I love you. May you never forget that I love you,

and may you abide in that love. May you stay

in that love. May you remain in that love. How

do we do that? How do we show God the Father?

How do we show Jesus? How do we demonstrate he

demonstrates his love for us that even while we're sinners Christ.

For us, how do we demonstrate to the God the

Father that we love him? Scripture says we do that

by obedience. We live our life in accordance to his word.

We obey his word. I ask you today very simply,

are you producing your fruitful life? Are you abiding in Christ?

Are you depending every day? Lord? I need you every hower? Lord,

I need you Lord today. I want to be in

your presence just like Joshua in that tent. Lord, I

want to be with you. Lord, I need you. I

need your presence with me today. Are you abiding in prayer? Today?

Lord Father? May I hear your voice and may I

know more of what your will for me that when

I ask, I may ask in accordance to your will.

Are you saying today, Lord God, I recognize that you

love me, and Lord, I want to show you how

much I love you by obeying your word and living

my life a life that will produce you fruit. Lord,

help me be a life that produces fruit for you.

As we finish out this morning, I think in this

passage of Scripture, it kind of shows us blessings of

abiding in Christ. Number one, we'll go quick through these.

The first blessing of abiding in Christ, as God receives

glory in John fifteen eighty says this, but by this,

my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit. So

proude to be my disciple. Can I tell you if

you live your life remaining in Jesus, depending on God

in prayer, listen and living your life to demonstrating your

love for the Lord, listen of God gets the glory

of your life. Listen, You'll produce fruit and it brings

glory to God that he puts you on this earth,

and you're accomplishing what He puts you on this earth.

For it gives God glory. It gives God glory when

you look like Jesus and you lead others to look

like Jesus. Not long is there a blessing of giving

God receiving the glory. But secondly you receive the love,

as John fifteen nine says, we experience the love of

the Father, the love of Jesus. We get to remain

in that love that never fades. Lastly, you receive joy.

And John fifteen eleven he says, these things I've spoken

to you that my joy may be in you, and

that your joy may be full. This joy is this

idea of Jesus saying, I receive joy, and I receive joy,

and my desire is that you will also receive that joy,

and that your joy may be full. You know, I

was thinking about Easter last week. You think of about

God planning the vine, and He's sending Jesus from Heaven

down to this earth living a perfect life, a sinless life,

dying on the cross, that true vine died on the cross,

and by living, dying and raising again, he was a life,

a fruitful life for the glory of God. Amen. And

his life produced fruit. And can I just say, I

have a lot of confidence at the end when he

rose again and he defeated sin, death and hell and

provided eternal life for you and I. God the Father, listen,

he was full. He finished the race. He found victory

of her death, life, sin, he was His joy was full.

And imagine the Father said, well done, my good and

fable servant. He was full. He had finished, and he

reduced a fruitful life. And Jesus says to you, as

I received, listen this joy of living a fruitful life,

I too want you to have that same joy that

you live your life for the glory of God. Saying God,

I need you. Lord. I want to know Jesus. I

want to depend upon Jesus. I want to live a

life in prayer, knowing Lord and more and more what

you desire, knowing more of your word, that I might

ask and accord it to your will. God, I want

to remain in love and I want to live my

life in obedience to you that one day, Lord, when

I finish this earth and I go to Heaven, I

can have the joy of saying my life was fruitful

for you. Lord. Lord, my joy is one day here

you say, Lord, well done, my goodness and faithful servant.

Can I tell you Jesus wants you to have that

joy today? So today, will you commit this, saying, Lord,

I want to be a fruitful life for you. Would

you pray with me as the fan to make their

way this morning? Lord, we thank you Lord for your word. Lord.

There's all kinds of things that are pulling us away, Lord,

distracting us from the purpose, and you're a tent for us. Lord.

I pray today that we would have hearts and minds

that would hear your word, and Lord, I pray we

would be those to say today, Lord, I need you Lord, Lord,

I want to know you more. Lord. I've been walking

in my own strength. I've been living this life and

my own power. Lord. I need you today, Lord, help

me rely on you. Lord. I pray they'd be those

today would say, Lord, I want to know you more

in prayer. I want to know your word, that when

I ask, Lord, I might ask in accordance your will.

And Lord, I pray they'd be those who would seek

you in prayer today. Pray there'd be those today who say, Lord,

I want to know your love and what you've done

for me, and I want to live my life in

obedience to that. Lord, that I might demonstrate Lord how

much I love you. Lord. Lord, we love you. We

thank you, Lord for your word. Today. I pray that

as you lead, there'd be those that come to this

altar and pray, if that's Lord, what you're calling them

to do. Lord, if I can pray with some today, Lord,

I pray you'd lead them. Lord, however you're calling us today,

I pray that we'll respond. I pray there be some

today that have never put their faith in salvation. Today, Lord,

they seem the testimony of Kelly and Jabriana and call

it and Lord, they recognize today there's something that they

have that they do not. I pray they'd be those

today that would put their faith in you for salvation

and receive, Lord, what you've done for them on the cross.

Or we love you. I pray you'd move now. Lord,

Father your name, we pray Amen, I had it and

all to him.