the fruit of the Spirit listed as evidence of abiding
1 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.
3 Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.
5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
7 You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?
8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you.
9 A little yeast grows through the whole lump.
10 I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11 But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.
12 I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off.
13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
26 Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another.
Paul counting all things as loss compared to knowing Christ, read from the Amplified Bible
8 Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
10 that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed to his death;
11 if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
the Great Commission, go and make disciples of all nations
1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
2 Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it.
3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
4 For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men.
5 The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified.
6 He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying.
7 Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”
8 They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word.
9 As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.”
11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guards came into the city, and told the chief priests all the things that had happened.
12 When they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers,
13 saying, “Say that his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
14 If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him and make you free of worry.”
15 So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until today.
16 But the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had sent them.
17 When they saw him, they bowed down to him, but some doubted.
18 Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Matt Litzelman, one of the elders at First B Jackson, brought the message from John 15 while Pastor Ray was away on a trip. He focused on what it means to abide in Christ, the fruit that comes from that abiding, and what it looks like to be a genuine disciple. The mission of the church, "with all we are, loving God and loving people through Christ," gave the message its frame.
What was said
Matt opened by connecting the church's mission statement to the two greatest commandments from Matthew 22, loving God with everything and loving your neighbor as yourself. He said John 15 is where those commands find their how, because the whole possibility of loving God and loving others depends on staying connected to Christ, the true vine.
He paused on verse three, where Jesus tells the disciples they are already clean because of His word. Matt said he had to work that one out, and went to Ephesians 5:26 to get there. His point was that the disciples were in right standing not by their own effort but through their ongoing relationship with Jesus and the words He had been speaking to them.
To picture what disconnection from the vine actually looks like, Matt described a flower he and his wife Amy cut from its stem the night before. By morning it still looked fine, but he said it was already dying, just hadn't shown it yet. That is the slow fade of a life drifting from God, he said. Sin does not wither a person overnight. It takes time before what is happening on the inside becomes visible on the outside.
On pruning, Matt drew from his own raspberry patch, where cutting back the new growth each spring produces far more fruit than leaving the canes alone. He said God prunes things like pride, false identity, unbelief, and selfishness because those are outside His character. As we abide, he argued, God reveals the truth of who we are in Christ and frees us from the lies the enemy whispers, the "not enough" voices. He encouraged the room to sit quietly before God and ask, "Who do you say that I am?" rather than accepting what the enemy or the world says.
Matt read Philippians 3:8-11 from the Amplified Bible slowly, letting Paul's language about "progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted" with Christ sit with the room. He said that kind of passionate, determined pursuit is what discipleship looks like in practice. It is not a single decision but a continuous returning, the way Proverbs 3:5-6 describes acknowledging God in all your ways along the road.
He tied it together with verse eight of John 15, that the Father is glorified when branches bear much fruit and so prove to be disciples. Matt said nothing we do apart from abiding produces anything eternal. Buildings fall, he said, and as a stonemason of nearly forty years he knows that well. What lasts is what comes out of relationship, discipling someone, loving them, helping them see who they are in Christ.
He closed by urging the room toward life groups and intentional time with other believers, not just the weekly gathering. He said discipleship happens in community, in shared testimony, in honest conversation about fear and struggle, in choosing Jesus together over whatever else competes for that place.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Matt described the slow fade of disconnecting from God by using the image of a cut flower that looks fine at first but is already dying inside. Where in your own life have you noticed that kind of slow drift before you recognized it?
Matt talked about pruning, and asked what God might be pruning out of your life right now. Whether it is a lie you believe about yourself, pride, unbelief, or something else. What comes to mind when you sit with that question?
Speaker 2Alright. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Sorry, a little bit of a late start. I was traipsing around.
And would you stand? Let's let's warm up to the Lord in song. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Would you sing with us? And by the way, I've got Emily up here to join in song.
And I'm really, really thankful for for Emily. Amen. What a beautiful song. You know what line caught me this morning? It's, let thy goodness like a feather bind my wandering heart to thee.
Let God's goodness that he's shown upon us Come back to him. Thank you. Man, it's so good to have you when I get lost. Would you have a seat for just a moment? And Nick from the back is going to just share a few announcements.
Yep. And we've just started the gospel of Mark, and it is so good. Now we're where Jesus begins his his ministry with the message and the miracles. And the miracles always are proof that the message is real. And that really stood out to me.
We get to have a conversation on it. We get to eat food. 06:00 down the hall on Mondays. Thank you, Nick. There's a lot happening here, isn't it?
And I'm really thankful for every one of our ministries. When Matt talked about all the men's ministry that's happening on, and then there are women's groups. Almost every day of the week, building is is being used. And I'm just aren't aren't we just grateful for that? That that we we're using what we have, using the resources that God has given.
And I did just I'm just thankful. Would you stand? We'll sing together. Holy, holy, holy from Revelation four eight. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.
Let's sing it. Oh, this is so good from Galatians. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus. Let's sing near the cross. Beautiful.
You can have a a seat here for just a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service and Florian's gonna play a bit of a whatever you play. Yes. Probably from the heart. And Phil, may I ask you to to to just pray and we'll give thanks here?
Speaker 3Thank you. Thank you, Carl. Let's pray. Oh, gracious, merciful, heavenly father, we humbly come before you this morning just praising you, worshiping you Yes. For your holy name.
Father, you own it all and we are so privileged to be able to know you, to serve you, to worship you. Father, I just pray that we never take the freedom that we have to gather together to worship you for granted. Father, this morning, as we praise your name and worship you, we have an opportunity to give back a portion of what you've allowed us to have. And so, father, we pray through your Holy Spirit that these gifts and ties and offerings would be multiplied, that your name, the name of Jesus would be proclaimed in this valley and throughout the world. Father, so that your kingdom will continue to grow until Christ return.
So father, we pray this in the strong name of your son, our lord, and our savior. Amen.
Speaker 2Here. And I'm gonna invite up, Matt. And, Matt is going to to, be bringing the word from John 15, this morning. I'd like to to just pray. If you if you don't know Matt, Matt is is one of our elders here at First Meeting, Matt Litzelman.
And, he graciously agreed to to preach this morning and Ray is on a mobile mission trip right now, moving someone across the country as he does. And so I'd like to to to pray and just ask God's blessing. God, ask for your blessing as we read the word and your truth conveyed through personality here, through through Matt, that we would hear this afresh. We'd hear it anew. You are the vine.
We're the branches. When we remain in you and you in us, we will bear much fruit. But apart from you, we can't do anything. And so, Lord, would you would you bless the reading of the word and may it make its way into our hearts as we abide as we remain in you. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. Thank you, Carl.
Matt LitzelmanGood morning. Good morning. I've had a little anxiety this week preparing for this morning, But the Lord's been faithful, and I and I just agree with Carl's prayer and just ask that the Lord would just draw out of me by his spirit what he wants to say to all of you. So Thank you, Nick, for catching me up on all the announcements there. That was good.
But it's kind of my starter. That's kind of my ease in. With all we are, loving God and loving people through Christ, this is the mission statement of first b. And I'm sure you guys are aware of it. But this morning, through the verses John 15 and others, I hope to share how we are able to love God and to love people through Christ.
And I just I'm really honored to be able to share with you this morning. It's really a blessing to be able to share what I feel like God's showing me, and I think it's relevant to what's happening right now at the church. So with all we are, loving God and loving people, in Matthew twenty two thirty seven and thirty eight, it is the greatest commandment. You shall love the Lord with all your you shall love the Lord God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it that you love your neighbor as yourself. And in that in this morning, in sharing in in in John 15 about the vine, I wanna share about abiding, about fruit, about bearing fruit, and about being a disciple. In in John fifteen one through eight, I'll read through, and then I'll I'll come back and touch on a few points. But in John fifteen one, I am the true vine, and my father is the vinedresser.
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. Already, you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 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.
I am the vine and 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. And the last part, 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. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
By this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. In verse one, I just felt like it was really important just to pause and take a look at at the the true vine, that Jesus is the true vine. He's authentic. He's the only life giving vine for us, that by trusting and relying on him, he's able to breathe life, if you will, into us, into who we are. And then I wanted also to point out, for me, when I as I was reading in in verse three, I I realized that I I I just paused, I'm like, already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you, speaking to the disciples.
How how am I clean? How are they clean by his word? And I went to Ephesians five twenty six, and it talks about being washed with the water of the word because of their relationship with Jesus and the words that he'd been speaking to them. And they were in right standing with him because through relationship, through the words that he was speaking to him. So I just wanted to that part for me, I was like, I better figure that out.
And I hope that's helpful. In verse four, abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself. Unless we abide in the vine, neither can you. Unless we abide in the vine. Neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I'm gonna share in this service about pruning a little bit more, But I love object lessons, and I love to do them for kids church. And the last time I spoke, I used some object lessons. I don't have any today, but I wanna give you a picture of I was gonna get a plant, and Amy bought a a bouquet of flowers and clip off a a leaf or a flower and just see how being disconnected that that would die or wither. We cut it off last night, put it on the counter, woke up this morning, and that flower looked the same as it looked when we cut it off. But I realized, and Phil Baxter helped enlighten me a little bit that even, you know, even though when we disconnect from God, when we're not abiding, we're not continually in his presence, when we when we turn away, we don't, on the outside, wither or fade too quickly.
You might not notice it so much. But inside, we are already dying, and that flower is dying, even though we couldn't really recognize it. And it takes time. It's like the slow fade in life as we we start to entertain the idea of sin or and it takes time before we we actually do that and then progressively become habitual in whatever that is, whatever sin that might be. But the point being is that that flower's basically dead.
Just doesn't know it yet. So the other part I'll share now before I move on too far. But in pruning, if you're pruned, and I see the example of when
Speaker 2when
Matt Litzelmanyou you prune get, a plant, the idea is obviously to bear more fruit. So we have a raspberry patch in our yard. It's rather large. Every spring, I go into the raspberry patch. I clean out all the dead stalks from the previous year.
And then I clip off about six or eight inches of the top of every new all the new growth from the past season. And what happens is, I have more fruit, Amy and I, that we have to invite our friends and our neighbors to come help harvest all of that fruit. So it's just the idea of and the other part of of that is he he says in his word that the branches that are bearing fruit, he prunes those so that they bear more fruit. So the idea being is that the plant thinks it's gonna die. It's like a like a dandelion that you've cut down to the dirt with your weed weeder, And three days later, there's a stalk there trying to bear seed.
So when you are dying, most likely you may be bearing fruit while you think you're dying, and that you will bear fruit before it's over. In in death, there's life. Christ shows us that. In death, there's life. Unless the seed go into the ground, it does not bear fruit.
So I just wanted to share those. The first service didn't get that. So you guys got the special. Okay? Just something to kind of ponder on.
In regard to pruning, I wanted to ask the question, what is the Lord pruning or what is the Lord pruning out of your life? If you just take a moment, kind of self evaluate a little bit. What's God pruning out of your life? Is he pruning the lies of the enemy? Is he pruning false identity, the false things that we believe about ourselves?
Is he pruning pride or unbelief or selfishness? You know, the things that are outside of his character. I believe those are the things that he desires to prune from us. As we abide, as we abide in Jesus, he reveals the truth of who we are as a new creation in Christ. He frees us from the lies we believe about God, ourselves, and others.
So as we abide, as we meditate on the Lord, as we spend time in his presence, we are gonna see truth. And it's like when we go to the Lord with our truth, it's like, Lord, I confess. And we're confessing what we what we see or what we feel. And then we wait on the Lord, and he reveals what's really true about those things that we're confessing. He takes us to a deeper level.
I shared some before about our identity in Christ as we spend time in his presence. And as I said, he reveals the truth about who we are. Many of the lies that I just want to be careful how I share that. Often, the lies that we hear from the enemy are things like, for me, it's like, I'm not smart enough, or I'm not good enough, I'm not fast enough, I'm not strong enough, I'm not able to do whatever that not enough thing is. And those are lies.
That's how the enemy hinders us from walking in who Christ created us to be. So so I've I feel like that it's important to recognize that as we take captive those thoughts of the enemy, put them under the blood of Jesus, and we seek Christ, we sit in his presence, we abide listening, waiting on the Lord, that we ask him, who do you say that I am? Not who I say I am or the false beliefs that I have about myself or the or the lies the enemy is whispering in my ear, but Lord, who do you say I am? And that still small voice, that inner witness in us through our time spent in the word, our time spent with Christ, our experience with him, our understanding of who he is, he he says I I I guess I'll put it like this. For me, the way what happened for me is is I put aside those lies under the blood, silenced the the voice of the enemy, and I said, Lord, who do you say that I am?
And I hear, first thing that comes to my mind is steadfast. You're steadfast. That's part of who you are. It's not all of who you are, but that's the beginning part. And that was some time ago.
So my encouragement is that we take time to be still and listen to who he says we are and not who the world says we are or who the enemy says we are or even the lives that we believe about ourselves. In Galatians chapter five, It says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such, there is no law. What fruit do people see on us? What, you know, when I'm Do do they see love?
Do they see somebody that it that truly cares when they're visiting with me? That I'm truly engaged and actually interested in in loving them and caring for who they are and and what they have to say? Do they see kindness? In Colossians, it talks about the love, be kind. I'm not always kind.
I'm not I guess that's a confession. Emil, bear witness. So that's not a fruit that I care that you all see in me. But if it's there, then I need to recognize it. And I know that God wants to deal with that.
Yeah, that's good. Abide. What does it mean to abide? To spend time, to walk with, to take time to actually do what Jesus does, to take time to actually receive from the Lord as we are in his presence. It's connecting with him.
It's communicating with him. It's being still and receiving from him. In Colossians in Colossians one twenty twenty one, says, and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in his sight. If indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven of which I, Paul, became a minister. If you will, if indeed you continue in faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel.
That's abiding. That's when difficult. You don't turn away. You you you you stay. You remain in love.
You remain in Christ. You continue walking with Jesus like the disciples. It wasn't easy being with Jesus. It wasn't easy traveling with Jesus. Know, I used an analogy in the first service of the chosen movies that are they're amazing.
And it's just it's an amazing picture of seeing the disciples walking with Jesus. There was a lot of work. There was a lot of distance to travel. They were camping, basically. Building a fire, who prepares the food, who does our daily tasks that we all have to do.
We've got to do them. It's part of living. We got to do the laundry. We got to cook the dinner. We got to make the money that buys the food.
We got to work. And even in the midst of all those things and all those relationships that come along the way, we still need to keep our focus on him and to continue to it's it's Proverbs three, five, and six. Love you know, Lord, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge God along the way in the process, and he will direct our paths.
He will show us the way. He'll teach he'll show us the next steps. So, I just I just see as a disciple, if we're truly disciples of Jesus, we abide. We we we abide in Christ. We continually keep coming back in all our ways, acknowledging him in our in in our in what we're doing.
John six, sixty eight, 69. These verses are right after Jesus said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you'll have no part of me. And then he asked the disciples, are you two gonna leave? Because many of the many of the people who were following him, they they left. They're like, this is too hard of a saying.
We We don't get it. We're out. And Simon Peter, he says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. You're the true vine.
Also, have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Where else would you go in the midst of your crisis that will bring life to where you are? Where else could you turn? What master would you serve that would help you out of the the situation that you're in better than Jesus? No no other than Christ can deliver us.
No other. I'm gonna I'm gonna read Philippians Philippians three eight through 10. Excuse me. Eight through 11. I'm going to go slow because I think it's just so important just to kind of meditate on Paul's words.
This is out of the amplified. So it's just a little louder, a little more. And it just helps me to go deeper in what Paul's saying as a disciple of Jesus. He says, yes. Furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege, the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.
And of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with him, of perceiving and recognizing and understanding him more fully and clearly. For his sake, I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish, refuse, or dregs in order that I may win, gain Christ, the anointed one. And that I may actually be found and known as in him, Not having any self achieved righteousness, ritualistic uprightness, and supposed right standing with God thus acquired. But possessing that genuine righteousness which comes through faith in Christ, the anointed one. The truly right standing with God, which comes from God by saving faith.
For my determined purpose is that I may know him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with him, Perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of his person more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from his resurrection, which it exerts over believers, and that I may so share his sufferings as to be continually transformed in the spirit, in spirit, into his likeness, even to his death, in the hope that if possible, I may attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead even while in the body. What a passionate disciple of Jesus to desire in every way to know Christ to the fullest extent possible. To abide with him, to continue with him, to remain in love with him, to keep walking and serving and dying for him. In in Matthew 28, the Greek commission.
Thank you. And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the father and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And, lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age.
And I just wanted to just remind us of the last verse I shared in the group of 15, fifteen:eight. Can you go right there? It's second slide, third, fourth slide. Verse eight. Two more.
It says, by this, my father is glorified that you bear much fruit. So proving to be my disciples. That as disciples, we bear fruit. That we we bear the fruit of the spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long suffering, and so on. But that I guess my point being is in being a disciple, we can't do anything as as the scripture says.
We can't do anything without abiding, without I and him and him and me. We can do nothing that brings the kingdom. Nothing that's eternal. I mean, we can do stuff. We can build stuff.
I'm a builder. I lay blocks and bricks and build all kinds of things that are beautiful. They don't mean anything. They are rubbish. They will fall.
But in the process of building that stuff, am I discipling anyone? Am I am I sharing Christ's love with anyone? Relationship is eternal. Out of relationship comes eternal things. It's right here.
Abide in me. That's where eternity is. So as we abide with Carl, with with anyone, that's that's where Christ does his work. That's where we can help people understand who their identity is in Christ, how we can love them, how we can disciple them into knowing help them to know Jesus. So, it's in relationship.
How through Jesus? You know, are we students? Are we apprentices? Carl was sharing about being an electrician's apprentice. You're learning from the master.
It's like me as a stonemason. I've done it for almost forty, thirty seven, eight years. The guys that work for me, I teach them the things that I've learned over that thirty seven years so that they don't have to relearn it. I can show them how. Christ wants to do that for us.
He wants to teach us how to be like him. It's like a it's like the Jewish tradition of of a rabbi taking on a disciple. That rab that disciple is gonna spend a significant amount of time with the master. My guys spend more time with me than they do with their wives. Right?
They come to work eight hours a day. They get up. You don't even see them in the morning. They go to work. It happens to me with Amy.
It's like, I go to work. I come home. I might have to do something in the yard. I come in. I have dinner.
We see each other for an hour. Go to bed. Do it again. Right? So they're spending eight hours with me.
Mhmm. Hopefully, I am teaching them something more than just laying stone and how to cut stone and how to build fireplaces and things like that. Hopefully, I'm mentoring and discipling followers of Jesus. Right? So I'm just saying that because I guess the Lord's just put on my heart how important it is to be to make disciples.
It's a commandment. It's the same as the one with all we are, loving God and loving people. It's the greatest commandment is to love him with all of us, all of our being. So I'll kick that horse again before I get off the platform. I just I just also see that it's time spent with Jesus to be a disciple.
It's also time spent with other believers in community that we help disciple one another. I shared earlier about my life the life group that I'm a part of. Last year, we did a spent a lot of time encouraging life groups in the in the church, and and it's truly a wonderful place for discipleship. In our group, we've come to know each other and and help each other to disciple one another. We've shared our life stories together, our testimonies of of how God's rescued us from the things that we've done in the past, who we used to be, and helped us to see who we are.
We've we've shared our core values, the things that are important to us, the things that really are important, and how who we are. Our fears, our anxieties, struggles, we've been able to share with one another and help each other walk in those things and to grow in Christ and to choose Jesus over alcohol or whatever else. So, I share that in that being a disciple is important to be connected in the body, in community, beyond our weekly gathering here. So Nick, with all we are, loving God and loving people, It's the mission of the of the church. And I know you all are aware and participating.
So I won't I won't have really much more to say about it except that press in. Press in to to know him like Paul. It's my determined purpose to know Jesus. And that I would and then then and then that I would be purposeful about making disciples, about actually taking time with someone to it doesn't have to be all Christianese and all that. It can just be loving them, just hanging out with them just help them to see.
So thank you. Thank you for this morning. Thank you for being able to share with you. Amen. Thank you, Matt.
Speaker 2Thank you. That's a good word. I love John. Love John fifteen, especially. Can we stand, and we'll we'll sing one more song together?
I think this is a very, very good and fitting song too, after hearing from John fifteen. Where he leads me, my sheep listen to my voice, Jesus says. I know them, and they follow me. Let's sing together. For a little benediction verse here, this is one that I'm reminded of in John fifteen four.
And let's hear Jesus say this to us, remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. Lord, that we would be remaining, abiding, living in you day by day, trusting you with each day, with each passing moment. Lord, where you lead, may we be following you throughout this week into the future, moment by moment, in Jesus' name.
