A few weeks ago in the USA, Apple introduced its new iPhone. Did you know Apple sold over 270,000 iPhones in the first 30 hours of sale - that's about two sold per second! Clearly people want to be connected to each other with a mobile phone, and they want a nice way of connecting! The iPhone is easy to use, pretty-looking and is a mulitpurpose device that seems to suit all of its users' needs.
At Senior High last Monday we looked at how we are connected to God through Jesus. We read about the image of the vine in John 15:1-20. We saw that:
- God is the gardener, or - to use iPhone talk - he is the best keeper of networks ever!
- Jesus is the only connection to God the Father
- We are in Jesus - that is, we are a branch of the vine, or like a mobile phone user connected to God's service!
- If we disconnect to God we can do nothing on our own - there is no connection or service! Our lives go dead!
- If we remain in him he will remain in us
- God chose us personally to be part of his network through Jesus
- God is not a big brother horrible God with us his slaves but a friend, a personal God (thanks for this point Ashleigh McGill)
- God asks us to love each other 'as I have loved you'
- As his disciples - connected to him and actually in him, like a branch is a living part of a vine (see picture above) - we begin to bear fruit for Jesus!
- This fruit is love for Jesus, hope in Jesus, faith, and things like
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) - Like any good gardener, God will prune us now and then and that will hurt.
- But he does that so we will eventually bear more fruit for him.
Are you being pruned at the moment? Does it hurt? Although it is hard, know that this is for your benefit, to make you bear fruit for the living God, who personally chose you to receive the benefits of his 'kingdom network'.
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