Follow the King

The work of God in our lives is personal—but never meant to be private. As the forgiveness, mercy, love, and grace of Jesus works in our lives, it should result in an overflow of the same to those around us. This morning, David Duley shares how the work of God in his life brought about the local ministry of Living River—caring for the fatherless homes of the community and pointing them to their true, ever-present Heavenly Father.

In Luke 4, Jesus reads an OT Scripture that pointed the coming Messiah. But the Jews who heard Him did not recognize the condition of their hearts, so they did not recognize the salvation of their Messiah. Until I recognize myself as a sinner, I will never recognize Jesus as my Savior. 

Missionary Ron Davis provides a Biblical perspective on serving through suffering as he shares his journey back to the mission field in Poland—even after the tragic loss of his dear wife in 2019. You will be blessed by this message!

As we conclude our series from John 15 on  abiding in the Vine, we address a simple, but important, question: What is the ultimate purpose for Jesus calling us to abide in Him?

In John 15:3, Jesus said to His disciples, "You are clean." How does this fit into the storyline of the Vine and the branches? It helps to know that this is actually the second time Jesus used these words to His disciples that night. What truth was Jesus teaching—and how does that apply to our lives today?

Jesus regularly speaks of fruit in John 15—where He introduces Himself as the True Vine, His Father as the Vinedresser, and us as the branches. But as we compare the True Vine of Jesus to the failed vine of Israel in Isaiah 5, the difference is not the presence of fruit, but the type of fruit present. What fruit is the Vinedresser looking for in the branches?

Pastor Brian and his daughter, Trinity, share together in this message about what it means to abide in Christ. John 15 clearly teaches Jesus' command to abide in Him, but exactly how does one abide in Christ? Using Jesus' own words, we will begin to piece together His calling to abide in Him. 

The decision to abide in Christ is also a decision to accept the pruning work of the Vinedresser. Although the pruning of the Vinedresser is often painful, it is always purposeful—and that purpose is to make us more like Jesus.

In John 15, Jesus introduces Himself as the True Vine—knowing the vine of Israel had failed to love God and keep His commandments (as we find in Isaiah 5). Jesus also introduces His Father as the Vinedresser or Gardener who prunes the branches. In this message, we find that the ability to be a fruit-bearing branch begins with my connection to Jesus as the Vine, but also requires the attention of the Father as the Vinedresser. The Father—the Vinedresser—is working to mold us into the image of Jesus and is more committed to His branches being fruitful than being comfortable. 

The call to abide in Jesus is call to examine the state of my union with Christ. Am I truly connected to Jesus or simply close to Him? Am I living for Jesus or living with Jesus? One reason Jesus commands me to abide in Him is because my natural instinct is to abandon (live independent of) Him. But Jesus doesn’t ask me to do anything for Him. Instead, He wants to do something with me.