1 Your Connection to Life BIG IDEA THIS WEEK'S SCRIPTURE

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Your Connection to Life “Learning Jesus” (The Gospel of John) John 15:1,5 June 2, 2019

BIG IDEA Jesus’ claim to be the “True Vine” is important because centuries of thinking were getting powerfully modified. For Christ to use the word “true,” He was embodying obedience and complete submission to the Vinedresser in all the ways that Israel was not able to do.

THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE Context: This is the last of seven “I Am” sayings of Jesus which prove that He is who He said He is. The “I AM” Statements of Jesus:       

I Am the Bread of Life I Am the Light of the World I Am the Gate I Am the Good Shepherd I Am the Resurrection and the Life I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life I Am the True Vine

Jesus continually uses metaphors to powerfully illustrate our relationship with Him as well as how He relates to the Father. He is our connection to the Father and ultimately to life. The Vine and the Branches John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”

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The Vinedresser would have been seen as the Lord God—the Master Gardener providing complete oversight to the vine. Jesus comes in and disrupts this previous line of thinking. He reveals that He will be their source of life and their connection to the Vinedresser now. Jesus now appears between the Master Gardener as the go-between amidst His followers and the Father. John 15:5 I am the vine; 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. To abide in Christ is a major element of our faith in Jesus. It means to stay or remain…to wait where you are with expectancy for something to come in the future. So in a sense there is a waiting or staying, but not in an empty existence sort of way. To abide is to keep on, remaining connected to the Vine.

DISCUSSION & APPLICATION Five Ideas on How to Bear Fruit in Christ: 1. Time with God Consistent investment given to Bible reading and prayer is simply something we cannot overlook if we desire a true relationship with God. a. In what ways do you struggle to spend time with God?

b. What reading plan or approach to prayer has worked well for you?

c. Do you need to change up what you are doing now in order to have more enjoyable times alone with God? If so, what will you change?

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2. Where You Are God places us where He wants us for a reason. In your work, school, and neighborhood, are you loving the people around you well? a. Jesus describes His disciples as those looking for “people of peace” who will be open to receiving us in relationship as well as receiving Christ’s love for them. Who is a person of peace in your neighborhood or workplace?

b. Is there anything that is preventing you from seeing people in your daily life that need the love of Christ? If so, what are the barriers?

3. Through Intentional Relationships This might not be a shocker to you, but the truth is that disciple-making happens with actual people. This means if we are going to be living out Jesus’ command in the Great Commission to make disciples, we have to actually be intentionally cultivating relationships with real, in-the-flesh people. God desires that we live on purpose in the relationships we have and that we look for opportunities to help people take a step closer to Christ—even if that step is small and might feel insignificant to us. a. Can you think of someone that intentionally invested in you? Share about that person.

b. Is there a person or people in your life right now that you could commit to spending more intentional time with in the effort to help them grow in Christ?

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4. Live Out Kingdom Values This entire series of Learning Jesus is built on the big idea that we need to grow in what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God. When we make our goal to be living in the way of Jesus, we are freed up to watch what He did and do that same thing ourselves. What does Jesus value in His relationship to our Heavenly Father, with His disciples, with religious people, the poor, etc.? a. Which element of how Jesus related to people has been the most impactful thing to you so far in studying the gospel of John in this Learning Jesus series?

5. Commit Yourself to the Local Church It’s been said that we far overestimate what we can do in a year, but we deeply underestimate what God will accomplish in us through a lifetime of faithfulness. a. How would you describe your commitment to the local church?

b. Is there anything you feel God calling you to change?

PRAY Dear Lord, thank you for connecting me to life in you. Unite my heart with yours so that I fully realize how close you desire to be with me. Expand my capacity to enjoy deep and meaningful times with you. Amen.

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DIG DEEPER For further study this week: 

Basic Christianity – a book from John Stott

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Abide in Christ – a book from Andrew Murray

NEXT WEEK’S BIG IDEA The Lord’s claim that he is the Eternal God is a unique claim. Then, as now, it is a claim that stunned the world. (John 8:48-59)

Ridgewood Church www.myrwc.org

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