Thanks very much, Alice, and good morning, everyone.
What a wonderful passage, isn't it, that we're looking at today.
We're only going to be able to scratch the surface of it in the next half hour,
but I hope as we do that we'll be thrilled by what Jesus has to say to us,
but also very deeply challenged by it.
And the two really go together.
There's much in this passage that we should rejoice in.
There is also a lot that should help us to examine ourselves
and our relationship with Jesus.
Let me begin with a very basic question.
What is a Christian?
Or to put it another way,
what difference is there between a Christian and someone who's not a Christian?
Now, Peter's given us one answer to that already.
A Christian is someone who follows Jesus.
It's not directly on my list.
It is certainly true.
But if we're thinking of what is a Christian,
then very simply,
a Christian believes in Jesus.
We've been going for some time now,
with a little gap just in the last few weeks,
we've been going for some time through John's Gospel.
And we've come back quite often
to a verse right at the end of chapter 20 of the Gospel,
where John gives the purpose for writing.
And he says,
So John says,
if you want to have life,
if you want to have a relationship with God,
you need to believe in Jesus.
And if we read through the rest of the New Testament,
that's what others say.
Paul, when he was in a Philippian jail,
and the jailer in desperation asked him,
what must I do to be saved?
Paul said,
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you will be saved.
So fundamentally,
a Christian believes in Jesus.
We believe that Jesus is the Son of God,
who came into the world and lived among us,
who died on the cross at Calvary
to take the punishment for sin,
who rose again,
who is now with God,
and who is coming back.
And we believe that Jesus is the only way to God.
If we want to have forgiveness
for all the wrong we've done,
if we want to have a relationship
with the God of heaven,
the only way is through Jesus.
A Christian believes in Jesus.
Let me suggest something else.
A Christian behaves like Jesus.
I think I need to give two caveats to that.
The first of these is,
none of us in this world
will ever be exactly like Jesus.
We all remain sinners,
those who go our own way,
who disobey God's way,
and that will be the case,
to some extent at least,
for as long as we live.
And so we know
that we can't by ourselves
win God's favour.
We need Jesus.
We need to believe in Jesus
as the only way to God.
The second caveat is,
it's not just Christians
necessarily live upright,
moral lives.
There are people of other religions
and of no religion
who try to live well
and to do good to others.
But if we are a Christian,
then we want to be like Jesus.
We want to live the way that he lived.
We want to live good,
moral lives.
We want to be self-controlled.
We want to have a real concern
for others.
We want to spread the good news
about Jesus to others.
All things that Jesus did
that we should do as well.
The last few weeks,
as I'll mention,
we've been going through
the book of Titus,
a great letter of Paul,
and that is very much
a focus of Titus.
How we should live as Christians.
For example,
in chapter 2,
Paul says,
the grace of God
teaches us to say no
to ungodliness
and worldly passions
and to live self-controlled,
upright,
and godly lives
in this present age.
Because of God's grace to us,
because of what God has done for us
through the Lord Jesus,
we should want to live like Jesus
and to follow his example.
A Christian behaves like Jesus.
But I think there's something else,
and this is where we're going
to come to John chapter 15.
I would suggest
that a Christian belongs with Jesus.
Now, I've not said belongs to Jesus,
although that is true.
A Christian belongs with Jesus.
You see, being a Christian
is not just a matter
of believing the right things,
of having good doctrine.
It's not just a matter
of doing good things,
of having good ethics.
fundamentally,
it's about a relationship
that we have with the Lord Jesus.
We belong with Jesus.
And the passage we're looking at in John 15,
the Lord gives us two lovely pictures
of what that means.
He says that if we are Christians,
if we belong with him,
then we are branches in a vine,
where he is the vine.
And then he says later on,
if we obey him,
then we are his friends.
Now, the picture of the vine
in some ways is quite mystical,
supernatural,
and maybe quite difficult to grasp,
but very important.
Picture of friendship,
perhaps we can grasp more easily.
We understand,
we all understand
what friendship is,
although we'll see
the friendship we have with Jesus
is a little different
from our other friendships.
But perhaps we could say
that the Christian belonging with Jesus,
we share in his life,
that's the picture of the vine
and the branches,
and we share in his love,
that is the friendship
we enjoy with him.
These are the two sections,
two subsections,
of what we're going to be looking at
in a minute.
Maybe it's worth, though,
just taking a minute
to position ourselves
in John's Gospel,
because it has been a few weeks
since we've looked at it together.
So John's Gospel divides
quite naturally into two sections.
The first 12 chapters
are about Jesus going around,
interacting with people,
teaching, discussing,
performing signs, miracles,
to demonstrate that he is God.
And it seeks to answer the question,
who is Jesus?
From chapter 13
to the end of John's Gospel,
it changes a bit,
and it is very much concerned
with the events around
Jesus' crucifixion
and resurrection.
What happened before
and what happened after.
And chapters 13 to 16,
which we're in just now,
are sometimes called
the upper room ministry
of Jesus.
It's Jesus,
the night before he died,
spending real quality time
with his disciples,
teaching them the things
that he believes
they need to know
as he is about
to leave them.
Within that,
there's a bit of a break
at the end of chapter 14.
So as we pick up
in chapter 15,
it's after the end
of a bit of a break point.
If you've got your Bible
in front of you,
you'll see that right
at the end of chapter 14,
Jesus says,
come now,
let us leave.
So actually,
what we're reading
in chapter 15
may not have happened
in the upper room.
It may have been
if Jesus' disciples
were walking.
It may even be
when they were standing
in the temple precinct
where there was
a huge golden vine
that would have been
very visible.
We don't know,
but I think there is
a change of thought.
So I think the end
of chapter 14
is a break point
in that the focus
is slightly different.
In chapters 13 and 14,
Jesus is preparing
his disciples
for what is to follow
immediately.
He's giving them
comfort that they
can hold on to
as they witness
his crucifixion
and then later on
after he rises
from the dead
as he goes to be
with his father.
Broadly speaking,
the focus of chapters
13 and 14
takes us up
to Pentecost
when the Holy Spirit
comes on the believers.
I think chapters 15 and 16
are looking further ahead.
Jesus is saying
to his disciples,
here is how you should live
as the church.
As my representatives
on earth
when I'm no longer there,
here's what you should do
and here's what you can expect.
What you can expect
from the world around you,
large rejection,
we'll see that next week,
and what you can expect
from God
through the power
of the Spirit.
And so what we're looking
at this morning
is really the introductory
part of that
as Jesus tells us
two things
that are pivotal
in our relationship
with him
that are part of us
belonging to Jesus.
You've probably already
worked out that I quite
like alliteration,
so we're going to use
a bit of alliteration again.
We're going to talk about
lasting fruit
and about loving friendship.
And these will be
the two sections
we'll be thinking about.
Broadly speaking,
lasting fruit
goes up to about verse 8
and from verse 9 onwards
it is loving friendship.
So lasting fruit.
The analogy of the vine
and the vineyard
would have been very familiar
to Jesus' disciples.
In the Old Testament,
many times it talks about
God as the vineyard keeper
and the nation of Israel
as the vineyard.
And what characterizes that
in many, many of these occasions
is that the vineyard
is failing.
That it is not meeting
the expectations
of the vineyard owner.
Classic example of that
in Isaiah chapter 5
where God says,
what more could I have done
for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
He then says
he will allow it
to be destroyed
and he says
he looked for justice
but saw bloodshed,
for righteousness
but heard cries
of distress.
And there are other passages
similar to that
in the Old Testament.
Israel was designed
to be God's vineyard
but it was a vineyard
that didn't produce fruit
because people's lives
hadn't really been changed
because the leaders
weren't leading them
in a way
that was in accordance
with God's will.
And so in chapter 1
of verse 1
of chapter 15
Jesus says,
I am the true vine.
The old vineyard
is not the thing
that we should be looking at now.
We should be looking at one vine
and that vine is Jesus.
And many of you know
this is the last of seven
I am sayings
of the Lord Jesus
in John's Gospel
where he reveals
truths about himself
but also truths about us
and our relationship
with them.
And that's very much
going to be the case
in this one.
Now I'm no gardener.
If you ever come
to our house
and admire anything
in the garden
all the credit
goes to Bridget.
And that includes
two trees
that we've got.
Two fruit trees.
We've got a plum tree
and an apple tree.
And we've only had them
a relatively short time
a few years
but they are very fruitful.
We had a good crop
from them last year.
But I look at them
just now in the winter
there are no leaves
there is no fruit
and I think we need
to think about
cutting these back a bit
in the new year.
They've got nice
long branches
but actually growing
nice long branches
is not what fruit trees
are all about.
What you want
from fruit trees
is good fruit.
And how do you get
good fruit?
Well the fruit comes
from the life
of the tree
which comes up
through the trunk
of the tree
and the sap
that goes out
and you want
that sap
to be producing
fruit
rather than
producing extended
branches.
So you need
if you've got a tree
occasionally
to prune it.
And that's the picture
that the Lord Jesus
is presenting
to us here.
Much more skilled
than I would ever do
in terms of pruning
but God
he says
is pruning
his vine.
And there are
two things
that he does
says Jesus.
He takes
the dead wood
the wood
that has no fruit
growing in it
and he cuts
that off
and he throws
that away.
Not entirely
clear what Jesus
is talking about
there
but it may well
be people
who appear
to be Christians
who come to church
who present
as being followers
of Jesus
but actually
they're not
really Christians
and not displaying
the fruit
that a real
Christian should
and maybe
their trust
is not really
in Jesus.
That might be
what the Lord
is describing.
You might be thinking
particularly of Judas
who had been one of his disciples
for three years
and now had betrayed him.
But let's focus more
on the second action
that the gardener takes
because the branches
that are bearing
good fruit
he prunes.
He cuts a bit
of them
in the expectation
that they will
produce
even better
fruit.
Now at first sight
that might seem
a rather strange
thing to do.
Why do you cut back
the thing
that is fruitful?
You're going to
reduce the fruit
are you not
in the short term?
Well maybe you are
but what you will get
in the long term
is both more fruit
and better fruit.
Fruit says Jesus
that will
last.
And vineyard keepers
whether in Israel
or whether in southern Europe
they are very skilled
at knowing
when and how
to prune
the branches
to produce
the best
crops.
What does that mean
for us?
If we take
ourselves
how does God
prune us?
How does he
help us
to be
more
fruitful?
Well I think it
could come in a number
of ways
and they tend
to be
painful
for us.
Sometimes
perhaps when we have
done something
we know is wrong
or when we're
reading God's word
and we recognise
that we're not
meeting the standards
as Christians
we may feel
a bit of a sense
of shame.
We may recognise
all that Jesus
has done for us
all that we owe him
how we should live
and we say
I'm just not
meeting that
standard.
I'm not
good enough.
And then perhaps
the Lord Jesus
comes to us
and through the
Spirit he reminds
us that yes
we're not
good enough
but Jesus
has taken
the penalty
for our sins
and there is
forgiveness
for us
even as we
continually
fail him.
So by
helping us
to understand
our own
inadequacy
by bringing
that sense
of failure
on us
God can
help us
to grow
as Christians
and to
become more
like Jesus
as we realise
again
just how much
we owe him.
Then there's
a second example
which we sometimes
call the trials
we experience
in life.
We suffer
illness
or someone
close to us
suffers illness.
We suffer
bereavement
perhaps we
get made
redundant
from our
job
or there's
something else
that is
causing us
great stress
in our
lives.
And we
might be
tempted to
say to
God
well why
is this
and it's
not wrong
to ask
that question
why is
this
happening?
Well one
of the
reasons
why these
things
happen
is to
draw us
closer
to the
Lord Jesus
to help
us to realise
that there
are things
which we
can't
control
in our
own
strength
but to
know we
have a
God
who is
in
control
of
everything
and our
Christian
trials
the
difficulties
we
face
they
build
our
Christian
character
they
help us
to become
more
dependent
on the
Lord
Jesus
they
increase
the bond
if you
like
between
the
branches
and the
vine
and they
help us
to be
better
disciples
of the
Lord
Jesus
that
pruning
process
that God
uses
for us
it is
painful
but it
is so
important
that we
never
suffer
we
never
develop
character
and we
need to
develop
fruit
by being
pruned
by our
heavenly
father
but that's
the role
of the
father
what about
the Lord
Jesus
the Lord
Jesus
who is
the vine
well the
key word
that comes
again and
again in
these verses
is
remain
we are
to remain
in him
Jesus
says
if we
remain
in him
we will
have his
life
we will
bear
fruit
we will
become
like
him
so what
does it
mean then
if we
want to
think about
remaining
in
Jesus
well we
have to
recognize
first again
that without
Christ we
have no
spiritual
life
without him
we would
be dead
in our
sins
and we
need to
repent
and trust
him
but we
need to
do more
than that
we need
to cultivate
our
relationship
with him
he wants
us to
have a
living
active
vital
relationship
where he
is part
of our
everyday
lives
he is a
key part
of our
everyday
lives
and we
seek to
follow him
and live
for him
we maintain
the relationship
when we
read and
meditate
on the
bible
when we
come to
him
in prayer
when we
prioritize
serving
Jesus
and living
for him
above
everything
else
when as
we're
looking later
on
when we
obey him
when we
love
others
that is
what
remaining
in Jesus
means
it is
he is
at the
center
of our
lives
and we
recognize
that any
life we
have
any
spiritual
life we
have
is only
because he
is the
vine
and we
are attached
to him
as the
branches
his life
is flowing
through us
and making
us fruitful
and what
then is
the fruit
the good
fruit that
is going
to last
as I
expect for
many of
us when
we talk
about fruit
our minds
go automatically
to the book
of Galatians
where Paul
lists the
fruit of the
spirit
love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self-control
these are the
things which
characterize the
Lord Jesus
and they're the
things that should
characterize us
as Christians
and as we read
through that list
I'm sure all of us
see there are
things there
that perhaps I'm
not doing too
badly on
but there are
things there
where I really
need to
improve
where I need
to be
bearing
more
fruit
and a
fruitful
Christian is
not primarily
about what
we do
it's about
who we are
it's about
our character
it's about
how we live
our daily
lives
but I think
when we think
about fruit
we need to go
a little bit
beyond that
because there
is fruit
that is
displayed
through other
people
as well
so for example
if we have
the privilege
of being able
to lead someone
to trust
in the Lord
Jesus
that is fruit
for the work
that we have
done
not that we
would take
credit for
it is from
the Spirit
but it is
fruit of what
we've done
that we can
rejoice in
what we've been
thinking about
the last couple
of weeks
we are a church
together many
of us
old and young
and we have
the opportunity
to interact
with one another
to encourage
each other
in our faith
and in our
relationship
with the Lord
Jesus
and when we
can see that
character of Christ
developing in
others
to an extent
that is
our fruit
as well
we are being
fruitful
by setting
a good example
and by
encouraging others
in their faith
and you can
probably think
of other
examples of
fruit
as well
but as we
remain in
Jesus
as we
bear fruit
in our
lives
what wonderful
things he
promises
to us
so in verse
10
the Lord
Jesus
says
if you keep
my command
you will remain
in my love
just say I kept
my father's
commands
and remain
in his
love
so we will
enjoy
Christ's
presence
with us
and the
knowledge
that he
loves us
more than
we could
ever
understand
and that
he has
the best
in store
for us
the Lord
Jesus
also says
that if
we remain
in him
this is
verse 7
if we remain
in him
ask whatever
you wish
and it will
be done
for you
what a
marvellous
promise
that we can
come to our
heavenly father
in Jesus
name
as those
remaining
in Jesus
and we can
present the
requests
of our
heart
knowing that
God listens
and that
God will
answer
now it has
to be said
with that
that this
is for people
who remain
in Jesus
and if we're
remaining in
Jesus
our desire
should be
not for
our own
comfort
or our
own wealth
or whatever
it should
be for
his glory
but that
doesn't take
away from
the greatness
of the
promise
that those
who remain
in Jesus
can come
to God
the father
and can
see
answers
to prayer
and then
finally
and there's
lots more
we could
talk about
Jesus
talks about
joy
verse 11
I've told
you this
so that
my joy
may be
in you
and that
your joy
may be
complete
joy
whatever
our
circumstances
joy
through the
difficult
times
as well
as easy
times
if we
remain
in Jesus
if we
are enjoying
his life
and his
presence
we can
take comfort
and strength
from that
and we can
rejoice in his
goodness
whatever
circumstances
we face
what a great
privilege it is
to be part
of the vine
that is
the Lord
Jesus
and to
produce
lasting
fruit
let's move
on though
and look at
the second
part
of the
passage
which I've
called
loving
friendship
I'm going
to focus
particularly
on verses
12 to
14
but we
will
cover
the other
verses
as we
go along
one of
the first
sermons
I ever
preached
was on
these
three
verses
and the
reason
was that
I was
really
intrigued
by the
structure
of them
and it
is tremendous
look in
the way
I've tried
to illustrate
in the
slide
to look
at how
the verses
fit together
you can
start with
any of
them
and read
round and
round in
a circle
going back
from verse
14 to
verse 12
every time
and it
follows on
it flows
very naturally
my command
is this
love each
other as
I have
loved you
greater
love has
no one
than this
to lay
down
one's
life
for one
friend
you are
my
friends
if you
do
what I
command
my
command
is this
love
each
other
and we
go round
and round
and just
marvel
at what
God
what the
Lord
Jesus
is saying
to us
and what
it means
for us
we'll start
at the end
today
and work
our way
round to
the middle
so verse
14
says
you are
my
friends
if you
do
what
I
command
now that
should
immediately
say to
us
our
friendship
with the
Lord
Jesus
that he
offers
to us
is a
different
kind
of
friendship
you
probably
wouldn't
be
very
impressed
if I
came up
to you
and said
you can
be my
friend
but only
if you
do
everything
I
tell
you
to
that's
not
the way
a
normal
friendship
works
friendship
is
normally
a
relationship
between
those
who
treat
each
other
broadly
as
equals
our
friendship
with
Jesus
is
different
we
are
in
no
way
Jesus
equals
the
best
analogy
perhaps
would
be a
king
or in
those
days
an
emperor
the
king
would
have
a
court
and
there
would
be
courtiers
who
might
regard
as
his
friends
they
would
be
his
confidants
people
who
might
give
him
advice
people
who
he
would
tell
what
he
was
thinking
but
they
would
still
be
his
subjects
they
would
still
be
under
him
and
need
to
obey
his
commands
and
that's
the
kind
of
friendship
that
Jesus
is
talking
about
here
and
the
contrast
he
makes
in
the
friendship
is
not
between
friends
and
enemies
it's
between
friends
and
servants
he
says
I'm
no
longer
going
to
call
you
servants
I'm
going
to
call
you
my
friends
and
he
says
the
distinction
there
is
a
servant
just
has
to
do
what
they're
told
and
not
ask
any
questions
master
says
do
this
and
they
go
and
do
it
a
friend
is
privileged
to
understand
why
they're
being
told
and
to
know
a
little
bit
more
about
the
background
so
Jesus
says
up
till
now
you've
treated
yourself
as
my
servants
you've
been
my
disciples
and
you
have
taken
it
as
your
role
to
serve
me
I
now
want
to
call
you
my
friends
because
I've
told you
everything
you need
to know
and so
the
relationship
is much
more
one of
friendship
than
of
serving
servants
to
serve
to
serve
to
serve
to
serve
to
serve
the
will
of
the
one
who
is
talking
with
them
what a
privilege
it is
for us
to
understand
the
mind
of
Jesus
and
to
understand
God
now
in
the
context
Jesus
obviously
was
talking
to
his
disciples
who
spent
a
long
time
with
him
that
we
haven't
physically
but
yet
in
the
Bible
we
can
see
God's
mind
and
God's
will
and
something
about
our
God
and
who
he
is
and
so
Jesus
says
you're
my
friends
you
understand
then he
repeats
the promises
he's
made
earlier
the
promise
of
fruitfulness
the
promise
of
answered
prayer
but
it's
all
dependent
on
obeying
Jesus
commands
you
are
my
friends
he
says
if
you
do
what
I
command
so
then
we
need
to
go
back
to
verse
12
what
does
Jesus
command
Jesus
says
my
command
is
this
love
each
other
as
I
have
loved
you
if
we
were to
go a bit
further
back
to
verse
9
we
can
see
the
love
that
Jesus
has
for
us
and
he
has
us
to
have
for
each
other
is
also
the
love
that
God
the
Father
had
for
Jesus
this
is
an
enormous
standard
that
he's
setting
for
us
the
love
in the
most
intimate
relationship
in the
universe
between
God
the
Father
and
God
the
love
sacrificial
and
wholly
undeserved
that the
Lord
Jesus
has
shown
to
us
that
is
the
kind
of
love
that
we
should
be
showing
to
each
other
it
might
seem
impossible
in a
sense
maybe
it
is
impossible
but
as
we
develop
the
character
of
Jesus
as
we
come
to
understand
more
of
the
love
that
Jesus
had
for
us
that
should
be
reflected
in
the
love
that
we
have
for
one
another
we
are
to
love
each
other
as
Jesus
has
loved
us
and
how
has
Jesus
loved
us
well
we're
on to
verse
13
aren't
we
greater
love
has
no
one
than
this
to
lay
down
one's
life
for
one's
friends
Jesus
saying
I'm
laying
down
my
life
for
my
friends
you
are
too
as
well
now
Jesus
actually
went
beyond
that
he laid
down
his
life
for
us
when
we
were
his
enemies
when
there
was
nothing
in
us
that
would
deserve
him
to
do
that
great
sacrifice
for
us
where
only
the
grace
of
God
was
sufficient
to
save
us
from
our
sins
Jesus
says
I
have
done
that
I
have
died
laid
down
my
life
for
you
should
lay
down
your
life
for
one
another
that
might
sound
on the
face
of it
quite
unlikely
how
likely
is it
that
any
of
us
will
have
to
die
for
our
Christian
brothers
and sisters
literally
physically
die
well
it is
possible
we
couldn't
rule
it
out
but
probably
it's
not
going
to
happen
for
most
of
us
but
it's
just
indicative
of
the
kind
of
love
that
we
should
have
that
we
should
sacrificially
be
willing
to
give
of
ourselves
for
one
another
that
our
relationships
our
interests
in
others
shouldn't
be
superficial
and
just
for
the
good
times
that
when
people
are
going
through
difficult
times
when
they're
struggling
when
it
is
really
hard
for
them
perhaps
it's
hard
for
us
to
be
involved
in
their
lives
we
should
be
willing
to
sacrificially
show
love
for
them
John's
gospel
the
ministry
of the
Lord
Jesus
has
many
parallels
in
John's
first
epistle
the book
we call
first
John
you can
see
again
and
again
as
you
read
through
first
John
this
is
based
on
something
that
Jesus
said
in
the
upper
room
and
first
John
chapter
three
verse
16
says
this
is
how
we
know
what
love
is
Jesus
Christ
laid
down
his
life
for
us
and
we
ought
to
lay
down
our
lives
for
our
brothers
and
sisters
and
we
might
say
yes
I
agree
with
that
if
it
comes
to
the
bit
I
would
be
willing
to
lay
down
my
life
for
someone
else
what
does
John
say
next
what
is
the
example
he
gives
that
might
give
us
an
idea
of
what
it
is
to
lay
down
our
lives
for
brothers
and
sisters
he
says
if
anyone
has
material
possessions
and sees
a brother
or sister
in need
but has
no pity
on them
how
can
the
love
of
God
be
in
that
person
and
that
brings
us
right
down
to
earth
doesn't
it
this
isn't
all
about
being
heroic
of
sacrifice
for
others
this
is
in
our
day
to
day
life
being
able
to
help
people
with
their
needs
might
be
physical
might
be
material
needs
might
be
spiritual
might
be
emotional
being
able
in
some
way
as
the
Lord
enables
us
to
show
the
love
of
Christ
to
our
Christian
brothers
and
sisters
the
test
of
our
love
is
not
in
the
big
gestures
it's
in
the
everyday
way
in
which
we
interact
and
in
which
we
show
our
love
so
John
concludes
that little
section
in his
epistle
dear
children
let us
not
love
with
words
or
speech
but
with
actions
and
in
truth
that
is
where
we
have
Christ
honoring
evidence
of
life
of
fruitfulness
of
our
friendship
with
the
Lord
Jesus
let me
end
with a
quote
from
Charles
Spurgeon
was a
great
preacher
from
the
19th
century
sometimes
called
the
prince
of
preachers
his
servants
are
marvelous
read his
sermons
you'll be
so blessed
by them
take some
getting into
sometimes
languages
a little
old
fashion
but there
is so
much
in
them
writing
on this
passage
Spurgeon
said
this
the
moon
cannot
shine
as
brightly
as
the
sun
does
and
you
cannot
love
as
much
as
Christ
does
but
you
can
be
like
the
moon
and
shine
with
borrowed
light
you can
reflect
on
others
the
light
of
the
love
which
Christ
has
shed
upon
your
soul
if
you're
a
Christian
this
morning
as
we've
described
it
think
on
these
words
we're
not
going
to
be
able
to
be
exactly
like
Christ
we're
not
going
to
have
the
love
that
he
had
which
is
beyond
our
understanding
but
we
can
reflect
that
love
in
the
way
that
we
deal
with
others
whether
it's
those
in
the
church
or
those
outside
whom
we're
seeking
to
help
and
to
help
to
the
reflected
light
of
the
Lord
Jesus
so
I hope
that's
been
encouraging
this
morning
to
us
I
hope
as
I
said
the
start
is
being
challenging
so
here
are
the
challenges
I'll
leave
you
with
first
of
these
is
can
we
ask
ourselves
am
I
part
of
the
vine
am
I
really
a
Christian
do
I
believe
in
Jesus
as
the
only
way
to
God
do
I
try
to
live
like
him
do
with
him
in
that
living
relationship
of
the
vine
if
the
answer
to
that
is
yes
then
the
next
question
is
the
life
of
Christ
evident
to
others
life
of
Christ
in
me
evident
to
others
am
I
bearing
spiritual
fruit
am
I
showing
the
character
of
the
Lord
Jesus
in
my
daily
life
and
becoming
more
and
more
like
him
and
in
particular
is
the
love
of
Christ
in
me
do
I
reflect
that
great
love
that
Jesus
had
for
me
do
I
obey
him
as
I
show
that
love
to
others
and
if
we
can
if
we
do
then
we
will
be
fruit
we
will
enjoy
the
presence
of
the
Lord
Jesus
with
us
we
will
bathe
in
his
love
we
will
have
joy
whatever
our
circumstances
and
we
will have
the
ear of
who
will
answer
our
prayers
let
that
be
true
of
all
of
us
let's
pray
together
now
father
we
thank
you
for
your
word
we
thank
you
for
this
tremendous
teaching
of
the
Lord
Jesus
that
we
are
living
branches
if
we
are
believers
in
him
that
our
life
flows
to
us
from
him
producing
fruit
making
us
more
like
him
we
pray
that
you
help
all
of
us
to
ensure
that
we
have
that
life
that
our
faith
is
in
Jesus
and
help
us
to
be
fruitful
particularly
as we
show to
one
another
the
love
of
Christ
that
in
our
everyday
life
we
may
build
one
another
up
that
we
may
see
fruit
in
each
member
of
the
church
we
thank
you
for
our
time
together
this
morning
we
commit
ourselves
to
you
now
in
the
name
of
the
Lord
Jesus
Amen