“Summer Reading-John: I Am The Vine” (July 29, 2018)

from John 15:1-17

What is your life oriented around?

There is a saying often used in the business world that states, “All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results  they are now getting.  If we want different results, we must change the way we do things.”

While your life is not an organization or a system, the same truth is applicable.  If Jesus says that we are to bear fruit for His Kingdom, it begs the question: what kind of fruit are you bearing?

What if our primary focus isn’t the fruit, but what our lives are rooted in?

w/ Vern Collins

“New Life: Fragile” (April 17, 2016)

from John 15:1-11

A mark of maturity is independence.  Whether it is making decisions on your own, setting your own curfew, paying rent, buying a car, owning a home, attaining a job, trying something new, or starting a career, the ability to think, act, care for oneself shows independence…which translates to this world as a sign of maturity.

The problem comes when that thinking or that value system begins to affect our understanding of life with Jesus.  No matter how much we accomplish, we are all fragile people living fragile lives.

What if, your maturity in Christ weren’t about exercising your independence, but becoming more deeply dependent on Jesus?  In John 15, Jesus calls that, “remaining,” or, “abiding,” in Him.

What would it look like for you to embrace your fragility, rather than try and cover it up with all that you are chasing or accomplishing?

w/ Vern Collins