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John 15 - We Must Remain [Session 2]

25/05/2018 11:50:25 AM | Cathie Staunton

The word remain is a verb, an action word. What does ‘to remain’ mean to you? We can think of related words like abide, stay, wait or even endure, persist and last. These are all things that we actively have to choose to do.

When Jesus was talking to His disciples in the vineyard He knew that difficult times were ahead. But He also knew that if His disciples endured the trauma and grief that was to follow they were to bear much fruit. Jesus was urging His disciples to stay steadfast in their devotion to Him and their faith in God because He knew what the coming weeks held. Jesus knew the bigger picture, however the disciples were yet to understand. Once again the Vine was able to keep things simple and illustrate what the disciples needed to do.

Read John 15:5-8

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

These Verses Show Us That:

  • We can only bear fruit through staying connected to Jesus
  • Remaining is a reciprocal process… Jesus wants to be close to us as well!
  • There is consequence to not remaining in Jesus
  • But there is so much more to gain from remaining in Him

For our intercultural workers to be sustained in their, sometimes challenging, work, they need to build up a trusty toolbox of spiritual disciplines. These practices not only allow them to remain in Christ and empower their work, but also can be used as tools to connect with those they desperately want to share the message of Jesus with. And the same can be true for you as well.

Ponder. Discuss. Act.

  • What’s more important, our devotion to Jesus or our service to Him? Why?
  • When do you feel most connected to God? How do you ‘remain’ in Him?
  • Do some research on spiritual disciplines? Read a book or chat to a mentor. Which spiritual
  • disciplines resonate with you? Try them out!
  • Explore a spiritual practice that you haven’t tried before. Challenge yourself to give it a go and reflect on your experience.
  • Read the previous Resonate article on attentiveness www.globalinteraction.org.au/SharingFaithPart2 and find out how our intercultural workers are using this spiritual practice.
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