The vine! - John 15:1-8
The vine! - John 15:1-8 By Pastor Lee Hemen October 18, 2015 When I grew up in the orchards of Leavenworth, Washington they were mainly older trees that were quite tall, but now many of the orchards have gone to a newer style of tree where they are a lot smaller and pruned to be more one dimensional and they look more like a vine. Here in John's gospel when Jesus teaches about being the vine he is of course referring to grape vines but being raised in one of the largest apple growing areas in the world, I think of apples. The vine Jesus is referring to of course is him and the importance of remaining in him is likened to being cultivated on a vine. Jesus' followers are to be correctly connected to Jesus; no false claims can be tolerated and must be cut off and discarded. Jesus' disciples are entrusted with three duties: 1) to remain in Jesus, 2) to love God and one another, and 3) to witness concerning who he is. He is the vine, let's see what this means for our lives… ...