Abide In Me: Abiding In The Result Of Love 2-25-24

Abide In Me: Abiding In The Result Of Love 2-25-24

 

Scripture: John 15:1-8; John 15:9-13; John 15:13; Ephesians 3:16-19; 1 John3:1

 

Write Up: We abide in relationships with those we know love us. God demonstrated his love for us by sending Jesus to sacrifice himself on the cross. This love is agape love, which offers itself without need of anything in return. This is the greatest expression of love toward us.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Abide in Me

           Week 1 - Jesus is the vine.  We are the branches.

           Week 2 - God is a good gardener.  He provides, and He prunes.

Week 3 - We produce fruit, good or bad fruit.  We can change our fruit by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

”I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “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. 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. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.“

           John 15:1-8 NIV

 

Illustration: grape vine pic

 

This week we will take a look at the reason WHY we need to abide in a relationship with Jesus so we can experience the fullness of God.

 

Story:  Trevor Miller, a minister, told this story. 

 

“I recently was invited to speak at a church on South Carolina beach. I would only be there for a total of 24 hours, but I decided to invite my youngest son to accompany me. He was excited, especially because he was going to be able to skip school. We arrived at the beach; I shared with the church, and we slept. The next day I told my son we could do whatever he wanted before we went home. He took full advantage of my offer. We ate breakfast at our favorite restaurant, swam at the beach,  shopped at a beach store, played a round of mini-golf, and visited a sports card store. Finally, we started our three-hour trek back home. On the way I asked him, “What was your favorite part of the trip?” He responded by telling me to try a guess. Beach? No. Putt Putt? No. Shopping? No. I gave up. He said, “My favorite part was just spending time with you.”

 

I could barely keep the truck on the road as I tried to see through the tears in my eyes. My son’s favorite part was just abiding with me, remaining with me, spending time with me. The reason he put this at the top of the list is because he is fully aware of how much I love him, and he loves me back.”

 

I.  LOVE IS THE DRIVING FORCE FOR CONNECTION

 

          A.  Love offers connection

                      1.  Love is the glue that holds us in relationship with Christ.

                      2.  Love is the magnet that pulls us to abide in Him.

                      3.  Love is the gravity that keeps us in orbit with Jesus.

4.  Love is the reason that we remain connected to the vine even when pruned by the Father.

                      5.  Love is the trust that we will produce fruit in His time.

 

”As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 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’s friends.“

           John 15:9-13 NIV

 

           B.  Love is the connection.

 

Agape: Agape is a special kind of love. It is a sacrificial, selfless, and generous love. The kind of love that gives without receiving. This word also denotes a choice to love. God chooses to love Jesus, and Jesus chooses to love us. This is the way Jesus loves us because the Father loves him.

 

                      1.  The Father loves the Son

                      2.  As the Father loves the Son so has the Son loved us.

                      3.  We ought to love one another because of this love.

 

           C.  Love connects.

                      1.  Love loves.

                      2.  Love obeys.

                      3.  Love chooses.

 

Story: I have two grandchildren.  One does not even know what it means to choose.  CJ does what all 6 month olds do.  He looks all cute and lets you know when he needs something.  Lily is 2 and a half.  If you have ever been around a two year old, you know that they want what they want, and they will go to almost any extreme to get what they want.  Often they don’t want to do what you want them to do.  They don’t want to eat what you’ve fixed.  They don’t want to clean up their toys.  They don’t want to share with their sibling.  

 

I long for my grandkids who respond to my instructions, but I want them to respond because they know I want what is best for them. I don’t want my grandkids to be robots who do exactly as I say without the ability to choose. That is not a relationship. That is not a true connection. I would love for my grandkids to respond to me because they know I love them and they can trust me. That is the only thing that will truly cause us humans to remain in a faithful, obedient relationship with Jesus—knowing we are loved beyond measure and we can trust God and lean on him.

 

II.  THE CROSS IS THE PROOF OF LOVE

 

    A.  Sacrifice demonstrates love.

 

Now some of us may be skeptical that we are truly loved by God. After all, we have made mistakes and have been disobedient before. We might wonder if Jesus actually loves us. Jesus anticipates this, so he gives a clear indicator that his love can be trusted. He says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

 

”Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.“

           John 15:13 NIV

 

         B.  Jesus’ sacrifice demonstrates His love for us.

 

Pastor and author Max Lucado said this about Jesus’ motivation. “Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did.”

 

         C.  Jesus’ sacrificial love is the foundation for understanding God’s love.

                      1.  Who we are

                      2.  Who we are meant to be

 

”I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.“

      Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV

 

Story: It’s like any of the oceans. I have seen pictures of these beautiful beaches all over the world.  Even in a book or on the internet, the oceans are impressive. I always wanted to see it in person though believing the pictures weren’t doing it justice. It is more vast and powerful than you can imagine.  Sure enough, the width, length, height, and depth of the love of God is even greater than the oceans.

 

The magnitude of God’s agape love is so massive that we cannot fully receive it without the power of the Spirit. You can hear about it. You can read about it. But to know the love of God through the Spirit fills us so completely that we will never be the same.

 

III.  GOD’S LOVE IS BETTER THAN YOU THINK

 

           A.  The greatest love you have known.  

 

Can you think of someone in your life who really loves or loved you well? A spouse. A friend. A grandparent. What are the aspects of that love you most appreciate? That love is unconditional. There is nothing we could do to make that person love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make that person love us less. Unconditional love convinces us we are loved just because we exist.

 

Story:  Granny Lackie

 

God loves us because we are his creation. We are a part of his family and he loves us as his children. The scriptures affirm this over and over again.

 

           B.  The greatest love you have known and more!

 

”See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.“

           1 John 3:1 NIV

 

“And that is what we are!”

 

Story: Perhaps the author should have said, “that we should be called grandchildren of God!”

 

CONCLUSION

 

Love is the driving force for connection.  The cross is the proof of love.  God’s love is better than you think.

 

Think: God showed how much he loves us by sending Jesus as an atoning sacrifice.

 

Feel: God sees me as worthy and valuable. He invites me into a relationship so I can experience this love.

 

Do: Receive God’s love and grace by faith.

 

INVITATION

 

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.