Remain | RE: A Guide For The Disconnected

well hey everyone welcome to the countdown here at lh online my name is tc i'm one of the pastors here at lighthouse and i'm joined as frequently happens by our arts team leader brittany guy how you doing brick i'm good how are you i'm doing very well um anything interesting this weekend for you it was a really low-key weekend which i feel like is needed every once in a while so it was pretty chill now we're ready to ramp it back in the fall i don't know what that was enjoying the fall weather how about you oh yeah oh okay so so fall weather it's a work short sleeves right when it's getting cold and it's that time of year where i leave my house wearing a jacket and then like come home having stripped off layers all the layers right now it is critical yeah but uh you know you know i i love my national days oh lord yes the excitement almost too much just try to tone it down um but but do you want to know the national day i'd love to personally celebrating this week yes okay please and i think everyone watching would like to as well without a doubt that's that's why they're here tomorrow it is national taco day so it's not a day today it's a day tomorrow yep okay i guess we'll let it count tomorrow monday yeah is national taco day but isn't it like taco tuesday a thing so now this is why i'm bringing it up so this is why you want to taco about it okay that's that's a horrible dad joke i learned from you you you've helped me with this so i blame you it was funny let me know i think i'm funny it's not bad but but this is my point why isn't it a tuesday national taco day should always be on a tuesday i think it's the date it's not like the day of the week so they can't really move it because thanksgiving the date changes right but it's always on a thursday so they need to say taco why are we having nationals i clearly have a lot of very strong feelings and opinions about this yes where's your favorite place to get a taco so i'm not really a big taco person i'm more of like a bowl person i need to get more in the like taco i hear what is it like taco is it like a vita or like something like that around here everyone keeps talking about everyone keeps talking about it i'm a baja fresh guy right now they have bowls they have that i know you're just chipotle over baja fresh or kiddo i'm not a surprise let us know see this is a brunch with brit segment we could do a whole taco segment if there are better taco places locally i want to know let us know where we should get tacos at but with all that being said we are in our re-series as we have been for a few weeks we still have the pdf of the book is available online you can jump onto our website journal other merch including some apparel yes for instance why are we wearing these shirts right now you like to match a lot and if you're watching the background you'll see a lot of other people wearing the shirts but these are our love week 2021 shirts um and the reason we're wearing them is we want to let you guys know they are available for sale all of the proceeds from these shirts are going right back into our outreach ministry so our outreach director katie warner she has done a fantastic job of fostering partnerships in our community even international partnerships and so all this money is going back into them to reach a loss and make disciples so for our lh online sam if you're signing up for a project or maybe you're like oh i can't i have stuff going on this week this is a great way to still support love week and be a part of what jesus is doing during love week you raise a good point so if you're part of the online family which you probably are watching the countdown love week includes you this is something only happening locally we have actually three separate projects all of which are entirely focused on our online community and so if you if you didn't know that now you know jump on sign up for one of them actually we we can tell you the three of them yeah we have a trash pickup in our in your communication project yeah we have a prayer wall do you know the third one i do it's to help out first responders so it's building care packages and going out into your local community and just loving on the first responders for what they do you know and i've done that before in in other love weeks and uh and projects and you know going to a firehouse or going to a police station and just saying hey just wanted to say thank you so much and i know it means a ton that's one of those jobs where you're serving people and not often to someone you encounter someone who can just go time out yeah just want to say thank you appreciate you and for us it's a chance just to show the love of jesus who are being sacrificial who are loving sacrificially and so 100 i'm excited about that so so i don't know if you're doing an online one or you're doing local ones i'm gonna do a local one but i'm also gonna do an online one so i have the privilege of being in a small group with ms vick who is pastor sammy's mom and we're gonna love on some first responders so i'm gonna do a couple of them but if you want to get signed up it is not too late you can go to our website lighthouse.church.lvwk we don't like vows around here at lighthouse and so i'm sure our online community director evan's going to throw that in the chat so you can click on that link but you can sign up up until the day of projects next week on the 10th and we kick it off i'm very excited i just have one small comment that none of the love week projects incorporate tacos um other than that well i'll talk to katie about that maybe next week we can do next week next year what if i beautified an area around a taco place i feel like i could really work these together too yeah at that point it won't be national taco day though so i'll find some other ridiculous national day and i'll incorporate that into lovely because the online ones are so flexible i can do i can do them anywhere i can really incorporate my local community needs like it's not a cookie cutter just do this it's here's a concept but apply it into how to connect with your local community which i just love yeah i do too and the really cool thing about these projects too is before you go out into your community there's going to be an online prayer huddle to pray over it and then afterwards a meeting to kind of regroup and see what happened and hear those testimonies so it's a really cool way to see and hear all jesus is doing through lovely it's not just going out there and doing it it's going out there telling stories about it and sharing those stories i i think that's my favorite part of what we're doing is it's not just hey go check a box you know do that thing you said you would do it really is gonna be focused on community and about our online community yeah uh because listen we understand actually our largest campus is our online community so you guys who are watching this and so uh evan online community director katie our outreach director they they understand hey let's make sure that we're really building that and getting to know people and so i'm super excited yeah and actually we're gonna hear from katie we're gonna turn it over into our sanctuary to hear from our campus pastor dj swick and our outreach director katie warner who's gonna tell us a little bit more about it so let's kick it on over to them what's going on church how are we doing today hello hey what's going on it is so good to be back in the house of the lord with you guys amen this is one of the pastors around here and my name is katie warner and i'm the outreach director here and we are so excited to show you to be a part of what jesus is doing around here if this is your first time here or you're joining us on what online for the very first time we just want to say welcome it's an honor to have you here and we don't care if this is your first time here you've been here 100 times we don't care what church you came from what your what religion you are or used to be what your background is how good how bad that we believe you belong here that you are here for a reason and we are family amen amen so we have so many good things going around here on around here that that jesus is doing so we want you guys to be a part of that and partner with us and one way to do that is through lh chat whether you want to hear something about the sermon whether you want to hear how to get connected but one of those incredible things coming up we want you guys to hear about katie what do we got going on yes so we got love week happening starting this sunday so october 10th yeah that's right we got five classes i love it five people we have how many of you guys have heard about love week yet how many put a hand up all right love it so basically the heart behind love week is we want to be a light post not a lightning bolt and so we've created these partnerships with schools with non-profits throughout the whole year we've been doing this for a bit but love week is just a time that we launch into our communities to love like jesus and to go with purpose together as a congregation so we would love for you guys to join us we have over 600 slots that we still need filled and i would love to see you guys step up into that where we need you to do it are you signed up for a project i'm not but i will be today okay you need to sign up after come on do it right now you guys pull your phones out hey listen just like katie said we want you guys we don't want you we need you to partner with us to go out and reach the lost and make disciples because god put a commission on our life to reach the laws to make disciples and what not a better way to do that in our own communities not only staying here inside these four walls but be the church outside the church because church we are the church the people and what not a better way to go in our own communities amen so when you leave the sanctuary right out here at the table you guys can sign up you guys can order a t-shirt you guys can be cool like us and hey we're all gonna party together amen all right so before we get started we're going to go into a time of worship then pastor sammy's going to bring the word again this morning and it's going to be an incredible word in the series re but before we get started guys listen to me i'm going to pray us in lord jesus thank you father i thank you for this day that you have made lord that we are going to rejoice we are going to be glad in it and holy spirit i just ask that you would dwell here this morning father that you would change hearts that you would soften hearts you would change minds you would open our ears to receive your word directly from heaven it's in jesus name we pray amen everybody stand with us heaven thunder [Music] [Music] here we go impossible things [Music] defeated jesus is overcome the darkness was the night when the stone was gone unstoppable [Music] [Music] is come on get him up [Music] nothing shall be impossible your kingdom reigns unstoppable i will shout your praise forevermore jesus our god unstoppable nothing shall be impossible your kingdom reigns unstoppable we will shout your nothing shall be impossible your kingdom reigns unstoppable nothing shall be impossible your kingdom reigns unstoppable forever [Music] oh impossible things [Music] be done [Music] [Music] so [Music] treasures and you put me back together with every desire now satisfied hearing your love [Music] nothing is better than you yes i know it's true cause i'm not afraid [Music] [Music] he's [Music] won't find me again [Music] is [Music] is [Music] come on i'm gonna need every voice with [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] dancing glory you're the only one who cares [Music] is [Music] you're the only one [Music] oh there's nothing better than you lord there's nothing better than your lord there's nothing [Music] is nothing [Music] highway you're the only one who cares you're the only one who cares [Music] house this morning hear the praises of your people god be glorified thank you for all you've done thank you for your truth and your goodness lord [Music] [Music] the rain of darkness now has ended [Music] you're the king of my life you're the king of my life [Music] over the universe [Music] just to give us [Music] is [Music] there is [Music] running out of an empty grave now seated alone in glory and thrown on the highest praise come on we sing you sent the darkness to running out of an empty grave [Music] [Applause] [Music] you set the darkness [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] there is [Music] let all of heaven and the earth erupt in song sing hallelujah to the everlasting one there is no higher name it's jesus you reign above it all [Music] amen lord jesus we just i don't want to move from where we are right now [Music] it's in moments like this that i really believe god comes and pierces our heart there's a fertileness about us that you can move too quickly past it miss all that god wants to do in it sometimes i'm afraid that we come into the house of god in the midst of the presence of god we're so regimented that we can actually miss the voice of god isn't it something he desires to speak to us even more and we want to be with him can we sing that song one more time [Applause] we're gonna start this from the top all right [Music] the rain of darkness now has ended in the kingdom of light in the kingdom of light forever you're the king of my life you're the king of my life [Music] [Music] [Music] just to give us [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] now [Music] you sent the darkness running out of an empty in gray and thrown on the highest place [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] it all jesus [Music] sing hallelujah there is jesus [Music] he's good isn't he [Laughter] man he's so good well welcome good morning [Laughter] oh i think moments like that i think that's that's that's a taste of heaven that's a taste of heaven if it's in your mind's eye that heaven's going to be this long eternal worship service well that's pretty accurate and uh and if you think well that that that that seems to be rather boring well then you just haven't been in this presence yet because there is not going to be any shortage of words and adoration when we stand before the king of kings and the lord of lords amen [Applause] and so if you're joining with us for the first time i just want to say welcome yeah we're a bit of a bunch of weirdos but uh we don't make any apologies for it we're so grateful to have you with us whether it's your first time or your 400th time we just want to say welcome i want to welcome those that are watching online i hope that you experience the presence whether in your living room your car your dorm room that we're experiencing in this room and we so love you so grateful to have you part of and so let me bring up the speed real quick on a couple things that are forthcoming that you need to know about this series actually that we've been in will culminate um next weekend with the initiation of what we call around here love week and this year is unprecedented to our calendar because um typically we have love week but it's all together a weekend whereas this year it's love week all week long starting sunday all the way through the following weekend beginning on october the 10th i believe that's a monday is that a monday or is that a sunday sunday it's it's it's my front row is telling me it's just next week okay um but but here's the deal with that i was thinking about this coming in this morning what many of you may not know is that the the reason that lighthouse church is called the lighthouse is because um my father named it that that without consulting in anybody else all right actually when he decided to plant lighthouse church it was on a tuesday night again unbeknownst to anybody else like the pastor that planted this from seven covenant church pastor jack cox he asked is there anybody that feels compelled to plant my old man just raised his hand he was like yeah i'll do it pastor jack was like it's not will you do it do you feel called to do it he was like yeah sure a few months later he planted lighthouse church here we are 21 years later and it's been absolutely miraculous so pastor jack like pop came home he's like hey we're playing the church we're like you and he's like yeah me they're gonna they're gonna send me out and i asked him i said pop what's the name of the church he said we're gonna call it the lighthouse and i remember being now my father was a creative he was not all right and neither did he think through a whole lot of things he just he just i think he saw like a beacon somewhere driving he was like that must be the lord we're gonna call it the lighthouse and i was like pop what what why and he was like i i don't know i just feel like it's it's right and he would go on to have he consulted in somebody that had some bumper stickers made that were like blue and yellow and it would say the lighthouse will keep you off the rocks and my brother and i would be like what like off the crack rock what does that mean pop you serious about that he was like absolutely and and then he got a little indignant and he was like that's what we're calling it we're like all right call it that here we are 21 years later i was driving down the road this morning i was thinking of this isn't it god that that's precisely what this gathering of believers has become we truly are a lighthouse is a light in the darkness it's a radiant ray through the fog and if there is anything that light the this community and this family of believers is it is a bright light in a dark dying depressing world amen we have actually 21 years later we are living up to our god-given name thank god i wasn't involved in naming the church i would have called it something cool like velocity or you know something you know god knew what he was doing and so you asked why do i say that because love week is our way of being a light in the darkness love week is our way of going into the community and telling men and women about the love of jesus whether it's in rehabs or non-profits whether it's in programs that are are encouraging single moms to get back on their feet whether it's programs in the city or in the county we are going there to show them what jesus has done in our life and what he's most certainly can do in theirs and so i want you to sign up we got slots for you if you don't sign up all right well then you're not saved here throw me a shirt um um this is these shirts are available out in the foyer they're they're great they're soft they're they're you want them you want them all right and they're for sale so all proceeds go back into love week katie werner our outreach director has worked feverishly and diligently to put together all the various itinerary that we'll go with next week and it is incredible hear me if we keep the gospel within these four walls and don't let it breach out into our community we're doing it wrong amen we're just doing it wrong the church is here we gather on the weekend so we can scatter throughout the week and tell men and women about the only hope that is secure in his name is jesus buy a shirt buy a shirt be part of love week that starts next week you know you can sign up for various outreaches out in the foyer with that said i am going to pray but before i do that i'm going to read you the portion of scripture that we're going to work from this morning let me just say this about this text week one we dealt with the issue of realize that in order for us to get reconnected with god we first have to determine where we are how far we've drifted where we are in our soul where we are in our joy where we are in our proximity to our maker week two we looked at this idea of repenting it's the bridge to reconnection last week we talked about renewing that ultimately if you're anything like me you go through seasons of life where you get dry and weary and the maker of your soul is the only one that can renew it and this week i want to talk about what i believe is sometimes the most overlooked and undervalued aspect of our walk with jesus and that is the spiritual discipline of remaining of being rooted and planted of not being on again off again in out hot cold in a culture that promotes that over and over jesus wants believers that remain that drop roots that stick to it that walk with him and grow with him and so now this text jesus is speaking to a culture hear me of judaizers and sadducees and pharisees and people that have added layer upon layer upon layer upon layer to the christian walk and jesus is saying you've convoluted it and you've complicated it you've made it so much more that you've actually sucked the life out of it and jesus now is going to speak to the essence of what it means to walk with him he has his disciples there and he uses this aggregate metaphor to paint a picture for them and he says this i am the true grapevine and my father is the gardener he cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit and he prunes the branches that they that do bear fruit so that they will produce even more you have already been pruned and purified by the message that i've given you remain in me and i will remain in you for a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me yes i am the vine and you are the branches those who remain in me and i in them will produce much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch in withers such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned but if you remain in me and my words remain in you you may ask for anything you want and it will be granted when you produce much fruit you are my true disciples this brings great glory to my father i have loved you even as the father has loved me remain in my love heavenly father we we are so grateful this morning that you reign above it all you truly are the everlasting one you rule and reign over every nation and every heart and father you have loved us with an everlasting love you adopted us even knowing the failures within us you are so gracious you are so good you are so long-suffering and you demonstrated your love for us by being nailed to a tree so that we could be reconnected to the father lord jesus teach us how to remain in you so that we can be fruitful for you so that ultimately we can glorify you we pray this in jesus's matchless name and all god's people said amen in this text jesus i believe is once again taking his aim at deconstructing what so many are prone to do with the christian walk this is his crystallizing if you will of what it looks like to walk with him and ultimately demonstrate a life that's rooted in him and some 43 times the apostle john will write not only in his gospel but also in his letters to the new testament church using this word remain what john clearly understood under the inspiration of the holy spirit is that there is this exclusive fruit there is ultimately this this this exclusive blessing that those that remain are able to attain that there is this byproduct of remaining that those that are just fair weather fans will never realize those that are on again off again in out hot cold you know you know weekend warriors at best john wants to be emphatic that there is only one way to reap life and life abundantly in jesus and that is to remain now one of the problems that john will address as will jesus and the other new testament writers is the same problem that we're experiencing this day i could argue that we're seeing this get worse and worse but do know you live in an immense a society that gives no credence to remaining we live in a culture that actually promotes not remaining and so right now on every front and almost every facet you see people changing so this whole idea of stick-to-itiveness or grit or faithfulness or remaining is few and far between and so when it comes to actually um let's just take uh the american workforce right now the american workforce some 70 of those that are employed currently are looking for new occupations new career paths or new jobs uh the average person switches jobs once every five years let's talk residents actually very unlike europe or even asia for that matter in the american society people move on average once every 48 months it used to be that you buy a home and then you pass that home down to your children then your children's children it became generational i'm not even making a slight against this i'm just talking about the cultural thread that we see amidst this that people want to change jobs they want to change occupations they want to change residents they want to change states for a myriad of reasons many of which are right when it comes to parenting adoptions agencies right now are at an all-time high 400 000 children are waiting in foster care right now to be adopted millions are in the adoption system why because moms and dads have decided they don't want to parent any longer pair that against abortion you see that people do not know how to parentally remain they don't want to it's too uncomfortable it's too taxing it's too costly it's two you fill in the blank when it comes to marriages one out of two marriages end in divorce why people don't want to stay together any longer and as year goes by year after year these numbers only creep up giving us a clear picture of faithfulness the tuitiveness or remaining is not valued in the society in which we live now now now this shouldn't come as a surprise to us paul told his young pupil and mentee timothy he he wrote him and he said this you should know this timothy this is in second timothy 3 he said that in the last days it will be very difficult amidst the times people will only love themselves and they'll love money they'll be boastful and proud scoffing at god disobedient to their parents ungrateful they'll consider nothing will be considered sacred he said they'll be unloving and forgiving and not forbearing they will slander others and have no self-control they'll be cruel they'll hate what is good they'll betray their friends they'll be reckless puffed up and pride prideful and love pleasure rather than god aka people will not remain people won't be loyal to one another children won't be loyal to parents parents won't be loyal to kids people will only pursue their own pleasure over what is sacred they won't even consider the sacred nature of god they'll scoff at him and pursue their own wants over him that gives the incredible cocktail of not remaining the key is is that as followers of jesus we can't get caught up as followers of jesus we do not have that off ramp to take we got to learn to remain and so when it comes to this idea of remaining jesus didn't intend for it to be laborious actually what he intended for it to be is blessed full of life full of abundance full of of him operating in us and through us and ultimately what jesus said in john 15 is to remain is ultimately to make your home in me that i become your resting place i become what you're tethered to i become the anchor for your soul i become your life source i want you to live in me i want you to make your home in me this is why jesus i i love how the message eugene peterson he says it this way in the message translation jesus said live in me is that is that do we got that translation up no he said i am the real vine my father is the farmer let's just go ahead and read in its entirety all right we're in church you can read scripture he cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes and every branch that is great bearing he prunes back so that it will bear even more you are already pruned back by the message that i have spoken listen to this live in me make your home in me do we have that trans that's good yeah yeah okay make your home in me just as i do in you in the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself the but only by being joined to the vine you can't bear fruit unless you're joined with me i am the vine you were the branches when you were joined with me and i with you the relation listen to this i love this is intimate and organic intimate and organic notice what he didn't say there it is stiff and mechanical he said it should be intimate you want to be with me and i want to be with you and organic natural like any thriving relationship that you have intimate and organic the harvest is sure to be abundant but separated you can't produce a thing anyone who separates from me is dead wood gathered up thrown into the bonfire but if you make yourself at home with me and my words are at home with you you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon this is how my father shows who he is when you produce grapes when you're mature as my disciples i listen to this i have loved you the way my father has loved me but i have loved you he's talking to these roughneck men 12 in total one's going to leave them and he said to him i have loved you in the same way that my father's loved me they couldn't even palette that that was too much they didn't they didn't even understand that they would when they walked to see saw him walk out of a borrowed tomb this would start to crystallize for him is this legit or is it legit here he goes he says i have loved you the way my father has loved me make yourself at home in my love if you keep my commands you'll remain intimately at home in my love that's what i've done i've kept my father's commands and made myself at home in his love aka remain remain and so when it comes to remaining he's ultimately talking about making him home now let me tell you something about home now i don't know about your upbringing i don't know about how whether functional or dysfunctional your home was but i'm going to argue that i had i had one of the most healthy homes yet still became a strong heroin addict here here here's but what i knew is that the presence of god dwelled in that home and so i would be strung out i would be on vendors i would be away from home i would be in and out of places that were anything but home and i would think at certain times when i was either sick or when i was either scared or whether i was on the running or whatever i would constantly think i need to get home and i knew when i got home i could actually my old man he might beat me into the asphalt all i knew is once he does that it's going to be safe there because he's going to beat me in the asphalt because he loves me and i knew that if i got home i couldn't pull anything over on my mother she would watch me like a hawk oh i mean she would be she she'd be like dialed in like like where you at sammy let me see your eyes you know pick your head up you know all that i get interrogated every time i went home here's what i knew home was safe even though there was discipline there there there could be hell to pay when i got there all i knew is home man home was home and jesus in lake manor is saying i want to be home that when you sin and you break my law when you when you drift away from me you don't keep running from me you run back to me that's the gospel you don't have to be afraid of me you can come home to me there might be there might be some pruning there might be some reproving there might be some rebuking but home is safe for you jesus said make your home in me that's how you're going to learn to remain and ultimately what jesus outlines here is he says that there is this exclusive fruit and this expectation that you can have when you remain in me that those that don't remain in me cannot expect and the first is that jesus says that when you remain in me you are fruitful fruitful now this is fruit that that that surpasses your temperament your personality or what you do in your natural ability this is a fruit that the life source of jesus himself produces through you this is how jesus says it he says yes i am the vine and you are the branches those who remain in me and i in them will produce much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing can i can i can i just tell you something real quick the future version of you and me is absolutely incompatible with the kindergarten garden version of you and me the future version that god sees he saw you while you were being form fit knitted together with your personality and your construct and who he made you to be the future version of you is incompatible with the kindergarten version of you what that means is is that your life was never meant for you to stay the same that in the christian faith he grows you he stretches you he conforms you into the image of his son why so that he can radiate through you and so there is a kindergarten version of us there is a young i mean you know adolescent we're we're we're we think we know it all we we we think well this is just me i'm just being real okay that doesn't impress god okay he wants the real you to be the part that dies within you and he wants to stretch you to make you radiate jesus to a lost and dying world this is why the apostle paul said when i was a child i talked like a child i felt like a child i behaved like a child but when i became a man i put away childish things i had to step into the future version of me you know what that means that means that you make jesus your home it doesn't mean that you strive harder you work harder you you you do more to prove yourself it just means that you root yourself in jesus and you say i'm going to remain and when you do he says it's in that place that i'm going to produce much fruit now have you ever walked by a branch of a tree whether in your yard in the woods and you ever heard the branch going if you did you need rehab but you never hear a branch like striving to be connected to the vine that would be really really weird the tree creates it grows it gives birth to the branch and the branch just stays connected if it's a fruit tree a lemon tree an apple tree or whatever tree and then it just naturally produces fruit what jesus is saying is i don't want you to strive to produce fruit i just want you to stay connected to me and when you do you will produce fruit notice jesus said i'm the fruit producer not the branch the branch just stays connected the concerted effort of the believer jesus is trying to say to his disciples is it isn't do more work harder you know pull yourself up by your fruit shot he just says make your home in me stay close to me be intimate with me organic because jesus said when you're not when you're not you you can't produce anything i don't care how confident you are on yourself i don't feel i don't care how competent you feel in yourself i don't care about your your temperament and your personality that might already look like it produces fruit he says you haven't even accounted for the fruit that i want to produce in you but i do promise you this jesus said apart from me you being disconnected from me you can produce nothing it's sort of like this if i were to take this this this and and and disconnect it it'll look like this and we worked long and hard on that long and hard on that i need an applause for those guys in the back all right john you were right on key babe killed it so you cut the current you cut all the lights that come with it you cut the branch from the vine you sever all the fruit the branch can produce very simple i don't really need to even say it again but when you attach the vine to the branch it looks like this johnny [Applause] i was going to do it twice but hey we're biting 100 i'm not even trying the reality is is that jesus says that in me you're you're going to produce fruit now you ask what are you okay okay let's let's not keep with the metaphor of fruit what is fruit fruit is exactly what the apostle paul spoke to the church of galatia when he said this but the holy spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control can i just ask you a question for those of us that would be willing to be honest right now i don't need to show a hand but how many of you would say that you are unloving in in in your daily activity okay all right i don't need your hands okay but hey all right tell true shame the devil who knows you guys how many of you would say that you have um uh an overtone of being depressed often how many of you would say that you have worries that consume you daily perpetually how many of you would say that you're impatient amen that's all all the parents oh the parents okay rude rude just just just rude all right mean mugging all right you're not one of the nice people in walmart you are you are the people of walmart all right all right how many of you would say that you have a habitual sin that you haven't overcome how many of you would say that you're self-indulgent that you seek pleasure over okay so here's the deal so here's the deal that's that's the common fruit that the unconnected produce that's us that's us outside the vine but then connected to the vine jesus says hey this is what i'll replace those fruits with love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control i'll produce rotten fruit with healthy fruit when you hear me hear me when you remain not when you just go to church on the weekends don't pick up my word throughout the week and and are a little sporadic and that that that's that's a westernized christianity hear me remaining is to be intimate and organic it's to make your home in jesus i i have seen this i've been in the church long enough to see men come meet jesus i mean rough men and rough women all right all right glenn bernie men and women come on come on i have seen them meet jesus and before my very eyes my mom and dad used to have men and women i mean pull up big old harleys you know pull up out in front of our house come walking in i mean just smoke billowing off of them you know shotgun and cigarettes yo you know come in and in front of my very eyes watch these men and women turn into fruit trees that doesn't sound manly and don't say that about me but hear me i would watch them be the most loving isn't that incred right mom i mean i mean these men and women just just why because they they made jesus their home loving joyful peace patience kindness goodness i mean they radiated jesus how because they made jesus their home jesus says this that when you remain in me you're going to be fruitful but apart from me you're not even if you think you are that's not what i'm looking for out of you number two he says you can also expect to be pruned you can also expect to be pruned do know this there is something within you and i that we will try anything and everything to avoid being pruned this is this is not like like nobody signs up like amen prune me for me listen to what jesus says he says he cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit and and huge he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so that they will even they will produce even more and then jesus says this you have already been pruned and purified by the message that i have given you can i tell you something the minute that you sir you hear the gospel for the first time for some of you the the first time that you came in and you heard the message of jesus the forgiveness of jesus the atonement of jesus that washed away your past present and future sins the eternity secure in jesus something at that moment and you laid hold of it by faith by faith you said i believe that i'm with that i'm committing my life to that at that moment something was pruned out of you and your old nature was severed there was times there was times when i i got saved when i was young i walked with jesus man i remember the day i took my my my mom by her hand she led me in a prayer i remember i felt a sensation i was 12 years old couldn't wipe the smile off my face i met jesus there wasn't a soul that i came in contact with that i wouldn't tell about jesus but as me being a sinner and prideful and and egotistical i went my own way that almost led me to death and i remember sitting at times in in apartments where i was sitting there and the hound of heaven this jesus that i had committed my life to was the same jesus that would not let me check out it would not let me let me disregard him he nagged my soul and there was times that i would sit and and where where drugs and all kinds and i would think to myself i wish i never met you because you won't leave me alone you keep hounding me you keep keeping me from joy i just want to check out i want to get into my own world of sin but he was there going this is not for you and ultimately he made my soul tormented because he was not letting go of me why because the day that i gave my life to him he pruned something out of me what he pruned was i was no longer spiritually blind i knew too much so i couldn't live like there was no god i had to wrestle with god and wouldn't you know he wrestled me right back into the kingdom to where he saved my soul again [Applause] some of you your inconsistencies the reason that your soul's tormented and you feel like man this whole on-again off-again thing is for the birds why because when you gave your life to jesus he cut something out of you you'll never be the same and you'll never be free until you surrender your life to jesus he purified you he put his holy spirit in you and he will nag you all the way into heaven until you let go and say lord take your rightful place on the throne of my heart i am done however he doesn't stop pruning there he starts pruning more and more don't you know wouldn't you know a vine dresser i was ruth and i were just out in um in san diego and we were staying at this place where beneath this valley was this huge vineyard a vine dresser at the birth of the vineyard once all the seeds take place and the vines begin to grow he cuts it back 90 percent 90 percent of the vine he cuts it back why so that it's almost a catalyst to greater growth know this when you meet jesus he starts pruning he starts pruning relationships out of your life i've seen this he starts pruning habits out of your life things that you used to be comfortable in he'll just start to prune away he'll he'll begin to for some he's pruned occupations out of their life why because the places in which they were planted was toxic to them and was stunt their growth at times i've seen god prune money out of people's lives i don't i don't i don't want that i don't like that pruning but he's pruned money out of people's lives why so that they would grow in greater dependence on him know this about pruning pruning is uncomfortable and there's something about pruning that'll make you go i don't want to remain any longer i want to this is this is not fun can i tell you something he wants to prune you so that he can produce greater fruit in and through you that those that remain he makes fruitful those that remain he prunes and then lastly lastly those that remain can expect to be tempted you can expect for those that decide i'm going to remain and make jesus my home it's in that place that the tempter comes on like the roaring lion that he is why because the devil doesn't have to destroy you if he can simply distract you if he can get you up and out of remaining to where he just sidelines you to get you inconsistent then he doesn't have to worry about the fruit that's produced through you this is why he comes after you if you were to ask me sammy what is it what are the keys to remaining i want to make this very simple make no mistake there is nobody that you see that is either fruitful that is either exemplary that is a seasoned believer that you could look at and go man there's something there's something special about them that they're able to do it and consistently stay with it there's something really special about them they got a special anointing they got a special favor of god on them there's a special they're just more spiritual no no those that you see that are exemplary those that bear a lot of fruit and those that ultimately radiate jesus they're just people that chose to remain and those are people that know that the tempter's going to come to try anything and everything to keep me from remaining can i tell you there's many a times as i told you at the start of this series that i think i you know on a saturday i don't know if i have the passion for tomorrow i don't even have the want at times to get up here it's not like man sammy he's always happy always joyful always that's my that's not the truth but the truth is is that when i surrendered my life to jesus my heart's cry was lord i want to remain come hell high water come dry season or drought come whatever i don't want to be a fair weather fan i want to make my home in you you do all the heavy lifting i'm simply going to make the choice and you keep me close to yourself this is why scripture says that god both works to will and to do his good pleasure one of the things about remaining remaining will ultimately change your desires it'll change and make your heart burn for what god's heart burns for you don't have to think it through real hard you just need to make your home in him he'll start to change your desires your wants your aspirations and your willingness he's the one that does all that and so this is why psalm 1 1 psalm 1 133 says oh the joy of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or stand around with sinners or join in with mockers but they delight in the law of the lord meditating on it day and night they they are like trees planted along the riverbank bearing fruit in each season their leaves never never wither and they prosper in all they do what is it about that tree that causes it to be so fruitful it remains it's made its home in jesus how do you make your home in jesus very simple you devour his word you read it and you memorize it and you study it and then you read it again and you listen to his words as if he's speaking them over you this isn't some antiquated ancient folklore this is the words of the king of heaven to his creation that he wants to nourish and and infuse life into this is why scripture says this is words of life living in active sharper than any two-edged sword divides soul and spirit cuts and even shows the motives of the heart it's not just another book it's the words of the king of heaven that we sing about and that we raise hands to and we pray prayers too this is his word back to us you gotta be in it but second you gotta talk to him intimate and organic means that you're talking to your creator if i cease talking to ruth today until mid-december and you came and asked her do you and sammy got a healthy relationship and she said yes i'd have to put her into rehab because intimate and organic means that you're talking one of the greatest litmus tests of whether or not you're making your home in jesus is how often you talk to him i don't want to talk about sometimes we take prayer and we do series on prayer and we talk about all the intricacies of prayer you know what we can even do we can even make prayer weird prayer just means that we talk to god we talk daily and unceasingly and think about him and talk to him and wait for him to respond to us there's not mechanics to it everybody had to teach me to talk to my father to talk to my mother i just figured that out why because inherently and intrinsically it was in me to be vocal with them same way with you i can tell if your relationship if you've made your home in him if you are intimate and organic by how much you talk to him and he wants to hear from you and then lastly how much do you love the family of god the people of god isn't it incredible how every saturday night and sunday morning the tempter comes to try to keep you from coming here because he doesn't want you to remain isn't it something how the tempter comes all the time when you think i'm just going to talk to god and he distracts you to think about something else and isn't it incredible how often the tempter comes when you think i'm going to read the word of god and then you got your phone right there and you think i'm just going to scroll make no mistake the devil doesn't have to destroy you if he can simply distract you and he wants to distract you to keep you from remaining would you stand with me intimate and organic how do we get connected to god we realize where we are we repent from where we've been we find renewal for our soul and then we decide lord i'm going to remain in you keep me at home your proclivity and mine is the same it's going to be to drift it's going to be to get distracted it's going to be to be on again off again make a decision in your heart lord i'm going to remain in you i want to be fruitful i want you to prune me and i want you to help me resist the tempter jesus we love you but we love you father because you first loved us we want to remain in your love heavenly father i pray lord jesus that our relationship with you would be described as intimate and organic that father all the nourishment that we're looking for is found in you the giver of life help us jesus to walk in it for your glory and for our joy in your matchless name we pray amen [Music] whoever may be formed but it won't prosper [Music] when the darkness falls and won't breathe cause the goddess of knows only how to triumph my god will never fail [Music] oh my god will never fail [Music] [Music] belongs to [Music] this power in the mighty [Music] no i'm not backing down from any child cause i know how this story is yes i know how this story is [Music] victory [Music] [Music] i'm victory [Music] you take what the enemy meant for evil and you turned [Music] [Music] [Music] you turn in for good [Music] [Music] [Music] you i'm gonna see a victory come on for the paddle belongs to you lord i'm gonna see a victory i'm gonna see a victory for the battle belongs to you lord i'm gonna see your victory [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] working wow [Applause] [Music] amen amen how many of us in here need to start remaining huh see i i think many of us in here are remaining but we're remaining in the wrong things and it's not producing any fruit or it's producing bad fruit because who knows that we can produce some bad fruit but when we remain in the true vine that being jesus scripture says we will bear much fruit see apart from him church we can do absolutely nothing what does that mean that we have to depend on him to draw close to him to have that intimate organic relationship see we do that so we can produce fruit so others can enjoy the fruit that the lord is producing through us so they could experience jesus as well and that's why we have these things like love week that we want you guys to sign up for and partner with us because there is a lost and dying world out there right now that needs to see some good fruit and that fruit is here in this room amen so we have 600 spots to fill by next week and there's more than 600 people in here so we got it almost all the way covered just in this service so before you guys go out please partner with us sign up and let's show jesus to this lost and dying world amen so before you guys leave here we're going to have men and women up front on our prayer team that would love to pray with you but before we get out of here let's pray lord jesus thank you for today lord thank you that that we can remain that we get to remain in you holy spirit i just asked as we leave here father you would just work in and through us to reach this lost and dying world we give you the glory in jesus name amen message for us to prayerfully incorporate into our lives brit you brought a friend with you here we go one of my favorite people we've got jesse freeman who's our worship director man as we saw this morning worship is just an incredible way for us to connect to jesus and for him to speak to us and for us to just praise and worship him and we actually have something special coming up next sunday october 10th so instead of me talking about it i try to get on the worship team guys i'm going to tell on myself and jesse so graciously yeah we're still working on it we're still working on it work in progress but hey could you tell us a little bit about our native worship next sunday yeah absolutely so um really just as we're preparing for this series and uh this whole series through uh through re we just knew that we wanted to end it with with um an opportunity as the whole thing's about connecting with one another connecting with your community but more importantly connecting with god yeah we wanted to provide an opportunity for us to gather together as a church and um to just connect with jesus and um we believe that there's power in his presence as we talked about this today um this power in the presence of god and um we we uh just we know that his word says where two or more gathered there i am with them amen and so as we gather together as a family to worship we just know that there's power in his presence and we want to worship him and we also know that he is worthy that he's worthy of our worship and um and so we just want to provide an opportunity for it to gather together as a family to spend time in his presence to dwell with him and so if you're looking to just worship jesus if you're looking to get to know him more to spend time in his presence we just encourage you to come out next sunday the the 10th at six o'clock we're also gonna be streaming it online so you can watch it online if you can't attend in person yeah but um yeah we're really looking forward to it yeah super excited too because it's not just about when you're here in the building you can worship jesus anywhere so maybe you want to have a watch party maybe this is a great opportunity to invite some people over who may not come to church but maybe they'll come to a worship night so next sunday we cannot wait i got a sneak peek at the set list you guys aren't going to want to miss it it's super powerful you pray over it yeah yeah we've been fasting and praying and we're of work we're really expecting god to move in about amen amen and we believe that hey we're he's investing in us and we truly believe the best is yet to come amen amen this is our first night of worship that we are streaming so lh online get in on this one next sunday night can't wait to be with you before we head out just want to say thank you to everyone who continues to give to lighthouse we can do stuff like this because we're empowered by our community amen to worship the name of jesus proclaim the name of jesus in person online everywhere so thank you again we love you guys and we'll see you next week you

Channel: Lighthouse Church

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Id: QOJi2hGY3jQ

Length: 89min 37sec (5377 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 03 2021