Life in the Vine | Week 1 | Life in the Vine | Pastor Adam Barnett
MESSAGE NOTES
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September 7, 2025
Life in the Vine
Teacher: Pastor Adam Barnett
John 15:1-17 – Remain in Christ, the true Vine, the source of purposeful fruit and true joy, and the means by which the love of God is embodied in the church and declared to the world.
John 15:1-17… 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 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. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 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.
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.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 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. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. - John 15:1
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! - Philippians 2:6-8
“With the words, ‘I Am,’ Jesus presents himself as the object of the world’s desires and longing… that he is the ‘true vine’ means that the true life that man seeks and longs for can only be found in association with Jesus.” – R. Bultmann
Remaining in Christ begins with acknowledging and remembering that He – and no other person or thing - is our true source of life and spiritual growth.
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” – St. Augustine
Leader: Lord Jesus, You are the true vine, and we are the branches. People: Keep us rooted in You, for apart from You we can do nothing.
Leader: Father, You are the gardener who prunes us with care. People: Cut away what is fruitless, and shape us for Your glory.
Leader: Spirit of God, nourish us with Your life and power. People: Teach us to remain, to rest, and to trust in Christ.
Leader: May our joy be found not in striving, but in staying with You. People: In abiding love, we remain in Christ. Amen.