Canoeing the Mountains Week 6: John 15:1-17

REVIEW> 1) When everything is changing the call of Jesus remains the same, Follow me. 2) The love of Jesus leads me to follow Jesus. 3) Follow Jesus require faith. 4) Who you follow Jesus with determines how far you will follow Jesus. 5) Resolving conflict is the responsibility of every Christian.

INTRO> By far the saddest thing about the great expedition of Lewis and Clark is not the failures that they experienced on the journey but it is the tragic life of Merriweather Lewis’s life AFTER the great expedition. Jefferson made him governor of Louisiana, he was an American hero but as one author says, “He came back and he just could not readjust. On the mission it was ‘how do we stay alive and collect information?’ Then suddenly you’re heroes. There’s a certain amount of stress to reentering the world. It was like coming back from the moon. “At the end of his life he was a horrible drunk, terribly depressed, who could never even finish his [expedition] journals.” In the early hours of October 11th, 1809 Merriweather Lewis at the age of 35 shot himself while staying at a boarding house. Why?

He learned to live for the extraordinary adventure but not in the ordinary day to day.

APP> I feel as though the same could be true for us as Christians, yes? We sometimes put such an emphasis on “getting someone to heaven” (which is massively important) that we don’t teach them how to live everyday, in the ordinary, the Monday, the everyday.

CONTEXT> The Context in Chapter 15 is in the context of Chapters 13-17, it’s the last night of Jesus’ earthly life. He is speaking to his disciples and telling them the main things that they need to know when he goes away, that no matter what happens, they can trust him, rely on the Holy Spirit and do these things. And he uses this word: ABIDE John uses this word over 60x and uses it 36 times in his Gospel. It’s the word the summarize what it is to be a Christian.

*ILL> Courtnee drinking tea. She let’s the bad steep and stays in, the longer it stay in the stronger it gets! But me, I dip the bag in and out…. Is that like yourself? dipping in and out of church?

Big Idea > No matter what happens along the way, Abide in Jesus everyday.

APP> The lingering question is…. how? Well… there is a lot in this passage but I want to focus on two things, crucial things. Jesus actually says that it’s as crucial as breathing and they are both found in verse 7 1) Breathing in the word of God through scripture 2) Breathing out our words to God in prayer.

1. Breathing in the Word of God through scripture.

• • • • “If you abide in me and my words abide in you…” The word that Jesus uses here for “word” is the entirety of his teachings. I believe Jesus also shows us 5 things that his word does to us:

1. 1. 1. 1. The word cleanses me. v3
         2. The word creates fruit in me. v8
         3. The word communicates God’s love to me. v9
         4. The word compels me to obedience. v10
         5. The word connects me to joy. v11

APP> Now that is a massively compelling list isn’t it, so what is the problem? Is it that “how to?” Maybe. We are resource for that, Bible Reading plans, Study helps… all that stuff. but I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s because we forget the gospel… *White board.. “Jesus wants me to change..” Wrong! “Jesus wants to change me!”

APP> Reading God’s word is not primary about what you are to do for God, reading God’s word is a reminder of what God has done for you!

2) Breathing out our words to God in prayer.

• • • • “ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you…” Jesus here is speaking about prayer. He says that God’s words to us, develop something in us.
      • Keeping with what Jesus is saying here about Abiding in him, I don’t think when it comes to prayer, Jesus is thinking a “quiet time” …*Remember our tea illustration? The dipping in and out verses the steeping and soaking.

APP> Prayer isn’t natural, it’s hard. That why the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray. Tim Keller writes this in his book on prayer, “ “We would never produce the full range of biblical prayer if we were initiating prayer according to our own inner needs and psychology. It can only be produced if we are responding in prayer according to who God is as revealed in the Scripture. . . . Some prayers in the Bible are like an intimate conversation with a friend, others like an appeal to a great monarch, and others approximate a wrestling match. . . . We must not decide how to pray based on what types of prayer are the most effective for producing the experiences and feelings we want. We pray in response to God himself.” Tim Keller, Prayer, page 60

APP> The goal of prayer is not asking things of God, the goal of prayer is intimacy with God.

Daily Rhythms of Prayer:

• • • Daily Prayer App (Pictures)
    • Centering yourself in prayer (silence)
    • The Lord’s Prayer

Big Idea > No matter what happens along the way, Abide in Jesus everyday.

APP> Covid Exposed these lack of rhythms.