I AM: The True Vine

Easter 2021 | John 15:1-11 | Ryan Falls, Senior Pastor

I. The longing for growth

• Is a longing to be remembered
  • By becoming a person of integrity and wholeness
  • By achieving significance through accomplishment
  • By being loved through deep connection
• The two trees
  • The Tree of Life – growth with God
    • Genesis 2:8-9
    • Proverbs 3:18
    • Proverbs 11:30
    • Revelation 22:1-2
  • The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – growth on our own
    • Genesis 3:22-24

II.The method of growth

• Organic
  • Internal
  • Natural
  • Connected
• Seasonal
• Inevitable

III. The possibility of growth

• Jesus went to the tree we chose so that we could become connected to the one we need
  • He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
  • Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13)
  • You are remembered. Live a life of remembrance.

“Now I have had most of the life I am going to have, and I can see what it has been. I can remember those early years when it seemed to me I was cut completely adrift, and times when, looking back at earlier times, it seemed I had been wandering in the dark woods of error. But now it looks to me as though I was following a path that was laid out for me, unbroken, and maybe even as straight as possible, from one end to the other, and I have this feeling, which never leaves me anymore, that I have been led.”

–Wendell Berry

Discussion Questions:

• What stood out to you from the passage or message?
• How do you see growth happening in your life right now?
• What is your takeaway for this week?