Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City
Sermon John 15:1-8 Engage,
Engaging Your Story[1]
June 21, 2015
This
morning we will continue with our study of evangelism. We heard last week that the world around us,
here in North America and Europe is changing.
No longer is the church in a privileged position. No longer is it possible to bring people to
Christ simply with a building and a sign. No longer can we just pass out tracts
on the boardwalk, or fliers in front of a supermarket and expect our church to
grow.
The reason for this is that we have moved into
a post Christian, Postmodern world.
People no longer trust institutions.
People no longer accept authority and truth claims. People no longer trust the church thinking
that we try to coerce people into believing what we believe and obeying our
ethical code. And so the old ways of bringing people to faith no longer work
and we must change.
The way we
will change is by having Christians share their stories of faith. This is easy.
We all love to talk about ourselves.
We do this all the time. What we
now must do is talk about what God has done in our lives. I know this is a little more difficult. But there are ways of doing this that aren't
so bad. And we will be looking at one
way that worked for me. We will get to
this, but first let's pray.
May the
words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight
O Lord, our rock and redeemer.
Shortly
before his death on a cross Jesus gathered his disciples together and told them
that he would be leaving them. As you
might expect they were very concerned about what was happening to Jesus and
what would happen to themselves. So
Jesus assured them that he would send his Holy Spirit to guide them and strengthen
them and comfort them once he was gone.
Then Jesus made a surprising claim.
He said that even though he would leave in some sense he would remain in
them and they in him. This would be
accomplished through his love and through his word. Let's listen to what Jesus said.
John 15:1-8 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[a] 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.
Jesus
has told us that the church is like a vine.
Each one of us is a branch on that fine and our role is to produce
fruit. The fruit Jesus is talking about
consists of people we bring to faith in Jesus Christ. God, the gardener, will prune back any
branches that are not producing fruit.
Therefore if we want to continue to be part of the vine we must produce
the fruit of new disciples of Jesus Christ.
We do this by bringing people to Jesus by telling them the stories of
how we have experienced God's love through our relationship with Jesus.
Before
you can share your story about your relationship with Jesus you must have a
story to share. Sadly many people in
church do not have a story to share because they don't have a relationship with
Jesus. And without a relationship with
Jesus there is no story to tell. Many
people come to church to see their friends, or listen to music, or find helpful
advise in the preaching. There is
nothing wrong with any of this, but coming to church should be much much
more. We should come to church to form a
close relationship with Jesus Christ.
When
you come to church you are coming not to a concert or a social club. Rather you are coming to be in the presence
of God. That is what worship is all
about. Normally this would be a very
frightening thing. But with Jesus here
and our forgiveness guaranteed our fear goes away and our praises take center
stage. Jesus wants us to come into his
presence every Sunday morning. But this
is just the start. He has told us that
we are to remain in him throughout the week.
How should we do this? Let me
tell you my story.
About
20 years ago my church in Washington DC published a prayer book for the
congregation to use. This book had
scripture, prayers, all the Psalms, and a list of daily Bible readings called
the Daily Lectionary. I was curious about this lectionary so I looked into it
and found that Christians all over the world were using it. Millions of people were reading the same
Bible passages every day. So I decided
to read them each day too. I had a small
desk in my bedroom. On that desk I put
the Prayer Book and my Bible. Every
morning I would read the selection from the Psalms, the Old Testament, the New
Testament and the Gospel. Then I would
say a prayer and go to work.
As
I followed this daily practice, my life completely changed. I hadn't been in a Sunday School class since
I was a kid. Suddenly I was there every
Sunday morning. I never went back to
church during the week. Suddenly I was
at church every Wednesday night for Bible study. I became a leader in the singles groups, and
was trained as a Bible teacher.
Eventually I went to seminary and became a Teaching Elder in the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) All of this
happened because I developed a relationship with Jesus by reading and
meditating on scripture every day.
Grace
and I have our own practice of daily prayer and meditation on scripture. We come into this sanctuary every day,
Monday-Friday to read scripture. We read
responsively two chapters of the New Testament and three chapters of the Old
Testament every morning. Then we pray
for the church.
This
is my story which I just shared with you of how I developed a relationship with
Jesus Christ through daily devotions.
This gave me a story to share with others. Now you need a story you can share with
others. So you need a habit of daily devotions.
Let me give you a simple way to do this.
Please open your bulletins and turn to the side with the picture of the
church. In the bottom left corner you
will see the Daily Lectionary. This is
the daily list of Bible verses you can read each day to remain in Christ
throughout the week. These are the same
readings which were so influential in my life.
I urge you to read them every day.
I know that some of you do read these because I have been getting some
questions about the daily readings.
Now,
look right above the Daily Lectionary.
There you will see the prayer concerns of the church. Grace and I pray for the people on this list
every day. You should do the same. Right after you read the daily scripture
verses, pray for the church and for your friends and family. By reading God's word and praying for the
church every day you remain in Christ throughout the week. And you will develop your story of your
relationship with Jesus Christ which you can share with those who have yet to
meet him.
Please
turn over your bulletin and I will show you some other things you can do in
your daily devotions. On the left panel
you will see a prayer of confession. Use
this prayer to confess your guilt for anything you may have done and are sorry
for. Say this prayer each day as a
reminder of the forgiveness your are offered in Jesus Christ. In the middle panel you will see a prayer of
illumination. Say this prayer if you
have trouble understanding the daily Bible readings. With this prayer you will ask the Holy Spirit
to help you understand what you are reading.
And on the right panel you will see the Lord's prayer. This is the prayer Jesus gave us for daily
use.
Here
is one way to do this each day: confess
your sin, pray for illumination, read the Daily Lectionary in your Bibles, pray
for the church and others, and conclude with the Lord's prayer. Do this every day, and you will find yourself
coming closer to God, and forming a relationship with his Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ.
So
you have heard my story and the way I came closer to Jesus. You are welcome to try my way. There are other ways of doing this too. What is crucial is that you pray and meditate
on scripture every day as a way of developing a relationship with Jesus
Christ. Once you have developed this
relationship then you will be equipped with a story that you can share with
others.
According
to Jesus, if we abide in him through daily prayer and meditation on his word we
will grow as his disciples. As we grow
in discipleship, we experience God's love for us. As we share God's love and God's word with others
by what we say and what we do, we become evangelists. Sharing our story of God's love for us is our
mission as church. It is the fruit of
our discipleship. And it glorifies God.
Jesus'
disciples heard what he had to say at dinner.
Then they experienced his death and lost all hope. But Jesus kept his promise. Through the Holy Spirit, scripture and
prayer, Jesus continues to be with us and through him we experience God's great
love for us. This is good news. Do you know anyone who needs to hear some
good news today? Is there anyone who
could benefit from knowing God loves them?
Is there anyone who could experience positive transformation by
experiencing Christ through daily meditation on scripture and daily
prayer? If so I urge you to glorify God
by sharing this good news with people who need to hear it.
Today
during our fellowship time at 11 we will once again gather in small
groups. In these groups I would like for
you to share your thoughts and concerns about having a deeper relationship with
God. Is it easy or hard to believe that
God really loves you and wants to be in a relationship with you? Talk about ways you have experienced God's
love in your lives, and how God's love has changed you. And consider how people you know in the community
could benefit from knowing that they too are loved by God.
Let's
pray. Father in heaven we thank you for
nourishing us as a branch on Jesus, the vine.
Help us to develop a closer relationship with Jesus through daily
spiritual practices. Help us to produce
fruit by sharing your love and our story with others. This we pray in your son's name. Amen.
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