Vine, Branches, Vineyard!

For Sunday, November 9, 2025:

John 15:1 NLT, Jesus speaking: “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.”

Jesus is teaching people who have tended vineyards, who know more than a wee bit about growing grapes. So it makes sense that he’d use an agricultural analogy as his example.

The Father is the gardener. He not only planted this vineyard, but he cares for it deeply and watches over it constantly. In fact, he planted his Son in the midst of everything!

Believers are the fruit of the Son’s mission. As long as believers are connected to the Son, the vine, they will thrive. But if severed, a lake of fire lies in their future. Total destruction!

Christians do their best to stay connected. We’re advised to join a local church, a community of like-minded believers. We’re told to study our Bibles daily. Belong to a small group. Hang out with like-minded people. Believers love the Lord and love their neighbors without fail. It’s an all-in, 24/7 commitment.

God knew that mankind would do better as a group, where we could lean on one another, where we could be accountable to one another. Satan’s temptations still haunt us, but God said that we won’t be tempted beyond our ability to resist.

As followers of Jesus, we have become children of God. So our religion has now become family business!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Holy Spirit!

For Tuesday, June 3, 2025:

Acts 2:4 NLT: “Everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.”

On the Day of Pentecost, the believers were all together in one place. A sound like wind filled the room, but the Bible doesn’t say it got windy – just the sound! Flames which looked like little lapping tongues of fire floated down, settling on each of them. God had big plans for this day, and in preparation was filling the faithful with the Holy Spirit. This was so important that God was making a show of it!

Not that believers hadn’t previously known the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had been around since before creation. Genesis 1:2 “The Spirit of the Lord hovered over the waters of creation!” Forgive my crude analogy: The Holy Spirit is like the battery in my laptop. I plug it in for a recharge every night. If I don’t, it won’t be ready to go the next time I need it! Aid from the Holy Spirit is available to all believers, but we must top off our Holy Spirit tanks for tomorrow’s adventure! We must stay connected!

Christians believe in a triune God, one God who has made himself known to us in three different forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father sits on heaven’s throne, Jesus walked on earth alongside mankind, while the Holy Spirit is our advocate, encourager and helper until Jesus returns. The Bible says that without the Holy Spirit we can accomplish nothing, but with the Holy Spirit we can accomplish anything! As Jesus sends us out to heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead, it’s obvious that we’ll need a heavenly helper.

Not only were believers’ tongues touched to speak in other languages, but their ears were touched as well. Instantly, they could clearly understand languages unknown to Israelites. This would be valuable as this Day of Pentecost unfolds! It’s about outreach and evangelism, about sharing the Good News with others. It’s about doing those things that Jesus commissioned us all to do! Are you “in?”

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship

Grow the Kingdom!

For Tuesday, April 8, 2025:

John 15:5 NIV, Jesus speaking: “I am the vine; 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.”

Jesus continues his urgent last-minute teaching as he prepares to go to the cross. He wants current believers to be locked in, so that they won’t forget about him and drift away. Historically, that has been the Israelite’s trend. God is good to them, everything’s going OK, and then they say, “Thanks, God, but I can take it from here!” And God gets put on the back burner. Jesus expects better than that from his followers.

2K years ago, the economy of Israel was largely agricultural. Therefore Jesus uses an agricultural metaphor to make his point, something everyone at that time would understand. A grapevine is a large stem that grows from the ground. It sprouts smaller branches that actually produce the grapes. That branch must remain connected to the vine to produce fruit. By the way, if it no longer produces fruit, it must be pruned from the vine so as not to waste resources.

God gave Moses commandments on Mt. Sinai and on the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Apart from that, Jesus is our only source of heavenly teaching. So he tells us to remain connected to his words which are now immortalized in our Bibles. Tell everyone and teach truth to newcomers. Remain connected to other believers and to the Church. Stay true to the source so you’re not pruned from the vine.

Apart from Jesus, we can accomplish nothing beneficial to the Kingdom. But with Jesus, each of us can accomplish great things!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus In the City Fellowship