The Vine and the Branches: Unpacking the Necessity of Discomfort in Spiritual Growth

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Good morning church.
[00:04:59] It is good to see y'all this morning and worship.
[00:05:02] It is always good to be together in God's house and we are glad that you are all here.
[00:05:07] If you are visiting with us for the first time or maybe been here a few times, my name is Pastor Joy Ruth, this is Pastor Wes, and we are the senior co-pastors here at Williamson's Chapel.
[00:05:18] Welcome to those of you who are worshiping with us online, we're so glad that you're here as well.
[00:05:23] We are in a season here in the season of Epiphany where we are inviting everybody to think about your pathway of discipleship and what does it mean to walk faithfully with Jesus and how do you take just one step at a time to grow deeper into your life with Jesus.
[00:05:41] The work of the church is not just to tell you that you should do that but to help you to know how and our hope is that we're going to be equipping you
[00:05:50] To think about those next faithful steps that God's calling you to take and to help you have the tools you need to take that one faithful step at a time.
[00:05:59] So as we come to worship today thinking about our next faithful steps, we come with gratitude for what God has already done in us and looking forward to what God is going to be doing in us as His children.
[00:06:12] So I'm going to invite you to take a deep breath in, to breathe it out,
[00:06:18] Let yourself be present here in worship.
[00:06:20] Deep breath in and out.
[00:06:26] And let's be ready for worship.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Will you stand for the call to worship?
[00:06:35] We are rooted in the vine of Christ.
[00:06:40] We come because we seek to abide in Christ.
[00:06:44] The branches that remain in the vine bear much fruit.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
We come because we long to be spiritually vibrant, alive, productive.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
If we abide in Christ, then Christ's words will abide in us.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
We come because we strive to be faithful disciples.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
We gather for worship now to the glory of the one God, Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
May we grow wildly as God turns us lovingly.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Our opening hymn, Love Divine, All Love's Excelling.
[00:07:18] This hymn is sometimes known as one of Charles Wesley, one of the original Methodists.
[00:07:26] It's one of his finest works, many would say.
[00:07:29] And I love this hymn, and I love for us to start with it.
[00:07:34] I know that Pastor Wes really loves this hymn.
[00:07:37] This is a prayer to the incarnated Christ, a prayer for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and we ask that we'll never be separated from the love of God in Christ, who works in us and through us until our time on earth ends.
[00:07:54] is done.
[00:07:56] Wesley's fourth stanza, this line, Pure and spotless let us be.
[00:08:01] That is how we start our service today, reflecting on what is our next step.
[00:08:07] We can't just snap our fingers and be pure and spotless, but as we move closer to Christ.
[00:08:13] That is our prayer.
[00:08:14] I invite you to sing with me, Love Divine, All Love's Excelling, 384 in your hymnal.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Piano Concerto

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
of Christ Jesus Christ.
[00:09:44] of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:10:50] The Gospel of the Apostles

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
As we come before God, we also must first confess.
[00:11:50] I invite you into prayer with me.
[00:11:53] We live fractured lives, and God seeks not to punish us for those fault and fault lines, but to reconcile and restore us.
[00:12:01] Trusting in God's grace and mercy, let us then make our confession together, and first in silent prayer.
[00:12:08] Pray your own prayer in silence now.
[00:12:18] Join with me in our prayer for confession.
[00:12:21] Loving God, help us.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
When we have run away, when we have turned our backs on love, when we have sought immediate satisfaction and not long-term healing, help us.
[00:12:36] Merciful God, forgive us.
[00:12:38] When we have been selfish, when we have been mean, when we have closed our ears
[00:12:52] When we are so broken we cannot move, when we don't know how to stand the bleeding of our wounds, when we are too ashamed to seek community, heal us.
[00:13:05] Give us the courage, the strength, and the hope to accept your grace and hear your call in Christ.
[00:13:15] Amen.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
of the Father and to the Son and to the Son

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
It is always a privilege and an opportunity to greet our neighbors and to share the love of Jesus with one another.
[00:14:32] And Wes was supposed to take a picture of it.
[00:14:35] I don't know that he did.
[00:14:36] Did you all have, if you had at your house, a growth chart on the wall when you were growing up?
[00:14:43] I loved ours.
[00:14:44] I was at my grandmother's house last weekend and you can still see on the wall where she had marked my height in 1986.
[00:14:51] I was as tall as I am right now.
[00:14:54] Wes and I would not have been together.
[00:14:57] That would have been bad.
[00:14:58] When you hear the rest of his sermon, you'll appreciate that.
[00:15:01] At 12 years old, I was absolutely 5'8", and then I stopped.
[00:15:05] So, I want you to turn to your neighbor, greet them with the peace of Christ, and just share one story from your childhood that brings you encouragement, that just lights you up.
[00:15:15] So, one person or one story from your childhood.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
I was just telling somebody yesterday that I used to be a little high up to walk around parents' houses and they would go to these public places in the area, but they were like consistently, you know, you know, she took it and it was just a concern for the time she couldn't let me down.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
But then you'll understand that.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
... ... ... ... ...
[00:16:15] I am the vine and you are the branches.
[00:16:44] Abide in me and I will abide in you.
[00:16:45] Then you will bear much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.
[00:17:09] Abide in me, and I will abide in you.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
I am the vine and you are the branches.
[00:17:24] Abide in me and I will abide in you.

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I will abide in you.

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Then you will bear much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Abide in me, I will abide in you, I will abide in you.

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]:
Love me, so I'll do, Golden and love one another.
[00:18:13] Keep this commandment, for no greater love hath you than to lay down your life

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
I will abide in me, and I will abide in you, I will abide in you, of one another as I love of you, I love of you.
[00:18:53] You are the branches,

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Golden and bare but good, Glow above in my light.

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Today's reading is from John 15, 1-11.
[00:19:37] I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.
[00:19:40] He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit.
[00:19:45] Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.
[00:19:49] You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.
[00:19:54] Abide in me as I abide in you.
[00:19:57] Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
[00:20:06] I am the vine and you are the branches.
[00:20:08] Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because a part of me you can do nothing.
[00:20:19] Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers.
[00:20:23] Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
[00:20:28] If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
[00:20:35] My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
[00:20:40] As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
[00:20:43] Abide in my love.
[00:20:45] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
[00:20:52] I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
[00:21:00] These are the words of the Lord for all people.
[00:21:04] Thanks be to God.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning, Church.

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Good morning.

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Last week, Pastor Tonariu talked about, began talking about the discipleship pathway, which we'll be looking at over the course of this year, and about our starting point, taking our first step.
[00:21:38] This week, we'll be looking at growing.
[00:21:43] What happens once you start walking the pathway?
[00:21:47] There will be a few places in this morning's sermon when I'll ask you to spend a minute or two reflecting on the questions that you were given on the way into church this morning, reflecting and writing down some of your reflections that will happen throughout the sermon.
[00:22:05] So before we begin, let's pray.
[00:22:09] Gracious and holy God, we thank you for this day that you've given to us, for your love for us that never ends.
[00:22:16] For the opportunity to be together in your house to worship and to hear your word proclaimed.
[00:22:23] And now God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.
[00:22:32] Amen.
[00:22:37] Okay, so my grandfather, we call him Pawpaw, Pawpaw was around six foot two.
[00:22:44] 6'2", 6'3", thin as a rail, could eat anything and not gain a pound.
[00:22:51] My dad is about 6'1", 6'2".
[00:22:57] So both were tall and pretty lanky and athletic as young men.
[00:23:02] And...
[00:23:07] I remember my dad telling me when I was in probably elementary school, he said that he hit his first growth spurt somewhere around eighth grade and then a second one between his, I believe it was his sophomore or junior year in high school, sometime in there.
[00:23:24] And so I clearly remember being in middle school and I was waiting for the big growth spurt to come.
[00:23:33] I just knew it was going to happen.
[00:23:36] Nope.
[00:23:38] Never did.
[00:23:38] A few years later, I think sometime in college, I told my mom that I was genetically robbed.
[00:23:49] My mother was deeply offended.
[00:23:54] There wasn't anything I could do to make myself taller.
[00:24:01] It was out of my control.
[00:24:06] In some ways, like with our height, our growth as disciples is out of our hands.
[00:24:12] I said in some ways our growth as disciples is out of our hands.
[00:24:17] In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul is fussing at the Christians in Corinth for splitting into factions and cliques.
[00:24:28] One group said, we follow Paul.
[00:24:31] We're team Paul.
[00:24:33] Another group, they followed a guy named Apollos, who was also an evangelist and leader in the early church.
[00:24:44] So they said, we follow Apollos.
[00:24:46] And Paul says this in verse 6 of chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians.
[00:24:51] Paul says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
[00:25:00] The growth comes from God.
[00:25:05] God works in us through His Holy Spirit and through His sanctifying grace.
[00:25:10] We are equipped and empowered to grow as disciples, but it depends on God working in us.
[00:25:20] However, we do have a part to play.
[00:25:24] We are not passive as disciples.
[00:25:28] We need to be open to God working in us for the sake of growth.
[00:25:35] We need to be listening and responding to God's call to grow.
[00:25:42] So your first question to reflect on this morning, just take a minute reflecting on this question.
[00:25:47] How is God calling or inviting you to grow in your life right now?
[00:25:54] Where do you see God's invitation to you to grow?
[00:25:57] Take just a minute to reflect about that.
[00:26:51] Okay, so Jesus, and throughout the Gospels, and several other places in Scripture, gardening or growing or agriculture that's used as an image for life with God, for what God is doing in us.
[00:27:08] So to dig into the gardening metaphor a little bit deeper.
[00:27:11] When you plant a garden you are intentionally creating the conditions where growth can happen.
[00:27:20] That's a really important phrase, creating conditions where growth can happen.
[00:27:27] We don't make that happen We don't physically make plants grow That happens apart from us
[00:27:57] And in our lives, when it comes to our walk with Jesus and our growth as disciples, we can be open to growth and create conditions where growth can happen, or we can resist.
[00:28:08] We can resist growth.
[00:28:11] And we can do that either through inaction, we can do nothing at all, or we can do things that hinder our growth as disciples.
[00:28:22] Now there are a lot of reasons we might resist.
[00:28:25] or hinder the growth that God wants for us as disciples and each person each situation is different in my experience however there is a pretty consistent reason why most Christians resist or hinder their own growth as disciples growth is not easy
[00:28:49] It can be inconvenient and uncomfortable.
[00:28:53] Go ahead to the next slide.
[00:28:54] I'll give you a formula.
[00:28:56] Growth equals change equals discomfort.
[00:29:02] Growth equals change equals discomfort.
[00:29:07] And that discomfort is why we often resist the growth that God wants for us.
[00:29:14] Some of you in here are fairly tall.
[00:29:18] And my guess is if you're tall, you experienced at some point in your younger years some growing pains.
[00:29:28] I never did.
[00:29:28] Just passed me right on by.
[00:29:31] Now my son, who is a good bit taller than me,
[00:29:36] He would wake up at night, and we'd go down to sleep, and about 45 minutes or an hour after we went to bed, he would call out to us.
[00:29:43] He'd be right about middle, late elementary, and his knees would be hurting really badly.
[00:29:48] And we knew once this started, he's probably going to start growing a little bit.
[00:29:52] That growth can lead to discomfort.
[00:29:57] And if there's one thing that we don't like, it's discomfort.
[00:30:05] At some point, you can't pinpoint it, for us as just ordinary run-of-the-mill Americans, our greatest kind of value or the thing we really wanted the most thing to come to was freedom.
[00:30:19] At some point, that kind of got leapfrogged by comfort.
[00:30:23] I'm not immune, y'all.
[00:30:26] I'm chief of centers here.
[00:30:28] But we don't readily welcome that discomfort.
[00:30:31] Now, if you've ever lifted weights,
[00:30:35] You know firsthand about the discomfort of growth.
[00:30:38] And there were a few years there, younger years, that I lifted weights.
[00:30:44] And I know all about that discomfort.
[00:30:47] Muscle growth happens through resistance training that creates micro tears in muscle fibers that causes soreness and tenderness and discomfort.
[00:30:58] If you've ever lifted weights, you know that walking down stairs after leg day is pretty painful.
[00:31:06] But as the body repairs those micro tears, the muscles get bigger and stronger.
[00:31:11] Now, it's more complicated than that.
[00:31:13] There are other factors in muscle growth, but that's the basics.
[00:31:19] Years ago, when I was actively lifting weights, I remember being told that weight training was basically breaking down my muscles so they could be rebuilt.
[00:31:30] Breaking down muscles.
[00:31:32] And you had to push through the discomfort to get to the growth.
[00:31:38] It doesn't take a lot of effort to see the analogy to our growth as disciples.
[00:31:46] And so much of our resistance to growing as disciples is a resistance towards discomfort and we have to push through so that
[00:31:57] Things that need broken down might be broken down and we grow in our faith.
[00:32:01] In order to grow, there are things in us and in our lives that need breaking down.
[00:32:07] Things we need God to help us remove or dismantle so that growth can happen.
[00:32:12] It could be habits, ways of thinking, patterns or pathways that we've been taught that keep us from growing.
[00:32:19] It could be attitudes we have about other people or assumptions we make.
[00:32:23] It could be our own self-image.
[00:32:28] It could either be a self-image that is way too high.
[00:32:34] We could feel that we're better than those people or we're more righteous than those people or a kind of an arrogance and pride that can keep us from growing.
[00:32:48] The flip side of that coin, our self-image can be too low.
[00:32:53] We could think there's no way God can use me.
[00:32:56] There's no way I can change that or God can't use somebody as broken or damaged as me, whatever it is.
[00:33:06] Part of God's sanctifying grace working in us for the sake of growth is breaking down those things that hinder growth.
[00:33:16] And that breaking down can cause discomfort and even pain.
[00:33:21] And if we're consistently avoiding the discomfort of growth, we end up stuck, pushing against what God wants for us.
[00:33:33] Now maybe that's not you.
[00:33:35] Maybe it's not necessarily wanting to avoid discomfort that's hindering your growth.
[00:33:40] Maybe it's your unwillingness to let go of something that's keeping you from growing.
[00:33:48] Part of growing towards maturity in Christ is letting go of what you're growing out of.
[00:33:58] Say that again.
[00:34:01] Yes, please say that again.
[00:34:03] Part of growing towards maturity in Christ is letting go of what you're growing out of.
[00:34:13] And that can be difficult.
[00:34:14] It can be scary.
[00:34:16] Paul talks about this as well in 1 Corinthians near the end of chapter 13, the famous love chapter.
[00:34:23] Paul says, When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
[00:34:30] When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.
[00:34:36] One of the things that as an adult that I have come to find distressing is how many other adults have not let go of childish ways.
[00:34:50] And Paul teaches us, urges us to let go so we can embrace maturity in Christ.
[00:34:56] He says this to make it clear to Christians in Corinth that their growth as disciples requires them to put away childish immaturity.
[00:35:04] And that was showing up in their church as pettiness, division and cliquishness, arrogance, and egotistical pride.
[00:35:15] Surely we don't struggle with those things today.
[00:35:20] Certainly we do, so Paul's words still hold power.
[00:35:24] There are things that God calls us to let go of so that we can take hold of Jesus and the life that He offers.
[00:35:30] There are things that God calls us to let go of so we can embrace one another as brothers and sisters.
[00:35:36] There are things that God calls us to let go of so that we can open our hands and offer hospitality and welcome to neighbors and strangers and immigrants and people in need.
[00:35:49] So maybe we need to let go of our own assumptions about other people.
[00:35:54] Maybe we need to let go of the divisions that the world is constantly trying to push us towards.
[00:36:00] Political, cultural, racial, on and on and on.
[00:36:04] Maybe we need to let go of hurt and resentment that keeps us from growing in love and grace.
[00:36:10] Maybe we need to let go of entitlement and immature arrogance that causes us to look down on other people and to dismiss them.
[00:36:19] Or maybe we need to let go of apathy and the cynicism that convinces us that this stuff doesn't really matter or it's all for somebody else.
[00:36:30] Letting go of the stuff we're holding on to that keeps us from growing takes effort.
[00:36:36] It takes courage.
[00:36:38] It takes trust in God's grace that on the other side of the discomfort there will be blessing and growth.
[00:36:47] We have to trust that.
[00:36:49] Letting go of those things that hinder our growth opens us up to God doing something new in and through us which leads us to growth.
[00:36:58] So a second question for a reflection this morning.
[00:37:03] Take just a minute to reflect about what might be hindering your growth as a disciple.
[00:37:09] What gets in your way or what are you holding on to?
[00:37:56] All right, so as we heard in the Scripture reading this morning, Jesus teaches us some really important stuff in John 15.
[00:38:04] He reminds us that God is the vine grower, that God is the source of growth.
[00:38:11] He reminds us that He, Jesus, is the vine holding all of us together and connecting us to the source of life.
[00:38:18] And He reminds us that we are connected to one another through Him.
[00:38:22] In Him we are connected to each other.
[00:38:24] Being a disciple is not designed to be a solo journey.
[00:38:28] We need one another.
[00:38:30] And He tells us something really important at the end of verse 9.
[00:38:35] Jesus says, Abide in My love.
[00:38:40] Abide in My love.
[00:38:41] Another way to put this is that Jesus is telling us to stay planted, to stay rooted in His love.
[00:38:49] Disciples only grow in the soil of Jesus' love.
[00:38:55] Now pay attention to what Jesus does not say here.
[00:38:58] He says, abide in my love.
[00:39:01] He does not say, abide in my power.
[00:39:05] He does not say, abide in my truth.
[00:39:09] He does not say, abide in my holiness or abide in my righteousness.
[00:39:14] These things are all good and they're all true about Jesus.
[00:39:18] Is Jesus powerful?
[00:39:23] Does God give us power?
[00:39:26] Is Jesus the truth?
[00:39:29] Yes.
[00:39:31] Is Jesus holy?
[00:39:33] Yes.
[00:39:33] Does God work in us for the sake of holiness?
[00:39:36] Certainly.
[00:39:36] Is Jesus righteous?
[00:39:39] Yes.
[00:39:40] These things are all good, but the foundation for all of that
[00:39:44] All of those things, power and truth, love, holiness, all of that grows out of the foundation of the agape love of God.
[00:39:57] The core truth about God and what God has done for us in Jesus, what God wants to do in us, for us, and through us, the foundation is God's love.
[00:40:08] Agape, sacrificial, self-giving love.
[00:40:13] And we receive that love connected to the vine in order to bear fruit and give it away.
[00:40:22] That way we're like a conduit.
[00:40:25] God working in us so that He might work through us.
[00:40:30] There are a lot of ways that we can grow as disciples.
[00:40:33] We can grow in faith.
[00:40:34] We can grow in knowledge.
[00:40:35] We can grow in generosity.
[00:40:37] We can grow in our relationships.
[00:40:39] But if we're not rooted in the love of Jesus, planted in the soil of God's love, that growth will be unhealthy and disconnected from the vine.
[00:40:50] So friends, be mindful of the soil you're planted in.
[00:40:56] Be mindful of what you're feeding your souls.
[00:41:01] If you find yourself growing more fearful, more anxious, angrier, more disconnected and closed off from other people, that's an indication that you're not planted in the soil of God's love.
[00:41:20] God is inviting you to put down roots in the soil of His love, to be connected to the vine, to take a next faithful step and to work to create the conditions in your life where growth can happen.
[00:41:36] As we do this day after day, rooted in God's love, connected to Jesus,
[00:41:43] and to one another.
[00:41:45] We begin to take some ownership and initiative in our growing life with Jesus.
[00:41:51] And we begin integrating our faith into every area of our lives.
[00:41:56] In our world, in our culture, in a lot of ways we've been taught this.
[00:42:01] We've been shaped this way.
[00:42:02] God calls us out of this kind of understanding of where we kind of compartmentalize
[00:42:08] We have kind of who we are at church and then who we are at home and then who we are at work.
[00:42:13] Now, I understand different things are appropriate in different contexts, but our faith in Jesus, the Lordship of Jesus, it's not just true here, it extends to every area of our lives.
[00:42:27] Our faith in Jesus, our commitment to Christ and our growth as disciples,
[00:42:33] It's intended to have impact in our marriages, in our parenting, in our friendships, in our work life, in our inner life, everywhere.
[00:42:44] Who we are is being shaped and transformed by being connected to the vine, and we get to create the conditions where God can do that for us.
[00:42:57] So a third question for reflection.
[00:43:00] In your life right now,
[00:43:02] How are you connecting to the vine?
[00:43:05] How are you abiding in the love of Jesus?
[00:43:08] Take just a moment to reflect about that.
[00:43:56] Okay friends, that sheet you were given when you walked in, we're going to pray and live to God in our prayers for our reflections about those three questions.
[00:44:09] So I'm going to give you some space in this prayer to silently pray about these questions.
[00:44:17] So I invite you to take a deep breath.
[00:44:22] Let us pray.
[00:44:26] Gracious and holy God, we thank you for your steadfast love.
[00:44:34] God that never leaves us or abandons us.
[00:44:39] We thank you that your love and grace is always going before us.
[00:44:47] So God, I pray, we pray, that you would give us ears to hear.
[00:44:55] You calling us.
[00:44:58] Help us to hear Your invitation to growth in our lives.
[00:45:20] God, sometimes we hear your invitation, we hear your call in our lives, and we know the things that we need to do to create conditions where we can grow, but God, sometimes we resist.
[00:45:37] God, help us to deal with the discomfort that comes from growing and change.
[00:45:43] God, give us the courage to take our next steps.
[00:45:51] Even if some of those steps might be faltering, even if some of the terrain might be difficult, even if growth might be uncomfortable, help us to trust that Your blessing, Your goodness, Your grace is on the other side of the discomfort.
[00:46:06] And God, if there's something we need to let go of, hurt, resentment, God, apathy,
[00:46:17] God, divisions and assumptions, things that keep us from growing in you and from loving our neighbor God, we pray that you would remove, prune from us that which hinders us so that we might grow in you.
[00:46:51] God, lead and guide us as those who would seek to follow after Jesus.
[00:46:57] God, help us to connect every day, to connect to Jesus.
[00:47:04] God, and as we connect to the vine, I pray that you would help us to bear fruit.
[00:47:14] God, through our growing, as we take these steps,
[00:47:20] The path of discipleship.
[00:47:23] May our lives give witness to your love, your mercy, your salvation.
[00:47:48] We thank you God.
[00:47:51] For your great love for us, we thank you for Jesus and for the salvation we are given through Him and we thank you for your Holy Spirit that is at work in us, helping us to grow.
[00:48:09] Bless us, God, in the week to come and help us to be faithful to you and to one another for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:48:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
And all of God's children said, Amen This week I had the privilege of going to visit our oldest member of the church He'll be 102 next month His name is John And I heard the best thing You know what John told me?
[00:48:46] He's in a rehab center right now in Winston-Salem.
[00:48:51] He told me that he went to a Bible study last week.
[00:48:56] I love that.
[00:48:57] They had a Bible study at this rehab center and he went.
[00:49:01] And I said, John, I love that.
[00:49:03] Like, it just reminds me that you're never too old to keep growing in Jesus.
[00:49:06] And he said, never.
[00:49:07] He's 102.
[00:49:09] I love that.
[00:49:11] So that is one of the steps.
[00:49:13] You're going to sort of be filling out what we're talking about with intentional discipleship pathway.
[00:49:18] And the x-axis of that is these pieces that we're talking about right now.
[00:49:23] Exploring, growing, deepening, centering, and transforming.
[00:49:28] And the Y axis of that is all the different sort of avenues, if you want to think of it that way, by which we might grow in our life with God.
[00:49:35] And one of those is study.
[00:49:37] So if you're not in a Bible study, take a word from John.
[00:49:41] Are you 102?
[00:49:43] You can be in Bible study.
[00:49:45] Are you less than 102?
[00:49:46] You should join one.
[00:49:48] You still got stuff to learn.
[00:49:49] So, study is one of those things.
[00:49:52] Worship is one of them.
[00:49:55] Commitment in relationships, growing in relationships.
[00:49:57] Service is one of those things.
[00:49:59] And we just commissioned this morning a group of folks, and I don't know if we got a picture of them or not.
[00:50:05] Did we get one?
[00:50:05] We're sending eight people.
[00:50:09] We're sending eight folks up to West Jefferson this week.
[00:50:13] That is coming from the money that you all gave in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
[00:50:16] So we're going to send these folks up.
[00:50:18] They're working on flooring in somebody's house.
[00:50:21] So somebody's been without workable flooring in their house since September a year and a half ago.
[00:50:29] So that's one of the faithful steps that we can make.
[00:50:34] It's just a step in service.
[00:50:35] And one of the steps that we can take is in generosity.
[00:50:38] And you may be, when you're thinking about these things, maybe one of the places that you feel God talking to you is that one of your steps is into deepening generosity.
[00:50:49] And maybe what's keeping you from doing it, what's hindering you, is that you look at your bills and you go, man, there is no way.
[00:50:57] It ain't happening.
[00:50:58] I can't do it.
[00:51:00] I can't do it.
[00:51:01] I've got too much debt.
[00:51:02] I've got too many responsibilities.
[00:51:03] Whatever.
[00:51:04] Whatever is going on in your life.
[00:51:06] And that's the hindrance.
[00:51:07] That's the thing that's getting in the way.
[00:51:09] We want to help you.
[00:51:10] We have a class starting on the first of February.
[00:51:16] We also have a similar class called Foundations in Personal Finance.
[00:51:41] That's for
[00:51:43] The young adults and teenagers.
[00:51:46] And so if you want to just kind of get somebody in your life started, I'm making my children do it.
[00:51:54] I just said you have to.
[00:51:55] I didn't even give them the option.
[00:51:57] So this is just such an important thing to have right relationship with the things that we have.
[00:52:04] That's something that Jesus talks about a lot.
[00:52:06] So I'm going to encourage you.
[00:52:07] You can sign up for that online.
[00:52:09] I'm going to encourage you to do that.
[00:52:11] You can scan to give your gift today if you want to put it in the offering plate or mail it in, however you give.
[00:52:17] I hope you know that generosity is an act of worship and it is one of the many, many, many steps that we take that help us grow in our life with God and deepen our experience of God's goodness and God's love.
[00:52:30] Let's pray.
[00:52:32] God, for all that you have given us, for all of your goodness and all of your mercies, for all of your provision, we are so grateful.
[00:52:39] For heat on really cold days, for food that we eat that nourishes us, for relationships that nourish our souls, for the brains and the capacities and the abilities and the work that you have given us that are the ways that we provide for our families, we are so very grateful.
[00:52:56] For the work of our hands and the opportunity to go and be your hands and feet in the world, we are so very grateful.
[00:53:03] So we pray, God, that you would bless every gift that we offer today, that you would bless the gift of time and talent that the folks are taking up to West Jefferson this week, that you would bless the offerings that are put in the offering plate, that you would bless the offering of time to study and grow in your word, and that you would multiply all of it to the glory of your name and the building up of your kingdom.
[00:53:23] It's in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray.
[00:53:25] Amen.

[00:53:46] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:54:11] Amen.
[00:54:18] Let us pray.
[00:54:49] Let us pray.
[00:55:15] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:55:40] Amen.
[00:55:54] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:56:22] Amen.
[00:57:43] of Jesus Christ.

[00:57:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Our closing hymn is Come Thou Almighty King.
[00:57:59] It's on page 61 in your hymnal.
[00:58:01] Pay attention to the ways that this calls us into a deeper relationship with God.
[00:58:07] We often sing this as a beginning and we just sort of sing it as a general praise song.
[00:58:12] But what got me was thinking about the way at the end the writer says, Thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see and to eternity love and adore.
[00:58:24] Thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see that's what we're after that's what we keep talking about our next faithful step is so that we can see Jesus so we can come closer so we can see God's kingdom realized here on earth and so I invite you with those things in mind to sing with me Come Thou Almighty King

[00:59:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]:
Help us to praise

[01:01:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Okay, so I almost left these on my, and it said, use them for your announcement today.
[01:01:51] So, anybody know what that is?
[01:01:56] I'm going to give you points if anybody can guess it.
[01:02:01] What do you think?
[01:02:02] Anybody got it?

[01:02:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Yeah, we can't do that.
[01:02:04] It's a G. It's an E!

[01:02:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
You call yourself choir members.
[01:02:12] Anyway.
[01:02:13] Okay.
[01:02:14] I don't do it right.
[01:02:15] I'm not doing it right.

[01:02:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Like there's something in it.
[01:02:20] Like I'm scooping it up.
[01:02:22] I don't do it right.
[01:02:24] That's a G. Here's what I just learned.
[01:02:29] This is hard and it hurts and they've been practicing a lot.
[01:02:33] So number one, everybody in the bell choir needs some Tylenol.
[01:02:36] So the bell choir is going to be doing a concert for us tonight.
[01:02:41] Both bell choirs, the beginning bell choir and our main bell choir and then the beginning group are both going to be doing, they have names.
[01:02:51] The Joy Ringers.
[01:02:54] Rejoice, ringers!
[01:02:55] I'm sorry, I don't want to like, anyway.
[01:02:57] So, today at 545, here in the sanctuary, they've been working so hard, it's going to be a great time.
[01:03:03] It involves pirates.
[01:03:04] I have no idea what pirates and handbells have to do with one another, but I'm excited to find out.
[01:03:09] So that's today at 545.
[01:03:12] And if you want to come and have dinner with us, we're having our kickoff for Fuel Your Family, which starts in earnest next week.
[01:03:20] But you can come and have dinner at 5 o'clock.
[01:03:24] If you want to feel like you want to bring something, bring a dish to share.
[01:03:27] We'll have all the meats.
[01:03:29] So you can come and join us at 5 o'clock.
[01:03:31] And then the Pan Bells is at 545.
[01:03:34] Fuel your family is a way that you can take one faithful step into community.
[01:03:38] If you are a family that has teenagers or children, we have a QT with the parents of kids that are in choir happening at four.
[01:03:47] And then we have Shifting Gears with Pastor Kerry that happens during youth group.
[01:03:51] And both of those things are opportunities to just take one more faithful step into community.
[01:03:56] So I will encourage you to do that or to pick something else that we've got going on here at Williamson's Chapel.
[01:04:01] You can go to our website and see all the things that you can do.
[01:04:04] And don't forget to be in prayer for our folks that are up in West Jefferson.
[01:04:07] We ordered up snow for them so that it's a very pleasant and easy experience.
[01:04:13] So we are real excited.

[01:04:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Friends, go now to this meditation.
[01:04:21] May the Lord bless you and keep you.
[01:04:22] May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
[01:04:25] May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
[01:04:28] In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[01:04:31] Amen.

[01:04:45] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:05:00] Amen.