The decision to abide in Christ is also a decision to accept the pruning work of the Vinedresser. Although the pruning of the Vinedresser is often painful, it is always purposeful—and that purpose is to make us more like Jesus.

In John 15, Jesus introduces Himself as the True Vine—knowing the vine of Israel had failed to love God and keep His commandments (as we find in Isaiah 5). Jesus also introduces His Father as the Vinedresser or Gardener who prunes the branches. In this message, we find that the ability to be a fruit-bearing branch begins with my connection to Jesus as the Vine, but also requires the attention of the Father as the Vinedresser. The Father—the Vinedresser—is working to mold us into the image of Jesus and is more committed to His branches being fruitful than being comfortable.

The call to abide in Jesus is call to examine the state of my union with Christ. Am I truly connected to Jesus or simply close to Him? Am I living for Jesus or living with Jesus? One reason Jesus commands me to abide in Him is because my natural instinct is to abandon (live independent of) Him. But Jesus doesn’t ask me to do anything for Him. Instead, He wants to do something with me.

Not only did 2021 begin last Friday, but a countdown to 2022 started as well. Will we get to the end of this year filled with regret or satisfaction? As we explore Second Timothy 4, we read the last letter ever written by the Apostle Paul, the most influential Christian to ever live—outside of Jesus. As Paul approaches death, what final words will he share with Timothy about how to live? And how do these truths apply to our lives today?

As one author stated, "Satan wants to use your past to define you, but God wants to use your past to refine you."  Many people will be glad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, but should we simply forget about the past year as we prepare for a new one? What would God want us to do with such a difficult year? Pastor Brian leads us to John 21 to see how Jesus used Peter's past to refine him into a true and bold disciple of Christ.

Knowing Jesus is the King is not enough—we must surrender the throne of our heart to Jesus as King. And why wouldn't we want to serve a King like Jesus? He is a King who obeyed Another, gave up His treasures, went to battle and won the victory for His people—all by laying down His life for His enemies. What a deserving King!

While there are many gods, idols, and saviors to which my heart often turns, only Jesus is the Savior. Pastor Mike opens the Scriptures to remind our heart that God sent His Son Jesus to save His people from their sins.

We know that Christmas is the birth of the Son of God, but do we understand why Jesus came to earth? In today's message, we see God's master plan behind the Christmas story—filling the earth with the glory of God. Jesus not only shows us what living for God's glory looks like, saves us from our failure to live for God's glory, but Jesus shares God's glory with us. Christmas is all about the glory of God.

The red cup of Starbucks invites us all to write our own Christmas story—but it's not our story to write. Instead, it's our story to tell. How different would the Christmas story be if we had been the authors? As we journey to see God re-writing Mary and Joseph's story so long ago, we see their humble response—the same response we should have as God writes our stories today.

In the conclusion on our series through Esther, we see how the day of mourning for the Jews turned into a holiday of celebration and feasting—and many joined the covenant people of God. In a similar way, a day of mourning for the world, the day of death for Jesus Christ, turned into a holiday of celebration we call Good Friday and a feast we call Communion. And because of Good Friday, are all invited into the kingdom of God.