When people say ‘church’ many different things tend to come to mind. For some, church brings up images of stained glass, potlucks, and pews while others might view the church as religious, irrelevant or detached. Additionally, many of us that go to church tend to define our perspective through the lens of our experiences and we rarely consider God’s design for the church and our role within it. With that, we invite you to discover an incredible truth with us: God designed the church to be all about Jesus. Jesus leading it, Jesus over it, and Jesus through each and every part of it. Join us as we celebrate God’s design for the local church and learn how membership, the roles of both deacon and elder, and our mission all celebrate God’s good plan to celebrate His Son through His church!

When people say ‘church’ many different things tend to come to mind. For some, church brings up images of stained glass, potlucks, and pews while others might view the church as religious, irrelevant or detached. Additionally, many of us that go to church tend to define our perspective through the lens of our experiences and we rarely consider God’s design for the church and our role within it. With that, we invite you to discover an incredible truth with us: God designed the church to be all about Jesus. Jesus leading it, Jesus over it, and Jesus through each and every part of it. Join us as we celebrate God’s design for the local church and learn how membership, the roles of both deacon and elder, and our mission all celebrate God’s good plan to celebrate His Son through His church!

When people say ‘church’ many different things tend to come to mind. For some, church brings up images of stained glass, potlucks, and pews while others might view the church as religious, irrelevant or detached. Additionally, many of us that go to church tend to define our perspective through the lens of our experiences and we rarely consider God’s design for the church and our role within it. With that, we invite you to discover an incredible truth with us: God designed the church to be all about Jesus. Jesus leading it, Jesus over it, and Jesus through each and every part of it. Join us as we celebrate God’s design for the local church and learn how membership, the roles of both deacon and elder, and our mission all celebrate God’s good plan to celebrate His Son through His church!

When people say ‘church’ many different things tend to come to mind. For some, church brings up images of stained glass, potlucks, and pews while others might view the church as religious, irrelevant or detached. Additionally, many of us that go to church tend to define our perspective through the lens of our experiences and we rarely consider God’s design for the church and our role within it. With that, we invite you to discover an incredible truth with us: God designed the church to be all about Jesus. Jesus leading it, Jesus over it, and Jesus through each and every part of it. Join us as we celebrate God’s design for the local church and learn how membership, the roles of both deacon and elder, and our mission all celebrate God’s good plan to celebrate His Son through His church!

Jesus spends quite a bit of time inviting his disciples to abide in John 15:1-17 and then, in the following passage, we learn why: a storm of persecution is coming. Jesus wants his followers to know that they’ll be excluded, hated, and even abused for knowing Him but He also wants us to know that the story will never end with persecution. Through persecution, we can know Jesus more and make him known through it!

Friends of God! What an amazing truth for those who are in Christ Jesus. Even though Jesus is only hours away from being arrested, beaten and crucified; His focus is still on loving His disciples. He is giving them the pathway to fullness of joy…and it is to ABIDE in Him and love one another the way that He loves them! By this the Father is glorified!

In the Old Testament, Israel is portrayed as a fruitless vine, a metaphor that Jesus changes by Himself becoming the Vine. As the ultimate source of life, Jesus ensures that those connected to Him will bear fruit. This fruit manifests as love, joy, and a profound understanding of and submission to the Father, permeating all aspects of life from relationships to emotions. Fruitfulness originates from the Vine, not from our own efforts, leading us to acknowledge autonomy as the heart of sin. We must be cautious against admiring independence, as it signifies disconnection from Christ. Jesus admonishes us that while God nurtures those who bear fruit, those who are disconnected from Christ are fruitless and face severe consequences. We were made for dependence on Christ, recognizing His strength as the sole source of fruitfulness.

The word ‘love’ is used in our culture to describe our attitude toward a wide variety of things. We love our family, we love a spouse, we love food, we love sports, we love traveling, and we certainly love our pets. With so many loves, it’s no wonder that we have a difficult time understanding what Jesus means when he invites us to ‘abide in his love’. Join us as we read John 15:9-13 to learn what real love is and discover what it means to abide in the perfect love of Jesus Christ.

True life, love, and joy stem from The True Vine, Christ Jesus. Though Christ and His Spirit, God intends to bear fruit in the hearts and lives of His believers.

John 15 is a call and a command to stop living life in our own strength.

Jesus knows that apart from Him we can do nothing, so He is helping His disciples by telling them, to abide in Him! If they do and if His Word is abiding in them, then they can ask whatever they wish and it will be done for them. Jesus is telling us how we can bear much fruit, have fullness of joy and live for the glory of God…it all comes by ABIDING in Him!