Redeemer Weekend Sermons

Kingdom Culture- Week 4

November 23, 2025

Introduction: Pastor Dave Brown

Teacher: Pastor Hess Hester

Kingdom Culture: Shake and Shine!

Matthew 5: 13-17 (NIV) 

      “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

    14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.  

Salt only has an impact when it is in contact with the object of need.

Who in the circles of influence of your life needs Jesus Christ?

Live and speak in such a way as to create spiritual thirst in the hearts and souls of others.

1 Peter 3:15, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. 

Matthew 5: 13b, c (NIV) “But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” 

Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world.”

Even the smallest of lights can make a huge impact.  There is no darkness so thick that the light of Christ cannot penetrate it. 

Matthew 5:14b-15, A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 

Don’t hide your light! 

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”   

John 17: 20-23 (NLT); “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.   22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.  

One of the greatest ways we shine the light of Christ is by the unity we display.

Kingdom Culture- Week 3

November 16, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

Kingdom Culture: Formation

The goal of discipleship is not information transfer.  The goal of discipleship is to develop the type of relationship with Jesus that forms our character.

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

— Luke 9:23-25

Whoever wants to save their life will lose it.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.  My heart took delight in all my labor; and this was the reward for all my toil.  Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

— Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

The work God wants to do in us requires us to look within: to look deeper and be deeply formed.  Why? Because we are covertly and consistently being formed by a culture fashioned by shallowness.  In short, we are being shallowly formed.

—Rich Villodas

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

— Matthew 7:13-14

…but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

The way of following Jesus requires a steadfast refusal to get caught up in the pace, power, and priorities of the world around us.  We are called to have our lives shaped by a different kind of power, pace, and priorities offered to us by God.

— Rich Villodas

The 3 Steps to Breaking a Bad Habit

1. Truth
2. Practice
3. Community

Although obeying rules does not lead to salvation, it can lead to formation.
 

3 Essential Practices for Re-formation

1. Sabbath
2. Examination
3. Service

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

— Luke 9:23-25

Kingdom Culture- Week 2

November 09, 2025

Teacher: Pastor David Nunn

Kingdom Culture: Bringing Heaven to Earth

How the Kingdom Shapes Community

Text: John 13:34–35; Acts 2:42–47

Welcome to week two of “Kingdom Culture: Bringing Heaven to Earth.”

Last week Pastor Dave Brown spoke about the way Jesus kind of “flips the script” on what we tend to believe a blessed life looks like. A blessed life according to Matthew 5, is one of humility, mercy, gentleness, sorrow, and dependance on the LORD. It involves persecution, rather than accomplishment, fame, or wealth. I would suggest to you that bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth will never be accomplished through powerful political movements, or even through great spiritual awakenings. That is not to say that the Spirit of God doesn’t miraculously move through great populations of people. There have been several such movements in Christian history, beginning with Pentecost which we’ll discuss in a moment. However, these great spiritual awakenings are the exception, not the norm.

The norm for bringing the Kingdom of God in earth as it is in heaven is for groups of committed disciples of Christ to live and witness to their faith in a way that touches the community around them. When the world sees disciples loving each other and loving their neighbors in the same way that Christ loves them, then unbelieving hearts and minds are refocused with a desire to understand the source of that love.

That is a process that is not built on great preaching, exciting worship, or big evangelical events that draw huge crowds. It happens as believers build humble, loving relationships in their homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and communities, and through those relationships we witness to the life-changing presence of Christ in our lives. The key to growing a kingdom culture is welcoming and joining the presence of our King within our community.

At its core, Christianity is not a religion based on rules of conduct, or commitment to a list of tenets of faith. Jesus never taught His disciples to go and establish a correct moral standard for rest of the world to follow. We are not called to be moral police for the world. We have enough trouble policing our individual, personal morality.

Again, as Pastor Dave reminded us a few weeks ago we shouldn’t be wasting time trying to manage sin; not our own, and certainly not someone else’s sin. That’s like trying to hide the darkness. It’s not possible. Instead, we should just turn on the light. How do we do that?

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

When we give ourselves wholly to God, we invite Him to bless us with His presence, His power, and His holiness. When you invite the presence of God into your life, it flips on the light that overcomes darkness. Again, to cite the teaching of Pastor Dave Brown, repentance is not just a change of behavior, it’s a change of direction. It’s a moment-by-moment choice to follow Jesus, which is all He ever asks any of His disciples to do. When we do that, Jesus doesn’t change our behavior. He changes our nature.

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

This new creation is the result of “abiding in Christ.” Does that sound familiar? It should. We spent the months of September and October talking about abiding in Christ. It is only through the presence of Christ that any of us can experience this life-changing outcome.

So, if this newly created nature comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ, what other relationships are formed as a result?

The model prayer is “Your kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.” So, we’re talking about establishing God’s Kingdom culture in a way that impacts the culture of the rest of the world.

One person can’t do that. It requires community. Even Jesus didn’t try to change the world’s culture by Himself. Many believed that He would. They expected Him to miraculously overthrow the Roman’s, declare Himself King, and establish His reign on Earth. Instead, He recruited and taught a small community of believers who were committed to following Him. In the book of Acts, Luke shares the history of this group of 120 believers who, over the course of the first century, made a fundamental cultural impact on the entire Roman world, and beyond. In fact, the impact of that tiny congregation is still being felt 2000 years later, on the other side of the world in Redeemer Church in Tulsa, OK. That’s the power of a community of people who are committed to following Christ wherever and however He leads.

I would submit to you today that the power to alter a culture through the establishment of God’s Kingdom happens only through a community of faith. It is never the result of a single individual, no matter how gifted he/she may be.

Let’s see how God moved through that first Christian community. After the ascension of Jesus, we are told in Acts 1:15 that about 120 followers of Christ were constantly gathering to pray as they followed Jesus’ final instruction to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit to arrive. As they gathered on the Day of Pentecost the promise was fulfilled.

Acts 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Note, they gathered as a community. They had been meeting and praying together for the last ten days. When the Holy Spirit came, they were together as a community, and how many of them were filled with the Holy Spirit? ALL of them. And together they began to speak to the people outside their gathering place. They raised such a ruckus that a crowd gathered to see what was happening. At this point Peter stood up and addressed the crowd. Now you may say, “Look! Peter’s just one man, acting on his own.”

Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd:

Peter wasn’t alone. He stood with His fellow apostles, and they stood with the support of the other 108 believers who were witnessing to the crowd.

People often note the courage of Peter on that day. This was the man who denied that he even knew Christ on the eve of the crucifixion. Now he’s standing up and telling this massive crowd not only was Jesus the prophesied Messiah, but he accused the crowd of crucifying their Messiah. In fact, He ended his message with these words.

Acts 2:36 “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

We wonder what happened? What changed in Peter to give him the courage that was lacking just a few weeks earlier, and of course we point out that He was filled with power of the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to, in any way, lessen the importance of the Holy Spirit in Peter’s courageous preaching, but I would suggest that there is at least one other important factor: Peter was NOT alone. In the garden outside the house of the high priest none of Peter’s fellow disciples were present. When he preached at Pentecost he stood as one of twelve apostles who were supported by a community of 120, who had spent the last 10 days in constant prayer together. Can you see the strength and power of a community, even a small one, when they stand together to preach the gospel to the masses who gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost that day? Had Peter been alone, he would not have been able to even get the attention of that crowd. The Holy Spirit worked through the empowerment of the entire group. Not just one or an impowered few. ALL were empowered, and ALL went into the streets to preach the gospel.

So, what happened next? At the end of the day around 3000 people were added to their number. That was an extraordinary day. A powerful movement of the Spirit that brought thousands into the fellowship of the church. We recognize that as an extraordinary day. As I said earlier, that is NOT the normal flow of Kingdom growth. It was an exceptional outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the entire community of faith. Again, it was a community movement. It wasn’t Peter acting alone. God chose to work through a community. That’s what He always does. Look what happened next.

Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

In this passage, I believe we see what the norm for the growth of Kingdom culture in the world should be. Note the verbs that describe how this brand-new church acted:

They met together in the temple courts. This was the only place large enough for 3000 people to meet, but they weren’t just meeting. The Greek word used here actually means they continued together in one accord: as one mind. What do you think they were doing together in the temple? I think they were learning how to follow Christ.

They devoted themselves:  Again, the literal translation is “steadfastly continued.” What were they continuing in doing?  They spent time and effort, listening to, learning, so that they could follow the teaching of the Apostles. This is most likely why they met together in the temple. Like Jesus, the apostles were using this common gathering place to teach the people. These new converts were devoted to gathering daily and continuously learning and following the apostles teaching.

They were also devoted (steadfastly continued) to fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. Where do you think that took place?

They broke bread: In their homes. Breaking bread refers to sharing communion together as Jesus had taught the apostles. They met together in homes, ate together, and shared communion together with glad and sincere hearts.

So, they met together in the temple, not every Sunday, but every day, and they also gathered in homes sharing meals and fellowship and praying together in smaller groups throughout the week. This was not a “see you next Sunday” kind of congregational event. These people actually spent time together during the week. They were not just devoted to learning and following the teaching of the apostles, they were devoted to each other. They were devoted to being together with one another.

We in the ECC pride ourselves on our devotion to God’s Word. Some like to refer to us as people of the book. That’s good. The church in Jerusalem shows that devotion to knowing and following the teaching of Christ is fundamental to our spiritual formation, but that’s not enough. They also devoted themselves to one another. What was the evidence of that devotion?

In verse 44 we are told that the believers were together and had everything in common. The Greek word for believers is actually a verb meaning “having believed.” So Young’s literal translation says,

“all those believing were at the same place, and had all things common.”

Because they shared a common, foundational belief in Jesus Christ as their LORD, they saw each other as a family, holding everything in common. They didn’t use the pronouns my/mine, but our/ours. One of the hallmarks of a functional family is that they share. Even from a legal point of view family property is held jointly. So, these 3000 new converts didn’t just accept Jesus as LORD, they were adopted and assimilated into a brand-new family; a family built upon their shared commitment to Jesus as LORD.

So, they were devoted to learning and following the teachings of Jesus from the apostles, and they were devoted to each other; sharing with one another, caring for one another, finding opportunities to simply be together, share a meal, share communion with other members of the family. What was the result of this two-fold devotion?

v. 47 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

That’s how kingdom culture spreads through a lost world. God works through His family. God has given us three fundamental tools to guide us through our spiritual formation. He has given us His Spirit, His Word, and His Church. What we see in the example of this first church is that all three are essential to both personal spiritual formation and kingdom growth. Too many of us who profess Christ as our LORD tend to neglect the importance of personal devotion to our community of faith. Let me just put it to you as simply and plainly as I can. If you aren’t devoted to this family that we call church, it’s because you aren’t fully devoted to Christ.

Jesus, Himself said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

Kingdom Culture- Week 1

November 02, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

Culture eats strategy for breakfast.

— Peter Drucker

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

— Matthew 4:17

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near…People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

— Matthew 3:1-2, 5-9

Repentance was what Israel must do if her exile is to come to an end.

— N.T. Wright

If repentance carries the tone of ‘what Israel must do if her fortunes are to be returned’, it can also have a much more down-to-earth ring: to abandon revolutionary zeal.

— N.T. Wright

The repentance for which Jesus called, then, was not at all like the regular repentance of individual sinners when they recognized their sin and underwent the normal Jewish practices for restitution.  That could take place, in principle, at any time in Israel’s history…Jesus’ summons was more radical by far…Jesus was urging his compatriots to abandon a whole way of life, and to trust him for a different one.

— N.T. Wright

He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

— Leviticus 16:21-22

At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

— Ezekiel 3:17-21

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

— Matthew 4:17

The good news is about the living God overcoming all the powers of the world to establish his rule of justice and peace, on earth as in heaven, Not in heaven later on.  And that victory is won not by superior power of the same kind but by a different sort of power altogether…The kingdoms of the world run on violence.  The kingdom of God, Jesus declared, runs on love.

— N.T. Wright

Stop trying to bring about the promises of God through your own effort and worldly means.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

— Matthew 5:3-12

Life in the Vine - Week 8

October 26, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown

You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

— John 15:14-17

I call you friends…but this is my command?

Perhaps we may now hazard a guess why Scripture uses Friendship so rarely as an image of the highest love.  It is already, in actual fact, too spiritual to be a good symbol of Spiritual things.

— C.S. Lewis

Appreciative love gazes and holds its breath and is silent, rejoices that such a wonder should exist even if not for him, will not be wholly dejected by losing her, would rather have it so than never to have seen her at all.

— C.S. Lewis

Now and forever more, we are friends of God.  We just don’t always act like it.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

— Proverbs 17:17

Savior AND Lord

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

— Declaration of Independence

It is impossible for any created good to constitute man’s happiness.  For happiness is the perfect good, which lulls the appetite altogether…This is to be found, not in any creature, but in God alone…God alone constitutes man’s happiness.

— Aquinas

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

— C.S. Lewis

This is my command: Love each other.

— John 15:17

When spiritual vitality is measured by sin-avoidance, we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are following Jesus faithfully. But following Jesus is to be measured by love—love for God expressed in love for neighbor. This is the good, beautiful, and kind life. It took me some years to realize this. In fact, I need to be reminded of it often.

— Rich VIllodas

Life has no better gift to give.

— C.S. Lewis

Life in the Vine - Week 7

October 19, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Leanne Benton 

LOVE Each Other

NOTES

John 15:12–13

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

“To love someone is to will their good, to promote their flourishing – and sometimes that means laying something down.” ~ Dallas Willard

1. The model of love Jesus gives.

2. The meaning of laying down our life.

3. The mission of love.

——————————————————————————

1. The model of love Jesus gives.

“Jesus didn’t love in general. He loved in particular.” ~John Ortberg

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

(John 13:34-35)——————————————————————————

2. The meaning of laying down our life.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God…humbled himself, becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross.

(Philippians 2:5-8)

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

(John 15:11)

——————————————————————————

3. The mission of love.

You are my friends if you do what I command.

(John 15:14)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

(I John 3:16)

Life in the Vine - Week 6

October 12, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown  

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my  

commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain  

in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be  complete.

— John 15:9-11

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

— John 15:9

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their  

message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they  

also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory  

that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they  

may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved  

them even as you have loved me.

—John 17:20-23

One with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

He became what we are so that we might become what He is.

—Irenaeus

In all of Jesus’ teaching, what we call God is, in a mysterious but beautiful way, a flow of love  

between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is a community of self-giving love;  

each member of the Trinity is distinct yet somehow still one. To be with the Spirit is to be with  

Jesus, and to be with Jesus is to be with the Father. It’s to enter the flow of love within the  

inner life of God himself.

— John Mark Comer

Agape  

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  

— 1 John 4:16b

In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give…God,  

who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love  

and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing the buzzing cloud of flies about  

the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the  

medial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of  

back and arms as it is time after time, for breathes sake, hitched up. If I may dare the  

biological image, God is a “host” who deliberately created His own parasites; causes us to be  

that we may exploit and take advantage of Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love  

Himself, the inventor of all loves.

— C.S. Lewis

The Four Loves  

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s  

commands and remain in his love.

— John 15:10

Jesus’ Commands Are All About Love

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart  

and with all your soul and with all your strength.

— Deuteronomy 6:4

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your  

neighbor as yourself.

— Leviticus 19:18

The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself,  

for you were foreigners in Egypt.

— Leviticus 19:34

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of  

love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

— Deuteronomy 7:9

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your  

God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and  

greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law  

and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

— Matthew 36-40

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

— John 15:1

Life in the Vine - Week 5

October 5, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown
Prayer
This week, Pastor Dave Brown continues our Life in the Vine series with a message titled “Prayer,” from John 15:7–8.
Jesus says: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:7–8 NIV)

Prayer
Prayer is about love, and that means it cannot be sustained on fluttery feelings, good intentions, and spontaneous moments alone. It needs a container…a set of practices or rituals within which that love can grow, mature, and blossom. — Tyler Staton 

Jesus prayed spontaneously and routinely, alone and with others, pouring out his emotions in his own words and guided by the psalms at fixed hours in the temple. Jesus prayed like a wild, unruly monk. — Tyler Staton

Prayers about presence… 

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. —Psalms 27:1

“Begin where you are.” — C.S. Lewis 

In reality, the church has led the way in the art of enjoyment and pleasure. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington points out that it was the church, not Starbucks, that created coffee culture. Coffee was first invented by Ethiopian monks—the term cappuccino refers to the shade of brown used for the habits of Capuchin monks of Italy. Coffee is born of extravagance, an extravagant God who formed extravagant people, who formed a craft out of the pleasures of roasted beans and frothed milk. — Tish Harrison Warren

Prayers about fruit… 

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. —Isaiah 11:1-4

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. — Galatians 5:22-23

Most of the “fruit of the Spirit” are explicitly outward facing: love, obviously, then greatheartedness, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness. Not only do these require other people if they are to be practiced, they are specifically looking out into the wider world and community…They orient the person towards others. — N.T. Wright

Prayers for Redeemer Church

Unity, Peace, and Wisdom

Life in the Vine - Week 4

September 28, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown
Remain
This week, Pastor Dave Brown continues our Life in the Vine series with a message titled “Remain,” from John 15:4–6.
Jesus says: “Remain in me, as I also remain in you… 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.” (John 15:4–5 NIV)

What Does It Mean to Remain?
The word “remain” means to dwell or make your home in. Pastor Dave reminded us that we’re all abiding in something—whether it’s comfort, worry, work, or distraction. The question is: what are you abiding in? Jesus calls us to make Him our true home. Abiding in Christ doesn’t mean retreating from life but living every moment with Him—whether cooking dinner, commuting to work, or caring for your family. It’s turning your life into a dwelling place for God.

The Fruit of Remaining
Branches can’t bear fruit apart from the vine. In the same way, we wither without Jesus. But when we remain in Him, His life flows through us, producing fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). Remaining in Jesus means letting His life and love flow through us, transforming us and blessing those around us.

Reflection Questions
* Where do you naturally “abide” when you’re not paying attention?
* How can you invite Jesus into your daily routines this week?
* What fruit is growing in your life right now?

Life in the Vine

September 21, 2025

Teacher: Pastor Dave Brown