In this sermon, Dallas Kaauwai continues the 'Thank God For...' series with a focus on 'Thank God For the Life of Jesus.' Dallas emphasizes the importance of gratitude during the Advent season and discusses the significance of Jesus' life as an example of humility, servitude, and godliness. He delves into the concept of abiding in Jesus, illustrating it with the metaphor of the vine and branches from John 15. Dallas also shares personal anecdotes and practical applications, encouraging the congregation to remain connected to God, bear fruit that glorifies Him, and serve each other with humility. The sermon highlights the breaking of barriers, both cultural and personal, to live a life that reflects Jesus' teachings and love.

00:00 Introduction to the Series: Thank God For

00:19 Transition to Christmas and Advent Season

01:01 Thanking God for the Life of Jesus

04:18 The Importance of Abiding in Jesus

13:37 Jesus' Teachings on Bearing Fruit

14:38 Breaking Barriers: The Samaritan Woman

16:59 The Samaritan Woman's Impact

17:56 Personal Reflections on Evangelism

18:33 Breaking Barriers in Faith

22:15 The Power of Agape Love

24:14 Lessons in Humility and Service

30:20 Call to Action: Wearing the Apron

34:03 Final Thoughts and Scripture

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OC Church of Christ

So, as you can see on the screen, we're continuing

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the series, Thank God for.

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I was talking to some people earlier,

it was like, it sounds like TGI

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Fridays, but they're going bankrupt.

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So I was like, I don't think I should

really mention that, but Thank God

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for is a series that we're going in.

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We've talked about,

thank God for the word.

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Thank God for the spirit.

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And last week Dan talked about,

thank God for the church.

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Um, but like I said, it also is

Thanksgiving, so I feel like we need

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to switch things up a little bit.

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There we go.

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Now we're in the Christmas spirit.

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We're in the Advent season now.

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Now, obviously.

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Um, I want to actually, not obviously,

I don't, I don't, I don't want to

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assume things here, but if you did

it already, you now have permission

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to listen to Christmas music.

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Christmas music, it is legal now.

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Alright, alright.

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Some of y'all were like, on

Halloween, like, alright, when's

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midnight, November 1st, here we go.

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Mariah Carey's humming in the

back somewhere, you know, like.

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But it's okay, you can listen

to Christian music now.

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It's totally fine, it's legal.

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I was praying for some of you that

would be listening through November.

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It's fine, but we're going

to keep moving though.

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But if you're joining us this

morning, like I said, we're in

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this series called Thank God For.

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Just reminding ourselves about the

season of gratitude, the season of

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Advent, and today we're going to be

thanking God for the life of Jesus.

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Alright.

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But before we get into it, let's pray.

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We give ourselves center with God and

our hearts prepared for today's Word.

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Amen.

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All right, God, thank you

so much for today and just

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the time to come before you.

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God, I pray that today is a day

that you are glorified and all days.

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God, I pray that today in this lesson,

in the sermon, God, you speak through me.

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Use me as the best.

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God, let your word carry

more than my own words.

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God, I pray that today we leave here

feeling more, uh, feeling closer to

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you, feeling more in depth and intimate

with you because we desire to be

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thankful and desire to be one with you,

God, and what you have done for us.

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And I pray that as we reflect and as

we, um, As we, excuse me, as we, uh,

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continue to gather and, and, and to

dig deep into our hearts, God, I pray

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that what's revealed is nothing more

than just our love for you and your

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love for us God, but we love you.

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God, thank you so much for this day.

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Please be at the lesson.

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Bring Jesus.

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Amen.

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Alright, so I have a

quick question though.

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What are some things that you're

grateful for, for the life of Jesus?

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Why are, why do we thank

God for life of Jesus?

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I'm gonna get some

handsome responses here.

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Why are we thankful for it?

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Yep.

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Amen.

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Awesome.

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Thank you for sharing that.

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Erica, I saw you had your hand up.

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Uh, I thank Jesus for his patience.

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I for recognizing me.

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Yup.

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Yup.

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Right here.

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And on Facebook, please

stop me by that name.

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Yes.

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Absolutely.

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Yup.

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Right here.

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I pray for a person to surrender.

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Amen.

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Yeah.

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His surrender.

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Chris.

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Showing us a different way.

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Good.

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Love that.

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One more.

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Guinea.

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Yeah, you can live differently.

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You have a choice, right?

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He's showed us how to live

differently than the world.

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And you know, this is, sorry,

we're going to take no more

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responses, but I appreciate it.

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Go for it, though.

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Sure, have more compassion, absolutely.

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Thank you for sharing that.

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But yeah, there's so many things, right,

that we can all talk about that we are

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thankful for the life of Jesus, right?

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And so I just want to disclaim

out here, I'm not here to

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cover all that in one sermon.

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Okay?

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This is an ocean of content and

I have two glasses in my hand I'm

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trying to scoop up content with.

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Okay?

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So I won't cover everything, but I will,

I do want to share though, how much

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Jesus, I want to thank Jesus, uh, thank

God for the life of Jesus in my life.

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And that's his humility.

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I think like you said,

the surrender, right?

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And I love that because that's exactly

what we're going to talk about today.

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Um, cause Jesus came to

this earth to show us.

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To how to live in

alignment with God's will.

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In other words, he showed

us how to live a godly life.

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Not a life for ourselves,

but a life for God.

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Amen.

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So let's turn our Bibles

over to John chapter 15.

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We're going to be in John chapter 15.

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And this is a time, this is, uh,

written, this is in the gospel of John.

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Written by one of Jesus closest friends.

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One of his most, uh, uh, in

his inner circle basically.

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A close friend of him.

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Um, as this is written during the

Last Supper, so basically this is

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Jesus final hours before he's going

to be arrested and taken to be, um,

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accused, um, beaten, flogged, and

then eventually crucified and died.

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Um, so, at this point in the story,

he is giving insight and direction

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to his disciples, telling them,

you know, that he's predicting

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a betrayal amongst one of them.

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That Peter is going to

deny him three times.

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That he is the way, the

truth, and the life.

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And that the Holy Spirit, the

advocate, will come and replace him.

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And so if you think about it, if you're a

disciple during this time and the man that

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you've spent three years with, the Son

of God, is telling you all these things.

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Man, I would be feeling

personally confused, fearful,

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discouraged, sad, dejected.

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Like I just, I would feel so many

things, even though he's trying to

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give us these words of encouragement.

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So as we read this, I just want to kind

of give you and put you in the story

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a little bit more and put ourselves

there because I want us to be able

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to feel the weight of these words.

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Amen?

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Alright, let's jump into

the text right here.

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John chapter 15 verse 1 says, I am

the true vine, this is Jesus talking,

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and my father is the gardener.

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He cuts off every branch

in me that bears no fruit.

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While every branch that does bear

fruit, he prunes so that it will become

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even, it will even be more fruitful.

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I You are already clean because of

the word I've spoken to you remain

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in me as I also remain in you No

branch can bear fruit by itself.

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It must remain in the vine

Neither can you bear fruit?

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Unless you remain in me You know the

Christian life begins with abiding

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in Jesus To abide means to stay

connected, to draw strength, to draw

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guidance, to draw nourishment from him.

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Right?

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Without this connection, we cannot

do anything of eternal value.

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You know, I find this reference to what

Jesus is saying in his words, because

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he's talking about being clean, right?

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Earlier in chapter 12, he says,

For I did not speak on my own, but

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the Father who sent me commanded

me to say all that I have spoken.

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I know that his command

leads to eternal life.

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So whatever I say is just what

the Father has told me to say.

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Now here he indicates that his words are

a means of clean, of cleansing for us.

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Cleansing for us.

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Now, Jesus himself doesn't need

to be cleansed of God's Word

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because he is the Word of God.

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In the flesh, as it says

in John chapter 1 verse 1.

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But the word clean in the passage

prior, in the passage prior here,

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is translated into the word pure.

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Thank you.

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And in the word pure from an ethical

standpoint, it's talking about free

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from the corrupt desire, sin, and guilt.

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And you know, when I think about that

definition of pure, about being free

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from the corrupt desire of sin and

guilt, I think of the example that

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Jesus had when he was in the wilderness.

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You know, in Matthew chapter four, um,

he was able, he was led, it says in some

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of the, in some translations it says

that he was full of the Holy Spirit, was

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led into the wilderness for 40 days and

40 nights for fasting and for prayer.

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But while he was there, he

was also tempted by the devil.

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Satan would come out and tempt him,

asking him certain things like,

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Well, turn these stones to bread.

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But Jesus responds with God's

word, says, Man shall not live

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on bread alone, but on every word

that comes from the mouth of God.

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That's from Deuteronomy 8, 3.

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Satan also tempts him and says, Well, you

know, throw yourself down and be saved.

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It's like, he's trying to, he's trying to,

now he tries to twist scripture, saying,

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Hey, well, God says that he will come

and save you, he will come to your aid.

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But Jesus responds with also

God's word saying, Do not put

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the Lord your God to the test.

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And finally Satan takes him to the

highest place and shows him everything.

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He says, If you just bow down and

worship me, I will give you all this.

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But Jesus replies, What does he say?

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He says, Worship the Lord

your God and serve him only.

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Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 13.

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You know, Jesus shows

us how to be cleansed.

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He shows us that as we are being

pruned and clean, that we as, as we

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are being, as we are being tempted,

as we walk through this life, what are

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we, what are we allowing God to cut

off and God to prune, to clean, right?

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I think what's important I think for me is

do we desire to abide with the gardener?

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Do we desire to abide with God's word?

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'cause I think if we wanna be the freed

from corrupt desires, I think for me

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personally, you know, sometimes when

I'm not doing the best spiritually.

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I tend to be very prideful

and not admit when I'm wrong.

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I tend to be very selfish and

not want to give to other people.

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Or I tend to be very reluctant

in who I forgive and how I

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forgive and when I do it.

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You know, but the question I have to

ask myself that I say, that I've been

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asking right here is, How much have

I been abiding in the Word of God?

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How much have I remained connected to God?

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Cause pruning is a process, right?

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And I don't know if anyone gardens here,

but, I don't personally, but I had to look

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this up, but pruning is important because

it helps cut off unnecessary parts.

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Parts that are dead, parts that are

diseased, or that are not bearing fruit.

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You know, when I'm able to abide

and be pruned and cleaned by God, my

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pride is cleansed by Proverbs 29, 23.

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A man's pride brings him low, but

a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

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My selfishness is pruned by Philippians

2 chapter 2 verses 3 through 4 says

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do nothing out of selfish ambition

or vain conceit rather in humility

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value others above yourselves not

looking to your own interests but to

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each of you the interests of others.

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You know my lack of forgiveness is

pruned it's cleaned by Colossians 3 13.

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Bear with each other and forgive one

another if you have any grievances against

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someone forgive as the Lord forgave you.

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You know, I share these and it's not

a flex to say, Oh, look, Dallas has

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scriptures on standby, ready to go.

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No, but it just shows you how much I

desire to be cleaned and pruned by God.

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And I hope in the same way as we look

at Jesus, as he is, um, being tempted

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by Satan to really give in and to, um,

and this, and be, um, and, um, and be

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dissuaded, um, away from the God's will.

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He was designed to be

pruned and cleaned by God.

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He says this is not going to bear fruit.

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This is going to corrupt me.

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This is going to draw me away.

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This is going to make me impure.

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I need to cut it off.

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But what, but what, by what means?

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By the Word of God.

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Being remained in, remaining

in the Word of God.

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And I think more importantly

as we continue here, says, I'm

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the vine, you're the branches.

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In verse 5, If you remain in me and

I in you, you will bear much fruit.

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Apart from me you can do nothing.

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Amen.

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If you do not remain in me, you are like

a branch that is thrown away and withers.

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Such branches are picked up and

thrown into the fire and burn.

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Now, I do have an example

here I want to show.

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Alright.

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I feel like Marcel with all my props here.

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This is a pretty good,

this is an iPhone, right?

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We all, I'm not saying we all have one,

but we all have a smartphone, right?

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Okay.

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This is, this is a very useful tool.

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This is a very useful tool.

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We have navigation, we have entertainment,

we have music, we have photos, we can send

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text messages, we can make calls, right?

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But how useful is it

if we don't have this?

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Paperweight right?

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Just a brick in our

pocket basically, right?

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Some of you say I'm saying you got a

brick in your pocket, no I'm kidding, no.

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But the idea is though, the

idea is though, this is useless

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without a connection, right?

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Right?

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We can't claim for this useful

and very prestigious and very

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advanced technology to be useful

to us if it doesn't get charged up.

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If we are the vine, if Jesus is

the vine and we are the branches,

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it says we are useless if we don't

have the connection to the vine.

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You see that?

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So as we continue, just as a smartphone

needs its charger to stay powered and

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to fulfill its purpose, a branch, us.

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Must remain in the vine to bear fruit.

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It, it, it emphasizes, because I think,

wait, how often do we charge this?

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Apple users, I would say.

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Samsung users, you guys got better

batteries, I'll give you that.

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Yeah, there you go, there you go,

there you go, you got one up there.

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iPhone users, we charge

this every day, right?

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Probably every hour, right?

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How quickly these things die out.

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But it's the emphasis, right, of

how much we need to be connected.

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Because without this, we are nothing.

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Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.

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We have to be remaining in the vine.

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We have to remain connected.

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Because thank God for the life of Jesus.

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Why?

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Because it's an example.

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Here's the, here's an analogy.

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To remain connected.

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That's point number one.

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Remain connected.

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You can do nothing.

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Apart from him, you can do nothing.

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Let's continue reading.

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You guys still with me?

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Alright, come on.

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So, in John chapter 15 verse 7, now, it

says, If ye remain in me, and my words

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remain in you, still Jesus, ask whatever

you wish, and it will be done for you.

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This is to my father's glory,

that you bear much fruit.

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Showing yourselves to be my disciples.

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A healthy branch naturally bears fruit

when it is connected to the vine.

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you The natural result of abiding

in Christ is fruitfulness.

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Fruit that includes spiritual

growth between you and God.

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Good works that you do to each other

and to others outside of this building.

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And even leading others outside

this building to Christ.

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And you know what?

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Bearing fruit is not optional.

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It's a sign of genuine discipleship.

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The fruit that we bear For shows

ourselves to be his disciples, or doesn't.

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That's what we're, that's what

we're, that's the, that's the

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decision that we can make.

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What kind of fruit are we going to bear?

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You know, I feel like Jesus demonstrated

this with the Samaritan woman.

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Now follow me on this, you're

probably thinking like, huh,

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what are you thinking about that?

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Well, when Jesus encounters the Samaritan

woman, he breaks three amazing barriers.

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Cultural, gender, and moral barriers.

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That's right.

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Here, let's talk about this.

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You know, Samaritans were considered

ethnically and religiously impure

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by Jews, and Jesus was a Jew.

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And normally Jews would avoid Samaria.

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They would, they would, they would take

the long way around just so that they

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wouldn't have to interact with them.

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So culturally, from a standpoint,

he's already like, he's already

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cutting through the land.

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He's already meeting with those

Samaritan, women in Samaria.

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Okay.

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The gender role.

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Now, most of the time, culturally, most

men will not speak to a woman one on one.

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Especially, Jesus being a rabbi,

he would not speak to a woman,

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especially since she wasn't related.

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Okay, boom, that's barrier number two.

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Barrier number three is now the

woman was an adulterous woman.

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She had five husbands, as we

later find out in the story.

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If you go back and read the

story, I encourage you, it's in

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John 4, it's an amazing story.

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But, ultimately, she, we come to find

out this woman has on her fifth husband,

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she's been, you know, she's known for

it, and she comes out in the middle of

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the day, she just meets her at noon.

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And normally, during that time,

you want to get, she meets him at

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a well, and normally you'd want to

meet, go to the well to get water

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either in the morning when it's

cool or the evening when it's cool.

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But she comes at noon, in the middle

of the day when she knows no one's

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going to be there, so that way

she is not shamed for who she is.

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She's outcasted.

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She's separated, she's isolated from the

rest of their community because of what

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her reputation and what her background is.

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But despite her background, despite

her past, Jesus approaches her with

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compassion and offers her what's called

the living water, or eternal life,

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as some of us know the story to be.

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And he engages with her in this

deep spiritual conversation.

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And you know.

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This is an opportunity for him to

bear fruit to show her God's heart.

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And not only does he bear fruit to her

in order to show her who God's heart is,

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but what happens afterwards is amazing.

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It says, Then leaving the jar, uh, leaving

her water jar, the woman went back to

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town and said to the people, Come, see

a man who told me everything I ever did.

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Could this be the Messiah?

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She's already going and sharing

the fruit that Jesus has bared

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has now gone and multiplied.

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To wow, to wear, to hear.

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In verse 39, it says many of

the Samaritans of that, from

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that town believed in him.

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Verse 41, and because of his

words many more became believers.

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In verse 42, we no longer believe

just because of what you have said.

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Now we have heard for ourselves what

we know that the man, that this man

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really is the savior of the world.

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This encounter, this

encounter glorified God.

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By spreading the message of

salvation to an entire town from one

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woman, a woman that was outcasted.

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I just think of myself sometimes, what

if Jesus didn't reach out to this woman?

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Where would that town be?

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I don't know.

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But ultimately we need to

bear God glorifying fruit.

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What do I mean by that?

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Well, when I was a student at Cal State

Fullerton, uh, cause I'm currently in the

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campus ministry at that school right now.

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Um, I graduated in 2022,

but I was a student.

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I found it very easy for myself and

to, when I was sharing my faith and

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to, and to invite people to church,

to invite, to invite the people that

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I felt was the most convenient for me.

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People that were sitting

down, not doing anything.

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People that had a sports jersey

of a team that I supported.

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People that had a cross necklace.

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It was easy for me.

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I was comfortable.

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I was like, oh yeah,

this is, this is easy.

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I, I would like looking, look, I can,

I can go up to this person and be like,

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Hey, you know, strike up a competition.

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Yeah.

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I like Dodgers.

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You like Dodgers too?

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Okay, great.

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You should come out to church.

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You know, like, it was very convenient.

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It's very easy for me to be able to do

stuff like that, but I, what I realized

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is that when I look at this story with

Jesus and the Samaritan woman, it broke

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all kinds of barriers and the barriers and

the restrictions that I put up for myself.

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When I was a student, I

realized I was limiting.

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God's glorifying fruit.

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Trying to think of what God could

possibly do through people on my campus.

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You know, and I think when I learned about

this story and I, and I, and I continue

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to dive deeper into it, it helped me not

only realize how much fruit I can bear

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in just my evangelism, but in just my

love and my devotion to God and His will.

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Because in turn, that helps me grow in

my love and compassion for the world.

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And helping them come to know Christ,

helping them come to know Jesus, because

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I think sometimes we can come up with

questions like, well, you know, maybe,

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maybe, maybe this person's too busy.

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I don't want to inconvenience them.

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Or maybe I'm too busy, so I

just don't have time to do it.

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Or this generation is so worldly.

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How can they ever want to know Christ?

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They drink, they smoke, they get high.

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They hook up on the weekends.

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Look at what they wear.

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Do they look like people that

want to come to know Christ?

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They don't even believe in God.

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They're from another religion.

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Look at who they voted for.

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I'm kidding.

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Stop.

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Stop.

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But we get these thoughts though, right?

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I know it's funny, but we can come

up with these rationalities, right?

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It's easy for us to put a limit on

God's glorifying fruit when we are

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the ones defining the barriers and

the boundaries of who we share with,

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when we share with, and why we share.

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When we bear God a glorifying fruit,

we break all the boundaries that we

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set on ourselves as human beings and

we allow God to set the standard.

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God glorifying fruit has no boundaries.

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It has no limits.

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You know, when we stay connected.

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We can have so many more encounters

like the Samaritan woman.

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People that are even outcasted, that

feel unapproachable, that feel that

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you feel like are unconvertible.

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There are more stories like that

in store for us if we desire

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to have God glorifying fruit.

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Matthew chapter 7 verse 20 it reads,

you know, that Jesus is talking in the

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sermon of the mouth and he says, by

their fruit you will recognize them.

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And he's talking about

true and false society.

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Can people recognize

God's glory by your fruit?

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Or do they see your own glory?

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Why am I doing this?

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Sometimes we ask.

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Is it for my glory?

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Is it for the glory of God?

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Who benefits from this?

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Is it God and others?

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Or is it just myself?

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What's in it for me?

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Will I get the praise,

the recognition I deserve?

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Or do I not care and I leave it for God?

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I thank God for the life of Jews

because it's an example of how

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to bear God glorifying fruit.

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How to love with no boundaries.

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How to give compassion

with no restrictions.

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Because like I said, God

glorifying fruit breaks barriers

448

within ourselves and for others.

449

Let's go back to the main text here.

450

Thank you.

451

Uh, we're gonna be in verse 9.

452

Now I can't finish the entire chapter

or the first, this kind of entire

453

section of the vine and the branches,

but I encourage you to go and read it.

454

I'm gonna read up to about verse 13, but

I encourage you to read the rest of it

455

on your own if you have time this week,

because it's an amazing, amazing passage.

456

But let's go back in the text real quick.

457

As the Father has loved

me, so have I loved you.

458

Now remain in my love.

459

If you keep my commands, you will remain

in my love, just as I have kept my

460

Father's commands and remain in His love.

461

I have told you this so that my joy may be

in you and that your joy may be complete.

462

My command is this, love each

other as I have loved you.

463

Greater love has no one than this to

lay down one's life for one's friends.

464

You know, in, in, in John chapter

15, Jesus, the love, the word

465

love is mentioned so many times.

466

And I know that today in our

day and age, we can throw the

467

word love around and everything.

468

So I love.

469

I love, uh, pizza.

470

I love, uh, my family.

471

I love my job.

472

Right?

473

Those are all different levels of love.

474

Right?

475

But the love that Jesus is talking

about is translated into what's

476

called agape, which is this

selfless and unconditional love.

477

The highest form of love is what it's,

it's perceived as in the Christian faith.

478

And so Jesus is speaking also literally

and figuratively in this text.

479

You know, he says that he's

going to lay down his life.

480

And obviously, as we know, Jesus

would go on to die for our sins on the

481

cross and lay down his life for us.

482

But I think he also references,

figuratively, of something that

483

he did prior, in John chapter 13,

when he washes his disciples feet.

484

You know, in reference to that, you

know, in John chapter 13, if you want

485

to read it, it says, Jesus washes his

feet, and after washing the feet, Jesus

486

tells his disciples, Now that I, your

Lord and teacher, have washed your feet,

487

you also should wash one another's feet.

488

I've set you an example that you

should do as I have done for you.

489

Very truly I tell you, no servant

is greater than his master,

490

nor is a messenger greater

than the one who sent him.

491

You know, I'm going to pop

up my thing real quick.

492

When I was in high school,

um, my, I played soccer.

493

Um, I had a varsity coach,

um, who was very adamant about

494

everyone being a team player.

495

And every time we step in the locker

room, um, we had a sign on the door.

496

I'm sure some of you have heard of this,

but it's leave your ego at the door.

497

Right?

498

This idea that you play for the

name on the front, not the back.

499

The idea that just because you may be

the all CIF, all accoladed player of the

500

week, whatever, stud on campus, whatever,

when you put that jersey on, you are

501

no greater than the person next to you.

502

That we all contribute to

building something great.

503

And that was a winning team.

504

You know, in the same way, I

think when Jesus was talking

505

about washing his disciples feet,

I think of this analogy here.

506

Make sure I don't hit this mic.

507

But, here I have an apron.

508

And when you guys think of an apron,

what do you guys normally think of?

509

Cooking, right?

510

Yeah, I always think that.

511

So let's, let's pivot a little bit more.

512

Let's go, let's go my way a little bit.

513

When I think apron, I think of serving.

514

When you're cooking, you're preparing

something to give to someone else.

515

Or for yourself.

516

Up to you.

517

I know some of you guys like to

cook a lot of food for yourself.

518

I know Sung does.

519

But, the idea is though, that

when we put this apron on, it's a

520

sign that we are willing to serve.

521

We're willing to work.

522

You know, the idea that for me as a,

um, as a, when I was playing soccer,

523

this idea, this, this, this apron kind

of became true for me in the last year.

524

You know, when I had this apron on,

it's easy for me to pick and choose

525

when I'm giving and when I serve.

526

I choose when I want to take

it on and when I take it off.

527

It's easy for me to kind of pick, say, ah,

that's, that's, that's, that's beneath me.

528

I don't, I don't need to do that.

529

Or, that's, ah, that's not worth my time.

530

But I'll do this, though.

531

Oh, here, I'm ready, I'm ready to go.

532

You need me to preach?

533

Woo!

534

Give me the paper and I'm ready to go.

535

Oh, but you want me to go

and serve in kids kingdom?

536

Oh, sorry, can't do that.

537

No.

538

You know, like, we, I, I was, it's easy to

pick and choose what we do in the kingdom.

539

And you know what's crazy is that Jesus

disciples went on to do amazing things.

540

They would spread the gospel,

they would go to the ends of

541

the earth to preach the word.

542

But Jesus showed the importance of how

much of this apron are you going to

543

keep on when you wash each other's feet.

544

Understand that there's humility

and servitude in being a servant.

545

You know, without the apron, when

we cook and clean, I'm a little

546

hesitant to get my hands dirty.

547

Right?

548

Because I don't want things getting

on my clothes, I'm like, ugh, I

549

can't really fully commit to it.

550

Right?

551

And normally when we, when I put this

apron on, it helps remind me of a time.

552

I'll share it vulnerably here.

553

Can I share a vulnerability

with you guys real quick?

554

You know, this time last year, um, I

was, uh, I was pretty much on track to

555

becoming where I'm at right now, where

I'm currently a minister right now.

556

And, um, some things in my character

were very much, uh, brought into the

557

light, um, that showed I was not ready.

558

And I remember, you know, just,

I've been waiting for my shot to

559

go into the ministry and to serve

and to give to God's kingdom.

560

But there were things that I had,

um, I hadn't really dealt with that

561

were really hindering me from really

experiencing, not just a relationship

562

with God, but intimacy with God.

563

And so I remember sitting down with

Marcel and Eric and Kyle, I don't mean

564

to call them out, but I appreciate

them because they were real with me

565

and honest with me and saying like,

we don't think you're ready yet.

566

We don't think this is the time for you.

567

There's things that you need to work

on and to really wrestle with in

568

your relationship with God that's

going to require you to not really,

569

not to not be a minister just yet.

570

And I was like, man, okay.

571

That checked me.

572

And so I felt God handing me this

apron saying, here, put the apron on.

573

Let's go to work.

574

And I hated the apron.

575

I hated having this on.

576

I'll be honest.

577

It was hard because I was like, man.

578

I'm trying to, I'm, I got, I'm

willing to give everything for you.

579

I'm willing to do great things for you.

580

But when I really got to sit down

and really wrestle myself and look

581

at my heart, I understood that it

was for my glory that I wanted this.

582

I realized that my humility to

serve was just so that way people

583

can give me the pat on the back,

the applause in the crowd, the,

584

yeah, bro, you did a great job.

585

And it wasn't because I wanted

to bring God glory and what he

586

wanted from me through my gifts

and my talents that he's given me.

587

And so I, I, I hated this

thing for a long time.

588

I had to, I had to be open, I had to be

honest, I had to be vulnerable about my

589

intentions, about everything because so

much of it had been skewed to myself,

590

skewed to how I wanted things to go about.

591

You know, I, it was, it was

hard because I had to learn.

592

How to give and to serve and

to be humble without the title.

593

And I, and I stand here today

showing you this apron to

594

signify that it's still on me.

595

The idea, the desire to

be humble and to serve God

596

wholeheartedly is still within me.

597

It doesn't go away once I got the

title, just because I got the call

598

and the, affirmation from Marcel and

From, and from Eric and Kyle that was

599

ready, this stays on for all of us.

600

I don't know for what you're at, at some

point in your walk with God, but at some

601

of us, we may have taken this apron off.

602

We may have taken the desire to

be humble and to serve regardless

603

of whether we get credit or not,

regardless of anyone sees it or not.

604

And I know for me, it's hard because

sometimes at the day, we have the

605

best intentions How can we, to wanna

really bring God glory, but Jesus

606

always, always, always after the heart.

607

And I wanna leave you guys with this.

608

Like God wants to do

amazing things with us.

609

He really does.

610

And each and everyone in this person

is willing to contribute to that.

611

However, we have to be humble

enough to do the dirty work,

612

even when no one's watching.

613

And that's the integrity that

Jesus asked all of us to have is

614

are you willing to do Do the work.

615

To serve, to be humble

when no one is watching.

616

When no one, no one is giving

you the pat on the back.

617

I know sometimes our AV team

can get some flack for not

618

getting the credit they deserve.

619

I love our AV team.

620

They're amazing.

621

Let's give it up for our AV team.

622

And I know that for me because it's

easy for me to, it's easy for me to be

623

on stage and for everyone to see me.

624

But there's a lot of people in this

church that do things behind the scenes.

625

That we don't see, that we don't know.

626

And they do it humbly,

and they do it serenely.

627

I, I'm so grateful for

these people in our church.

628

That people that, that go unseen.

629

The people that do things, but because

they choose to continue to wear the apron.

630

They continue, they continue

to choose to be humble.

631

And imagine if we were a church

that we all wore the apron.

632

That we would look across the

way, across the rows here.

633

And we would not put ourselves

above or beneath one another.

634

Well, we can't be able to, we

could, we could put ourselves

635

beneath in a humble way, right?

636

But in a way that's not saying, well,

I'm not as valuable as that person.

637

I'm not worth it.

638

I'm not as important as that person.

639

Or thinking ourselves that we're

higher than we ought to, I think

640

I'm more important than this person.

641

I have more to offer.

642

I've been in the kingdom

X amount of years.

643

I've done this.

644

I've led these things.

645

I've baptized this many people.

646

No.

647

The idea is that we all as a church

have to wear the apron regardless

648

of titles, regardless of status.

649

We have to be a church that is

humble to serve and wash each

650

other's feet, as Jesus called us all.

651

Church, as we move forward, and for

those that are in the Orange County

652

congregation, what it's going to take

to move our church into a healthier

653

place is if we all put on the apron.

654

Leave your ego at the door.

655

And put on an apron.

656

I couldn't come up with another clever

way to say that, I just had to put it up

657

there, so there's your point right there.

658

But leave your ego at the

door and put on an apron.

659

Let's go to work.

660

Let's get our hands dirty.

661

Let's rub elbows, rub elbows with

one another and get in the nitty

662

gritty to create a healthy church.

663

A Jesus's church.

664

The church that he aspired to want to see.

665

Because yes, our church is

imperfect, full of imperfect people.

666

People that drive you crazy.

667

People that get on your

nerves, that hurt you.

668

Say things that, you know,

sometimes in the moment they mean,

669

but in the end they really don't.

670

Guys, we have to be a church that

is willing to put on the apron.

671

Every single one of us.

672

To see each other as equals.

673

To be able to be willing to be humble and

to serve one another as Jesus called us.

674

Amen.

675

So to leave you guys with this,

it's just these three points.

676

Remain connected.

677

Be in the word of God.

678

Bear fruit that glorifies

God and not yourself.

679

Leave your ego at the

door and put on an apron.

680

And let's go to work.

681

Amen.

682

I want to leave us with

this last scripture here.

683

Second, uh, Philippians

chapter 2 verse 5 through 8.

684

It says in your relationships

with one another.

685

Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus,

who being in very nature, God did not

686

consider equality with God, something

to be used to his own advantage.

687

Rather, he made himself nothing by

taking the very nature of a servant

688

being made in human likeness and

being found in appearance as a man.

689

He humbled himself by becoming obedient

to death, even death on a cross.

690

So church, let us thank God for the life

of Jesus because it is a life of humility.

691

Thank you guys.