This page was exported from Shelburne Free Press [ https://shelburnefreepress.ca ] Export date:Tue Jul 23 8:27:37 2024 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Crossroads Community Church --------------------------------------------------- What's Christian Pruning?    “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” John 15:1-2 On this wonderful June morning Pastor Don invited everyone to pray. Announcements were shared and prayer requests. The worship team lead beautiful choruses to bring us close to the Lord. Bob read 1 Peter 1:3-7 and Psalm 136:1-3.  “We all like to belong don't we?” asked Pastor Don. He continued; “We adhere to all kinds of social network groups, teams, community groups and even churches, but do we like to belong to Jesus? Three weeks ago we began a series of invitations, today we are invited to belong to God through Jesus. We feel the need to belong because we were created for relationships. Friendships are about belonging, being wanted and cared for and giving the same in return, staying in touch Let's learn about the close relationship with Jesus is like, It is much like a Gardener with His vines, He tends them and prunes branches when needed so they can grow. With God it is the same, and we need to stay connected so God can take away what is stopping us in our spiritual growth. Jesus is the main vine and we are the branches called to bear fruit. There are four kinds of branches, the thrown away, the pruned, the fruitful and the connected, so which one are we? Throw away branches are the dead branches, the ones that don't grow and don't produce fruit, the pruned ones are the ones cut back so they can grow again, the fruitful branches are the ones flourishing and the connected branches continue to bear even more fruit. So how does God prune us? He tests our faith to help us grow, He removes bad habits and attitudes that are unproductive parts of our lives then we grow into a better person, (James 1:3-4). In love he prunes us for our good, and through those difficult times He is with us, he is our help to endure, (John 15:5-6). The purpose of pruning is to produce fruit, in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control, (Galatians 5:22-23). We often by our own efforts try to be good, but the only one who can truly make us good is Jesus and we need to remain connected to his power source, the Holy Spirit,(John 15:7-8). Practical ways to stay connected, is praying for each other, spend time supporting one another, worship together and read His word. The church is not a building, it is a family of people that God brought together to love and serve Him and others in Jesus name. When we pray we keep communication with God alive, it gives peace, joy and hope to all of us, (Philippians 4:6). So what branch are we? I believe we have all been all four at some point in our lives, Praise be to God that when we were dead He forgave us, when he prunes us He is producing new growth, and let us thank Him for remaining with us through every life triumph and struggle. God is making a masterpiece of our lives. We don't have to do it on our own, we don't need to pretend we are strong, God holds us up; because we are His child. He loves us so much that when He saves us He doesn't leave us hurt and broken as He found us; when we belong to Him we are connected to Jesus, He wants us to stay in His love and reflect His love amongst each other and to those who don't yet know Him. Beloved let this be our prayer that God stays close to us and give us grace to endure His pruning….Draw close to Him and He will draw close to us…Asherey Shalom! To learn more visit our website at http://www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2013-06-13 13:00:05 Post date GMT: 2013-06-13 17:00:05 Post modified date: 2013-06-20 11:04:26 Post modified date GMT: 2013-06-20 15:04:26 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com