Synopsis of Sermon 01.07.24

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

John 15:1-8 NKJV
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 

I.          INTRODUCTION 

1. One of the lessons that you learn in leadership is that relationships should be done well. We don’t get to the next level of living, because we don’t do relationships well. Our next level is often dependent on having good relationships. God wired us to be in communities not as soloist.
2. Our spiritual connections matter too. God takes connections seriously. God is all in. He is fully committed to you. He neither sleeps nor slumbers. Covenant matters to Him. Often, when we connect with Him, it is interesting to see how much we mature.
3. Our connections to God:
   1. For some its casual. We just identify with God.
   2. For some it is coerced, meaning forced by others. This is not authentic.
   3. Then there is convenience. This means, if God falls within our schedule, then we are committed, otherwise, we are not. This is part of being all in in! Matthew 6:33 NLT says 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
4. God is sending this word, because many of us have made the decision that we will grow this year. There is a phrase called the currency of connection. In it you see the value in your relationship with Jesus Christ. When you realize it, you will no longer look for what you are after, in other places.
5. We know what we have in God, therefore, we use it to judge other relationships.
6. Many of the relationships that have gone by the wayside in our lives, have cost us. For example, family, time, character, career, and etc.… We have to make up in our minds that we are done with dead relationships.
7. Jesus is sitting with the disciples and in John 14, Jesus tells them to believe in Him. Jesus knows that He is about to transition. While preparing the Disciples for His death, He gives them revelation, about Heaven and the Holy Spirit.
   1. In chapter 15, Jesus explains the importance of connection. He knew after he died, things would try to pull them away from their assignments.
   2. Know that John was a beloved disciple. John writes the Gospel of John, the 3 Epistles of John, and Revelation. What makes John’s gospel so powerful, it is unlike the other Gospels. John is not a synoptic gospel. The Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe events from a similar point of view. The Gospel of John, on the other hand, focuses more on the divinity of God through Christ.
   3. John starts his book of by proclaiming “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In John’s Gospel he also includes the “I am -s” such as “I am the way, truth and the life” or “ I am the vine and you are branches…”.
      1. In the scripture Jesus explains that the branches are dependent on the vine. He further explains the one’s not producing fruit is cut away. Everything you need is connected to your connection with the vine. When you understand the power of hookup (vine connection), you won’t go stalking branches.

II.           PROPER CONNECTION DETERMINES YOUR DESTINY 

1. It’s about authenticity. He says I am the true vine. In other words, He is saying that He is the real deal! When your connection is authentic, you no longer tolerate the fake stuff. You are connected to that which is real.
2. Sometimes we get frustrated in relationships.

A.     God Will Always Prune You to

1.     Prepare you for more. Just because you bear fruit, doesn’t mean that He doesn’t need you to bear more fruit. The process of pruning helps the vine produce better fruit. God prunes you so you wont waste energy and He wont waste anointing on stuff that ain’t going to grow.

2. Our connection to the true vine is not being satisfied with yesterdays victory. We recognize pruning is necessary even though it might be painful. You ought to rejoice in the pruning, because that must mean there is more to come for you.
3. The Farmer might prune to remove disease. The pruning is for the overall health of the plant. You know when things are not healthy in your life, because you won’t be at ease. Sometimes God will cut people away instead of you having to do it. You may wonder why God chose to cut someone away, but it may be because God has heard some of the conversations that you haven’t heard.

B.    Never Forget You Need Him 

1. The Branch is completely dependent upon on the vine. You must own your branch-ness. We are all branches dependent on the Vine. When you got that contract, when you got that house, when you got that job, it was because of the vine. It is not just about getting it; it is also about keeping it. You can’t go through life, thinking you don’t need Him.
2. Every branch not connected to Him (the Vine), will wither.
3. You’ve got to:

III.          PREPARE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF DETACHMENT 

• The branch can’t bear fruit by itself. Without him, we can’t do anything. You can do some things without him, but it will be empty and feel like nothing. Without God, you will always be chasing something.
• One of the tricks of the enemy is to convince you that you can go it alone.

A.    The Blessing Is Not in The Branch, It’s in The Vine 

1. Don’t depend on a branch. It might disappoint you. The blessing is in the
2. No matter what you accomplish, you will come to a place where disconnecting will destroy your potential.

B.      Disconnection Destroys Potential 

1. The first thing that happens is it begins to wither. Nothing is feeding it.
2. After it dies, men will gather them. At this point, the branches are in the hands of other people. Imagine, putting your life in the hands of people.
   1. Remember Pilot telling Jesus he had the power to let him live or die and Jesus said he had no power, except His father give it to him. Though Pilot thought he had power, he was just a branch.
   2. Think back at how many times have you been burnt. This is why Paul said he would let nothing separate him from the love of Jesus.

IV.          PRAY WITH CONFIDENCE KNOWING GOD WILL DELIVER 

• Then you will realize the power of your prayer life. You will have to pray with confidence, knowing that God will deliver.

A.     Abiding in Him Assures You Aligning with Him 

1. Abiding means to stay with him. If you’re not committed, you will not abide. There are moments where friends come by and you wonder when they’re going to leave. Likewise, there are times you go somewhere, and you find yourself looking for an exit.
2. God says, you have to want to abide in Him. If His words is inside of you, you can speak things that you want and it will happen.

B.      Believe What You Asked for Its Already Done 

1. When you grow in relationship with God, the more your faith is built up. The more your faith is built up, the more faith is released.
2. When we pray for something, we believe that its already done! We’ve come today, to release a “done anointing” on your life.

V.          PRODUCING IS CONFIRMATION OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP 

• Here in my father is glorified as you produce much fruit. Producing is an indication of your relationship and discipleship. We don’t want you to just be a member in church, we want to be Disciples. Fruit in my life is reflective of my relationship with God.
• You can’t be stagnant or complacent. You must produce, because of your connection. Some people produce fruit that comes from “a vine”, but it doesn’t come from “the vine”. Fruit that doesn’t come from “the vine” will eventually wither and die.
• When you understand what you have in Him, you stop demonizing people when they produce fruit. We ought to celebrate people that produce fruit.

A.     This Is Your Season to Produce Much Fruit 

1. If they hated on you last year, they’re going to lose their mind this year! This is not the season to sit back and watch others produce. You are locked in! You will produce everything God has in your life!

B.      God Gets the Glory When We Represent Him in The Earth 

1. How is the Father glorified? It’s when you stay connected to the vine, the vine then blesses you, you produce fruit, and it becomes the conversation piece. People will wonder how you got the job, when others were qualified for it.  It’s simple. You got the spiritual hookup!
   1. The hookup’s name is Jesus. He’s never lost a case. The glory comes to the vine!
2. The real flex is this:

The branch relationship is not just in the normal growth process. Anything will grow if you feed and water it, but that’s not how life works. Some events take place that you would rather not take place and you wonder why it happened to you.

The branch and vine relationship is called vexation propagation. Some people can grow plants from cuttings. A cutting can be planted in the soil and can grow roots and produce an identical plant. Some of you have been cut and the people who cut you tried to burry you, not realizing that God used that cutting just to plant you.

Through the storms, you realized how resilient you really were! God is about to replanting some people! You haven’t seen your best days yet! I see fruit all over you! This will be the most fruitful season of your life!