Salt + Light Fort Worth

abide in me and I in you as
the branch cannot bear fruit by

itself unless it abides in the V.

Neither can you unless you abide in me.

This is the word of the Lord.

/ Thanks be to God indeed
and again, happy New Year.

Happy new.

Good to see everyone.

I hope you had nice, restful, somewhat
slow, somewhat change of rhythm.

I'm sure nothing perfect 'cause
it's life, but more ups than

downs over the last couple weeks.

So, um, and welcome back into new
rhythms that for many of us are

gonna start this week as well.

So, uh, kids in the room, can I get
your eyes for a moment and ask you a

question if you're a kid in the room.

What is something, and you
can just shout this out.

It's not school time yet, so you don't
have to raise your hands or anything.

It's gonna be amazing.

Uh, what's something that you can do that
you don't need your parents' help with?

Oh, you can raise your hands.

Oh, look at the fort.

It's so polite.

Yeah, I can clean the dishes.

You can clean the dishes.

Ha.

Very nice.

Alright.

Do you clean the di?

No, just kidding.

Piper.

Slide.

Slide.

All right, Jack.

Play Fortnite.

All right, cool.

Any other kids?

Any things you don't need
your parents' help with?

All right.

Video games, sliding and doing dishes.

That's fantastic.

Uh, kids, mac and cheese.

Making mac and cheese.

All right, there you go.

Um, then you have, then you can
give the dishes to Charlie and

you can clean 'em, would be great.

Um, all right, kids.

Is there anything that you do need
your parents' help with Piper?

Changing my bandaid twice a day.

Changing your bandaid twice a day.

All right, Charlie.

Um, this is an all star table back here.

Um, making breakfast for my family.

Making breakfast for your family.

Very kitchen oriented today.

It's good, Jack.

Driving a car, huh?

Lots of questions for the
byford just came to mind.

Uh, all right.

Grownups and even like middle schoolers,
high schoolers and up can add into this.

Is there anything that you can't do that
you don't like to admit you can't do?

I'm a middle school.

You're a middle schooler now, man.

You're so advanced for your years.

Um.

Most of us don't like to admit those
kind of things out loud, right?

Because we like to be able to do
whatever it is we set our minds to.

True.

Um, we are kicking off 2025 by just kind
of reminding us as a church family of

who we are, um, and of who's who we are.

If I can be a little bit cheesy with it.

Um, our mission as a church is to
make disciples of Jesus by seeking

his kingdom in everyday life.

And yet the reality is we can't do that.

We can't do that on our own.

We can't make disciples.

We don't have that power.

Uh, we can't even presently,
always consistently, constantly be

reminded of God's presence without
him reminding us of his presence.

Um, God calls us to be His children.

Who we are as a church family
means we have a father.

It means we are in some ways God's.

Children, um, grownups, what are
some things that kids rely on for

you, whether they want to or not?

We're gonna go with kid grownups.

This time though, Charlie, although
I know you're a grown up now too.

What are some things
that kids rely on us for?

Providing shelter?

Providing shelter.

Yes.

What else?

Going potty.

Going potty.

Okay.

We'll make a spiritual
connection to that somehow.

Emotional support.

Emotional support.

Yeah.

Well, going potty.

What else?

Money.

Money.

What else?

Boundaries.

Rules.

Boundaries.

Rules.

Protection.

Yeah.

Preparing us for life.

Preparing us for life.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And, and all these things
are good things, right?

It's not bad to help a child at
age appropriate go potty to provide

spiritual emotional protection to,
to give them money to a degree.

This kind of stuff like these
aren't, these aren't negative things.

Um, as we take those and attribute
them to God, we also need boundaries.

We also need help.

We also need protection.

We also need money 'cause
he provides, right?

Uh, he, all these things that we
can say, maybe not the potty part,

but most everything else we can say.

Uh, like we look to God for, and as
his children, we get to rely on him.

And that's not a bad thing.

It's an honest reality.

It's a freeing reality.

So even as we consider our mission, who
we are as a church, we're utterly reliant

on God as a child, reliant on parents.

In fact, Jesus tells his disciples,
and, and those who are listening so many

times be, be like a child, have faith
like a child, come to me like a child.

Look at the children.

Similarly in, in a lot of
what you mentioned, depending

on God relying on God.

And a lot of our mission fits into these,
these phrases that we talk about a lot.

That's our view of, of discipleship.

We didn't create these phrases.

We took 'em from someone who took 'em from
someone and all the way back to the Bible.

Um, but we look at discipleship as
being with Jesus and becoming like

Jesus and doing what Jesus did.

But the order matters 'cause
we can't do what Jesus did.

We can't become like
Jesus unless we first.

Yeah.

Rely on Jesus.

Spend time with Jesus.

Depend on Jesus.

Rest, in Jesus, abide as our verses
said, today with Jesus, we can only

do the things that God calls us to,
whether it's our church-wide mission,

whether it's discipleship things,
whether it's anything good and fruitful

in your life, whether it is quote
unquote, overtly spiritual or not.

'cause.

'cause there's really no divide
between spiritual and not spiritual.

Everything matters in life.

We can't do any of the things
that God calls us to unless

we first abide in Christ.

And so I wanna read these verses again
and consider a little bit more of what

God is saying to the Apostle John.

This is Jesus talking.

He says, I am the true vine.

My father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that
does not bear fruit.

He, the vine dresser takes away
and every branch that does bear

fruit, he the vine dresser, prunes
so that it may bear more fruit.

Already you are clean because
of the word that I've spoken to.

You abide in me and I in you as
the branch cannot bear fruit by

itself unless it abides in the vine.

Neither can you unless
you abide in me all.

Um, let's dig a little bit.

There's, there's three parties, three
characters personified in these verses.

Uh, there's the vine.

Who is the vine?

Jesus.

Jesus.

Good.

Who's the branch?

Us followers of Jesus.

And who's the vine dresser?

God the father.

All right.

The vine is Jesus.

The branch is us.

The vine dresser is God the father.

Every, every, each of those parties has,
has a role to play in this relationship.

And each of these parties
has a different role.

To play in these relationships,
in this relationship.

What is the role of the branch?

What is the role of you
and me is to bear fruit?

But how very clearly does Jesus say?

What's the only way in which we're
going to bear fruit if we're connected

to the vine, if we're connected to the
source of life, the nutrients, the,

the nourishment, and again, you can
spiritualize all this kind of stuff.

Divine is Jesus.

We only bear fruit as we
stay connected to Jesus.

I.

In other words, it's the vine.

It's Jesus himself who empowers and
directs and equips with different giftings

and gives us opportunities to bear fruit,
which is another way of saying it's

Jesus who empowers us to be with him,
become like him and do what he does.

It's, it is Jesus who empowers us
to seek his kingdom in everyday

life as we make disciples.

And I want us to, to talk for a minute.

We're we're, I'm, I'm assuming we're all
coming in a little bit foggy, so I'm,

I'm inviting you in to have a little bit
more conversation than we sometimes do.

What are some ways that Jesus
did this during his earthly life?

What are some ways that you can think
of that he empowered and directed and

equipped and gave giftings to, and
gave opportunities to his disciples?

What do you think, what are some ways
Jesus actually did that in his life?

He taught them how to pray,
taught 'em how to pray.

Good.

What else?

And sought them out intentionally
from that relationship with them.

Yeah, he pursued them
and said, come with me.

And he modeled the, the life with God.

The perfectly reliant spirit.

Reliant life with God.

What else?

He sent them out.

Mm-hmm.

Sent them out first, the 12, two by two.

Then the, the broader
collection of disciples.

He also then brought them back and
when they're like, oh, we didn't

know what to do with this demon.

He's like, oh, that one's
only prayer and fast.

So there's coaching and teaching and,
and equipping in that sense as well.

So some people would say he sent 'em out
before they were quote unquote ready.

Which is helpful for all of us.

'cause who feels ready?

Anything from not this side.

We have a very talkative section over
here and talkative kids heal back.

Anything from here we
demonstrated how to heal.

Demonstrated how to heal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Spent time with people
who were not lovely.

Mm-hmm.

Spent time with people who are not lovely.

That's good.

And on and on and on.

We could go.

There's just dozens
and dozens of examples.

Jesus spending time with people who
weren't lovely, people spending time with,

uh, that were not accepted by society.

Um, taught 'em what it looked like
to, to walk away from the crowds

even, and spend time with the father,
taught 'em what it looked like to just

dwell and be with him in a world that
like today says, no bigger, better,

faster, stronger, is what wins.

And, and on, on and on and on.

We can go.

So, John 15, this, this passage we're
reading is part of Jesus' farewell

speech, which is last, last evening
with his disciples last night on Earth.

In a few hours, he'll be arrested.

The next day he will go to the cross.

Of course, what we rely on and, and,
and bank all of our hope on in the

Christian faith is that a few days
after this, he's raised from the dead.

But later in this speech, later in
this collection of John 14 through 17

or so, Jesus tells his disciples that
it's good that he's gonna go away.

Because only if he goes away
can he send the Holy Spirit.

And the role of the Holy Spirit is to
continue the work that Jesus did and

empower and direct and equip and give
gifts to and give opportunities to

followers of Jesus, to and forevermore.

So all of those things that you said, all
those things that Jesus modeled during

his brief earthly life, God, the spirit.

The, the, the present day power and
vine and the presence of Jesus in

us and around us still equips and
directs and, and empowers and gives

us opportunities for us to do the
same thing and produce more fruit

today through the power of the Spirit.

And this is, again, this is why
abiding, paying attention to God,

making intentional space, learning
how to hear God's voice is so vital.

There is no fruit.

Hear me?

There is no spiritual power.

There is no doing what Jesus did.

There is no becoming like Jesus.

If we decide we can do everyday
life apart from the vine, apart from

Jesus, apart from the vine dresser,
and that's what Jesus says in verse

four, abide in me and I in you.

If I can add only, only.

If the vine cannot bear fruit, I'm
sorry, as as the vine cannot bear

fruit by itself unless it abides
in me, neither can you unless you

abide in me as it abides in the vine.

Neither can you.

I just botched that verse.

I'm gonna read it again.

Abide in me and I in you as the
vine cannot bear fruit by itself

unless it abides in the vine.

Neither can you unless you abide any.

So these are the, the first
two parties, there's the vine,

Jesus, the branch, us, but then
there's this third party involved.

God, the Father, the vine dresser.

And, and, and the role of the vine
dresser as it relates to the branches

is to care for them, to, to nurture
them, to cause them to thrive and

flourish such that they bear fruit and
at times caring for them and nurturing

them and causing 'em to flourish.

And thrive means protecting them from
bugs that would eat away at them.

And at times it means
redirecting a branch.

Even if a branch doesn't want to
go this way, it's kind of forcing

a branch to go in a better way.

You, you see where I'm going here, right?

Um, sometimes caring for and nurturing and
causing a vine to flourish that branch to

flourish and thrive means a way cutting
away the things that are unhealthy on that

branch or, or the words that Jesus uses.

In John 15, the vine dresser's role
in part is to prune the branches.

Um, this June, my family and I were
in Adelaide, which is South Australia.

Um, just outside of Adelaide is a
region called the Barasa Valley.

It's a little bit like Napa in California.

It's one of the best wine
regions in Australia.

Uh, produces the best Shiraz in the world.

For the record, um, they would
say the only Shiraz in the world.

That's like Napa saying we have
the only cabs in the world.

Um.

Untrue.

So my family got to tour this region
with our friends, Andrew and Tess, who

Jess and I had met a couple years before.

Uh, Andrew and Tess grew up in the
Brassa Valley and as one does when you

grow up in such an area, they had worked
the vineyards as teenagers and as kids.

And um, and so we, we were driving
through in, they're pointing out

different vineyards and this kind
of stuff, and we go past this one.

Um, it's late fall there 'cause
seasons are reversed on the

bottom half of the world.

Uh, it's late fall there,
so it's after the harvest.

Um, as we drove past this one field,
this acres and acres of vineyards, um,

there are these weird tractors, um, that,
that kind of had the, the, the body of

the tractor would go between the, the
vine, the vineyards, uh, the, the rows.

And so like you, you've
seen how close they are.

So these are like two
or three foot things.

And then they had these
massive horizontal blades.

So it looked like a weird
helicopter in a sense.

And they were just moving and
going through and just chopping

off the top growth on all the
vines on either side of the rose.

And so I asked Andrew, I
said, what are they doing?

And he said, well, the branches
over time grow over each other.

They want, they want, every
branch wants to be near the light.

And so what they do is they grow over
each other and then block the light.

The new, the new branches will
block the light from getting to.

The older branches and the older ones
are actually the ones that bear fruit.

Um, and so these weird helicopter,
you see where we're going?

I'll bet you can tell where
we're going right now.

Um, these weird helicopter blades go
through and cut off the branches that are

blocking the others from bearing fruit.

Just skimming the tops
so that grapes can grow.

Again, I don't think I
have to make the jump.

That's a picture of, of modern
day Australian picture of what

Jesus is talking about here.

The vine dresser doesn't cut back
branches because he's mean, but

rather because he's taking away things
that block fruit from happening.

The vine dresser doesn't come in and
redirect things, even if it's hard

just to be like, this will be fun.

That's, that's, that's a
mean God, but rather because

there's something better for.

Yes.

That's why the vine dresser does
whatever the vine dresser does, if

he or she is a good vine dresser.

And, and then of course, if a branch is
dead, if a branch isn't bearing fruit, if

it's, if it's not receiving the nutrients
from the vine, the vine dresser's, right?

And good to take it away.

And in context here, just for, for
zooming out for a minute, Jesus is

giving one kind of final warning
before he goes to the cross to Israel.

Who's, who's supposed
to be very religious?

Israel is God's people.

But Israel was not pursuing God.

Israel was not obeying God's commands.

Israel was not living in a godly way.

And so this is a warning.

If the branch doesn't bear fruit, the
vine dresser will, will cut you off.

And it's also fair to look
around and examine our hearts

and examine our church and go, is
this a fair warning for us today?

Who claim to be God's people?

Yes.

Are we obeying God?

Are we pursuing his commands?

Are we living in a godly way?

Are we obeying the things he calls us to?

Because again, back to the point,
if something's hard in your

life, what's, what's the only
way to know if it's happenstance?

'cause there are things that
are just, it just happened.

Uh, are there things that
are tests from the enemies?

There's things that, that are
hard, but, but are, are good

pruning from a loving vine dresser?

How do we know?

How do we know the difference in these?

Things.

It goes back to our relationship
with this third party.

In the picture, it goes back to, if I can
use another metaphor, the, the, the sheep.

Knowing the shepherd's voice, it goes back
to knowing and trusting the vine dresser,

abiding in the vine, fruitful life.

Any fruit that we're going to
see any good sustained fruit over

time starts with being with Jesus.

Fair.

And so part of what we want to do is we
jump into 2025 is, is just start the year

with a reminder and a challenge and a
call to abide to, to rest in the vine.

Not maybe in the slow kind of way.

The last couple weeks might have
felt for you, but even as we enter

into the busyness of life and kids
go back to school and work picks

back up and conflict happens and.

700 emails need to be gone through.

And that's kind of what does it
look like to abide in Jesus in

those times as well as a church.

We'll keep beating the drum to
make disciples of Jesus as we

seek his kingdom in everyday life.

We'll keep talking about becoming
like Jesus and, and doing what he

did and wants to do through us.

Um, next week we're gonna start
walking through the Book of Genesis,

and in part we're gonna see what life
looked like as God intended on earth.

Which we know is not all of life as we
experience it today, but we're gonna be

called back to like, what are ways we can
reflect life as God intended on earth?

We're gonna, we're gonna be called to
do things and to reflect Jesus as his

image bears, but none of that happens.

There is no fruit if we miss
this first call, which is to

abide, to rest, to just be with.

And one primary mark of
abiding is, is prayerfulness.

This, and you see this in John 15,
if I can skip down a few verses from

where we read, John writes or Jesus
said, if you abide in me and my words

abide in you, then ask whatever you
wish and it will be done with you.

What, what is asking?

It's, it's a form of prayer.

It's seeking the father for something
we don't have, seeking the father

for something we can't do to go
back to the kids at the start.

Uh, is an Old Testament scholar
named John Golden Gay, and he,

he has a commentary on Psalms.

He has a few different books on Psalms.

Uh, but his intro to, to his commentary
on Psalms, uh, he says there's basically

four types of prayer in the Psalms.

And I just really like these categories.

Uh, he says, you are great talking to God.

You're great.

Second one, help.

If you've read the Psalms, you know,
there's a lot of that in there.

Uh, there's, I trust you.

And then there's, thank you.

You are great help.

I trust you.

Thank you.

Um, he was on to say like, later
in the New Testament, Jesus added

more prayers and this kind of stuff.

So we might add to these
four, your kingdom come.

This is a prayer that Jesus
taught as followers to pray.

Your kingdom come, your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.

So perhaps this is praying for
neighbors and nations and kind

of a kingdom oriented prayer.

Um, and, and then what do
I need to pay attention to?

God, what do you have for me?

Listening for the voice of God.

Now are, are these comprehensive?

Are these the only kinds of prayer?

Probably not.

No.

But the point is, is that hopefully
prayer is something that we all always

prioritize, but it's also really hard.

And so we wanna start this year with
a little bit of a, a hope and a prayer

that God would cause prayer to rise back
to the surface this year that we would

see prayer grow across salt and light.

Both together and personally.

Um, so just a few tangible things,
if I can get practical for a minute.

Um, when we're together, we're,
we're, we're gonna be doing a few more

things to, to foster a prayerfulness.

Um, you've heard us talk about this in,
uh, December, coming into this year.

Uh, but our, our prayer room opened
this morning, uh, 9:00 AM any Sunday

you want, there's a prayer room kind
of just, uh, toward the kids hall.

Um, that's, that's available.

Someone will be in there.

Um, praying for our gathering, praying
for our church, praying for neighbors,

nations, praying for whatever God
is leading you to, to pray for.

But that prayer room is there if you
wanna pray with others or pray alone.

Um, we did this a little bit during
Advent, but after, uh, a lot of

our teaching times, like what
we're doing right now, we'll pause

and go, okay, God, uh, just give
you a chance to go through it.

Is there anything that, that God
wants you to pay attention to?

Um, not necessarily from the words
of whoever's up here to be clear.

Um, but, but thoughts or verses that come
to mind or, or just even impressions from

the lord of, of things that you hear more
from him than from whoever's up here.

Just giving us a space to
pause before we go into worship

and giving and other things.

Go.

God, is there something here
you want me to pay attention to?

Is there a step you want me to take?

Maybe there's something
even you want me to share.

And if that's the case, you can come
talk to me or Nicole or whoever's

teaching and kind of, uh, go from there.

Um, the DNA resource page for your DNA
leaders, we've added some resources

to grow and prayerfulness and pray
together and pray for each other.

I want to wanna do everything we can
to support from a human perspective.

I.

Uh, a fostering of prayer when
we're together in different venues.

Um, related to that, if you need to
join a DNA group or want to join a DNA

group, let's talk during lunch today.

Um, we're forming those now for the coming
semester, but these are some of the things

that we're gonna, gonna, gonna try to
foster and, and create together again.

Can we create prayerfulness
by opening up a room?

We cannot.

Um, only God can, can even invite us
into and empower us for, for that.

But also if part of our mission
is seeking the kingdom in everyday

life, then there's no way that we
can rightly limit prayer or abiding

to half hour, 45 minutes on a Sunday
or to just the times we're together.

That's, that's part of everyday life.

It is far from.

All of everyday life.

And so what does a personal
pursuit of prayer look like?

What does a household
pursuit of prayer look like?

I, I can't answer that one for you.

Um, when are, when, when do you pray?

What do you pray?

It might be something to chat
about today or this week.

Um, for me, um, we're in the
teen and preteen stage of life.

Um, and so I know that if there's gonna
be intentional stopping listening,

quiet in my house, it won't happen once
we hear feet moving around upstairs.

Um, and I also know that my mind
wanders if, if it's not active, um,

I'm sure I'm the only one that that's
true of I get distracted so easily.

Way more easily.

Although I can remember movie quotes
from 1942 basically, but I can't stay

focused for two minutes and praying.

Um, so for me, a regular practice is
sometime in the late five o'clock hour,

not the early five o'clock hour in
the morning, but the late five o'clock

hour coffee and a Bible, and a journal
because I've gotta write to keep my

mind from being as distracted and.

And just spending some intentional time
reading and writing and writing out

prayers and telling God my thoughts,
learning to be okay if I gotta be like,

I don't think that's a good thought.

Scratch that back through and, and writing
out some of those versions of the, the

prayers here that we see in the Psalms.

Um, learning how to pause, learning how
to be quiet and hopefully less distracted

and just go, God, is there anything
you want me to pay attention to here?

That that's a goal, that's an ideal.

Uh, in the later, later months of 2024,
I also realized how quickly God time

can turn into New York Times time, um,
whether wordle or news and catching up

and that kind of stuff, and feeling a
little bit more, uh, distracted by that.

And so.

Going into this year with you, um,
committing to kind of reprioritize

those kind of things and hear me
prayer and abiding these kind.

It's not limited to 30, 45 minutes
at the start of any given day.

Like that can't be it.

Um, Paul talks about praying continually.

We, we recognize that the, the
presence of God we see in the

scriptures is with us always, but.

I know for me throughout the day,
it's a lot harder to drift that way.

If I haven't been intentional about
rowing toward God in the morning.

If the intentional practice isn't
there, it's easier for me to drift

away, to to stop less during the day
and be like, all right, God, is there

anything you want from me in this

fair?

That's me.

That's just my example.

Your life is different from mine.

Your stage is different from mine.

But I do want you to ask and consider
what does abiding look like for you?

What does it look like to
prioritize prayer in everyday life?

And again, I recognize in saying
that, that immediately every,

you're like an everyday life.

It starts at, maybe it starts before
5:00 AM for you and goes till 8:00

PM plus, and you're just exhausted.

I know.

I know.

There's never an end to the barrage of
communications and never an end to the

barrage of notifications and never an end
to the barrage of needs in this kinda.

That's true for all of us, and it
might've looked different in Jesus'

day, but it was still true in his day.

It's still true across the world.

In every era of history.

We all have 24 hours.

What does the priority look like?

And if you need help knowing what to pray.

Maybe these six categories would
be a, a helpful starting point.

Again, this isn't, there's
no silver bullet in this.

There's no like magical
one way to do this.

But if you need help, this
is a good starting point.

You know, the comprehensive, no, but
that's the beauty of relationship

and that's the beauty of prayer
and abiding for free to experiment.

It because God is with you always.

And also you're free to bring
anything you want to God.

Uh, the Psalms just cover this whole range
of emotions and thoughts, and not all of

them are like very theologically accurate.

Um.

But they're real examples of, of

freedom to pray and freedom to
bring God, literally anything.

Cool.

Alright.

Um,

here's the point.

Uh, prayer is not the extent of abiding.

It's not, it's not the
only way to rest in God.

It's not the only way.

To be with Jesus, but in the verses we
read and the verses that follow words like

abide, which just means to dwell, it's
not, abide isn't a word we use very often.

I should have clarified at the
beginning just to, to dwell and to

be words like abide and continue
and remain in me just being.

They're used 11 times in the
first 11 verses of John 15 and

then the rest of the chapter.

We see those words abide and continue
and remain explicitly tied to bearing

fruit and to loving other people.

'cause turns out people are hard to
love if we don't have the power of

God helping us love other people.

Is that true?

You don't have to answer that.

Um, abiding and continuing to remaining
are explicitly tied to obeying Jesus

and knowing God and pursuing a godly
life and thriving and, and flourishing.

Um, and there's a theme throughout
the whole Bible, not just in John

15, that abiding and continuing and
remaining won't happen without prayer.

And so seeking God's kingdom in everyday
life won't happen without prayer.

Making disciples won't
happen without prayer.

And becoming like Jesus and
doing what Jesus did won't happen

without first being with Jesus.

Bottom line, church, the Christian
life is a life of prayer.

And a life of a body.

And so in this first gathering of
2025, we want to invite and challenge

and charge us each and together
to make 2025 a year of prayer.