After the Message

Every community has a center (coach, team captain, that friend who keeps up with everyone, etc.)

Jesus is our center!!

There is a difference between cult leaders and Jesus. Both are dynamic personalities at the center of a community of followers. However, cult leaders often suck the energy from the whole for themselves and their own notoriety while Jesus is the strength and energy that gives life to the whole.

John 15:1-8

Jesus says, "I am the vine, my Father is the true gardener."

Think about it, the Bible is a story of God as the Master Gardener who first creates all things and then sets about to redeem creation after the Fall (Creation-Sin-Israel, God's vineyard-Israel, the degenerate vine-Jesus, the vine that can't even be destroyed by death)

Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches."

Our job is to stay connected. On our own, we don't bear any fruit. With Jesus, we are able to bear abundant fruit, all to the Father's glory.

Jesus is the center, the connector, the piece that gives strength to the whole. This isn't good news, it's great news because we only have so much time and energy to give, but Jesus never runs out and never stops pouring into us.

If we stay connected to Jesus, we're going to get all the nutrients we need. We're going to get all the time and attention and cultivating we need. We're going to get all the strength we need, the stability we need.

Bottom line - we remain in Jesus, He remains in us, together we change the world.

Check back tomorrow for more about our partnership with the Fox Food Center at Ashley Ridge High School - this is how we're going to bear fruit together as Ashley Ridge Church - I'm excited out of my mind!!!!