Jesus, the True Vine

From Redeemer’s web page (www.redeemerdayschool.org):

Our Mission

To provide a Christ-centered, teacher-directed, academically challenging school for Atlanta’s children while mentoring parents in Christ-centered child-rearing.

Briefly address one of Redeemer’s Core Values.

Core value (under Christ-Centered)

            Nurturing students in love for the Lord by learning the Bible is Truth

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT
¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God (God breathed) and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Either you believe that everything from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 is truth or you don’t.

We believe it is truth.

We may not understand everything we read in scripture, but we know that it is truth.

We want our children to believe that everything from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 is God’s truth.

Our Mission

To provide a Christ-centered, teacher-directed, academically challenging school for Atlanta’s children while mentoring parents in Christ-centered child-rearing.

The words of Jesus clearly address the importance of Christ-centered lives.

Redeemer’s school verse.

Psalm 78:4-7 NLT
⁴ We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders.
⁵ …
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
⁶ so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
⁷ So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands. 

One of Redeemer Day School’s primary reasons for existing is to share Biblical truths from both the Old and New Testament with all of the students. (verse 4)

At some point in their lives:  (Hopefully before they reach their 18^th birthday)

We want our children to learn to set their hope on Christ (God) and not on themselves. (verse 7) 

We want our children to come to understand Psalm 127:1 

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. — Psalm 127:1.

We want our children to live Christ-centered lives.

Our goals are clearly contrary to the goals of secular humanism and the modern paganism that goes with it.

A look at some of the Words of Jesus.

John 15:1-10 NLT
Jesus, the True Vine
^15:1 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² 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. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 

Examine the Scriptures:

John 15:1-10 NLT

This passage of scripture may have been directed to the disciples, but the principles of this passage apply to all believers.

^15:1 “I am

the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 

The last of the seven “I am” statements.

The bread of life
The light of the world
The door
The good shepherd
The resurrection and the life
The way and the truth and the life
The true vine 

² 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. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.  

• God, the gardener wants branches (people, Christians) who bear fruit (much fruit).

• We want our children to be “Fruit bearers” – those who produce much fruit.

God does what is needed to make the vines produce fruit.

Pruning produces fruitfulness.

Most of us desire the same thing for our children and ourselves.

We pray for this.

Colossians 1:9-10 NLT
⁹ So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰ Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. 

Another of Paul’s prayers:
Philippians 1:9-11 NLT
⁹ I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. ¹⁰ For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. ¹¹ May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. 

Instructions from Jesus. (For our children and for us.) 

⁴ Remain in me, (abide)           

What does it mean to remain, or abide, in Christ? 

Accept Jesus as Savior.
Believe the truth of the Bible.
Obey God’s commands.
Committed to serving Jesus and obeying His Word.

John 8:31 NLT
³¹ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. (We need to know the scripture.)

Colossians 1:21-23
²¹ This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. ²² Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
²³ But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.  

1 John 2:24 NLT
²⁴ So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.

John 14:21 NLT<
strong>²¹ Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
²³ Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 

• Jesus instructs us to remain in Him.

and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and

 you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 

• A branch out of contact with the vine is lifeless. 

⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. 

For apart from me (Christ) you can do nothing.  

Apart from Christ people do become doctors, lawyers, teachers, professional athletes, successful entrepreneurs, 

What is it that we can’t do without Jesus?  We can’t produce the fruit Christ wants us to produce. 

What does it mean to produce much fruit?

I can be the person God intended me to be.
I can live the life God has planned for me to live.
I can do everything God wants me to do.
I can bear the fruit God wants me to bear.
I can have the impact on others that God intends for me to have.

• Apart from Christ we can do nothing. 

• Our goal is for all of our children to learn to set their hope on Christ (God) and not on themselves.

Gold, silver, and jewels vs. wood, hay, and stubble.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 NLT
¹⁰ Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
¹² Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. ¹³ But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. ¹⁴ If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

Unless the Lord build …

Psalm 127:1-2 NLT
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon.
¹ Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
² It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones. 

• Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.— Psalm 127:1 ESV 

• Are we teaching our children to build on wood, hay, and stubble or gold, silver, and jewels? 

⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.  

• Obedience and love go together.

What does this look like?

Psalm 1:1-3 NLT
¹ Oh, the joys of those who do not
follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners,
or join in with mockers.
² But they delight in the law of the Lord,
meditating on it day and night.
³ They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
and they prosper in all they do. 

Colossians 2:6-7 NLT
⁶ And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. ⁷ Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Psalm 92:12-15 NLT
¹² But the godly will flourish like palm trees
and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
¹³ For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house.
They flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ Even in old age they will still produce fruit;
they will remain vital and green.
¹⁵ They will declare, “The Lord is just!
He is my rock!
There is no evil in him!”

A final thought.

Philippians 4:13 NLT
¹³ For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

I can be the person God intended me to be.
I can live the life God has planned for me to live.
I can do everything God wants me to do.
I can bear the fruit God wants me to bear.
I can have the impact on others that God intends for me to have.