Stories

John 15 - “Abide”

Study and Story

Brief Story: 

The following Study and Story is taken from my message notes. The final high school chapel of last school year was upon me and I agonized over the content of this message. I finished an entire powerpoint presentation for a different message, and yet felt so much turmoil…Like something was not quite right, yet, time was running out (which, by the way, is the WORST feeling when preparing a message…)

I did NOT want to have to analyze the subject matter of the following passage in front of burnt out teenagers and staff… Would they even listen? Would it be convicting or just come off as “finger-wagging?” 

But The Lord kept bringing this passage to my mind and continued to convict me about it. He reminded me that the best messages are spoken, first from His Word, but also from what He is personally teaching US. He stood at the door of my heart and would not stop knocking. 

So… with the short time to prepare I had left - I studied, I prayed, I gave it to the Lord, and this was the result. This is a longer one, but if you would make the time, I pray this would bless you as it has me. 

(Within these notes, I urge you to read the references to passages listed.)

Message Introduction:

• “I’ll be honest, it is tough to be up here today. The end of the school year brings fatigue, distractions, stress, commitments, Final Exams and Presentations, etc.”

  • “In the midst of the whirlwind, it is awkward to stand up here and say, one more time, ‘hey, pay attention to this thing I am saying. You need to know it.’”

• “I challenge you today… Please listen. Honestly, it's not about grades, its eternity is on the line. This is a passage that has continued to come up, time and time again, in my personal study, my prayers and even at church this past Sunday. I find it fitting that a passage talking about the very foundation of faith and life in Jesus is what God has brought to mind in the midst of the chaos. Let’s just jump in.”

Captivating Context!

• In John 13, we see Jesus decides to begin supper with an act that the disciples don’t understand at first…  they’re meeting in secret, the authorities are closing in and the Savior of the world, the Messiah, God Incarnate, has just washed His followers' filthy feet and instructed, “you now do the same.” Quite the dinner so far. But wait! 

  • Read John 13:21

• The word “Troubled” in the Greek is to be “disturbed or agitated.” Jesus sits down to dinner and tells his followers, some of His dearest and most passionate friends - one of them is a snake. Quite the bomb to drop at dinner…

  • Read John 13:22-27

• Yo, the literal devil has shown up to dinner. He has entered Judas, taking over his mind and actions and is now leading him away to betray Jesus. And Jesus, knowing what needs to be accomplished, let’s it happen. The tension continues to rise…

• Finally, at the end of the chapter, we get this: 

  • Read 13:33-38

• Next bomb - He is leaving and they can’t come with… And also, “love each other.” 

  • These guys had no idea that the commands to serve and love one another would end up being so critical for their lives until the Book of Acts. That is when the Church was established and the persecution begins…

  • On top of that, Jesus just told his bestie “You’re gonna deny you even know Me…”

• Read 14:5-6

• We often don’t think about this famous passage in its context. The declaration that Jesus is the ONLY way to God comes as an answer to Thomas pleading with Jesus about Him leaving… Philip in a few verses asks Jesus, “just show us the Father, and that’s enough for us!” 

• The tension continues to build as his friends are professing their grief over His sad words, declaring “I got Your back! Why do You have to leave?! Why are You talking like this?” Tension…confusion…fear

• Read 14:15-18

  • This is Jesus’ answer: “If you love Me, you will keep my commands.” He has to leave so that The Holy Spirit can come! A new player is being introduced to the battlefield…

• Read 14:30-31

  • Jesus is talking about the evil one, the one who just left dinner. This is where the tension of the dinner reaches its peak, with a warning coupled with encouragement. Then He tells his guys “Let’s take a walk.” 

• “Some more context I found interesting is that many believe this chapter (15) of teaching is spoken while Jesus and the disciples are walking from dinner to the Garden of Gethsemane, where His arrest will take place. 

  • Scholars note that on their way they would have passed by vineyards and possibly the temple with its famous carving of a vine on it… Then Jesus says: 

John 15 - Exposition

V1 - “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” 

• The vine is the life-source of the plant, bearing branches and giving nutrients. It is God the Father, the Perfect Judge and Sovereign Creator that maintains the branches on the vine. Here is what He does:

V2  - “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

• Greek word for prune is to “prune, cleanse or purify” 

• Pruning is the act of snipping away the parts of the branch that are dying off, taking up space and nutrients so that what is actually growing can flourish. I did this when I was a landscaper; we would cut off the dead and the waste and the withering so the plant could grow better. 

• The pruning process is going to be painful. The old ways that we were set in are supposed to be dying off. This is the process of the disciple contending with their sin, denying their flesh, cooperating with the growth process of God. He in turn cuts away that which is unholy so we may bear flourishing spiritual fruit. 

  • There is a reason Jesus tells us if our eye causes us to sin, tear it out and if our hand causes us to sin, cut it off. The sin in our lives that we allow to hang out and become habitual sucks the life out of us. Sin is corrupting and we, the branch, will rot if we are not allowing the Vinedresser to prune us. To purify and cleanse us. 

• There is a warning too…If a branch is not producing fruit, it is cut off and thrown out. I did this too. Sometimes the whole branch gotta go for the sake of the rest of the tree. 

• This is a solemn warning to those who claim to follow Christ, but the fruit of their life (or lack thereof) shows the opposite. Listen carefully to His Words! This is challenging stuff! It pushes against the namby-pamby “Christianity” we often encounter!

V3-5 - “Already you are clean because of the word that I have 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. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, He it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

• Verse 3, He is speaking to His disciples. I am here with you, given you the Gospel, forgiven your sin and cleansed you… Now, here is how you continue to endure. 

• I want to focus on the ending statement: this is Jesus expressing our utter dependency on Him. He is the One who “holds all things together,” He is the source of salvation and forgiveness, He is the climax of all human history - truly, apart from Him, there is nothing of significance we can do… 

• The Greek root for the word abide in this passage means: To remain, to abide, to stay, to continue, to dwell, to endure. 

• It all comes down to an abiding, staying, continuing, dwelling, enduring relationship with Jesus. One that CONTINUES, not just “started but, oh, I kinda fell out of it…” He makes it clear what is done with dead branches…

• This teaching commands that mere affiliation is not sufficient. It is about having a foundation of faith and trust in the Person of Jesus Christ, a relationship with Him that abides and results in obedience to Him. 

• It is not about religion or “doing Christian activities” or “grew up in a Christian family”… It is a walking, talking, enduring,  dwelling, abiding and close relationship with the Savior. 

V6-8 - “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” 

• Those without the life of Christ, those who are like a dead branch taking up space, are gathered and thrown out. This is a solemn warning to those who do not have the foundation of an abiding relationship with Jesus, thus unable to bear Christlike fruit. 

  • The challenge here is not some fear-tactic, it is a gut check to “examine oneself” and really evaluate what is soil (Mark 4) and status of your heart! You don’t have to be a dead branch, you don’t have to languish away in death, you don’t have to keep going on like this - in the dark, in the chaos, in the fear - He came to give life and life abundant! There is no hesitation from the Vinedresser when it comes to cutting off the dead… There should in turn be no hesitation from us when pursuing life. Because He also does not hesitate to give it! 

• Fruitfulness is the mark of a disciple. It says it right there. James makes this clear as well! To keep the commands of Christ; to produce fruit is the test - the proof that faith is genuine. That your faith is something you do, not just understand mentally. 

• I was reminded of this: “Belief in Jesus is not just knowing the right facts and accepting them - It is the ordering of one’s life around Jesus.”

V9-12 - “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

• Notice the language: If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love. This calls back to John 14:15 - “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.”

• Obedience and bearing fruit comes from the foundation of loving Jesus, not guilt-driven religious thinking. You are either going to love Jesus and thus obey Him or you are going to love yourself and thus obey your flesh - there is no way around it. Every one of us is obeying something. 

How do I know if I am abiding with Him?

1 John 2 - If we are abiding in Jesus, truly, then we are going to look like Him! One does not spend their entire life being close to Jesus and not see change. 

Again, remaining attached to the life-giving Vine - allowing the Father to prune; keeping His commandments; these WILL result in us looking more and more like Him. Branches on a tree do not stay the same: they are either growing or dying. 

1 John 4 - It is by the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit that the Follower of Jesus is able to abide, to keep, to love, to strive, to do anything in the first place. He is the one who cries out with our Spirit, testifying that our faith is genuine. 

He is the One who seals us, convicts us, guides us, empowers us… He abides in us, so that we may abide in Him. 

The question is, do you have Him today? 

Conclusion: 

At the end of the Last Supper, on the way to the Garden to be arrested and put to death, one last lesson to teach, one last command to give before they are scattered and He is beaten, tortured and nailed to a Cross: STAY WITH ME! REMAIN WITH ME! 

• At the end of the school year, about to graduate and go off to the real world; about to become an upperclassman; about to have changes in staff; at the end of it all Jesus commands: Abide in Me. Stay with me. Hang on to Me! Because truly, apart from Him we can do nothing. 

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This passage holds theological weight so dense that we cannot possibly hope to comprehend the implications in a single study; it is a prime example of why growth in The Lord will take, literally, our entire life. Even now, as I finish writing this Study and Story, I think about how Jesus has been reminding me of this lesson: “apart from Me, you can do nothing.” 

Our family has had to abide with Jesus in ways we never thought possible at the start of this school year. There have been spiritual battles we have had to tackle as a family with Jesus.     Meditating on Scripture together; prayer together; tears together; discipline and repentance together; evaluating calling and purpose together; all of these things together for the purpose of further abiding in Jesus. 

Every moment we have attempted to live or discern on our own strength or with our own wisdom has shown us how truly dependent we are upon Him. Jesus shows us, time and time again, the burden it is to be a bad branch, while at the same time, the glory of bearing fruit and abiding in His love. Pruning is painful, but so necessary for holiness and effective discipleship. Only He can accomplish these things - what a joy it is to participate in it! For it is only with Him, by Him, through Him that “all things hold together.” 

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12

Hebrews 12:1-13 

Teaching Time from Final Home Church - 2026

(A peak into what/how we teach)

Introduction: 

When/what is the most confused you have ever felt? (Dormies discussed)

• We shared our story of trying to get here 5 years ago (and all that entailed).

• “Maybe you upperclassmen feel confused sometimes? AP classes get you worried / career paths change / applying to schools leaves you with uncertainty.”

• In Home Church this morning, we wanted to talk about what we KNOW FOR A FACT we can be doing right now.

Passage Context/Transition:

• We are going to go through some of Hebrews Chapter 12 today! 

  • We are going to read each verse carefully… 

  • Then discuss it…

  • Then do a little spiritual exercise at the end! 

“Hebrews 12 is beautiful. It is full of very empowering statements about who we are in Christ and what we should do about it. It answers the question, “what am I supposed to do?” when we may be feeling confused. The basic idea of the chapter we want you to remember, as we read it, is this: Endure.”

• We ask them - “What does it mean to endure?”

Reading/Discussion/Teaching of Hebrews 12:1-13:

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.” v.1-2

Here the chapter begins with the word “Therefore.” 

• “Therefore” means to go back to a previous idea to understand the current idea.

  • Briefly went over Chapter 11 - “The Hall of Faith.”

Hebrews describes old faithful people from history as a great surrounding “cloud of witnesses” watching our lives and cheering us on as we run our current race. This is also where we see the “endurance” language of the chapter. The giants and patrons of our faith watch as we run, cheering us on so that we may continue to have an endurance that lasts! 

• We ask - “Who in your life has gone before you as a faithful follower of Jesus? What is their example?”

• And how do we have endurance? (ACCORDING TO THE PASSAGE)

  • BY KEEPING OUR GAZE FIXED ON CHRIST. 

Jesus Christ is the ultimate, perfect example of completing the race with endurance: He perfectly endured giving up His position in heaven, being crucified by the very people He came to save and rising again on the third day, receiving an eternal reward. 

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you don’t grow weary and lose heart. In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.” v. 3-6

Much of the time, when we are allowed to suffer, life gets confusing. Here in these verses our suffering is given a bigger perspective: Scripture is minimizing our hardship, not for the purpose of saying it is not valid or that our pain is meaningless and dumb, but that we have not yet endured the struggle against sin to the point of shedding blood. You could basically understand this as “you all have trials, you all have hardships, but don’t lose heart… remember Christ and be thankful that your struggle is not you being nailed to a cross.” 

• A bigger, more heavenly perspective of our circumstances gives us the encouragement we need so that our circumstances do not consume us. 

  • (Tyler shares what Ellie’s Dad told him when his Mom passed)

“Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline — which all receive — then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share in His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” v.7-11

The Lord’s discipline is corrective in nature. There is no believer in Christ who will ever experience condemnation from the Lord. His discipline is not destruction, but correction and is used to educate and train us to be better sons and daughters of God. When we endure hardships, and see them as the corrective, merciful, firm teaching of the Lord, we can know that God is dealing with us! 

It is said, “The man who is not disciplined by the Lord has an unregenerate heart.” Take heart and be encouraged that God is INTIMATELY involved in our suffering circumstances, because He is dealing with and teaching His children! We have all had our fathers discipline and correct us when we were under their rules. God disciplines those He calls children so they may “share in His holiness.” TO BE MORE LIKE HIM! 

This is so important: God does not condemn or afflict us. He corrects and teaches us. There is a massive difference. Faithfully enduring during times of confusion, suffering or discipline is key! These are the times that shape us into a better picture of Jesus! 

“Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight the paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.” v.12-13

An empowering and concluding statement to this section. Knowing that you are surrounded by the witnesses of heaven who paved the way for your faith with their blood; knowing that Christ has gone before you and endured the punishment for YOUR sin; knowing that your circumstances are not consuming; knowing that God is dealing with you INTIMATELY; and finally knowing you are considered a child of the Most High; be strengthened and make straight your path and march!… 

Conclusion:

• Paused teaching here to do a spiritual exercise and “make straight the paths.” 

  • “Because we know that this is something we can do right now, today and every day.”

  • (We then had the dormies do a “Journal Exercise.” They wrote prayers of endurance to the Lord and we shared them).