Stress Test Devotional May 11
May 11, 2024
JOHN 15:1-5 | I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just 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. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
Demands aim to elicit specific responses. Come over and fix my sink. Accept the place at our school and pay the tuition. But true invitations are open-ended. They don’t pre-determine outcomes. Every new person who comes to VPC will have a unique experience, in some aspects. Avenues open up in particular ways and possibilities arise because of what an individual visitor brings, her perspective, gifts, history and expectations will shape her experience. It is impossible to know, in advance, how God will touch someone in the context of his community so the best invitations are open-ended. That is exciting. Who will they befriend? How will they serve? What will excite them? Dismay them? Puzzle them? Engage them?
What surprised you, looking back, about your own church experiences?
What strikes you about Jesus’ invitation to abide?
