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John 15: 1-9

We need each other, all of us.  We truly are better together, as disciples, as a church, in the world for the sake of Jesus Christ, the risen Lord. 

The text for this coming Sunday is the last of the “I am” statements in the gospel of John, and it is one that not only tells us who Jesus is but also who we are.  “I am the vine, you are the branches.”  I’m not usually one to get super involved in the tenses and translations of the Greek, but I like this one because it tells us we’re ready.  That we are the branches. It calls into being all of the other directives and calls in John and says, you are the branches. You have everything you need already to bear fruit, grow, flourish, and probably even get tangled with all the branches that surround and support you. 

You know what else it reminds me?  That sometimes we have to prune the branches.  With the weather warming up, I just trimmed back a bunch of things in the yard.  Pruning away what isn’t life-giving any longer brings us back to new life.  I love the imagery of this text. I love that we can be connected to one another through vines and branches that have lived from generation to generation and still bear fruit for the sake of the world today.  I love that a little pruning can bring new life.

Alleluia! He is Risen!

-Pastor Carrie Baylis

Looking for last weeks worship? You can find it here!