Sunday - August 23, 2020

I Am…The True Vine Dr. Jim Cooley, First Baptist Birmingham

Today’s Scripture: :1-5

“ the true vine, and My F ather is the vinedr esser. 2 E very br anch in Me tha t does not bear fruit He t akes a way; and e very br anch tha t bear s fruit He prunes, tha t it ma y bear mor e fruit. 3 Y ou ar e alr eady clean bec ause of the w ord which I ha ve spok en t o y ou. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the br anch c annot bear fruit of itself , unless it abides in the vine, neither c an y ou, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, y ou ar e the br anches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bear s much fruit; f or without Me y ou c an do nothing.

JESUS IS OUR SOURCE

● Everything begins with ● He is the sour ce of lif e itself

“All things w ere made thr ough Him, and without Him nothing w as made tha t w as made. In Him was lif e, and the lif e w as the ligh t of men. ” :3

● He is the sour ce of E ternal Lif e ● The vine w as the thing people turned t o and depended upon t o mak e their liv es righ t with God ● Jesus made it per sonal; “It is Me”

JESUS IS OUR STRENGTH

● One of the qualities of a vine is tha t it is designed t o pass on s trength t o the br anches ● In the same w ay, e verything w e need flo ws fr om Jesus ● You c annot g et His s trength fr om an y other place ● We need Him all the time

JESUS IS OUR STABILITY

● The vine pr ovides a s trong f oundation on which br anches c an thriv e ● Without the vine, the br anches w ould be unable t o withs tand the things tha t c ome their way ● In an uns table w orld, He is the one thing y ou c an alw ays c ount on

JESUS IS OUR SALVATION

● Apart fr om the vine, ther e is only dea th ● In the same w ay, only Jesus c an of fer us salv ation