So far in the CSI series we have examined the following things:

1. Reputation

2. What we do and what we do not do is the seed and the ground we sow on

3. The universal, cosmic and absolute truth of God's Word in our world

Today I want to look at our core values as a church. What we do: Christ Centered; Visionary Leadership and Growth Oriented. How we do it: All-Inclusive; Excellence; Effectiveness

What is Christ Centered? It is not an easy question to answer in our culture. Reading the Bible, praying, attending church, giving financially and helping people is the cultural definition to being Christ centered but this is not accurate. From Mount Sinai where God gave the law to Moses through to Christ, what was intended on Sinai was taken out of its context. The institution of a Sanhedrin Counsel and Pharisees with their separate schools of Hilel and Shammai put a millstone around the necks of people. Even when Christ has fulfilled and surpassed the Law of Moses the apostle Paul had to persistently address the church. No matter what was introduced in the Old Testament the Law of Moses or the New Testament the supremacy of Christ who surpassed and fulfilled the law and prophets, people had a way of interpreting through their own cultural lens what being Christ centered meant.

(John 15:1-8 Message) "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is-when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples."

On the night Christ was betrayed he told taught them something for the last time in that present state. By dusk the next day he would be stretched out on the cross. The time for hidden meanings was passed and what he told them was a whole new way of thinking. Winding through the streets of Jerusalem, avoiding the business of the temple and gathering crowds ready to celebrate the Passover he led them out of the city through a vineyard that has been producing fruit for generations. The Garden of Gethsemane was ahead of him where his betrayal laid waiting.

"I am the real vine and my father is the farmer."

Why would Christ talk this way when he was hours away from death? He had previously told them, 'Let not your hearts be troubled' and 'I will not leave you as orphans.' He did not want to leave you with any doubt as to what God does in you because what he does in you is how he is glorified.

"This is how my Father shows who he is-when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples."

God is not a representation of Walt Disney who will make all your dreams come true. Whatever you could dream is too small but his dream lived through you glorifies him. Do not think something so vital to God's dream happens automatically in your life. Christ said it is how you respond to the attention of the farmer or vinedresser. No fruit, fruit, more fruit or much fruit. God will tend your life to move from barrenness to an overwhelming fruitfulness. You were born again to bear fruit, more fruit and much fruit.

#1 - Cutting the branch

"He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes."

Never think of these words as losing your salvation or the expression 'in me' is something you did not live up to because salvation was never a work on your behalf in the first place. The believer is 'in Christ.' Have you wondered why a week or a year has gone by and nothing of fruitfulness has been happening in your life? This is what Christ referred to. The words 'cut off' are better translated in the Greek language as 'take away' or 'lift up.' The same expression is used when the disciples 'took up' twelve baskets of bread, or Simon 'lifting up' the cross for Christ, or John the Baptist saying the Lamb of God would 'take away' the sins of the world. The believer who is going through a period of time in their life without bearing any fruit will be 'lifted up' so that they will bear fruit. A branch has a tendency to trail down to the ground where noting grows. But the branch is too valuable to literally cut off. As much as this is great news for you the process of 'lifting you up' is not what you want to hear.

(Hebrews 12:11) "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

If you are a dirty branch trailing by the ground the discipline of the Lord will lift you up.

Understanding God's discipline

(Hebrews 12:5) "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

What prevents people from receiving the discipline of the Lord? People tend to listen to what they say rather than watch what they do. They can convince themselves of something that is not true. That sin has no consequence that certain things are your fate when there is no fate for the believer, that discipline is a one-time period in your walk with God, or that you cannot stop doing a certain thing, or that the certain thing is not really sin.

#2 - Pruning the branch

"And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more."

God actually sees that to bear more fruit means less of you. To receive more from the branch the farmer has to go against the natural tendency of it. A branch will always favour more growth over more fruit. Bigger branch with greener leaves but producing noting that glorifies God. One area we have to develop more is the value of visionary leadership. When the disciples caught more fish than they could handle they called for the other fishermen to help them. People do not want to lead but without leaders the harvest is caught weekly but never kept. If you want to go from barrenness to bearing fruit then you are inviting God to use his shears on you. He will cut off things that drain time, energy and recourse from what is important. He will never do this in a random way but uniquely to you. What might be wasting my time might be a necessity to your life. If God's discipline is about sin then his pruning is about self. Pruning hurts and feels the same as discipline but it is not. If you confuse one with the other the result is dangerous.

Have you sat down with your father and told him that when you were growing up you did not understand why there were so many rules in the house about parties, TV, chores, driving, money, sex and alcohol? Did you tell him that at the time you thought he was mean, irrelevant and even stupid? Did you say things about him that were wrong? And then did you tell him that you could see why he did all these things because he wanted the best for you and that he never gave up on you? Maybe you need to talk with God like that. The farmer will prune an older branch more deeply than a young branch. It is what James calls the testing of your faith.

(James 1:3-4) "…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

God is not taking anything away but making more room. The test of faith has nothing to do with finding where you put your Bible or car keys but giving up something of great value to you.

(Psalm 66:10-12) "For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver… but you brought us to a place of abundance."

If your heart is breaking because a member of your family is in trouble this is not the test of your faith. If your body is sick, this too is not the test of your faith because God does not bring calamity on the believer's house or strike anyone with sickness. God will let you know in time why he used the shears. Think about the perseverance of Paul and then how much fruit he bore.

When the dentist or doctor is examining you he will ask, 'does this hurt?' God will ask you the same thing. The pain comes from where the shears are cutting to make more room. David was the giant killer and national hero but hiding in the caves of Adullham. He asked Nabel for food near by. Nabel did not know who David who was so offended that he marched out to kill him. Abigail came to stop David and plead with him to see beyond his pain to what God was doing in his life. If my kids have to have a shot at the doctors they will hold onto their father and trust me that joy will come in the morning.

#3 - Being Christ Centered"…make yourselves at home with me…"

Abide in me or be my friend. The branch is not dealing with sin or making more room through pruning but simply being at home with Christ. His dream is not that you will do more for him but be more with him. Ten times Christ pleads 'abide with me' because the result is incredible. It is not a suggestion or request but imperative. It does not come naturally and is always about you. It is your move to his invitation. It is not about how much of the Bible you know or what you do for God but a longing, thirsting, seeking, loving, listening, waiting and responding heart to a person. Most will respond to God in the theological sense but still be convinced that God does not like them personally. Deepen you time with God. I do not mean a devotional time.

(Psalm 27:4) "One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord."

Set aside time to read, write, think, study, talk aloud and weep. Savor God's words to you like food. Talk and listen to the person. Go from a devotion to an all-day attentiveness to his presence. It is not about what you feel in a sensation but a relationship. Never measure the depth of your relationship by any particular moment of feeling.

The core value of being Christ Centered is not about reading the Bible, coming to church, praying, giving financially or helping people but so much more. The result is the fruit you bear that glorifies God.