Grape Expectations
Mr. Holland’s Opus is a movie about a
frustrated composer in Portland, Oregon,
who takes a job as a high school band teacher
in the 1960s.
Although diverted from his
lifelong goal of achieving
critical fame as a classical
musician, Glenn Holland
believes his school job is only
temporary.
At first he maintains his determination to
write an opus or a concerto by composing at
his piano after putting in a full day with his
students. But, as family demands
increase (including
discovery that his infant
son is deaf) and the
pressures of his job
multiply, Mr. Holland
recognizes that his dream
of leaving a lasting musical
legacy is merely a dream.
At the end of the movie we find an aged Mr.
Holland fighting in vain to keep his job. The
board has decided to reduce the operating
budget by cutting the music and drama
program. No longer a
reluctant band teacher,
Mr. Holland believes in what
he does and passionately
defends the role of the arts
in public education.
What began as a career detour became a 35year mission, pouring his heart into the lives
of young people. Mr. Holland returns to his
classroom to retrieve his belongings a few
days after school has let out
for summer vacation. He has
taught his final class. With
regret and sorrow, he fills a
box with artifacts that
represent the tools of his
trade and memories of many
meaningful classes.
Let’s join Mr. Holland as he prepares to
takes his final walk down the halls of John
F. Kennedy High School.
My favorite passage from the movie:
“Look around you. There is not a life in this
room that you have not touched, and each
one of us is a better person because
of you. We are your symphony,
Mr. Holland. We are the melodies
and the notes of your opus. And
we are the music of your life.”
So I ask you:
Look around you. In the course of your life,
you have impacted many lives in this world.
Are those you’ve encountered
better people because they were
touched by you?
Since everybody wants his/her
life to be fruitful what is the
secret to making a difference?
On the night before He died, Jesus gave His
disciples a remarkable word picture. He
wanted to show them what they had been
chosen to accomplish.
After their last meal together, Jesus
led His friends through Jerusalem’s
darkened streets, outside the city
walls, toward Gethsemane, where
betrayal and arrest awaited Him.
On the way, they walked through
an ancient vineyard. Here, Jesus
paused.
John 15: 1-7
1-4 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is
the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of
mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he
prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they
will produce even more. 3 You have already
been pruned and purified by the message I
have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will
remain in you. For a branch cannot produce
fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you
cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes,
I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them,
will produce much fruit. For apart from
me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does
not remain in me is thrown away like a
useless branch and withers. Such branches
are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But
if you remain in me and my words remain
in you, you may ask for anything you want,
and it will be granted!
THE VINE (v. 1a)
“I am the true vine”
Why did Jesus say I Am the true vine?
Why not just say I Am the vine?
According to the Old Testament Israel was
initially God's vine.
Psalm 80:8
8 You
took us like a grapevine dug from the
soil of Egypt; You forced out the nations and
transplanted it in Your land. 9 You groomed
the ground around it, planted it so it would
root deep into the earth, and it covered all the
land.
The vine had become so much a symbol of
Israel that it appeared on coins. Also, during
the time of Christ, Herod's Temple had a
tremendous vine on it overlaid with gold that
some have estimated was worth $12,000,000.
Then Israel became a degenerate, empty vine,
(Ezekiel 17:6; Isaiah 5:1-7; & Jeremiah 2:21),
and pleaded with God to restore them.
Psalm 80:12-14
12 God, why have You pulled down the wall
that protected it so that everyone who wanders
by can pick its sweet grapes? 13 The wild boar
of the forest eats it all, and the creatures of
the field feast upon it. 14 O God, Commander
of heaven’s armies, come back to us.
Israel forfeited their right to be the vine.
Isaiah 5:4
4 What else could I possibly have done to
make it flourish? Why, when I had every
reason to expect great beauty and bushels of
grapes, Did it yield only wild, bitter fruit?
Israel had always been God's vine, but it had
become unproductive, so a new vine was
established.
Psalm 80:17-18
17 Let Your protective hand rest on the one
who is at Your right hand, the child of man
(Son of Man) whom You have raised and
nurtured for Yourself. 18 Then we will not turn
away from You. Bring us back to life! And we
will call out for You!
And Jesus says, "I am the true vine.”
In Hampton Court, near
London, there is a
grapevine that is reported
to be the oldest living vine.
It is over 230 years old.
This grapevine has one
root which is 12 feet round,
and some of the branches
are over 36.5 120 feet long.
Despite its age the vine still
produces 500 to 700
bunches (weighing 485 705 lb) of grapes each year.
Although some of the
branches are 120 feet
from the main root, they
still bear the sweet and
delicious fruit because
they are connected to the
vine. Each branch is
connected directly to the
stem and draws
nourishment from it.
Jesus is the vine, God the Father is the vine
grower, and the true believers are the
branches.
The branches are totally
dependent on the vine in
order to live and be fruitful.
The story is told of a native from a remote mountain
village who had the opportunity to visit a large modern
city for the first time. He could not bring much home with
him, and he had little money. But he was amazed at the
electric lights which he saw everywhere.
So he bought a sack full of electric lights bulbs and sockets
with switches so he could turn them off and on. Arriving
home he hung the light
bulbs in front of his home
and on his and his
neighbor's trees. Everyone
watched him with curiosity
and asked him what he was
doing, but he just smiled
and said, "Just wait until
dark--you'll see."
When night came he turned on the switches, but nothing
happened. No one had told him about electricity. He did
not know the light bulbs were useless unless connected to
the source of their power.
Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." There
are many people who do not know that the way they are
living their lives is useless. They got the education; they got
the job; they made the
family; and bought the
home but when the sun
sets and night comes and
they reach for the switch
nothing happens. They are
not connected to the
source.
Are you connected to the true vine?
Many Christians have other vines in their lives from
which they seek their resources and sustenance. How
many things have you attached yourself to?
Bank account
Education
Popularity
Fame
Personal skill
Possessions
Relationships
Connections
Jesus Christ is the true vine and
all our sustenance for living.
Take a moment and
poke yourself in the
bellybutton. Our navel
is a constant reminder
that we all started life
connected to another
human being. Sadly,
many of us spend all of
our lives trying to get
reconnected to someone
but never find Him.
Are you connected to
the true vine?
THE VINEDRESSER (v. 1b)
"My Father is the gardener (vinedresser).“
The vinedresser was the one who cared for the
vines in a vineyard. As a farmer, he was
responsible to cut off the branches that bore no
fruit because they tended to sap the energy from
the fruit-bearing branches. That increased the
productivity of the other branches. The
vinedresser also constantly
pruned the branches that
could bear fruit to enable
the vine to concentrate its
energy on maturing so
that it could bear more fruit.
John 15:2
2 He cuts off every branch of mine that
doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the
branches that do bear fruit so they will
produce even more.
The Father’s as garderner--punishing:
He "taketh away" the branches that fail to
bear fruit. He cuts them off. 6 Anyone who
does not remain in me is thrown away like a
useless branch and withers. Such branches
are gathered into a pile to be burned.
At a certain point in the
Father's timing, the
fruitless branches are
cut off for the life and
health of the vine and
the other branches.
There are people today who stand in close
connection with Jesus Christ, they may
attend church and go through some religious
exercises, thinking that their superficial
connection to Jesus Christ is
sufficient for salvation. But they
are not legitimate believers. That
is obvious because they never bear
spiritual fruit, and therefore will
be cast away and burned.
The Father’s work of pruning:
He will purge "every branch that beareth fruit."
That phrase refers to the true Christian. The
word purge means "to cleanse" or "to prune.“
The Father purges or prunes a branch (a
Christian) by cutting away all the shoots and
other things that gather on the fruitbearing branches that
tend to sap the strength
of the vine, so that it
might bear more fruit
(become spiritually
mature).
In spiritual pruning, the Father removes things
like sin or worldly distractions that would hinder
our fruit-bearing. Suffering is one of the best
methods of purging. The Father's pruning may
take the form of sickness, hardship, loss of
material goods, slander and persecution, loss of
loved ones, grief in relationships, or
war. God ordained
troubles to prune off the
things in our lives that
drain away our energy
and rob us of our
capacity to bear fruit.
He is carefully helping us to bear fruit.
Do you look at your trials as opportunities to
become more fruitful, or do you fall into
lapses of self-pity, fear, or complaining?
Do you realize that God desires to increase
your productivity,
therefore, the pruning
process is necessary
and can be looked at as
a joyful experience.
The instrument of pruning:
3 You have already been pruned and purified by the
message I have given you.
What is the Father's knife? He may use things like
suffering in the purging process, but the divine pruning
instrument is the Word of God. Affliction is only the
handle of the knife where God gets His grip. Have
you ever noticed how much more sensitive you are
to the Word of God when you're in trouble?
The Spirit of God applies Scripture to
your heart in adversity.
Affliction is: the handle of the knife, the
grindstone that sharpens the Word, the dresser
that lays bear the diseased flesh so that the
surgeon's knife can get at it. Affliction makes us
ready to feel the Word--but the true pruner is the
Word, in the hand of the Great Vinedresser."
4 Remain
in me, and I will remain in you. For
a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed
from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful
unless you remain in me.
One branch is saved and one is
lost, although they both on the
surface appear to be real disciples,
they're not. Christians bear fruit.
The fruit of salvation is good works.
Matthew 7:16, "Ye shall know
them by their fruits."
An individual can live apparently connected to
Christ but in fact really not connected at all. If
you are religious or if you come to church or you
have a superficial allegiance to Jesus Christ, listen
to what Paul warns about, 2 Corinthians 13:5,
Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the
faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for
granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You
need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that
Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the
test, do something about it.
In other words, you better check your life to be
sure your salvation is real. It's a stern warning,
because the branches that don't bear fruit He
takes away and casts them into fire and that's a
picture of hell.
6 Anyone
who does
not remain in me is
thrown away like a
useless branch and
withers. Such
branches are
gathered into a pile
to be burned.
So Are You Involved or Committed?
What attitudes, habits, and actions limit
your productivity as Christ’s follower?
How is God at work to remove them to
promote greater spiritual productivity?
Are you a fruit-bearing branch--a real
believer, or are you just hanging on?
Do you know your only source of life is the
true vine, Jesus Christ?
As the prolific playwright George Bernard
Shaw was nearing the end of his life, a
reporter asked him a question: “If you could
live your life over and be anybody you’ve
known, or any person from
history, who would you be?”
Shaw thought for a moment
and then replied, “I would
choose to be the man George
Bernard Shaw could have
been, but never was.”
A look at the Blessings of a Believer:
The first blessing of a truly
abiding branch is fruit.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are
the branches. Those who
remain in me, and I
in them, will produce much fruit.
For apart from me you can do
nothing.
God talks about fruit 106 times in
the Old Testament, and 70 times in
the New Testament.
Psalms 1:1-3 (The Message)
1How well God must like you—you don’t
hang out at Sin Saloon, you don’t slink
along Dead-End Road, you don’t go to
Smart-Mouth College. 2-3 Instead
you thrill to GOD’s Word, you
chew on Scripture day and night.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden,
bearing fresh fruit every month,
Never dropping a leaf, always in
blossom.
Even in the Old Testament, the godly
man, was a fruit bearing man.
So, what is fruit?
Fruit is the virtues of Christ-like character.
Galatians 5:22 (The Voice)
22 The Holy Spirit produces a different kind
of fruit: unconditional love, joy,
peace, patience, kindheartedness,
goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control.
You won’t find any law opposed
to fruit like this.
When you pray, and you express to Christ
your adoration and your praise, that is fruit.
Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us
continually offer to God a sacrifice
of praise—the fruit of lips that
openly profess his name.
Good works are fruit.
Colossians 1:10 (New Living Translation)
10 Then the way you live will always honor
and please the Lord, and your lives
will produce every kind of good
fruit. All the while, you will grow
as you learn to know God better
and better.
People won to Jesus Christ through
witnessing are fruit.
John 4:36 (New Living Translation )
36 The harvesters are paid good
wages, and the fruit they harvest
is people brought to eternal life.
What joy awaits both the planter
and the harvester alike!
believer is
The second blessing of a
answered prayer.
7 But
if you remain in me and my words
remain in you, you may ask for anything you
want, and it will be granted!
There are two conditions for answered
prayer. Do you see them?
If a man has a permanent union with Jesus
Christ, if he's a true branch, that's condition one
for answered prayer.
When that man studies the New Testament, and
the Old Testament, learning the truths Christ has
revealed and continues to reveal through the
writers, when those become the controlling things
in his life, then he meets condition two and then
he can ask what he will and God responds.
The Christian abiding in Christ
and in whose heart Christ's
words are in complete control
will not ask anything contrary
to Christ's will.
What steps are you taking to become
increasingly familiar with Jesus’ teachings?
If God had Voice Mail
Most of us have now learned to live with "voice mail" as a necessary
part of our daily lives. But have you ever wondered what it would be
like if God decided to install voice mail?
Imagine praying and hearing the following:
Thank you for calling Heaven.
For English, Press 1.
For Spanish, press 2.
For all other languages, press 0.
Please select one of the following options:
Press 1 for Requests.
Press 2 for Thanksgiving.
Press 3 for Complaints.
Press 4 for all other inquiries.
I am sorry; all of our angels and saints are busy helping other sinners
right now. However, your prayer is important to us, and we will answer
it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line.
If you would like to speak to:
God, press 1.
Jesus, press 2
Holy Spirit, press 3.
If you would like to hear King David sing a Psalm while you are
holding,
press 4.
To find a loved one that has been assigned to Heaven, press 5,then
enter his or her social security number, followed by the "pound"
sign.
(If you receive a negative response, please hang up and try again.
For reservations at Heaven, please enter J-O-H-N, followed by the
numbers 3-1-6.
For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, the age of the
earth,
life on other planets, and where Noah’s
Ark is, please wait until you arrive.
Our computers show that you have already prayed
today. Please hang up
and try again tomorrow.
The office is now closed for the weekend to observe a
religious holiday.
Please pray again on Monday after 9:30am.
If you are calling after hours and need emergency
assistance,please
contact your local pastor.
Thank you, and have a heavenly
day.
The third blessing of a
believer--the Father's Glory.
8 When
you produce much fruit, you are
my true disciples. This brings great glory to
my Father.
1 Peter 2:12 (New Living Translation)
12 Be careful to live properly among your
unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they
accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your
honorable behavior, and they will give honor
to God when he judges the world.
The fourth blessing of a
believer—full joy.
11 I
have told you these things so that you will
be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will
overflow!
Joy is not happiness, which depends upon
happenings, but it is the deep settled
assurance and confidence in our relationship
with the Father and the Son that fills the
heart with "joy,” and that ignites the heart to
serve God.
Three prospectors found a rich vein of gold in California during the
gold rush days. They realized what a great discovery they had, &
decided, "We’ve a really good thing going here as long as no one else
finds out about it." So they each took a vow to keep it secret.
Then they headed for town to file their claims & get the equipment
necessary to mine the gold. True to their vows, they didn’t say a word to
anybody. They filed their claim, bought the equipment, & headed back
to their mine. But when they did, a crowd of people followed them.
And the reason was because the
expression on their faces
had given them away. Their
faces were aglow in
anticipation of the wealth
that soon would be theirs.
People knew that they must
have found something very
special. So a crowd followed
them out of town.
So I ask you:
Look around you. In the course of your life,
you have impacted many lives in this world.
Are those you’ve encountered
better people because they were
touched by you?
The presence of fruit in our lives
reveals the life of Christ in us.
Is there evidence that demonstrates
Christ is living in you?
D. Greg Ebie: The Fruit of the Vine
J Jeffrey Smead: It Is Pruning Time
Adrian Eising: The Master Gardener At
Work In Us
John MacArthur: The Vine and the Branches
John MacArthur: Abiding in the Vine