Psalm 46

1 John 4: 7-16

John 15: 1-5, 8

God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. Jesus said, "I am the vine, and you are the branches."

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning!

I'd like to talk to you this morning about a theoretical situation that of course never happened to anybody in this room. But imagine with me, if you will, someone going out to the store and buying a stereo component system made up of, say, for instance, a tuner and a cassette player and a CD player. And imagine, if you would, someone hooking it up with all the wires and gizmos that need to be hooked up. And imagine, if you would, that person's disappointment when one of those units did not work, say it was the tape player. And after pushing all the buttons and making sure the wires were connected, the unit still wouldn't work – clearly a defective unit, although everything else worked on it. And so, imagine if you would, someone then, as an absolute last resort before returning to the store, consulting the owner's manual and looking at the trouble-shooting guide which probably wouldn't do any good anyway because the unit is obviously defective. And the first trouble-shooting step being, "Is the unit connected to the power source?" Well, that person might have thought it was, you see, but then looking in the back finds one dangling wire with a plug at the end of it. And it is amazing how the unit heals itself when this particular problem is corrected.

Now I know this has never happened to anybody in this room, but you could imagine theoretically, could you not?  The number one step of the trouble-shooting guide is, "Be sure unit is connected to the power source."

Oh, dear friends, why am I telling you this story? Because if you are experiencing some lack in your life, if there is trouble anywhere, we should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. "Be sure unit is connected to power source."

Friends, if you're panicked about something – if there's some situation that you don't know how to solve – turn to God. Turn to God. Turn to the Source. Let the amazing healing power of the Source flow through you. That's my simple message for you today. Won't you take that home?

Oh, friend who's been worried about something, panicked about something and not sure how something will work out, are you connected to the Source? It's a simple question, but it's where we all need to start.

How do we do it? How do we get connected to that Source? Well, I have three ideas for you. We need to get corrected; we need to stay connected; and congratulations, you're selected! But let me talk to you about them one by one.

Number one, we need to get corrected. Listen to what the Bible says about that. Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower, the vine-dresser." What does that mean? It means that God owns the vineyard. God owns it all; He's the creator of it all, and He owns it all, including us. And then Jesus says, "I am the true vine." What does that mean? As opposed to what? The people of Israel always considered themselves to be symbolized by the vine. They considered themselves the vineyard of the Lord. So when Jesus used this imagery, the people of Israel connected with it right away. It's used very often in the Bible, but every time it's used in the Bible it is used as a declining vine. And Jesus said, "People of Israel, just because you're born into it doesn't mean you're part of it. The way to salvation is friendship with Jesus Christ, and therefore I am the true vine," says Jesus. "And my Father is the vine-grower." God is the owner of it all.  And we're part of the vineyard.

 Then He says, "He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit." Ooh – what's that about? On a vine, there grow two kinds of branches, the kind of branch that bears fruit and the kind of branch that does not bear fruit.  And a vine-grower can tell which is which. What they would do is, when they saw growing the kind of branch that did not produce fruit, they would prune it, so that the fruit-producing branch would grow more strongly. Even the fruit-producing branch they would prune back so that it wouldn't produce fruit for the first three years, so that when it did grow fruit, it would grow full and lush.

How does that apply to us? Within us are thoughts that are productive, that bear fruit, and thoughts that are not productive, and God is giving us an opportunity to get corrected, to repent, to come away from that which is not productive, to give energy and strength to that which is productive. For instance, what do we need to repent of? What do we need to be corrected about? Probably not what you think! Let me suggest – do you need to be corrected from thoughts of fear? Do I? Maybe that's where we need help in saying, "God, let me let this go, so that the fruit-bearing portion can bear more fruit with energy." Do we need to be corrected from thoughts of desperation? Do we need to be corrected from thinking that we do it all on our own? Do we need to get connected with the Source again?

Oh, the first step is to be corrected, my dear friend. I've got almost magical words of repentance. Three words – take them home with you, won't you? Up until now. Those are the three words of repentance – up until now. When somebody comes up to me and we're talking in the office and they say, "Oh, Pastor, I am such a failure!" I say, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Before you say you're such a failure, would you do something for me? Would you put these words into the sentence – up until now. Up until now, I have felt like such a failure." And sometimes people can't. Can you imagine, as hard as they try, they can't say those words? But when they can, something wonderful happens. They're better than magical words. They're wonderful words. And the other words are "From now on." From now on, there's hope for me.

Where do you need to repent? Where do you need to re-pent, re-think, change the mind from "up until now" to "from now on"? The first step we need to take to be connected to the power source is to be corrected in that particular way. "Up until now I thought I had to do everything on my own, but from now on I'm going to ask for help – from the source, and from people that God has sent to be branches of His love." There is hope.

So, the first thing we need to do is to get corrected from erroneous ways of thinking and to let God prune off the energy-zapping branches, if you would, of error thoughts.

Second, we need to get connected to the power source. Many of you are going out and buying flats of plants and flowers, like the beautiful ones here at church. You buy them and bring them home, but they have to get out of the flats and into the ground. They have to be connected to the source. And so do we, if we're going to grow and bear much fruit. We've got to get connected.

"God is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear." Stay in touch with the source and feel connected, and you will feel new energy. You will feel new strength, because God is your refuge and your strength. We need to be corrected. We need to stay connected.

And congratulations! You are selected. You are the ones to be the branches. Isn't it interesting that God does not say that we are the fruit of the vine? We are not. We are the pipelines. We are the branches that come from Christ, who is the connection with God the owner of the vineyard. And with Him we can bear much fruit.

And what is the fruit of the spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those are the fruits of the spirit that can happen in your life and in mine, and in the lives of the people around you as you become branches, flowing pipelines of God's love. That's what God meant us to be.

Ah, dear friend, where does our thinking need to be corrected? Where do we need to turn and be connected to God again? And where is God selecting us to be pipelines of His love? We can do it. Life can take on new excitement and new meaning when we do.

For dessert – last thought. Jesus said this mysterious and wonderful thing: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else shall be added unto you." All the things we wish for and dream for and hope for will be added unto us if we put first things first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. What does that mean? Let God be king, and do the right thing. That's what that means. Do that first, and all the other good things of life will be added unto us. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that a wonderful promise? What is it that we need? Where do we need a blessing? Let us put God first, and the things of God first, and all the other wonderful things will be added unto us.

Dear friend, where there's been confusion, where there's been heartache in your life, turn to the source, and you will see amazing things happening to you and through you, because God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.