Fuente de Amor

Intro: small skit illustrating the folly of filling the void of Jesus with other things. Have you ever felt like, tthat there's gotta be more to life than the rat race, studying, making a living and feeding our families. Have you ever bought that one thing you really always wanted (car, house, flat screen TV) only to discover that you get tired of it soon and that there's the need to fill that emptiness? Have you ever felt that way?  We have been created with that void that can only be filled with Jesus.

Read John 15.

1. Connecting to God, gotta make the choice!


a. The Bible tells us there is a reason we feel such emptiness inside, because we are not connected with God through his Son Jesus. The way Jesus said it was abide in me and you will bear fruit. Jesus was saying that those who are connected to him bear fruit. Jesus said: I am the grape vine, and you are the branches and no branch can bear fruit on its own, it must be connected to the vine. You cannot bear fruit apart from me.” If we want to experience a full life we must first make the choice to connect ourselves to Jesus, graft our branch to the vine. According to Jesus, it is impossible to experience a fruitful life without being connected to Jesus or abiding with Jesus. The fruits Jesus is referring to include love, for God and others, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control these are the fruits we are referring to. Without being connected to Jesus or remaining in Jesus, guess how much fruit your life will bear? Very little. But when we are connected to God through Jesus we bear much fruit. God works into our life love, joy, peace. Jesus once said, he came “so that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).”

b. Nothing in this world can fill the void of this emptiness except God, not money, fame, vanity, relationships, power only Jesus can fill the void and provide the life giving nourishment you need.


c. He is reaching out in love. Creation… John 3:16… Apoc. 3:15-22, God IS LOVE. The essence of a loving God is to initiate creation. How can love be fulfilled if there's not someone to recieve that love? That's why he created you, he LOVES YOU!

d. How can we connect to Jesus?

 According to the Bible we must first believe in Jesus:

NLT Romans 10:9 For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

 and also 1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God.

NLT
e. 

Believing in Jesus is the first step, but supposing you made a decision years ago, to receive Jesus into your heart, but you still feel empty, you don’t see any fruit in your life, you still can’t seem to love, you don’t have a sense of peace, perhaps it is because you haven’t been abiding with Jesus, you have not chosen to stay connected with Jesus. Jesus told us it must be a daily choice to follow him, every day you make that decision. The fruit only follows our being connected to Jesus. Believeing doesn't mean you're abiding. There IS a difference! God wants us to stay connected.

2. Connecting to the church. 


a. How do you stay connected to God? We stay connected to God through reading God’s Word praying , but there is still another way: staying connected with God’s family, the church. When we choose to become a follower (disciple) of Jesus, we inherit his family as well. When you are born again, you inherit God’s family, that is all Christians across the globe. It means you have a lot of brothers and sisters. 

Estimates tell us there are approximately 2 billion Christians on the planet, that’s a big family. It also includes the Christians right here in our community. Look around you, you have family right here, it’s called the church. In the Bible God’s family is called the church.

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b. Growing and Bearing Fruit by Belonging in the Church

 God gives us this family for a reason. God works through other Christians to help us to grow in our faith, and therefore receive more fruit in our life. We bear fruits of love, joy, peace, etc. when we are connected to God, but it doesn’t happen automatically, it usually happens when we are in community or communing with other Christians. As we practice our faith with one another, God works his fruit into our life. These are the things we are supposed to be doing with other Christians: “love one another (John 13:34),” “be devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10),” “honor one another (Rom. 12:10),” “live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16),” “do not judge one another” “accept one another (Rom. 15:7)” “instruct (teach) one another (Rom. 15:14; Col. 3:16)” “agree with one another (unity) (1 Cor. 1:10),” “serve one another (Gal. 5:13),” “be kind and compassionate with one another (Eph. 4:32),” “forgive each other (Col. 3:13)”, “encourage and build one another up (1 Thess. 5:11; Heb. 10:25)” “spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24).” Guess who the “one another” is? It is people in the church. In other words you can never fully connect to God and fulfill God’s purpose for your life without other Christians. God chooses to work through other Christians to help us grow and experience God’s fruitfulness. In other words you will not grow in love if you are not learning how to love your fellow brother and sister in Christ, you will not receive joy if you are not participating with other Christians . 


c. Some people make the excuse of not going to church because “they are full of hypocrites,” and I agree we are all a work in progress, we haven’t figured it all out yet, but are perfectly forgiven and are in the process of imrovement. 

I also tell them there's room for on more hypocrite! God expects you to learn how to obey him by practicing with other Christians. God created you to mature in your faith. Another excuse is the I gotta get my act together before I can get connected. It is not about what you can do for yourself it is about accepting God's free gift of grace and salvation in your life.

d. If you are a Christian but not actively involved in a church, whether it is this church or another, the body suffers because you are not playing your role, and you are suffering too because you do not have the other parts to help you. 

That is why the Bible says “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Heb. 10:25).” The writer of Hebrews knew how important it is for Christians to get together for worship (to focus our attention upon God), fellowship (to practice our “one anothers”), study of God’s Word (the Bible) (to grow in knowledge of faith), because we need each other for encouragement if we are going to grow to be the people God has created us to be, and to experience all of the benefits (blessings) God has for us in this world.


3. God Loves you and he's calling you
a. He's crazy about you
b. John 3:16
c. Movie clip
Conclusion:

If you have never taken the step of giving your heart to God and believing in his Son Jesus, that he died and was resurrected for you. I encourage you to make that commitment. I will make an altar call, accept his loving call today... I encourage you to “Get Connected.”