The Church

Joh 15:5 says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
When you say the word “Church,” what do you think of—A Building? The Church is not a place but a people. It is a living organism receiving its life from its connection with the One who said, “I am the way the truth and the life.” When He said, “ I am the vine you are the ranches,” He was using the grapevine as an example of His relationship with His Church. It is to be a relationship of LIFE, His LIFE. It is through His life that the Church produces fruit. He made it very plain, “Without me you can do nothing.” It is easy to confuse organism and organization. Think of it this way, if you plant a grape vine in your yard, and I have, you have a living organism, but grape vines do best when they have an arbor to support them. Take a look at any vineyard and you will see that there is a support system for each vine. The arbor can never produce grapes, but it does serve a very important function. It is a servant to the vine. The vine is not the servant to the arbor. Building arbors alone will never produce fruit. Grapes come only from the organism. We must give ourselves to the health of the branches and no amount of organization can take the place of healthy branches. A building is an arbor, Wednesday night suppers are arbors, mission trips are arbors. Any civic organization can do much of what we do in the Church. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, but it does remind us that we must bring something to the needy world that only we can bring. It is the LIFE OF JESUS. The fruit produced by the vine through the branches is unique. It is the work of heaven brought to earth. Lets not quibble over the methods—arbors or fences—but let us give ourselves to bringing the Life of Christ to a hurting world. Your neighbor needs grapes, not arbors. Jfs
P.S. Next week, God willing, thirty-two of us are taking grapes to Haiti, please remember us in your prayers. Thanks.