The Fourth Week of April
We Read…
What does it mean to remain in God? This is a phrase used a few times in our readings for this week. Jesus tells us that he is the vine and we are the branches, we have to stay connected to him to produce good fruit. This makes sense, doesn’t it? If you cut a plant off from its life source, it can’t live for much longer. Jesus wants us to stay connected to him, to remain in him, and our relationship with Jesus will lead to good fruit, to loving the people around us, to changed lives.
We’re also reminded that we can’t do this all on our own. First, we’re called to remain in Christ. But secondly, we’re called to be in community with others. The Ethiopian eunuch needed Philip to come alongside him and explain what he was reading. We have all had someone in our life do the same for us! Maybe it’s a mentor or pastor or parent, but someone at some point came to our side and shared about God’s love for us. When we remain in Christ, we get the chance to share our love for Jesus with the people around us. What would this story have looked like if Philip wasn’t in tune with God? Philip needed to be sensitive to the nudges of God in order to go and meet the Ethiopian man.
Psalm 22:25-31
25 I offer praise in the great congregation
because of you;
I will fulfill my promises
in the presence of those who honor God.
26 Let all those who are suffering
eat and be full!
Let all who seek the LORD praise him!
I pray your hearts live forever!
27 Every part of the earth
will remember and come back to the LORD;
every family among all the nations
will worship you.
28 Because the right to rule
belongs to the LORD,
he rules all nations.
29 Indeed, all the earth’s powerful
will worship him;
all who are descending to the dust
will kneel before him;
my being also lives for him.
30 Future descendants will serve him;
generations to come will be told
about my Lord.
31 They will proclaim God’s righteousness
to those not yet born,
telling them what God has done.
Acts 8:26-40
26 An angel from the Lord spoke to Philip, “At noon, take the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27 So he did. Meanwhile, an Ethiopian man was on his way home from Jerusalem, where he had come to worship. He was a eunuch and an official responsible for the entire treasury of Candace. (Candace is the title given to the Ethiopian queen.) 28 He was reading the prophet Isaiah while sitting in his carriage. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Approach this carriage and stay with it.”
30 Running up to the carriage, Philip heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?”
31 The man replied, “Without someone to guide me, how could I?” Then he invited Philip to climb up and sit with him. 32 This was the passage of scripture he was reading:
Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent
so he didn’t open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation
justice was taken away from him.
Who can tell the story of his descendants
because his life was taken
from the earth?
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, about whom does the prophet say this? Is he talking about himself or someone else?” 35 Starting with that passage, Philip proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 As they went down the road, they came to some water. 37 The eunuch said, “Look! Water! What would keep me from being baptized?”38 He ordered that the carriage halt. Both Philip and the eunuch went down to the water, where Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Lord’s Spirit suddenly took Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip found himself in Azotus. He traveled through that area, preaching the good news in all the cities until he reached Caesarea.
1 John 4:7-21
7 Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. 8 The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. 10 This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.
11 Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. 13 This is how we know we remain in him and he remains in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the savior of the world. 15 If any of us confess that Jesus is God’s Son, God remains in us and we remain in God. 16 We have known and have believed the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them. 17 This is how love has been perfected in us, so that we can have confidence on the Judgment Day, because we are exactly the same as God is in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love because God first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. After all, those who don’t love their brothers or sisters whom they have seen can hardly love God whom they have not seen! 21 This commandment we have from him: Those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also.
John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vineyard keeper. 2 He removes any of my branches that don’t produce fruit, and he trims any branch that produces fruit so that it will produce even more fruit. 3 You are already trimmed because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch can’t produce fruit by itself, but must remain in the vine. Likewise, you can’t produce fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, then you will produce much fruit. Without me, you can’t do anything. 6 If you don’t remain in me, you will be like a branch that is thrown out and dries up. Those branches are gathered up, thrown into a fire, and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified when you produce much fruit and in this way prove that you are my disciples.
We Think…
What stands out to you in these verses?
Does anything confuse you or not make sense?
How do these verses compare to your own experience in life or in the church? What are you considering?
What questions come to mind?
Why do you think Jesus uses vines as an analogy in John 15?
What does it mean that there is no fear in love?
We Feel…
What emotions are you experiencing today? How are you making space for these feelings?
Where have you seen God today or this week?
What is pointing you to God (maybe it is something in creation, maybe a friend or adult that cares for you)?
What has God made new in your life? In your heart?
Who has helped you better understand scripture, church, and/or your faith?
When have you experienced God’s love through someone else?
We Believe…
1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. It’s an interesting way of phrasing, because we don’t read that God gives out love or that God is capable of love. Love isn’t a simple possession or small part of God, instead we see that God = love. At the very foundation of who God is, is love.
How does this change how we understand God?
How does this change how we’re called to live as reflections of God in the world around us?
We Practice…
If you find objects to be helpful in connecting what you’re reading - go outside and cut a flower or a vine or something similar off from where it is growing, and notice how long it can survive by itself. It might take a few days, but eventually it won’t be able to grow or stay alive without something sustaining it.
Write down when you have tried to take on life (and all of its challenges) by yourself.
How is this the same as the plant trying to survive when it has been cut off?