Bible Study 2: Isaiah 5:1-7, John 15:1-8

The Song of The Vineyard

Monday, 13 December 2010

6:00 PM

Looking at Isaiah 5:1-7 and John 15:1-8

• David Ritchie on Sunday talked about 'investment in people' -
• God starts from scratch and grows the vineyard himself- in us.
• Isaiah 5:1-7 is a beautiful metaphor about how Israel is the vineyard

• John talks about how we need to live "In the vine"- Jesus is the true vine!

• Last week we talked about our role in the church as young adults- and how we approach responsibility/roles in the church.

• We talked about identifying gifts in our lives- and through the Holy Spirit and the 'laying on of hands' from our elders (2 Timothy 1:6) and 'fanning into flame' our gifts.

• Brain storming- from last week, what are the areas in your life that you enjoy? What are you good at?
• These gifts in our lives- need to be the product of being connected with God - and imagine what He can do with them! 1 Peter 4:10 - "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."
• Reading- 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 - different gifts for different people, 'one body, many parts!'

• "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine" (John 15:4)
• Fruit of the spirit is Galatians 6:22.  - Good indication between 'stinking' fruit and 'delicious!' fruit

Bringing it all together

• To bear tasty fruit- we need to follow Jesus' command of "Remain in me, and I will remain in you" (John 15:4)
• Gifts in our lives are normally 'tasty fruit- - if we allow God to use them, how much more delicious will they be?

• Ask God to identify the "stinky" fruit and carry out the process described in John 15:2. (it's not easy- but it's all about trusting in God , and believing that He knows what He is doing!)

• Can you think of how God can use your gifts/fruit in the church?

• How can we all work together?