This morning’s sermon was on the Fruit of the Vine. Just as a vine bears grapes, so a Christian should have spritual fruit – love, joy peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22,23). Just as the branches are connected to the vine, all Christians are in communion with Christ. Just as the farmer prunes the branches of the vine to increase fruit yield, so God removes the dead parts of Christians to increase their fruitfulness. It is essential that Christians stay close to Christ in order to be fruitful, just as a branch needs to be connected to the vine to bear fruit. Indeed, Chrstians must rely soley on Christ and not on themselves in order to bear fruit.

This evening’s sermon was on the nature of God, and our response to God. God reveals himself in the bible with two distinct facets. He is holy and he is love. His holiness means he abhors the presence of sin. If we are to be in the presence of God, we must remove our sin, as our sin causes us to become the objects of God’s wrath. God is likened to a lion in Isaiah 31:4, waging war against those who sin. Just as the Israelites wrongly thought the Egyptians could save them with their mighty armies, men and women wrongly believe they can remove their sin and make themselves acceptable to God by doing good or observing religious practices. Yet God is also love, and has provided us the only way we can be right before him, by the sacrifice of his own Son, Jesus Christ. He alone can bear our sin and the wrath which it deserves. God is likened to a bird protecting its young in Isaiah 31:5 – he will protect those who are his from the onslaught of the world.