Bridge Church Vancouver

GWI : God’s Word Inside
Evidence of Christ in your life 

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about living in a covenant relationship  

Jer 31:33  “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 

and last week we looked at living to praise God 

Psalm 40:6 …but my ears you have pierced;
Psalm 40:8  I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 

We are made to bring glory to our God and Father, and there is a theme that flows through these messages and carrys on into todays message  

John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 

John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 

John 15:5     “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 
 

This morning, the band is going to sing a song and I encourage you to turn their song into a prayer of your own heart to hear what God would say to you this morning.

GWI  -  God’s Word Inside 

Maybe you are a CSI fan or Law & Order, or even House fan,

Every week on these shows, people are looking for clues to solve a problem, a murder or other crime has been committed, a criminal is on the loose, a dreaded disease is killing a person…

They are looking for evidence of a situation to restore order to peoples lives or a city, in an hour 

If someone was to look for evidence of your faith at work in your life, what should they look for and what will they find? 

This morning each of your are investigators, not of a crime scene or medical crisis but with the help of God’s Spirit we are going to investigate our own lives. And see what evidences we find of Christ in our lives. 

An evidence of Christ at work in your life is the presence of GWI  -  God’s Word Inside 

Gods Word:

Is food for our souls

God desires us to be a people who hunger and thirst for His Word

His word renews our minds

      When we let the words of Jesus infiltrate into our lives it should change the way we think:

Matt. 13:45     “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. 

His word restores life to our heart

Matt. 25:23     “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 

His word brings cleansing to our lives and makes our lives purposeful. 

Cleanses us  -  v3 

3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you 

Eph. 5:26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 

One way He will cleanse us is by cutting and pruning (trim) –

2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 

God will use His word to trim your life – but we must be willing to let His word have that influence over us.

He wants to  remove everything that sucks energy from you -    

This is the Sanctifying work of God’s Word

                  John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 

Sanctifying is a theological term which means to cleanse and set apart, to make holy 

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.  21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.   2Tim. 2:20     

      Power – he has spoken it to us and it has the power to cleanse us

His word has the power to do that 

We want babies to speak because we can then relate to them on a more significant level. 

      Continual renewal – remain  -  8 times in this passage Jesus says Remain

4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 

Remain in me as I remain in you  -   cooperative 

God has given us His word so we can relate to him and so our relationship with him has purpose / effect  - bears fruit 
 

When an investigator enters a scene – he /she looks at everything, anything and everything could be or is part of the situation 

What do you look to to bring you life, direction, energy, healing, strength, wisdom, understanding, joy, peace kindness… 

Is God’s word showing up in your decisions, and conversations

Do you wake up and find God’s word on your mind. 
 

Our lives are to bring God glory

      The evidence of His goodness, faithfulness, holiness

      The power of his creative ability and redemptive forgiveness 

We bring God Glory when our lives bear fruit of His Word  -   the evidence of our relationship with him 

Evidence of remaining

      Strength of God’s word in your life  -

      7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you

Does it show up in converstations

Does it prompt you regarding situations – things you read in the news, circumstances in a movie,… 

Does God’s word influence your parenting styles

Does God’s word influence how you relate to your  spouse,

Does God’s word influence how you spend your time at work

Does Gods word inform your positions on political opinions,

Does God’s word inform your positions on social or environmental concerns.  Could God’s word speak to global warming?  Could God’s word address homelessness? 

      Abundance of fruit being produced in your life

      5 If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit

            Is Joy a growing aspect of your life

            Are you finding peace springing up where stress used to rule

            Are you finding it easier to be kind to spouse / children / boss

            Are people commenting on your gentleness

Are you desiring to serve others and looking for opportunities to include people in your life 
 

      God things happening in your life

7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples 

      is God doing things in your life that can only be attitubatable to Him

are you finding God brining healing in your life and using you to bring healing ot others

are you getting ideas of ways God can use your life that would have previously pushed your limits 

When Gods word is our source of life, then our lives bear fruit and bring God glory 

We know we are alive because food is evident in our lives,,