May, 2005 Newsletter

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"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in  him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 [NAU])

Little more than a month ago, we enthusiastically completed the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign. It was perhaps the best spiritual campaign ever attempted at SCVJCC. The campaign is over, but our quest to know God better and live out the 5-fold purpose of God continues. We are following up to balance God’s 5-fold purpose: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism.

Currently, the English Dept. motto is “Abide in Christ to Bear Fruit” from John 15:5. The question is—how does this motto fit within the 5-fold purpose? It fits very well because the underlying power to live out the 5-fold purpose comes from our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We receive God’s Power when we have an ongoing “Abiding Relationship with Jesus.” In John 15, Jesus taught the relationship between the vine and the branches to explain our relationship with Him. He said that just as the branches receive their source of strength from the vine, we must receive our source and strength from Him. Just as the branches must be connected to the vine to bear fruit, we are motivated to live a life for Christ Jesus not by religious activities but by our relationship with Him.

We will do well to use the 5-fold purpose of God to influence people around us with the Good News. We need a balance in the 5-fold purpose because: a) If worship is without fellowship, we lack people skills; b) If fellowship is without worship, we lack the power of God; c) If discipleship is without worship and fellowship, we lack spiritual vitality; d) If ministry is without worship, fellowship and discipleship, we have the Burnt-Out Symptom; and e) If evangelism and social service are not balanced, we have a spineless Christianity. All the 5-fold purpose must be interconnected and balanced.

Keeping the 5-fold purpose is comparable to what Joshua and God’s People did in conquering the city of Jericho (Josh. 6). To conquer Jericho, Joshua and God’s people simply obeyed God and marched around the city. It was their faithfulness to their daily routine that won the city. And it is our routine faithfulness with God’s purpose that will impact the people around us. Do you see the necessity of our faithfulness to reach out to the “unchurched” by: 1) Telling them about Christ; 2) Leading them to receive Christ; 3) Share God’s 5-fold Purpose; and 4) Live God’s 5-fold Purpose. The repeated cycle would be on-going with our Abiding Relationship with Christ.

The key to becoming a Fruitful Christian is in your Abiding Relationship with Jesus. In John 15, we find that the final purpose in God’s Kingdom is not about eating and drinking, but about having a personal relationship with Christ. In the 5-fold Purpose of God, we encourage one another to “Abide In Christ To Bear Fruit.”

— Pastor Jim Sakurai

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