Encounter Church
Sunday Morning 04.19.26

      • Proverbs 11:24-25NIV2011

      • Matthew 26:26–28NIV2011

  • Big Idea: We must be intentionally connected to the Father. The Abiding life is the hiding life. We must be enveloped in God’s presence to live to our fullest.

    Welcome: This morning, I want to welcome you to Encounter Church where you can know and be known, love and be loved, serve and be served, celebrate and be celebrated. Welcome to community in Christ!

    John 15:4–5 NKJV
    Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

    Introduction

    The only way we can bear fruit is connection. If we seek to be truly fruitful and abundant in life we must sure up our connection.
    The life that Jesus promised in John 10:10 will only come to fruition if we learn to Abide in him. Connection is commanded. It is the reality of how the believer lives life. Today we seek “NEXT LEVEL Living” This is the place where we stop struggling just to survive and exist. It is the place where we thrive and grow. Everything is hinged on one element. How secure is our connection to Christ.

    I. Connection is Essential to life

    The statement Jesus gives goes beyond a mere request. He is giving an imperative. We must Abide. Our connection with Christ should be the most coveted thing. Many efforts fall spiritually flat because the connection with the creator is disrupted. This is why we can appear to the outside world to be productive but live in a reality of inward emptiness.
    John 6:56 NKJV
    He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
    When you eat. Your food is broken down into particles that can be digested. Those broken down items go into your bloodstream and feed your body. The more you eat of a substance the more it becomes a part of you. To eat is a very INTIMATE and VULNERABLE process. If you eat enough, eventually you and what you eat become one.
    TYN: You are what you eat. Jesus is not being cannibalistic. He is driving home a point in the most intense way that they must abide in Him. He is giving a picture of the soon to come passover meal. And just as the nutrients of what we eat soon come in and nourish our body, Connection with God on a deeper intimate level nourishes and replenishes the soul.
    To Abide starts with the realization that Christ is our only hope. We must covet our connection and cling to Him for dear life. When we have made this internal determination, it will be evident in our life and behavior.
    John 6:66–68 NKJV
    From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We must cling to God

    II. We must be intentional with our Connection Time.

    One of the quotes from our Courses at the Dynamic Church Planting International Seminar rang out very clearly when it was spoken. “God is more concerned about what He is trying to do in you than what He is trying to do through you.”
    If we are not careful we will substitute being busy with being fruitful and the two are NOT the same. We have been trained mentally that more is always better but in most case quality always trumps quantity.
    I ask you this morning, “What is the quality of your alone time with God?”
    Is it hurried?
    Is it rushed?
    Is it routine?
    Luke 5:16 says:
    Luke 5:15–16 NIV
    Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
    This raises a question. If Jesus paused and intentionally connected with the Father, How much more is this vital for us? We must digest his word. We must make room for him.
    Healthy members add to a healthy church.
    1 John 2:27–28 NKJV
    But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

    III. The ABIDING LIFE | ABANDON AND ABIDE

    Galatians 2:20 NKJV
    I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
    Paul is essentially saying this morning, I have chosen to abide in Christ. Spiritually we have been baptized into his death, burial and resurrection. If we are going to be connected as we are called, we must ABANDON and ABIDE.
    Paul is saying my way of doing things has been forever changed. We may havre a desire from our flesh to do these things, but we rely on the strength of the spirit. We have moved to another level of living.
    Colossians 3:1–3 NKJV
    If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
    We all have natural needs but our Focus in on the promise of our faith

    Conclusion:

    As life has worn many of us out trying to survive is this world. This morning we introduce you to NEXT LEVEL LIVING. It is time to exist and not merely live. Will you decide to abide in him today?

      • John 15:4–5NKJV

      • John 6:56NKJV

      • John 6:66–68NKJV

      • Luke 5:15–16NKJV

      • 1 John 2:27–28NKJV

      • Galatians 2:20NKJV

      • Colossians 3:1–3NKJV

Encounter Church
http://www.encounter360.org
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