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The Bible Teaching Commentary on Genesis: The Book of Foundations
Commentaries that specialize on training the teacher!
Relational Discipleship: Cross Training
Paul J. Bucknell
Vine - Branches: Introduction
Abundant life | The Gardener | The Vine | The Branches | Projects
Growing in our relationships
with God and people!
Vine and Branches
Abiding in Christ
God is the Gardener
He carefully cares for the vine
1) God Cares for His People
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener (John 15:1).
God the Father is the planter and caretaker of the vine. The Father carefully prepares the soil to receive the vine and then when the season has come and the timing is right, he plants the vine. Carefully he cares for the vine, giving it what it needs and watching over it to bring it to the time of harvest. When the harvest comes, he gathers from his labors and delights in its fruits. God carefully cares for the needs of His people with the expectation that we will bear fruit.
2) God Deals with His People Differently
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, he lifts up,1 and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it that it may bear more fruit (John 15:2).
What differentiates the two kinds of people in John 15:2? How does the gardener (the Father) treat each of these people?
1. _________________ ________________________
2. _________________ ________________________
3) God’s Discipline of His Children
For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines... . It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? (Hebrews 12:6-7)
‘Lift up’ refers to way a gardener will pick up the plant out of the mud to protect it from disease. In this Hebrew’s passage there are three principles to help us better understand how God ‘lifts us up’ when we fail Him.
Fact #1. God loves you. God doesn’t stop loving you when you sin.
Fact #2. God disciplines all believers when they sin.
Fact #3. God lovingly uses discipline to bring His people out of sin.
It is God’s desire for you to be close to Him. He disciplines you so that you will return to Him. As we return to Him through confession, our intimacy with God is fully and immediately restored.
Application:
• Identify any difficulties you are facing in your life.
• Observe if these problem might be related to disobedience.
• Decide what needs to be done to change that decision.
• Confess your sin. Seek restoration in prayer, humility and love.
• Praise Him for reconnecting you to Himself.
A strategic basic discipleship series designed to help Christians grow not only in their relationship with God but also with other people. 
Each section uses a familiar relationship to bring out basic but very practical Biblical teaching.
We highly recommend getting the BFF Discipleship #1 Digital Library which not only includes the Relationship Discipleship book, but slides, summaries, user guide, teacher's reference, etc. This D#1 Library also contains all our other Christian training resources for new believers.
These Christian media-enriched resources can also be purchased in the BFF Resource Center.
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Scriptures typically quoted from the New American Standard Bible unless noted:
(C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1988