Each new year brings a new opportunity to reflect on what God has done in the past and look forward to what God is doing in the coming season. Our annual Vision Sunday is an opportunity to thank God for all He has done at LifeGate, and prayerfully anticipate how we can faithfully align with Him in the future.
Our Mission & Vision
LifeGate Assembly of God exists to make heaven crowded by disciples of Jesus Christ who make disciples of every generation. That is the mission of our church - and everything that we do gets filtered through that goal. We accomplish this mission by living into our vision: love God, love others, make disciples, and reach the world. We derive our mission and vision from two key passages of Scripture.
The first is Matthew 28:16-20, where Jesus commands His disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” This is known as the great commission, and is the ultimate mission of every church. Because Jesus has all authority - we are to go and make disciples of all nations. Because of the death, resurrection, and life of Jesus - because Jesus has proved His deity - we must go and tell the world!
The second Scripture that informs our vision is Matthew 22:34-40 where Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” He then says that the second greatest is “like it: love your neighbor as yourself.” In this passage, we understand that our first priority in all things is to love God with everything that we are. Our second priority is to love others as we love ourselves. We worship God, and we give Him glory and honor when we simply put Him first and others second.
At LifeGate, these two verses have been blended together to form our vision and mission statements. This is what we have been called to do as a church!
Looking Back: A Year of Pruning
As I prayerfully look back on 2024, the Lord brought to mind a specific passage found in John 15. These words are part of what many refer to as the “farewell discourse” of Jesus. They are nestled within John 13-17, which includes Jesus’ words to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion. These words are critical to understanding what Jesus wanted His disciples to live out after He died and resurrected.
Within this passage in John 15, I think there is both a word that defined our 2024 and a phrase that might be what God is calling us to do in 2025 and beyond. In John 15:1-3, Jesus says “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does not bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
I think if we could define 2024 in a word, it would be pruning.
What is Pruning?
Pruning is when a gardener cuts away dead or overgrown branches so that the plant can grow stronger and healthier. In our spiritual lives, God allows pruning to remove things that hinder our growth - this can be sin, distractions, unhealthy relationships, or even hardships.
Pruning is necessary for positive growth. Pruning prevents overgrowth that can lead to an unhealthy or an unproductive plant. It also prevents vital nutrients from being sent to dead flowers, fruit, or stems. Gardeners and landscapers carefully prune plants according to their vision for that plant for its health and beauty. In John 15, Jesus says that God does the same thing with us.
We saw a year of pruning here at LifeGate in 2024. Maybe you even experienced God pruning you personally, too. As you process through that, here are 4 things to remind yourself about a pruning season and 2 applications to better respond to God’s pruning in your life.
Pruning is painful, but it has a purpose! God is always at work in and around us.
God removes things that are holding us back so that we can grow stronger and bear even more fruit.
Sometimes, God removes something good to make room for something better.
Pruning is not punishment; it’s preparation!
Ask God what He is pruning in your life. Is He removing something so you can grow spiritually?
Instead of resisting, surrender to His process. Trust that He knows what He’s doing.
Looking Forward: Abide & Bear Fruit
Right after Jesus gives these words about pruning, he then says this in John 15:4-5: “Remain in me, as I also 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. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
If you have ever tried to keep a flower fresh after cutting it from the stem, you understand how difficult it is to keep something alive when it’s been removed from its source of nutrients. Jesus teaches us in John 15 that if we aren’t connected to Him, we will wither spiritually and be ineffective.
What Does it Mean to Abide in Christ?
Jesus wants us to abide in Him so that we will bear fruit. But what does that mean?
To abide means to stay connected, to dwell, or to remain.
Just like a branch draws nutrients from the vine, we must draw our strength and nourishment from Christ.
This means having a daily relationship with Him through prayer, studying His word, worship, and obedience.
If we are not connected to Christ, we are incapable of bearing the fruit that Jesus wants to bear in and through us. In John 15:6-8, Jesus warns us of exactly that. He states that “if you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
There is a danger in our disconnection from Christ. Jesus warns us that apart from Him, we can do nothing. That doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish worldly things, but it means that we will be spiritually ineffective and unfulfilled without Him. Many people try to live life in their own strength, but real transformation and purpose come only when we remain Christ.
If you want to stay connected to Jesus, here are three application points you can start to practice today:
Evaluate your connection with Christ. Are you spending time with Him daily?
Make Him your source. Depend on Him for strength, wisdom, and guidance.
Examine your fruit. What kind of spiritual fruit is evident in your life?
Our Commitment to Bear Fruit in 2025
I believe that this year, God is calling us as a church to abide and bear fruit. Christ’s words in John 15:16-17 are an encouragement to me as I pray for our congregation. Here, Jesus says that “you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last - and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”
God has a work to do in and through us at this church. As a church staff and family, our goal this year is to personally dedicate ourselves to abiding in Christ in an even deeper way, and to challenge this church as a community to push into Jesus. As we continue to walk through this year together, I challenge you to commit to these three things so that we may all bear fruit together as we abide in Christ.
Stay connected. Don’t try to do life on your own. Depend on Jesus daily.
Embrace pruning. Trust that God is refining you for greater things.
Walk in love. Love God, love people, and let your life reflect Christ
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Vision Sunday: February 23rd, 2025. Preached by Ben Dieterly
Article Edited by Julia Castro
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