Rev Nick opened his sermon on John 14:1-14 by sharing his own experiences of wine making. Working in vineyards in France and the South West, he pointed out that a large part of this ‘exciting experience’, was pruning, pruning and more pruning. This is something that we can identify with on a spiritual level too. God doesn’t just prune away the bad stuff – sometimes God prunes something good in order for us to bear even more fruit.
In this passage, Jesus identifies himself as the true vine, and Rev Nick points out that fruit isn’t something that we can manufacture in our own strength. Fruit is only borne when we draw on the main vine, the true vine of Jesus Christ himself.