Jesus invites us into Relationship - 17 May 2026

On Sunday we have the last in our “Jesus invites” series, with Jesus inviting us into relationship with Him. In the John reading Jesus explains the concept of remaining in deep relationship with God to the Jews using words and pictures the Israelites, an agricultural people should understand well - the vine, or vineyard. Jesus casts God as the gardener, himself as the vine, and us as the branches, which when tended well and remaining in relationship with the vine, will produce much good fruit. Just as a healthy vine and a bumper crop of quality fruit takes effort and attention, so too does abiding with God. The Israelites had fallen out of a close relationship and Jesus was now inviting them (and us) back.Relationships are defined by shared feelings, communication, trust and mutual expectations. They anchor us, give us identity, comfort and support us. Those same markers of secular connections are part of the deep relationship into which God invites us. He promised to remain close, so we need to hold firm to Hebrews 13:5, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”. And the result? Being in relationship with God bears much fruit in us, as recorded in Galatians 5, “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. A list of beautiful attributes and evidence we are abiding in God.To continue to produce good fruit we can come to God with our confession of sin and our profession of belief. We can follow God’s commandments. We can follow Christ’s teachings and example of forgiveness, mercy, inclusion, hope, humility, service and obedience to God. We can remain in contact with God through prayer and bible reading and we can relate in love to our church community. Last Sunday Kaitlyn said, “When we invest our time in prayer, bible reading, worshipping and in church community, God begins to do the work within us”. So, we don’t have to view the invitation to relationship as too hard, or lonely, as God is doing it alongside and within us. Matthew’s reading concludes, “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We are invited into relationship with God and given the confidence that He will be with us, always.Jenny OlverMatthew 28:20 and John 15:1-10