The True Vine

Jesus,

You are the True Vine, our comfort and safe place. In you we find hope, joy, and peace. In you we find nourishment and provision. Jesus, we are restored by your humble act of obedience, dying on a cross, so that we can live. Your mercy and grace revive us. Your love sustains us.

What a delight it is to know you, to be wrapped in your embrace. We are in awe of your gentleness, for we know the power you hold. The power over life and death. The power of resurrection. You are truly Lord. Lord over the heavens and the earth. Lord over all things. 

And You, who could bring all things low with a whisper, have chosen to proclaim to us that we are your beloved. You speak life to us, calling us friends. You love us so much that you come to us, tending our hearts and minds, renewing us, and beckoning us toward fruitfulness in You.

As Paul declared, our greatest hope is being found in You. Gaining You and Your righteousness, as You prune us, brings shape and form to every aspect of our lives. 

We humble ourselves before You as You prepare our hearts in worship. Where would we be without You? As we pray and sing, and dwell in Your Holy Word, convict us of Your faithful love. As we look to the table of Holy Communion, help us see all the impediments we have allowed in our lives that try to draw us away from fellowship with You. Where we have allowed bitterness and anger to take root, pull those weeds. Where we have allowed sin to become a festering lesion, bring your balm of repentance and forgiveness. We need you. And we long to bear your fruit, abiding in you in all things, as we live and breathe, joining you in the renewal of all things.

We come before you now in quietness. We make our home in You, as you have made your words at home in us.

Amen.