“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower…4 Abide in me as I abide in you.
Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you unless you abide in me.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches.
Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit,
because apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:1, 4-5

Jesus is the vine. We are the branches.

Jesus calls us to abide in the vine – to make our home in the vine – to make our home in him. Jesus goes on to say, “As the Father has loved me; so have I loved you: abide in my love,” (John 15:9).  He tells us that he abides in God’s love by following God’s commandments.  He instructs us to do the same – to abide in his love by following his commandments.

What does Christ command?

To love the Lord, our God with all of our hearts, our souls and our minds.
And to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  

This command is at the heart of our life here at Heritage Presbyterian.  In everything we do, we seek to strengthen our connections to the vine, to abide, to make our home in Christ’s love for us and our world.  We are cultivating deep and life giving relationships with God, with one another and with our neighbors near and far.

We’ve created this blog to bear witness to that journey and to invite others into this practice of abiding – of learning to live a life deeply rooted in God’s love for us and God’s love for our world.

Christ call us to bear fruit, to bear fruit that will last – that harvest can only come through the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May we abide in him.