Pastor David’s first grandchild was born on a Thursday. He preached this sermon three days later, and — by his own admission — there was no way it wasn’t going to end up in there somewhere. This week’s episode of What We Didn’t Say on Sunday closes out the Values series with John 15 — the vine and the branches — and the fourth value: growth over status quo. Pastor David Chauncey and Pastor Richie Baldwin talk through what it actually means to abide in Christ, and why “staying where you are” was never really on the table. A Peach on the table David brought a peach into the sanctuary Sunday. Left on the table a few weeks, he said, it doesn’t hold steady — it decays. That’s just how things work when they stop growing. A newborn is the same way, just faster and higher stakes: there’s no such thing as a baby standing still. Maintain isn’t an option. You’re either growing, or you’re going backward. He tied that straight to Jesus’s concern for his disciples in John 15 and 16 — faithfulness, fruitfulness, obedience, joy. Four things Jesus wanted for the people he was about to leave behind, the same way a new grandfather wants them for a baby three days old. Simon, Before he was peter Richie built his sermon around something easy to miss. Jesus’s first words to Simon weren’t “come, follow me” — that came later, maybe a year later, by the Sea of Galilee. The actual first words, back in John 1, were a name: “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” — Peter. The rock. And then you watch Peter spend the next three years trying to earn a name he was given before he’d done anything to deserve it. Work, work, work — and Jesus gently correcting him the whole way through, back toward something simpler. Abide. Pruning hurts John 15:1-2 (ESV)“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” Richie pointed out something worth sitting with: the vine image isn’t random. In the Old Testament, the vine was Israel’s national symbol. When Jesus says “I am the true vine,” he’s saying something pointed — I’m what Israel was supposed to be and couldn’t. The Father is the one doing the pruning, and pruning isn’t gentle. It cuts. Richie pulled in C.S. Lewis’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader — the boy who turns into a dragon, and how painful it is when Aslan finally tears the dragon-skin off him. Worth it. Still genuinely painful. That’s pruning. Not punishment — removal of what’s actually hurting you, and it doesn’t feel good while it’s happening. What “Bearing Fruit” Actually Means Richie defined it plainly: bearing fruit is becoming more like Jesus. Not doing more church stuff — character. He went to Galatians 5, where Paul lists it out against the law: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Whatever you’re doing — missions, VBS, winning souls, whatever — none of it means much without the sap actually running through the vine. Christ has to be working in you, or it’s just activity. The lactation consultant David leaned hard into the newborn picture, and it’s a good one even if it got a little PG-13 for a Sunday morning. He can hold his grandbaby. Change a diaper — he’s done ten thousand of those. Protect him, provide for him. What he can’t do is nurse him. There’s exactly one person that baby can draw life from, and he has to latch on to get it. Then he said the quiet part: “I’m sort of your lactation consultant here.” His job on a Sunday is just to help people latch onto God’s word and actually draw from Christ — not produce the life themselves. He can’t give people something he doesn’t have. Whatever shows up on a Sunday morning is just the overflow of however he’s been abiding Monday through Saturday. Is Abiding passive, or is it work? Is abiding something you do, or something that happens to you? The answer? Both, and that’s not a contradiction. Mary, sitting at Jesus’s feet while Martha works herself ragged in the kitchen, isn’t doing nothing. She’s actively listening. Receiving and pursuing aren’t opposites. David tied it to 2 Peter 1 — Peter saying God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and then turning around two verses later to say “for this reason, make every effort.” You’ve been given everything. Now go supplement it. Like a nursing baby who eventually needs more than just milk.Watch the Full EpisodeTake Your Next Step Closing the series: Four Values, ONe thread Richie pulled the whole series together at the end. Prayer over might — don’t just think about it, actually do it. Truth over trend — soak in the word, don’t just nod along. We over me — you can’t abide alone in your house; the church is part of it. Growth over status quo — the same abiding that saves you passively is the abiding you have to actively pursue for the rest of your life. All four values, same root. Jesus saves actively — his life, his death, his resurrection, nothing you contributed. What you do is abide in what he’s already done. What’s Next? The American experiment David gave a heads-up on the next series: Ecclesiastes, five weeks, timed to land around America’s 250th anniversary. He’s calling it “The American Experiment” — Solomon had every form of wealth, wisdom, and power available to a human being, ran the experiment, and reported back that none of it satisfies on its own. David’s read: that’s the same experiment a nation tries, generation after generation. Also in this episode Why Peter’s vision of the unclean animals in Acts 10 was its own kind of pruning — this time of his theology, not just his pride Micah 6:8 and the question “with what shall I come before the Lord” — the move from sacrifice to simply walking humbly Why 24 of the New Testament’s 27 books mention fruitfulness in the believer’s life Luke 22: Jesus telling Simon — not yet Peter — “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” What Does It Mean to Abide in Christ? In John 15:4, Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” To abide means to remain, to stay connected — not a one-time decision but an ongoing relationship sustained through the Spirit, through Scripture, and through the church. It’s less a task to complete and more a connection to maintain, the way a branch stays attached to a vine simply by not detaching. What Does the Vine and Branches Passage in John 15 Mean? Jesus identifies himself as “the true vine” (John 15:1), a title loaded with Old Testament meaning since the vine was a national symbol for Israel. Jesus is saying he accomplishes what Israel as a nation couldn’t. The Father is the vinedresser who prunes branches so they bear more fruit, and removes branches that bear none. The image teaches that spiritual fruitfulness isn’t self-generated — it flows from staying connected to Christ, the way a branch’s life comes from the vine, not from the branch itself. What Does It Mean to Bear Fruit Spiritually? Bearing spiritual fruit means becoming more like Jesus in character, not simply doing more religious activity. Galatians 5:22-23 lists it directly: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Paul contrasts this with law-keeping — fruit isn’t earned through rule-following, it’s produced naturally by abiding in Christ, the same way grapes grow naturally on a healthy, connected branch. Why Did Jesus Rename Simon to Peter? In John 1:42, Jesus tells Simon, “You will be called Cephas” (Aramaic for Peter, meaning “rock”) — before Simon had done anything to earn that identity. Many interpreters see this as Jesus speaking a future reality into being rather than describing a present one: Peter spends the gospels working to live up to a name given in advance. The pattern shifts in Luke 22:31-32, where Jesus tells Simon his faith won’t fail — not because of effort, but because Jesus himself prayed for him. Is Abiding in Christ Passive or Active? Both, and Scripture holds the tension rather than resolving it. Salvation itself is passive — a gift received, not earned (Ephesians 2:8-9). But abiding, once saved, requires active pursuit: reading Scripture, praying, gathering with other believers, and according to 2 Peter 1:5-7, deliberately supplementing faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, and the rest. The Mary and Martha story (Luke 10) is often used to illustrate this: Mary’s stillness at Jesus’s feet isn’t passivity — it’s active attention, just aimed at receiving rather than producing. Scripture referenced: John 15:1–17 • John 1:42 • Galatians 5:22–23 • Micah 6:8 • 2 Peter 1:3–7 • Luke 22:31–32 • Luke 10:38–42
