Thought for the Day - The True Vine

Vines and Olive Trees, Tarragona, Joan Miró, 1919

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 21st May 2025 based on the text of John 15.1-8.

Sermon – You don’t have to wait ‘till the Eventide to Abide!

The Vine and the Branches, P. Solomon Raj, 2009

Sermon preached during the Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook at 12.45pm on Thursday 6th May 2021 based on the text of John 15.1-8 and referencing Acts 8.26-end

Good News in 100 words
Jesus promised that those who believe will abide with him in eternal life. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus calls on us to abide in the present; illustrating discipleship as being like branches of the true vine; bearing the fruits of God’s grace. He says that fruitfulness comes from abiding – not ‘growth’. Abiding is hard to define and even harder to measure, but when it comes to the crunch, we know how important it is. Abiding is the measure of a loving relationship. The Good News is we don’t need to wait until the ‘eventide’ to abide. We can abide today!