Last Sunday my sermon on John 15:1-8 tried to capture what a
vine branch might think and feel about producing big bunches of grapes.
This next Sunday on John 15:9-17 tells us that we are not just into
individual personal abiding in the Vine, but we are to be related to the
Son of God and to others as friends. And part of friendship is being in
on "everything I have heard from my Father" (1515). We are in a
very intimate group of friends who influence one another and prayer influences
the direction in which the Lord takes us. It seems to me that in that sense
we are involved in influencing and judging the world.