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I am the vine, I am the vine, I am the vine, I am the vine, You are the branches You are the branches You are the branches You are the branches Worship and Resource Book

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Page 1: I am the Vine You are the Branches - WordPress.com

I am the vine,I am the vine,I am the vine,I am the vine,

You are the branchesYou are the branchesYou are the branchesYou are the branches

Worship and Resource Book

Page 2: I am the Vine You are the Branches - WordPress.com

John 15:1-17 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 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.

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. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

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Retreat Schedule

Friday Saturday Sunday 6:30 am Morning Prayer

7:15 Breakfast Breakfast 9:20 Hymn Sing Pack/Clean/Check

out 9:30 Session 2: Tending our vineyards 9:50 Gathering Music

10:00 Worship at Ridgecrest

12:00 Lunch Lunch at Assembly Inn in Montreat 1:15 Carpool to wineries

4:00 Yoga 5:30 Dinner at Ridgecrest 6:30 Choir practice 6:50 Hymn Sing 7:00 Session 1: Planted in

a lovely meadow Session 3: The peaceful fruit of righteousness

8:30 Evening Prayer Evening Prayer

9:00 Free time Free time

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Retreat Activities Friday, April 17

7:00 – 8:30: Welcome Session 1: Planted in a lovely meadow Hear more about the weekend’s activities and get to know each other. The Friday evening session uses the Parable of the Sower to help us begin thinking about our roots in Christian faith. Workshop activities focus on sharing our faith stories to help retreat attendees get to know one another and build relationships.

8:30 – 9:00: Evening Prayer This optional prayer service engages our minds in prayer, praise and song as we celebrate our roots in the faith.

Saturday, April 18

6:30 – 7:00: Morning Prayer This optional service of morning prayer engages our souls in the contemplative practices of lectio divina and centering prayer.

7:15 – 8:15: Breakfast Ridgecrest Dining Hall

9:20 – 9:30: Hymn Sing Our morning session begins with congregational song led by Julia Cobley.

9:30 – 12:00: Session 2: Tending our vineyards The morning session will focus on self-care: both physical and spiritual. Linda Hale will lead a session on maintaining good health through all life stages. She will focus on exercise and diet. Susan Mazzara will lead a session on discovering your spiritual type and practices that best nourish the spirit for your type.

12:00 – 5:30: Lunch and Free Time Lunch at the retreat center and free time for exploring nearby towns. Those who want to remain near the retreat center can participate in a hike and guided spiritual practices.

If you signed up for one of the optional wine tastings at South Creek Vineyard ($10) or Silver Fork Vineyard ($7), gather in the Mountain Laurel lobby at 1:15 to organize carpools to the wineries.

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5:30 – 6:30: Dinner Ridgecrest Dining Hall

6:30 – 6:50: Choir Practice Women who want to sing in the choir for Sunday morning worship gather in Johnson Spring 3 for choir practice.

6:50 – 7:00: Hymn Sing Our evening session begins with congregational song led by Julia Cobley.

7:00 – 8:30: Session 3: The peaceful fruit of righteousness The evening workshop explores images of weeding, pruning and fruit-bearing as metaphors for living out our faith.

8:30 – 9:00: Evening Prayer This optional prayer service celebrates the fruit-bearing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Sunday, April 19

7:15– 8:15: Breakfast Ridgecrest Dining Hall

9:00 – 10:00: Pack/Clean/Check out Pack your bags, clean your rooms, and prepare to leave the retreat center before morning worship.

10:00 – 11:00: Service for the Lord’s Day Our Service for the Lord’s Day engages our bodies in enacted prayer as we celebrate communion and a service for wholeness before being sent out to bear good fruit in the world.

12:00: Lunch Sunday buffet lunch in the Assembly Inn at Montreat Conference Center.

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Rooted in faith

Friday Evening Workshop Spend 5 minutes answering these survey questions about your faith journey. For each question, circle the letter that most closely matches your own faith experience. We will use these questions to share a little bit of our faith journeys and get to know each other.

1. My faith story is most like: A. Timothy: I learned about the faith from my parents and grandparents. B. Lydia: I learned about the faith from a beloved teacher or preacher. C. Mary Magdalene: My faith journey started after a time of physical,

spiritual, or emotional struggle. D. Zacchaeus: I spent some time looking on in curiosity before joining a

faith community. E. The Canaanite Woman: I grew up in one faith and later embraced

Christianity.

2. At this moment, I would describe my faith as: A. A mustard seed: it may be small right now, but I trust God will help it

grow. B. A field of flowers: I put my trust in God and do not worry about

anything. C. A grafted branch: I’m just starting to feel at home in the life of faith. D. A tree planted by water: its roots are deep and strong and support me in

stormy weather. E. A fig tree: it is starting to bear fruit after years of study, prayer, and

service.

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3. In the parable of the sower, I most identify with: A. Seeds that fell on the path: This faith stuff is hard to understand!

Sometimes I don’t get it! B. Seeds that fell on rocky ground: I want to have faith, but there is so much

injustice in the world! C. Seeds that fell among thorns: I wish I had more time for prayer and Bible

study! D. Seeds that fell on good soil: I know what God asks of me and gladly give

it! E. The sower: I love to share my faith with others by teaching or serving or

example!

4. If faith were a body of water, it would be: A. An ocean: deep and mysterious. B. A river: ready to take me on a journey. C. A well: there for me to tap into whenever I need it. D. A wadi (desert stream): sometimes dry and barren, but other times

bursting with life. E. A spring: bubbling up when I least expect it with surprising insights.

5. If my faith life were a garden, the thing it would most need right now is: A. Water: I guess I’m just going through a dry spell right now. B. Weeding: I need to uproot the bad habits and distractions that rob me of

spiritual nurture. C. Pruning: I really need to cut back on some of my activities and focus on

the basics. D. Garden stakes: Life seems so heavy right now: I need some support! E. To lie fallow: I just might be burning out and needing to slow down a bit.

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Building Our

Vineyard Throughout the weekend, we will construct a vineyard mural that represents seasons of faith in God’s vineyard:

• Friday evening we will add roots and vines to the vineyard to celebrate the people, places, experiences, or stories that have helped us grow in faith.

• Saturday morning we will add leaves to celebrate our commitment to caring for ourselves both physically and spiritually.

• Saturday evening we will add grape clusters to celebrate the fruits of faithful life.

Roots and vines The brown construction paper represents the root and vine systems of the vineyard. Choose a piece of vine and write on it your reflections about the people, places, experiences, or stories that have been foundational to your faith: anything that represents the roots of your faith.

• You might write a prayer of thanksgiving for a person who helped you grow in faith.

• You might simply name the people, places, experiences, or stories that were influential in your faith.

• You might write a favorite Bible verse.

During our evening prayer service we will have a litany of thanksgiving for the people, places, experiences, or stories that have been foundational for our faith. During this litany you can bring your roots and vines to the table as an offering of thanksgiving. Several women have volunteered to help put them on the mural. Since the various parts of the roots and vines need to go in a specific place, we’re going to add the first part of the mural decently and in order! Afterwards, when we are adding leaves and grape clusters, we can be more free-form and spontaneous.

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Rooted in love

Service of evening prayer

Friday, April 17

Lighting the Christ Candle

Opening Sentences One: The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the

man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. . . . The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. Genesis 2:8-15

All: We celebrate our roots in the story of creation, the story of a tender and loving God who created us and provides for us.

One: [God] brought a vine out of Egypt . . . and planted it. [God] cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the river. Psalm 80:8-11

All: We celebrate our roots in the story of the Hebrews, who, when they were enslaved in Egypt, cried out to God and were liberated with a mighty hand.

One: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Isaiah 11:1

All: We celebrate our roots in the loving-kindness of Ruth, the great-grandmother of David, the man after God’s own heart.

One: A pleasant vineyard, sing about it! I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. I guard it night and day so that no one can harm it. . . . In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit. Isaiah 27:2-6

All: We celebrate our roots in the stories of Israel, God’s chosen people, who, like ourselves, sometimes did what was wrong in God’s sight, but whom God loved still and whom God restored from exile.

One: 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 15:5

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All: We celebrate our roots in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

One: If the root is holy, then the branches also are holy. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. Romans 11:16-18

All: We celebrate our roots in the early church, which heard the message of grace through Jesus Christ and responded in faith.

Whether we come from a vine that is old and deeply rooted in Christian tradition, or have been lately grafted into God’s vineyard, we come in joy and thanksgiving for the grace that is ours through faith in Christ Jesus.

Hymn 489 (page 44) See the Vineyard Thou Hast Planted (Thomas Kelly)

Evening Prayer One: Lord God, you so tend the vine you planted that now it extends its

branches throughout the world. All: Keep us in Christ as branches on the vine, that, grafted firmly in

your love, we may show the whole world your great power and bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture Reading Ephesians 3:16-19

Meditation “Rooted in Love”

Litany of Thanksgiving The litany includes moments of silence in which you are invited to name the people, places, experiences, or stories that have helped to shape your faith.

One: Gracious and loving God, like a gardener who carefully lays out a plot of land, chooses good seed, prepares the soil, and tenderly waters and nurtures the young seedlings, so have you planted us in the midst of the community of Christ.

All: We give you thanks for the loving ways you have nurtured our faith: One: For sending your Word into the world, sowing it far and wide as a sower

scatters seed . . . All: We give you thanks and praise.

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One: For the gift of the Holy Spirit, through which we have the church, the seedbed of our faith . . .

All: We give you thanks and praise. One: For parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers and

cousins who led us by example to be your disciples . . . You are invited to name family members who have shaped your faith.

All: We give you thanks and praise. One: For teachers and preachers, who proclaim your Word . . .

You are invited to name teachers and preachers who have shaped your faith. All: We give you thanks and praise. One: For the Bible stories that have taught us and challenged us and puzzled us

and inspired us . . . You are invited to name stories that have shaped your faith.

All: We give you thanks and praise. One: For places that are holy to us: churches, places of retreat, places of

renewal, places of rest . . . You are invited to name places that have shaped your faith.

All: We give you thanks and praise. One: For times of growth: through joy, through sadness, through rejoicing,

through grief, through challenge, through overcoming, through victories, through failures . . . You are invited to name experiences that have shaped your faith.

All: We give you thanks and praise. We offer these symbols of the people, places, stories, and experiences that are the seeds and roots of our faith with our prayers that we continue to grow and bear the fruit of your Spirit. Amen.

Hymn 560 (page 48) “We Plow the Fields and Scatter”

During the hymn, you are invited to bring your roots and vines forward as the Spirit leads you and place them on the table with the Christ candle. They will be added to the mural after the prayer service.

Benediction Ephesians 3:20-21

Hymn 1 (page 35) One in Love