Branches & Vines
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, ESV)
Mini Devotional
A mini message to take with you this week to help you in your devotion to God.
Branches & Vines Devotional by: Kurt Montooth
This week, I struggled to find the right article for the vine. While walking around the garden and brainstorming various topics, I observed my watermelon and cucumber vines. An article about vines in the vine? A bit cliché, I must admit, but nevertheless, several vine-related thoughts grew in my mind.
My biggest cucumber-related problem currently is the fact that the vines are everywhere. I built a cattle panel trellis for the vines to climb, but vines need to be trained to grow up the fence. I have done some training, but the vines have grown much larger than I anticipated and have a mind of their own.This has left my cucumber plants somewhat disorderly, tangled, and hard to work with.
I would encourage you to stop and read John 15 by clicking here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15&version=ESV. As I reflected on vines and John 15, where Jesus said that He is the vine, we are the branches, and that God is the vinedresser I had three observations:
The first is that Spiritual growth and life can be unpredictable and disorderly from our perspective. Spiritual growth is rarely neat, orderly, linear, and easy. Spiritual growth often looks like my cucumber bed. Transformation into the image of Christ is often a messy and painful process. Transformation should take us places we never thought we would grow; it should be difficult and uncomfortable. Growth almost always has growing pains. It is not tame; we grow as branches and bear fruit where the vine takes us, and that is often unpredictable.
Additionally, we are pruned by the Master Vinedresser. Pruning and lifting up are mentioned in John 15; both can be painful processes of God directing our growth and cutting out the harmful parts of our life that are not in His image. This will not have the effect of making our lives orderly or easy, likely the opposite, but it will cause us to grow and produce fruit. I am not pruning and training my vines because I want them to be neat, the purpose of these activities is fruit. I wholeheartedly believe John 10:10 where Jesus came so that we may have life and have it abundantly, but I reject a prosperity Gospel. We are transforming into the image of Christ and this is an amazing life, see Philipians 2, but it is often painful. Paul wrote Philippians 2 from prison. There is balance: God is pruning our life to be in his image, this is an amazing life, but it is also a fruit bearing life. The pruning is about fruit production.
Finally, on Monday, while rearranging the vines to grow better on the trellis, I broke off a branch. This branch will die and not produce fruit. I placed it in the compost bin and mourned the loss of the pickles I would have made from it. In my attempt to untangle it from another vine and put it on the trellis, I broke it. This was a personal tragedy, but it reminded me of Jesus's words in John 15, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." That vine will not grow because it is not connected. What are we doing to keep ourselves connected to God? This must be a priority for us.
Today, I would encourage you to learn three lessons: Spiritual growth is messy and unpredictable outside of the branch's control; we will all be pruned and lifted up. Two, this can be painful, but it is to help us produce fruit. Three, we must stay connected to Christ to produce fruit. Don't break yourself off!
Missions
These are the challenges that the congregation is actively working on this month.
Our Missions For June
Equip — Commit to being present every night for VBS, and making genuine connections with people.
Kids’ Challenge — Come to Vacation Bible School each night, and make sure to say “hi” to the people you’ve met. Make them feel welcome!
Teach — Take one of the lessons from VBS, study it on your own at home, and share what you discover about Jesus with someone else.
Kids’ Challenge — Share with your regular Bible class something you learned at Vacation Bible School!
Serve — Sign up for the VBS follow-up team to help make our guests feel welcome and valued.
Kids’ Challenge — Make a card saying “Thank you for coming to VBS!”, and have your parents ask Elijah for the address of one of our guests.
*Be on the lookout for weekly training videos on our Facebook and YouTube pages, published each Sunday, to help you complete the challenges.
*As you complete each challenge, drop one of the pom-pom balls into the corresponding jar at the Mission Control Center in the lobby so we can see how many people are completing each challenge. One completion per person, per challenge, per month.
News
This section is for any special announcements that are not upcoming events or prayer requests.
Potter Children's Home Tuesday's Treasures Resale Shop - Pickup on Thursday, July 27th
Some of you have asked when the truck from Potter Children's Home Tuesday's Treasures Resale Shop will be back, so we've made arrangements for a pickup on Thursday, July 27th. Please have your donation items in the fellowship hall by July 25th. Donations can include household items, clothing, shoes, furniture, toys, etc. All in good shape, please. Clothing may need to be laundered, please NO musty-smelling items. If it is broken, throw it away. Thanks so much for your kind contributions.
Baby Bottle Donations
Holly Hill Family,
Baby bottle collections have not gone very well. I have been gone a lot and not promoted it well, we have had other things going on that are very important such as collecting money and items for Cuba and obviously preparing for VBS. Please return filled baby bottles, get additional if you can and let’s fill up all the bottles. Thank you for your help.
Robert
Regarding Church Announcements
Just a friendly reminder to everyone regarding church announcements: If you wish to make an announcement or have a prayer request, please contact Matthew Woodyard via email (office@hollyhillcoc.org). Announcements will be included in our daily email (5pm), our weekly Vine (Thursdays at 10am), and posted to Holly Hill’s Facebook page. If you wish something to be shared, please submit your announcement by 4pm. Emergency prayer requests can be submitted at any time and will be shared as soon as possible. If you’re not receiving our daily emails, weekly Vine Newsletter, or text messages, or if you have any questions about this process, don't hesitate to contact Matthew.
Church Records (June 18th, 2023)
Bible Class (Sun AM) - 68
Worship (Sun AM) - 146
Contribution (Sun AM) — n/a
Prayers
Here are some individuals that especially need our prayers this week. Please keep them in mind every time you pray.
New Prayer Requests:
Steve White
Janis Friend
Larry & Renita Clarke
Ongoing Prayers For: Brenda Perkins, The family of Edith Martin, Robin Iberschoff, Jerry Mayes (Mike Mayes’ brother), Pam Smith (foster parent of Robin Mayes niece, Lexi), Family of Steve England & Inez Ramsey, Family of Graham Heustis, Family of Renaee Diffee (Robin Iberschoff), Mike & Patricia Robertson (Melissa Trent’s parents), The Horn Family, Butch Elliott (friend of Robin Mayes), Montooth Family, Rhoda Jones, Betty Blanton, Bill & Mary Jo Marion (friends of Robin Mayes), Helen Hall, Penny Harland (Katie Bell’s mother), The Parnell Family, Alyssa Deaton, Robert Lewis (Sharon Lewis’ son), Pete & Jessie Tropoulos, Codie Rich (Michael & Kimberly Mundt’s son-in-law), Emma Collins, Rusty Bell (friend of Robin Mayes), Tanya Phipps (Brenda Stone’s niece), Gail Keith (Michele Blanton’s mother), Nikki Fenney (Johnny and Julie Widener’s niece), Bertha Young’s Family, Dorothy Trent, Polly Deaton, Jane Dempsey, Rita Tackett (Alyson Woodyard’s aunt), Sandra Haden (Tiffany Quarles’ mother), The Valentine Family, David Fair (prayers for his marriage and family situation), Steve Small, Phil and Suzanne Wilkins, Jim Clark (Continued Prayers), Prayers for Mission Control Challenges, Glenda Mitchum, Lisa & Pete Vogel (family of Brenda Stone).
* Please submit your prayer requests for inclusion at office@hollyhillcoc.org
Upcoming Events
Here are some events that are coming up that you need to make space on your calendar for.
Small Groups — Sunday Night, June 25th at 6pm
In order to build relationships with our church family, instead of meeting at the church building, we will meet in each other's homes for a short devotional, guided discussion, prayer, and fellowship. More information on locations will be coming soon.
R.E.A.L. Ladies Meeting — Monday Night, June 26th at 6pm
The R.E.A.L. Ladies group will meet Monday, June 26 at 6 P.M. at the home of Joyce Best. The meal will be furnished. There is a sign-up sheet in the foyer to help determine how much food to fix.
Men’s Bible Study Breakfast — Saturday Morning, July 1st at 8am
Join us on the first Saturday morning of each month, for the Men’s Bible Study Breakfast. We will meet downstairs in the Fellowship Hall and be studying from the book of James. See you there!
Elders/Ministers/Deacons Meeting — Sunday Afternoon, July 2nd at 4pm
Elders/Ministers/Deacons will meet on the 1st Sunday of each month, from 4-6pm.
Mission Control — Sunday Night, July 2nd at 6pm
Everyone meets in small groups in the fellowship hall. Material is provided for group discussion of each question. Responses on how to better meet the month's challenges are shared with all groups. Attendance at the previous mission control meetings is not required.
Potter Children's Home Tuesday's Treasures Resale Shop - Pickup on Thursday, July 27th
Some of you have asked when the truck from Potter Children's Home Tuesday's Treasures Resale Shop will be back, so we've made arrangements for a pickup on Thursday, July 27th. Please have your donation items in the fellowship hall by July 25th. Donations can include household items, clothing, shoes, furniture, toys, etc. All in good shape, please. Clothing may need to be laundered, please NO musty-smelling items. If it is broken, throw it away. Thanks so much for your kind contributions.
How You Can Serve
There are a lot of ways you can get involved and do the work of God in our community!
For more information or for help signing up for any of these ministries, please call the church office at: (502) 227-7796.
Limited-Time Opportunities:
Operation Re-stock the Food Pantry
The Food Pantry needs to be re-stocked. During the upcoming months we will be asking for specific food donations. There will be a box in the foyer for you to place your food donations. Thank you so much and let’s make Operation re-stock a success!! For the month of June, we need:
Chicken Noodle Soup
Tomato Soup
June Mission Control Challenges
We have 3 new challenges for the month of June that we need your help on. Please see the section above entitled “Missions” for more information.Cuba Missionary Needs
Please check-out the list on the bulletin board for items to bring for Cuba. Sign-up and bring your items. Money is also appreciated. Thank you for all that you do for the kingdom.
Long-Term Opportunities:
Mission Launch Team
We are needing individuals to sign up for the Mission Launch Team. People on this team commit to working on the Mission Control challenges each month, and they also commit to encouraging at least one other person to work on the missions as well. We need you to sign up for this ministry so we can grow the Mission Control program organically from person to person. Sign up for the Mission Launch Team at the Mission Control Center in the lobby.
Tech Team Support — The Holly Hill Tech Team needs help. We would love to have a few more people trained and available to set up the livestreams and audio equipment. It’s a fairly simple task and you’ll be well trained before being thrown into the seat alone. If you’re interested, see Nick, David, or Brad.
Greeter Ministry — We’re looking for people who are friendly and outgoing to welcome our guests and members each Sunday morning. If you are interested, contact Tom Owens.
Card Ministry — Every Sunday there are cards spread out on a table in the lobby that will be sent out to various church members and guests who need encouragement. You can help serve and encourage by making sure to sign these cards each week.
Casey Blessing Box — The Casey’s are collecting items to give away to those in need in their Blessing Box. Currently, they are accepting donations of: Can goods of fruit and vegetables. Crackers, or cereal.
Shriners Children’s Hospital — Donna White is collecting soda can tabs to donate to the children’s hospital. Please leave your donations in the lobby.
Children’s Bible Class Teachers/Helpers — Our next quarter begins in September, so we will be needing to staff our Children’s Bible Classes. If you’d be willing to teach, sub, or help, please see Matthew Woodyard. We have a wonderful opportunity to teach God’s Word to our children. Let’s make sure they get our very best! Thank you!
Holly Hill’s Children’s Bible Class Ministry Needs Your Help With Materials
We are requesting your help with our new Spiritual Heritage Bible Class curriculum for K-6.
The teachers are tasked to create a God-made wall. This wall is a focal point in the classroom and will provide an opportunity to speak of the magnificence and wisdom of God. To ensure successful implementation of the program in our K-6 classes, the Bible class teachers need photos of any kind showing the greatness of God. These photos could be any type including nature, scenery, seasons, animals, people, etc. Use your imagination!
Also included in the curriculum are specific lessons directed at certain topics. We need photos of these items also.
God Planned Animal Houses
God Made Desert Animals That Can Survive On Little Water
God Made Camels, Snakes, Great Eyes, Protective Coverings, Beautiful Animals, Mosquitoes, Giraffes, Animal Hands (Claws, Wings, Paws), Big Cats
God Made Animal Hides, Perfect Animals (even though they look silly to us), Porpoises, Animal Ears, Micro-Organisms, Animal Cooperation
Great sources for these needed photos are magazines, outdated calendars, and old books. Size of the photo does not matter. Our first Sunday class with the new curriculum will be March 5th. We will be accepting and using these photos throughout the next 26 weeks. Please turn them in as you find them.
All we ask is that you cut out the photos and place them in the box located in the foyer labeled, Spiritual Heritage. Let's support these dedicated teachers and help ensure our Holly Hill kids know that our God is very great!
Holly Hill Church of Christ
1020 Holly Hill Drive
Frankfort, KY 40601
Web: www.hollyhillcoc.org
Phone: (502) 227-7796
Email: office@hollyhillcoc.org
Service Times:
Sunday Bible Class: 10am
Sunday Morning Worship, 11am
Sunday Evening Worship, 6pm
Wednesday Evening Bible class: 6:30pm