The Biology of the Body (The Danger of Disconnection)

  • Pastor Josh Smith

Ever feel like your spiritual life is running on empty? Jesus gave His closest followers one final command before He was crucified—and it wasn’t what you might expect. What if the secret to producing real, lasting fruit in your life has nothing to do with trying harder and everything to do with staying connected? Let’s explore what it means to truly remain.

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The Biology of the Body (The Danger of Disconnection)

Message Summary

Ever feel like your spiritual life is running on empty? Jesus gave His closest followers one final command before He was crucified—and it wasn’t what you might expect. What if the secret to producing real, lasting fruit in your life has nothing to do with trying harder and everything to do with staying connected? Let’s explore what it means to truly remain.

Key Scripture
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (John 15:1-8 NLT)
John 15:1-8
Additional Scriptures

5 Day Devotional

Day 1

Day 1: The Vine and the Branches

Scripture: John 15:1-4

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”

Devotional

Jesus uses the vivid imagery of a grapevine to reveal a profound truth: we are completely dependent on Him for life and fruitfulness. A branch has one job—to stay attached to the vine. It doesn’t manufacture its own nutrients, create its own life source, or produce fruit through sheer willpower. The branch simply remains connected, and the life of the vine flows through it naturally.

In our culture of self-sufficiency and independence, this is a humbling reality. We cannot produce the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control on our own. We might be able to fake it for a season, but eventually, our own strength runs out. The good news is that Jesus doesn’t ask us to manufacture fruit—He asks us to remain in Him, and He’ll do the rest.

Notice that even healthy branches get pruned. God isn’t just concerned with removing dead wood; He’s invested in making fruitful branches even more fruitful. The pruning process can be painful—it might mean cutting away good things to make room for better things, or allowing difficulties that strip away our self-reliance. But the gardener’s goal is always greater fruitfulness, not punishment.

Response Questions

  1. What does your daily rhythm of “remaining” in Christ look like? Are you merely checking a box with a quick devotional, or are you deeply connecting with the life source?
  2. In what areas of your life are you trying to produce fruit through your own strength rather than staying connected to Jesus? What would it look like to release control and simply remain?
  3. How do you typically respond when God prunes your life—when He removes good things or allows difficulties? Can you see any past pruning that resulted in greater fruitfulness?

Prayer Points

  • Ask God to reveal any areas where you’ve been disconnected from the vine, relying on your own strength rather than His life flowing through you.
  • Thank God for His patient work as the gardener, even when the pruning process is painful, and ask for trust to surrender to His shaping.

Day 2

Day 2: Apart From Him, Nothing

Scripture: John 15:5-8

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”

Devotional

“Apart from me you can do nothing.” These are some of the most sobering words Jesus ever spoke. We live in a world that celebrates self-made success, independence, and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. But Jesus cuts through all of that and says that without Him, our efforts amount to nothing of eternal value.

This doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish tasks or achieve goals apart from Christ. People who don’t know Jesus build businesses, create art, raise families, and make contributions to society. But Jesus is talking about fruit that lasts for eternity—the kind of transformation that only comes from His life flowing through us. We can’t manufacture love that lays down its life. We can’t produce joy that survives suffering. We can’t create peace that passes understanding. Those things only come from remaining in Him.

The promise attached to remaining is remarkable: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” This isn’t a blank check for selfish desires. When Christ’s words remain in us—when we’re so saturated with His heart, His character, His priorities—our prayers naturally align with His will. We begin to want what He wants, and our requests flow from His life in us.

Response Questions

  1. What pursuits in your life are you chasing apart from Christ? How might those efforts be leading to a dead end, no matter how successful they appear?
  2. Be honest: What are the subtle ways you try to prove you can “do something” without relying on Jesus? Where does self-sufficiency show up in your spiritual life?
  3. How would your prayer life change if God’s Word truly remained in you—if your desires were shaped by His heart rather than your own agenda?

Prayer Points

  • Confess any areas of self-reliance and ask God to help you recognize when you’re operating apart from Him rather than remaining in Him.
  • Pray for God’s Word to so deeply remain in you that your prayers naturally align with His will, and ask for the faith to pray boldly.

Day 3

Day 3: Remaining in His Love

Scripture: John 15:9-11

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

Devotional

Jesus reveals something stunning here: He loves us with the same love that the Father has for Him. Let that sink in. The eternal, perfect, delighting love between the Father and the Son—that’s how Jesus loves you. Not a lesser version, not a conditional approximation, but the same love.

And He invites us to remain in that love. But notice the connection: remaining in His love is tied to obedience. This isn’t earning His love through good behavior—we can’t make Him love us more or less. Rather, obedience is the natural response to experiencing His love, and it keeps us positioned to experience more of it. It’s like a child who obeys their parents and stays close to them gets to experience the warmth and security of that relationship, while a rebellious child who runs away misses out on the very love that’s always available.

Jesus models this perfectly. He remained in the Father’s love by obeying Him, even when it led to the cross. And the result? Joy. Not happiness dependent on circumstances, but deep, abiding, overflowing joy that comes from living in unbroken fellowship with the Father. Jesus wants us to experience this same joy—not a superficial giddiness, but a profound delight that survives even in suffering because it’s rooted in His love.

Response Questions

  1. Do you truly believe that Jesus loves you with the same love the Father has for Him? What would change in your life if you fully embraced this truth?
  2. Where is disobedience causing you to drift from experiencing His love? What commandment is God asking you to obey that you’ve been resisting?
  3. How would you describe your joy level right now? Is it connected to your circumstances, or is it rooted in remaining in Christ’s love?

Prayer Points

  • Ask God to help you grasp the magnitude of how deeply you are loved, and to let that love compel you toward joyful obedience rather than reluctant duty.
  • Pray for the overflow of Christ’s joy in your life, especially in circumstances where joy seems impossible apart from His presence.

Day 4

Day 4: Love One Another

Scripture: John 15:12-15

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.”

Devotional

After establishing the importance of remaining in Him, Jesus immediately pivots to how we treat one another. This isn’t a coincidence. The quality of our vertical relationship with Christ is revealed in the quality of our horizontal relationships with others. You cannot claimto remain in Christ while consistently failing to love those around you.

Jesus defines this love clearly: laying down your life for your friends. This isn’t just about heroic, one-time sacrifices. It’s about the daily death to self—choosing someone else’s needs over your convenience, serving when you’d rather be served, staying in difficult conversations when you’d rather run away, extending grace when you’d rather hold a grudge. It’s washing feet when you’re the one who should be honored.

Notice the shift Jesus makes: “I no longer call you slaves… Now you are my friends.” He doesn’t keep us at arm’s length as mere servants. He brings us into intimate friendship, confiding in us everything the Father has told Him. But friendship with Jesus isn’t passive—it requires active obedience to His command to love. We demonstrate our friendship with Christ by how we love the people He’s placed in our lives.

This requires proximity. You can’t love people from a distance. You can’t serve people you never see. You can’t lay down your life for people you’re not in relationship with. Remaining in Christ’s love compels us toward remaining in community with others, even when it’s messy, inconvenient, or uncomfortable.

Response Questions

  1. Who in your life is difficult to love right now? How is Jesus calling you to lay down your life (your preferences, your rights, your comfort) for that person?
  2. Are you choosing proximity with other believers, or are you keeping people at arm’s length? What fears or self-protection might be preventing you from deeper community?
  3. Jesus calls us friends, not slaves. How does viewing your relationship with Jesus as friendship rather than mere servanthood change how you approach obedience and love?

Prayer Points

  • Ask God to show you specific ways He’s calling you to lay down your life for others this week, and for the strength to actually do it.
  • Pray for courage to choose proximity—to move toward community rather than isolation, and to love others with the same sacrificial love Jesus has shown you.

Day 5

Day 5: Picked, Placed, and Producing

Scripture: John 15:16-17

“You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.”

Devotional

These final words from Jesus in this passage are packed with purpose and identity. First, He reminds us that we didn’t initiate this relationship—He did. “You didn’t choose me. I chose you.” Before you ever thought about seeking God, He was pursuing you. You are not an accident, an afterthought, or a plan B. You were specifically chosen by Jesus.

But He didn’t just choose you randomly. He appointed you—He placed you exactly where you are for a purpose. Your family, your neighborhood, your workplace, your church, your friend group—none of it is accidental. You’ve been strategically positioned to produce lasting fruit in those spaces. God has given you unique gifts, experiences, perspectives, and relationships that equip you to nourish the specific people He’s placed around you.

And what is this fruit supposed to accomplish? It brings glory to God and demonstrates that we are Jesus’ disciples. When people see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control flowing from your life—especially in difficult circumstances—they witness something supernatural. They see proof that Jesus is real and His life is flowing through you.

The passage ends where it began: “Love each other.” Everything comes back to this. Remaining in Christ produces fruit, and that fruit nourishes others through love. It’s a beautiful, eternal cycle that starts and ends with staying connected to Jesus.

Response Questions

  1. How does knowing you were specifically chosen and appointed by Jesus change how you view your current circumstances and relationships?
  2. Where has God placed you to produce lasting fruit? Who are the specific people in your life that need the nourishment only Jesus can produce through you?
  3. As you reflect on this entire passage, what is the one expression of “remaining” that God is calling you to commit to? What will you do differently starting today?

Prayer Points

  • Thank God for choosing you and placing you exactly where you are, and ask for eyes to see the divine appointments He’s given you to love and serve others.
  • Commit to remaining in Christ daily, asking God to produce fruit through you that brings Him glory and nourishes those around you—and pray for the obedience to love others as Jesus has loved you.

GrowGroup Guide

A weekly guide to carry the conversation beyond Sunday morning.

Opening Prayer & Icebreaker (10 minutes)

Icebreaker Question: When you think about a really healthy, thriving plant or tree, what comes to mind? What does it need to flourish?

This will naturally lead into the vine and branches imagery Jesus uses.

Discussion Questions

1. Understanding “Remaining”

Question: Pastor Josh mentioned that the word “remain” (or “abide”) appears repeatedly throughout John 15. What do you think it practically means to “remain in Christ” in your daily life?

Context from Sermon: The Greek word “meno” means to remain or dwell, and it’s closely related to “moni” which means dwelling place. Jesus is preparing a dwelling place for us eternally because He wants us to remain with Him now. Pastor Josh shared that his wife Summer will ask him, “Have you been doing devotions?” because she can tell when he’s not remaining in Christ—he becomes “chippier, less patient, less kind.” Remaining isn’t just a spiritual concept; it has real, observable effects on how we live and interact with others.

Follow-up: How can you tell in your own life when you’re not remaining well in Christ?

2. The Expectation of Fruitfulness

Question: Jesus makes it clear that He expects us to produce fruit. What is the purpose of fruit, and why does fruitfulness matter so much to Jesus?

Context from Sermon: Pastor Josh explained that anything in this world that produces fruit is meant to be consumed—or more meaningfully, to bring nourishment. “The presence of Jesus within us as we remain in Christ, he is good on his word. He’s going to produce something in you that is meant to nourish others.” The fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control) becomes nourishment for those around us. Apart from Christ, there’s no nourishment we can bring to others. Fruitfulness also brings glory to the Father and gives evidence that we are Jesus’ true disciples.

Follow-up: Who in your life needs the nourishment that God wants to produce through you?

3. The Sobering Warning

Question: Jesus says that branches that don’t produce fruit don’t get pruned—they get cut off and thrown into the fire. How does this warning challenge or impact you?

Context from Sermon: Pastor Josh acknowledged this is a startling statement: “If we are the branches and we’re not producing fruit, we don’t get pruned, we get removed.” He explained that fruitless people are suitable for fire. The health of our graft (connection to Christ) determines our fruitfulness. This isn’t meant to create fear, but to wake us up to the seriousness of remaining connected to Jesus. We need to do some heart searching and invite God to show us the extent that we are attached to Him.

Follow-up: What might be preventing fruitfulness in your life right now?

4. Prayer and the Word

Question: John 15:7 says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted.” What’s the connection between God’s Word remaining in us and our prayers being answered?

Context from Sermon: Pastor Josh explained that we can’t just read and memorize Scripture thinking that unlocks unlimited prayer requests. “The anything that we would be asking is only an overflow of the eternal Word that’s in our heart. And so it matches God’s character. It is consistent with what he loves, what he values.” When God’s Word remains in us, it shapes what we want to pray for—our desires align with His desires. This also explains why some prayers seem unanswered; we might know a lot about the Bible but not have a relationship with Jesus, or we’re not letting the Word truly remain in us.

Follow-up: How can we move from just knowing Scripture to letting it remain in us?

5. The Command to Love One Another

Question: After talking about remaining in Him, Jesus shifts to commanding us to love one another. Why do you think these two things are connected?

Context from Sermon: Pastor Josh emphasized: “The best expression and the best way to assess how well you are remaining in Christ can be seen in the way that we love one another.” Jesus models this by saying He didn’t come to be served but to serve, demonstrated by washing His disciples’ feet. The command is simple: “Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” This means serving one another and speaking truth in love. “If you have a shoddy relationship with Christ, you’re not going to love others very well. If you have a very haphazard pursuit of Jesus, your care of others is also going to be haphazard because you are depending upon your own strength and your own capacity.”

Follow-up: How have you seen your relationship with Christ directly impact your ability to love others?

6. The Necessity of Proximity

Question: Pastor Sommer closed by emphasizing that loving one another requires proximity. How does being in a small group help us obey Jesus’ command to love one another?

Context from Sermon: Pastor Sommer said, “We can sit here today and hear this command out of Jesus mouth for us, of, I command you to love one another, remain, and love one another, remain in love. But to love one another requires proximity… You could walk out a door, you can come in on a Sunday morning and get out of here, come and go, and not even, like, get to have any form of depth with anybody, because you get to choose proximity.” Being in a group isn’t just about receiving—it’s about obeying Jesus’ command to love. In groups, we get to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to see what He sees, hear what He hears, and speak life to one another.

Follow-up: What keeps people from choosing proximity with other believers?

7. Picked, Placed, and Producing

Question: Pastor Josh said we’ve been “picked and placed by Christ to produce.” Where has God placed you, and who might He be calling you to nourish?

Context from Sermon: “You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit.” Pastor Josh shared three P’s: Picked, Placed, Produced. “You’ve been picked by Him. And wherever he has placed you among others, your whole purpose is to remain in him. Let His Word remain in you, remain in his love. And what he produces in you is meant to nourish those around you.” This could be in your home, workplace, neighborhood, or within the church community.

Follow-up: How does knowing you’ve been specifically placed change how you view your current circumstances?

8. Personal Reflection & Application

Question: What is one specific way you can deepen your “remaining” in Christ this week? What is one specific way you can love someone in this group or in your life this week?

Context from Sermon: This connects to the GrowCard question: “What expression of remaining is He calling you to?” Whether it’s immersing yourself in the Word, being more consistent in prayer, or choosing to stay in hard conversations and remain in community rather than running away. Pastor Josh emphasized that remaining produces fruit that nourishes others, even through our messes.

Closing Prayer (5 minutes)

Invite group members to share prayer requests, particularly around:

  • Areas where they’re struggling to remain in Christ
  • Relationships where they need God’s help to love well
  • Desires to see fruit produced in their lives

Close by praying that each person would remain deeply connected to Jesus and that God would produce fruit in them that nourishes others and brings Him glory.

Family Table Talk

A weekly practice you can do beyond Sunday morning.

📖 Scripture

John 15:5

❓Family Question

Why do we need other believers to grow strong?

💬 Parent Prompt:

Share a time you needed help from others to grow or heal. Ask: “Why didn’t God design us to grow alone?”

Weekly Practice

A weekly practice you can do beyond Sunday morning.

Practice: Show Up Three Times

What We Instruct Them to Do: Commit to two in‑person moments of church connection this week.

How-To:

  • Attend Sunday service
  • Engage in one additional gathering (group, serving, prayer, youth, class)
  • Have one face‑to‑face spiritual conversation
  • No streaming-only faith this week

Why This Matters: Spiritual life is sustained through presence, not preference.