John 15 (NLT)

Jesus, the True Vine

¹ “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² 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. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ 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.

⁵ “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. ⁶ 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. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! ¹² This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. ¹³ There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

The World’s Hatred

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. ²⁰ Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. ²¹ They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. ²² They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. ²⁵ This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’

²⁶ “But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. ²⁷ And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.

1. Realize I’m not God. I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and that my life is unmanageable. (Step 1)

• “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:3 NIV

2. Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him and that He has the power to help me recover. (Step 2)

• “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” -Matthew 5:4 NIV

3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (Step 3)

• “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” -Matthew 5:5 NIV

4. Openly examine and confess my hurts, hang-ups and habits to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. (Steps 4 and 5)

• “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” -Matthew 5:8 NIV

5. Voluntarily submit to any and all changes God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (Steps 6 and 7)

• “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” -Matthew 5:6 NIV

6. Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others. (Steps 8 and 9)

• “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” -Matthew 5:7 NIV
• “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” -Matthew 5:9 NIV

7. Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. (Steps 10 and 11)

8. Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and my words. (Step 12)

• “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:10 NIV

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.

• “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Romans 7:18 NIV

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

• “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13 NIV

3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

• “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1 NIV

4. We made a searching and fearless honest inventory of ourselves.

• “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” Lamentations 3:40 NIV

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our hurts, hang-ups and habits.

• “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16 NIV

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

• “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10 NIV

7. We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.

• “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

• “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31 NIV

9. We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

• “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24 NIV

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

• “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!” 1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out.

• “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly.” Colossians 3:16 NIV

12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.

• “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1 NIV

God,
grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings, using “I” and “Me” statements. Limit your sharing to three to five minutes.

Using “I” and “Me” statements keeps us focused on our own thoughts, feelings, and actions, allowing us to take responsibility for our own recovery. Please adhere to the three-to-five-minute rule, so that everyone has an opportunity to share; and to ensure that one person does not dominate the group sharing time.

2. There is NO cross talk. Cross talk is when two individuals engage in conversation excluding all others. Each person is free to express his or her feelings without interruptions.

Cross talk is also making comments or asking questions while someone is sharing, speaking to another member of the group while someone is sharing or responding to what someone has shared during his or her time of sharing. This guideline is about respect. When other participants are sharing, we don't want to interrupt their thoughts and feelings, which may be very deep, painful, scary, sad, etc. It’s their time about them, not us. Basically, anything that would give the speaker the impression that we don’t care about what they have to share, could be considered cross talk.

3. We are here to support one another, not “fix” another.

We do not give unsolicited advice or attempt to solve someone else’s problems. This includes sharing scriptures for the purpose of preaching or teaching during our time of sharing. We also do not offer book

recommendations or counselor referrals. This helps us stay focused on our own issues.

4. Anonymity and confidentiality are basic requirements. What is shared in the group stays in the group. The only exception is when people threaten to injure themselves or others.

It can be very hurtful to discover that someone’s sharing is being discussed outside of the group time. Most of the people in recovery have never been able to “tell the secret.” They need to be assured that this is a safe place to share. When communicating with group members, be careful to protect anonymity and confidentiality. Please be advised, if anyone threatens to hurt themselves or others, the group Leader has the responsibility to report it to the Celebrate Recovery Ministry Leader.

5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group.

The main issue here is that the Lord’s name is not used inappropriately. We also avoid graphic descriptions. If anyone feels uncomfortable with how explicitly a speaker is sharing regarding his/her behaviors, then you may indicate so by simply raising your hand. The speaker will then respect your boundaries by being less specific in his/her descriptions.

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