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Hello and welcome to season eight of the Abiding Together podcast. Abiding Together is a place where you can find connection, rest and encouragement on your journey with Jesus Christ.

My name is Sister Miriam James Highland and each and every week I am joined by two of my very dearest friends Heather Kim and Michelle Benzinger.

This podcast is born out of our friendship and sharing all kinds of things together. Our walk with Jesus, our insights, the lessons we are still learning, our joys, sorrows, tears and laughter and you are most welcome on the journey with us.

You can find out more information about all of our episodes at abidingtogetherpodcast.com

But for now, grab a cup of coffee, settle in and welcome home.

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Abiding Together podcast and we are continuing our journey into the revelation of who Jesus is through the scripture and I think you're going to love this one.

We often talk about the vine and the branches and abiding because we're abiding together. But I think you're going to love just the nuance and be able to take that and apply it to your own life of of the vine and the branches and how we abide and how we are like the grapes that are crushed

and just all the beautiful things. So before we talk about the crushing, I won't sing it Heather, you want me to sing it but you're the musician girl, you should sing it. You want to sing it for us all?

No, but thanks for putting me on the spot.

Everybody we're just referring to this song by Bethel called New Wine. So we want you to go listen to it.

Oh, Hillsong. Sorry, sorry, my bad, my bad.

Yeah, Hillsong, New Wine, that's going to be the theme song of this episode so you can go check it out. Yeah, sponsor by just going to sponsor you.

So we're going to take our scripture passage our guiding. So we talked about Jesus is the good shepherd. And so now we're going to talk about him being the vine and we the branches.

So we're going to talk about the gospel of John chapter 15 verse 5 where Jesus says, I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

And so if you're a part from me, you can do nothing. And I just want to offer also a scripture pass or a reflection from Saint John Paul II.

And he says this, he says to be living branches in the vineyard of the church means that above all to be in living communion with Christ the vine.

The branches are not self sufficient. They are totally dependent on the vine in the vine is the source of their life.

So to kick us off here, Heather, do you want to talk a bit about your experience of being a branch and being a grape and what the Lord is doing in your life is he invites you to be dependent upon him.

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