Oh, uh, oh, uh,

uh, uh, uh, Hello and my name is Matt Mullen. to Bible stories we are your hosts Todd Haymans.

Hello.

And my name is Matt Mullins.

We're two ministers and two buddies who love to tell the stories of the Bible.

And today we're continuing our journey

through the week leading up to Easter Sunday.

And we've now arrived at Friday.

So Todd, why don't you start us off?

We're going to read through the scriptures and we'll tell you what we're going to be reading from, but we're going to

read you the account of what happened on the Friday before Easter.

That's right, so think, you know, this is very, very early in the morning.

So it's technically Friday, but you know, some people might think, oh, it's this late Thursday night,

but this is like post 12 a.m. first hour, Friday morning and Jesus actually begins teaching a

discourse. Okay a discourse is like a very serious and planned topic of discussion or almost like a sermon, right?

So here's what Jesus is teaching. He says this, 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 that they will produce even more.

You have already been pruned and purified by the message that I have given you.

So 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.

...