Necessary Endings I Robert Madu I Social Dallas

Are you ready for the word of God today? Oh, I'm going to ask that again. Are you ready for the word today? Y'all feel like hearing it? Like I feel like preaching? It's going to be good. I had revival in my living room yesterday, preaching this word to myself. We've been in a series called "How to Love." How to love. It's our series on relationships, and we have just decided that we're going to do relationships God's way. I think the one who is love personified should be the one that we go to learn how to love and how to do relationships, and not the way the culture is telling us to do relationships. And so, we're going to add another layer to this series today. But before we do that, we do it every single Sunday. We are unshakable this year, and we have a verse of the year, and it's in Hebrews chapter 12. We're going to read it for the first time at two locations at the same time. Y'all ready to read our verse of the year? Hebrews chap 12. Come on, read it like you were caffeinated and had some Red Bull or something this morning. Here we go. Let's read it together. It says, "Do you see what we've got? An unshakable Kingdom. And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He is actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is fire." Oh, y'all sound good. Y'all sound good in here. Echo, you sound good.

And now we're going to look at our text for today. Go with me to the Gospel of John. John chapter number 15, and I want to look at verses 1 through 5. John chapter 15, starting at verse number one. While you're looking for it on your paper Bible, if you're super saved, or or your smart device, whether you just going to look at the screen, it's all good. How many of you, is your first time? First time ever to Social? Can I see your hand here? And at Echo, first time? Incredible. On the front row, amazing. So glad that you're here. John chapter 15, starting at verse number one. These are the words of Jesus. He says, "I am the True Vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Can you say amen? Amen.

Now, I want to look at John chapter 16. Before I read John chapter 16, let me just tell you that the chapter numbers and the verse numbers came later. After the original manuscript, so I want you to think whenever you're reading your Bible that just because the chapter ended, that's where the conversation ended. That Jesus is talking to his disciples. Actually, in John 14, 15, and 16, he's talking to his closest circle. And so, I want you to imagine what you just heard in verse, in chapter number 15, him saying, "Abide in me, stay close to me, let's stay connected." And then, on the surface, it seems like we got schizophrenic Jesus, because look at John chapter 16. After all that abiding and staying and remaining, look at what he says in verse 4. "I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you ask me, 'Where are you going?' But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, if I go, if I peace out, I will send him to you." Something can't happen unless I leave. On Jesus saying to the disciples, "It, it ain't you, it's me." I thought Whitney started that wonderful song, "I Will Always Love You," but it looks like Jesus started right here. "If I should stay, I would only be in your way." Look at y'all. Y'all ain't safe. He literally is telling them, "I have to leave."

I want to preach today using this as a title: Necessary Endings. Necessary Endings. I want you to look at your neighbor in this room and at Echo, get in their face, get in their personal space, and say, "Neighbor, neighbor, come on, don't be afraid to talk to your neighbor." Say, "Neighbor, neighbor, some endings, some endings aren't optional. Aren't optional. They are necessary. They are necessary." Woah. Come on, find your other neighbor. And I'm really sad for you if this is one that you got to break up with. Come on, find your other neighbor. Say, "Other neighbor, other neighbor, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, some endings, some endings aren't optional. They are necessary." If you believe God can speak at Toyota and at the Echo, would you make some noise in this place? Father, have your way in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Woah. Necessary Endings. Sermonic disclaimer: If you don't like the sermon today, would you do me a favor and and come back next week? Uh, come back next week, uh, because we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. Uh, we will be at Fair Park at 9, 11:30, and at Echo at 10:30. So, so come back next week. I promise next week will be much better. It'll be much better for a couple of reasons, because I am going to be tag-teaming with my bride, my love, my confidante, the mother of all my children, Taylor M. We're going to be tag-teaming preachers. Then, Oho, y'all clapping. You need to be praying. You really need to intercede, because let me tell you something, nothing will put your marriage to the test like trying to prepare a message together and communicate that message together. I mean, just think of it. It's hard enough trying to communicate in the same household, let alone trying to communicate on stage together. So, uh, we warrant and solicit your prayers for us this week. And, and part of the tension, part of the issue of communicating together is the reality that we are so different. Y'all, we are different. I'm talking about completely different. I'm not just talking about the obvious difference of gender and melanin. I'm talking about, I'm talking about our personalities are different, our preferences are different, the way we process things are completely not even just different, on opposite ends of the pendulum. I never forget, we were talking with a therapist. Yes, your your pastors go to the therapist. You should thank God for that. And I never get this therapist having us do some testing. He said, "I want y'all both to take this test." And it was this personality test. It was all these questions we had to fill out. And then we finished the test, and it's one of those tests that you can't trick the test by the questions it asks. And then when it finishes the test, it gives you like a little graph with these lines that go like this, you know, depending on how you answered it. And I'll never forget the therapist coming and bringing my test and Pastor Taylor's test. And he said, uh, "Before I explain the data," he said, "Do you notice anything here?" And I looked at those two tests, and every place the line went up for me, it went down for her. Every place the line was down for her, it was up for me. We are completely different. I'm an introvert, she's an extrovert. Come on. I mean, I love going out. Let's, let's go to the new restaurant in the city. She is a homebody. I love the city, she loves the country. We are completely opposite. But there is one difference that I've never told y'all as a church family that I'm going to tell you today, and this one has caused some, uh, heated and colorful conversations in our home. I am a mild, emphasis on mild, hoarder. Okay? I'm not like TV show bad, but I'm a mild, I'm a mild hoarder. And let me tell you why. I don't know what is wrong with me. We had processed this in therapy, but for me, I, there's documents and papers that I just have to keep. I don't know why. I just keep stuff. I feel like later it's going to exonerate me from something. I can pull out this receipt from Chipotle and say, "Uh-uh, I, I didn't do it." Look at her. I just keep papers and all kinds of stuff. She is different. She is an OCD, I'm talking about crazy, wonderful, beautiful organizer. Everything has to be in its place, everything has to be set a certain way. So imagine the joy that came to her heart last year when this closet organizing company came to Pastor Taylor and they said, "Hey, we're a new closet organizing company, and we're moving our headquarters here to Dallas from California. They said, we want to offer you our services for free. We're going to organize your entire closet." She started shouting like we won the lottery. And never forget, these closet organizers, they came in the house, and they were there the entire day. They only came out to go to The Container Store. And I remember them, I heard all kinds of noises in there, and things were moving. And then finally, like an episode of HGTV, her and the closet organizers came up to me and said, "Are you ready to see it?" I said, "Let's, let's, let's see it." And I walked in there expecting to not even be impressed. And y'all, when I walked up in that closet, it took my breath away. It was immaculate. All the hangers matched. I think they had organized it to where there was the same amount of space between each one. The sneakers were with the sneakers, and the boots were with the boots. It was incredible. It smelled like Pine-Sol in there. It was unbelievable. Everything was color coordinated. I, I had tears in my eyes. I said, "Thank you so much. This is beautiful." And then I walked out of theed. But then I noticed something in my peripheral vision. I saw like a pile of clothes in the corner of the bedroom. To which I said to Pastor Taylor, I said, "Uh-uh, what, what's that pile of clothes right there in the corner?" She stepped in front of the pile. Said, "Huh?" I said, "What is that pile of clothes over there in the corner?" She said, "Well, babe, I told the closet organizers that you don't really wear those clothes, so they don't have to put those clothes back into the closet. So we decided that you should get rid of those." I said, "Really?" I said, "Can I look at my clothes that y'all decided to get rid of?" She like, "Babe, just let me." So I go over to it, and y'all think like preachers make up stories. This is for real. This is for real. I'm just going to show you some of the items that were in the pile, okay? Some of the items that were in the pile that they were about to throw away. Y'all, get rid of this. This was one of the items that was in the pile right here. This right here was in the pile. Now, come on, y'all. This is a great pair of pants. This was a jam not too long ago for me. Now, I, you know how fashion and cyclical, right? Now is the bag of jeans. What if they bring the skinny jeans back? I don't know if I'm going to need these again. I see you shaking your head no. You don't know what I might need these for, okay? We're a creative church. We might have to do a Michael Jackson B-boy spoof, and I could be like, "Don't worry about the costume, I already got the pants right here." This was in the pile that made me mad. Another thing that was in the pile was this right here. Y'all, she put my college t-shirt in the pile. This is my alma mater, Southwestern Assemblies of God University. She was going to get rid of it. And watch this, benefits of being a mild hoarder. I just found out last week they changed the name of my university to Nelson University. This is a collector's item. They about to throw away, throwing away my Under Armour SAGU shirt. But the last one, woah, still sensitive about it. This one, can't believe this was in the pile. Y'all, they tried to get rid of my Harlem Globetrotters jersey. Now this about to take some of y'all out. This ain't just the, this ain't just the Harlem Globetrotters jersey. You need to know what brand made this Harlem Globetrotters jersey. If you're young, you ain't going to know what we're talking about. But those of you who are older, you're going to know exactly how old and how long I've had this jersey. Y'all, this ain't just the Harlem Globetrotters jersey. Y'all, this is a platinum FUBU. The young people don't know what I'm talking about. This is a platinum FUBU Harlem Globetrotters jersey. And the old folks that know FUBU know how long this has been in my closet and shall remain in my closet. And that is the question that we have to ask. There's a method to my madness. Why in the world are these items still in my closet, taking up valuable space for other items? These items are still in my closet because I have not come to the realization that it is time for a necessary ending. The reason they're still in my closet is because I, like some of you, have this human tendency to hold on to things longer than I should. And it's fun when you're talking about a FUBU jersey, we can laugh about it. It's not so funny when it's a toxic relationship that needs to end. It's not so funny when it is a job that you know your employees know, and your direct report knows, your season at that place of employment has come to an end. We know you hate your job. We know you're over it. But because you are scared of the unknown, you will stay in a job that you do not like, that you have outgrown, because you'd rather have the comfort of being in that job than to step out and start with the necessary ending. Oh, it's funny when you're talking about clothes. It's not so funny when you're talking about a family member that you have helped, but now you're realizing that the help is hurting them, because you are no longer helping, you are now enabling a behavior that has gone on for years after years after years. All of us have a tendency to hold on to things much longer than we should. And I came to tell you today, endings are necessary. Would you look at the person next to you in this room, at the Echo location, and say, "Oh, neighbor, I hope you know, I hope you know that endings, that endings are necessary. Are necessary." Ladies and gentlemen, my assignment is very clear, and I dare say even simple today, because today, in this message, I, I want to normalize necessary endings. That's what I want to normalize today. Necessary endings. In fact, let me do like we do. Can we normalize necessary endings? Can we do that today? In a culture that is trying to normalize things that are actually not biblical, can I stand on this pulpit today and tell you that necessary endings are biblical? That necessary endings are a part of life? And that God is, is not just the God of new beginnings, he is also a God of necessary endings. See, the reason why some of y'all are just clapping with that little cute golf clap, and you don't know whether you can say amen to that, is because we love a God of new beginnings. We love every January, "Oh, this is my year! I'm telling you, I'm about to step into the new." Oh, we love the God that'll start something fresh, and we're like, "Oho, God, do what you do, and do it new." We love the God of new beginnings, not realizing that new beginnings are often preceded by necessary endings. You can't step into the new beginning until you first have a necessary ending. And could it be possible that the reason you haven't stepped into your new beginning is because you haven't had the courage to make some necessary endings? See, necessary endings are often hard to fathom or comprehend because they actually are contrary to some virtues that are necessary in life. I'm talking about virtues like perseverance. How many you know if you're going to receive some things, you just got to persevere? I can't stand people that soon as it gets difficult, they're like, "Oh, I'm out. I can't do it." No, no, no. You're going to have to have some perseverance if you're ever going to take hold of what God has for you. That is a great virtue to stick to it. Perseverance is great. I'm talking about virtues like hope. Don't you love hopeful people? That no matter what's going down, they're like, "Oh, it's all right. It's going to get better." I mean, it could be raining. It's all right. You know, I've been trying to moisturize. Any right? Just people that are hopeful. That, that's a great virtue. Virtues like commitment and sticking to it. All those virtues are great. But when you have those virtues, and it comes to something that needs to end, it's hard for you to realize, "This is something that I need to let go of. This is actually something that I need to give up on." And yet, there is a time for a necessary ending. I don't know about that, Robert. Okay, well, let me ask you something. How many of you, little survey here, the Echo? How many of you are still BFFs with your BFF from kindergarten? Can I see your hand? You still BFFs? Okay, I see like a few. But shout out to y'all. Okay, here, here, here, here's a better one. How many of you are married to the person that you went on your first date with? Can I see your hand here? And an Echo, married? Oh, see, I lost hands. I lost a whole lot of hands right there. How many of you want to give a praise break that you are not married or dating the person that you, that's what Facebook is for. Oh, thank God. That's what Instagram is for. Oh, thank you, Jesus. I didn't see it then, but I see it now. So you understood that was a necessary ending. Necessary endings are a part of life. See, part of us, the pain is, you don't have a framework for necessary endings. You think every relationship is supposed to last forever, and that's why you get disappointed. So, if nothing happens in this message today, other than you understanding the framework that life has seasons and life has cycles, that'll help you with the pain of a relationship that needs to end. I never forget when I was, uh, 16 years old, I went to a pastors and leadership conference. And, uh, they had a session for senior pastors only. And Bishop T.D. Jakes was speaking at the session, and I snuck in. I wasn't even a senior pastor, I'm like 16 years old, and the long Steve Harvey suit on. And, uh, I remember sitting in that session, and I never forget, there was a Q&A segment in the message, in the, in the, in the session. There's a Q&A segment. And never forget this pastor coming up, and his voice was shaking, and tears were coming down his face, and he was asking Bishop Jakes, "How do you handle the pain of people that were on your staff or on your team, and now they left, and the relationship is over?" And the way he said it, you could hear the pain in his voice. And you could hear other pastors in the room, I'll never forget it, I could hear the pain that was palpable in that room. I never forget what Bishop said. He said, "Pastoring is like being a bus driver." He said, "When you're driving a bus, at every stop, people will get on and people will get off. But don't let who got on or who got off stop you from driving the route that God told you to drive." Ooh. I never forget that right there. I didn't know at 16, I was going to need that a little bit later. But he was trying to get him to understand that yes, the pain is real, but necessary endings are a part of life. If you don't want to take my word for it, look at Ecclesiastes chapter 3. These are words from the wisest man who has ever walked the face of this earth. His name is Solomon. And look at what Solomon, in his wisdom, is telling us: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Now, he's about to go on a long list of beginnings and necessary endings. Can we turn Sunday morning into Bible class? I'm going to read the beginning, and I want you here at Toyota and at Echo, I want you to read the ending, okay? Y'all ready? I need participation, 100% participation here. We go. Look, look at what Solomon says. He says, "A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to reap; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to search and a time to give up; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to mend; a time to be silent and a time to speak." Pause. Some of y'all would just help your relationship right there if you just knew when to shut up and when to say something. I heard one person say, "You can tell a good marriage by how many teeth marks the couples have on their tongue." Some of you get that tomorrow. That's couples that have learned to shut up. That you don't have to say it anyway. I digress. Uh, "a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace." A time for the Chiefs to win a Super Bowl. And hey, that's what Solomon said. That's what. [Applause] So, I love watching y'all's faces. Some of y'all like, "Ugh, I ain't reading that." And some of y'all like, "Is that in the Bible? I didn't know." I love our church. I love that Solomon gives us this wisdom of beginnings and necessary endings. But here's my beef with Solomon. He doesn't tell us when. I wish Solomon would have gave us another chapter and say, "Hey, here's when you shut up, and here's when you say something. Here's when you do this, and here's when you don't do this." Solomon, could you at least have given us another chapter on the "when"? Because I feel like I could win, W-I-N, if I knew the "when" I was supposed to do it. I would, don't let me be tearing something up when I'm supposed to be mending it. Don't let me start uprooting something when I'm supposed to be planting it. I wish you would have given me a "when." But then I realized, Solomon's job was not to give us the "when," because the wisdom is understanding that God has a system of seasons, and he wants you to rely on him and listen to the Holy Spirit to know, "This is my season to plant, and this is my season to uproot. And this is my season to fight, and this is my season to stand back and let the Lord fight my battle. This is my season to be a defender, and this is my season to let God defend me." He says, "I want you to trust the Holy Spirit, yes, to know the 'when'." But it starts with a framework of understanding that God does everything in seasons. There are beginnings, and there are necessary endings. Beginnings and necessary endings. And you know you're getting healthy when you have an expectation of an expiration date. You're getting healthy when you have a healthy expectation of an expiration date. Come on. You know how it is when you get that milk? There's two types of people with that milk. You see the date. It's five days past the date. You just go straight to the trash. Throw that thing away. And then there's y'all's other crazy people. Five days past the date. They don't know. Oh my God, what you got to smell it for? They already printed it on there, because many of us need real proof that it is expired. We don't want to trust the sign that's right in our face. We got, we got to wait till it starts smelling bad. We got to wait till we see more and more childhood issues in the relationship. We, we, we, we don't trust when there's an expiration to it. There's a time, there is a season for beginnings and for endings. God is the Alpha and the Omega. He's the beginning and the end. He's the first and the last. If I'm going to trust him being the beginning, I must also trust when he's letting me know that this relationship has come to an end. It's interesting because I've always looked at the Book of Genesis as a book of beginnings, which it is. But I'm studying this week, and I realized that even within the beginning, there were endings. Even in the beginning, God was setting a framework for necessary endings. Prove it. "Let there be light." Light shows up. He then does what? Separates the light from the darkness. Creates the sun, so there is day and there is night. What is that? A necessary ending. Can you imagine if it was daylight all day, every day? But God says, "No, there must be a necessary ending." And he did it in the beginning. He starts separating the vault of the sky from the vault beneath. He starts separating the water from the land. I am thankful that there is a separation between the water and the land. That's when it gets scary. If that water ever crosses over the separation and the boundary that God set up, that's when we get nervous, and that's when we get panicked. Because God understands there has to be a necessary ending. He did it in creation. When you get to the C, read Genesis chapter 1, verse number 11. Even in vegetation, he starts creating the trees that are going to be in the land. But notice what he says. He says, "I'm going to create trees that are seed-bearing and fruit that is seed-bearing." In other words, God says, "I'm creating a tree, and I'm going to speak it into existence. But I ain't going to keep coming down here and saying, 'Let there be a tree' every day. I am creating within the tree and the fruit a system." Yeah, of beginning and end. Beginning and end. He does it with Adam and Eve. Watch this. God, the first wedding coordinator, sets them up in the most beautiful venue, the Garden of Eden. He does the first wedding ceremony with Adam and with Eve. I love it because as soon as Adam saw Eve, after God took that rib from him in his sleep, he says, "Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh." The Hebrew is actually a song. Homeboy starts singing when he saw her. That's how you know you're really in love, when that girl makes you sing. He said, "Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh." We just started singing. I'm taking all y'all back today again. The young people, huh? Google all of it after service, okay? FUBU. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. [Applause] Anyway, but here's what blows my mind. God is joining man and woman together. You ever notice verse 24 of Genesis chapter 2? Look at what he says: "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh." Huh? This is Adam and Eve. What you talking about leaving a father and a mother? Adam ain't got no father, they ain't got no mother. God, that's you seemed like you should have saved that for later on when there was more in creation. But no, he's establishing not only the context of marriage between a man and a woman, he's also establishing that before the two can become one flesh, there must be an ending. Before there is a new beginning, the ending is that you have to leave your father and your mother, and their systems, and their way of doing things, and their family culture, and you are now joined to somebody else. And the two of you becoming one is a new beginning that must be preceded by a necessary ending. See, the reason why some marriages are struggling and can't have a new beginning is because there was never, and so your mother-in-law still has an opinion. Let me, let me tell you what he need to do. And you wonder why there can't be a new beginning? There wasn't an ending there. But every new beginning is preceded by a necessary ending. I feel like I'm preaching better than y'all are talking in here today. And I realize in a message like this, that interpretations are going crazy in here today. Oh, I can tell, especially in a culture where the divorce rate is 50%, I can see some of y'all going, "Necessary ending? Say less. I'm about to file today, Pastor." And maybe, maybe that to happen. It's tragic when that happens. But can I tell you, sometimes it's not the relationship that needs to end, it is the behavior of the people in the relationship that needs a necessary end. Oh, you told me to say it. I knew they weren't going to say amen. I knew they weren't going to say amen. It's, it's much easier to end the relationship, so it seems, than to end the behavior that is causing problems and toxicity within the relationship. And more often than not, we would rather just end the relationship than allow the Holy Spirit to do the work on us so you can have a new person in the relationship. But that takes work. So I'll let you make the interpretation. I'm not saying that maybe the relationship should end, but I'm wondering if it's just the behavior in the relationship that needs to end. I'm talking about a necessary ending on avoiding issues, a necessary ending on fighting unfair and attacking the person instead of attacking the issue. You always, you always instead of attacking the actual issue. I'm talking about a necessary ending to gaslighting, a necessary ending to not owning where you were the problem in the relationship, a necessary ending to narcissism, because you had the nerve to get in the relationship and think that that relationship was there to serve you. And boo boo, life is not about you. Any good relationship, any great marriage are two people who are fighting to serve the other one better. I love those six claps. They're like, "What? What about my needs? What about my feelings?" Serve him, serve her. It goes contrary to everything that we feel. Necessary endings sometimes need to happen in the behavior within the relationship. And that's hard to do because that takes work. It takes work, work. It reminds me of the children of Israel. Remember the children of Israel? They were in a toxic relationship with Egypt. You know it's toxic, I would call slavery toxic. And God sets them free by his power, splits water for them to get the victory. And here they are, set free from that dysfunctional abuse and that relationship. And here they are, walking in route to the promise. And they have the nerve to do like some of us, "Oh, wasn't it better back then?" They wanted to go back. I want to give you some homework. This title is actually the title of a book by Dr. Henry Cloud called "Necessary Endings." It's a business book, and he says one of the biggest reasons that people don't know how to do necessary endings in business is because of the fear of the unknown, the fear of what's ahead. They were afraid. They, they didn't know where Moses was leading them, so they said, "Maybe it was easier in Egypt." They start romanticizing, "Well, he wasn't that bad." "Well, she, she wasn't, she wasn't that crazy." I mean, no, she, she, I mean, she didn't damage the whole car, she just busted out the windows. She, she just passionate. They start romanticizing the past. And here's what I love about God. Is God is trying to get them healthy and get them whole in the wilderness. And you remember how he did it? He had several ways. One of the ways he did it is he would let manna, Panera Bread, fell from the sky every single day to sustain them in the wilderness for 40 years. All they had to do was grab that manna and eat, and they were sustained for 40 years. Until one day, Joshua chapter 5, look at what happens after 40 years of an ongoing miracle of just getting the bread and eating it. It says, "The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land—unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land. There was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan." 40 years. Take the bread, eat it. God didn't even give an announcement, "Hey, you better get a whole lot of that bread today, it's about to change tomorrow." No. Necessary ending. Why? You're about to leave the wilderness and step into promise. And as you step into promise, that is a necessary ending of collecting bread. Now you've got to do the work of cultivating the land that I gave you. You want the blessing of the land without understanding the work it is going to take to cultivate the land that I'm giving you. You want the houses that you didn't build, not knowing you're going to have to pay property tax on the house that is given to you. And I wish we could get a revelation that every great relationship takes work. If you don't want to work, don't be in a relationship. It's going to take work. It will not fall from the sky. You're going to have to cultivate it. You're going to have to tend it. You're going to have to watch some things. You're going to have to pull up some things. He's teaching them that the manna has to end for you to step into what I have for you. Ooh. I could go through the whole Bible. One of my favorites is with Abraham and Lot. Remember Father Abraham? Having many sons, many sons has Father Abraham. God gave him a word to step out in faith, and Abraham goes. But he brought somebody he shouldn't have brought, his little bigheaded nephew, Lot. Read it when you get to the decree of Genesis chapter 13. Here's Lot and Abraham getting in fights, family in conflict, and the land couldn't sustain them. And Abraham has to have the courage to look at Lot and say, "Hey, we need a necessary ending." Sometimes you have to let go of what is killing you. Yeah, even if it kills you to let it go. Wow. He says, "Lot, we need a necessary ending." Look at the Blues Clues, the fighting is showing it. And I love it because not only does he have the courage to have the necessary ending, he has the humility to say, "You pick. You go to the left, I'll go to the right. You go to the right, I'll go to the left. I just got, we just got to end this thing." If it was me, I'd be like, "Hold up, God called me, not you. I'm going this way. You figure out where you're going to go." And watch what happens after Lot leaves. Can we look at it real quick? Genesis 13 says, "The Lord said to Abram, when, after, when after after Lot had parted from him, 'Look around from where you are to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. All the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.'" That song that you sang in Sunday school about Father Abraham having many sons and him having descendants like that came after a necessary ending. God didn't give that until Lot left. I'm wondering what promise you haven't stepped into because you haven't had a necessary ending. And I'm praying that you would leave this service today and have the courage to tell somebody or tell something, "This has got to end." Every new beginning is preceded by a necessary ending. I hear some of y'all saying, "Well, Pastor, that's the Old Testament. You got anything in the New Testament?" Uh, the scripture I read, Jesus is with his disciples. This is the last moments he will have with them. You got to read it when you get to the crib, John chapter 14, 15, 17. These are his last moments with his disciples, his inner crew. He takes them to an upper room to do a last teaching. He prepares the table so they can have a Last Supper. Why is it the last? Because it's a necessary ending. He was there with them for three years. And it's so funny because he had been dropping hints the whole time, saying, "Hey, this ain't going to last forever. I'm going to leave." But now is the climactic moment where it's becoming a reality. He says, "I got to go. I, I have to depart." And it's interesting to me because in your last moments, you talk about the things that are most important. And what does Jesus choose to talk about in the last moments of his life? Relationships. He talks about relationships in John 15:1-11. He talks about how they relate to him. In verses 12-17, he talks about how they relate to other believers, each other. And then in verses 18-27, he talks about how, as disciples, they relate to the world. Don't miss that order. First, how you as believers relate to me. Then, how you relate to each other. And then, how you relate to the world. That order is strategic. Maybe the reason we don't know how to relate to the world is because we, as believers, don't even know how to relate to each other. And the reason that we can't relate to each other is 'cause we have skipped the first relationship: is our relationship with him. And look at how he defines this beautiful relationship. He says, "I am the True Vine. You are the branches." Those of you who read your Bible know that this is the seventh "I Am" statement of Jesus disclosing who he is. He said, "I'm the bread. He said, I'm the light of the world. He said, I am the door. I am the Good Shepherd. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life." And now he's saying, "I am the True Vine." That must have made their minds go crazy, because Israel had always been pictured as the vine. But Jesus saying, "No, no, no, I'm the True Vine. I'm the real one." And then he says, "You are the branches. I'm the vine, you are the branches." This is you. This is me. I got this today because I'll do anything to illustrate a point. And so, because I disconnected it, this was a necessary ending for this branch. But I want you to see this branch so that you can have a visual picture of you. I am the vine, you are the branch. The problem with this vine, I'm sorry, this branch, is not connected. It's been disconnected from its source. How many know this branch can have high hopes to produce fruit? Ain't going to happen. This branch could come to every social service that we have. It's not going to produce fruit. This branch could hear every sermon from the greatest preachers and the greatest orators. It's not going to produce fruit. This branch could go to all kinds of discipleship classes, have a deliverance class. It's not going to produce fruit. You're going to get it in a minute. This branch could be around other branches that are still connected to the vine and that are actually producing fruit. It's still not going to produce fruit. You know why? Because it's been disconnected from its source. The only way it can produce fruit, fruit, is if it stays connected to its source. Hear me. I'm all for discipleship classes. I want our church to grow and have all kinds of breakout sessions and classes and things you can download. But none of that will ever take the place of you staying connected to the vine. That is our primary objective. And Jesus, in the last moments of his life, says, "Whatever you do, don't let anybody break your connection. Stay connected to me. Stay plugged into me." Because if you stay plugged into me, you naturally produce fruit. It's just going to happen organically. You got to stay connected. Because when you're disconnected, it is impossible to bear fruit. And I wonder how many people, this is your life, and you think if you can just get around other people who are bearing fruit, and other people are connected, that it's going to transfer on to you. But I came to tell you, nothing can take the place of you connecting with God, of you spending time with him alone, not just on Sunday, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. You got to stay connected. [Applause] [Music] I'm sorry, 'cause I hear so many people saying, "Well, why is it not working? Why can't the church do more?" Yeah, we can do more, but none of it's going to take the place of you not being connected. You got to stay. This thing can't produce fruit. The only way this thing can produce fruit is if I use to take some fruit and some clear tape and tape it on it. I almost did it. Y'all know I'm crazy. I almost was going to set y'all up for this sermon, and I was going to tape some little fruit to this clear tape, and I was going to position it on my Instagram page just in the perfect way, and I was going to post prior to this message, "Oh, got my first fruit on my tree." And then I was going to reveal to y'all in service that it wasn't real, it was fake fruit that was just put on. And I wanted to trick you into thinking it was real fruit on the ground. Oh, ain't that a picture of a lot of people today? We got a lot of folks who have curated social media to make it look like they got fruit. But baby, you can't fake fruit. You got it or you don't. And the only way you can get real fruit is to stay connected to the Vine. I refuse to use all kinds of filters to fake fruit. I want to be so connected to him that it's real, and my kids see the fruit, and my wife sees the fruit. Oh, not because I'm good, but because I'm connected to the Vine. [Music] Tell somebody, say, "Stay connected." You can't fake fruit. Stay connected. Stay connected. That's the only way you can have fruit in your life is to stay connected. And watch this, even when you start producing fruit, don't get it twisted. It's the vine that produces the fruit. Branches just bear fruit. Vines produce the fruit. Don't ever get it twisted and think that just because you're bearing it, you produced it. It's the energy that's coming from the vine that makes me bear it. That's why you got to stay humble when God starts blessing you and God starts opening doors. Don't think just because you're bearing the fruit that you produced the fruit. That's why you better give all glory and honor and praise to the True Vine. Oh, if I wouldn't connected to him, I would have lost my mind. If I wasn't connected to him, I wouldn't know how to be a husband. I wouldn't know how to be a father. It ain't my energy, it is the energy from the Vine. [Music] See, people start bearing fruit, then they start bragging. You thought it was your intellect, thought it was your degrees, thought it was your hard work and your effort. Don't ever get it twisted, boo boo. Effort. Branches just bear fruit, they don't produce it. But look at what Jesus says: "I am, I am the True Vine. You're the branch. My life flowing to you will make you bear fruit." You're bearing it, but you didn't produce it. But then he says something else that breaks my heart. He says, "My Father is the gardener." It's the only one of the seven self-disclosing "I Am" statements where he now introduces the Father into the metaphor. He says, "I'm the True Vine, you are the branches, but my Father is the gardener." And the gardener has a job of creating necessary endings. If it's not.

Bearing fruit, it gets cut. If it is bearing fruit, it gets cut. Why? So it can bear even more fruit. Either way, the job of the gardener is to know which part of the branch needs a necessary ending.

Oh, I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but maybe you're in a season where God is cutting away things that you didn't need. Or maybe you're in a season of bearing fruit, and right in the beauty of bearing the fruit, you're going through the most painful betrayals. You're going through the most painful cutting, and you're looking at God going, "If you loved me, why in the world would you let me go through this?"

And I came to tell you, He's a good, good Father, and He's a good, good Gardener. He knows what needs to be cut. I wouldn't trust the knife in anybody else's hand, but I can trust it in the hands of my good, good Father. Whatever He needs to cut, if it's a necessary ending, that means I didn't need it. He wouldn't have cut it if I needed it. So I've got to trust Him in the cutting. You've got to trust Him when He's cutting the things that you thought you needed. You've got to trust Him when He is, through His sovereignty, bringing necessary endings to things that you thought you couldn't live without.

Here's what I've learned about God: sometimes in His sovereignty, He will just cut it, and that is painful. And then there are other times where He will not do it, but He will hand you the knife and He will say, "I need you to end this so that you can step into the new beginning that I have for you." And whether He does the cutting, whether like Abraham, He hands you the knife to do it, can you trust Him in the cutting? Can you trust Him believing that if I needed it, He wouldn't have cut it in the first place?

The beauty of the gardener is that He only cuts because He has a vision of what that tree is going to be. It looks like a cut now, but He's cutting so you can bear more fruit. Oh, I know you don't like that cutting, but guess what? It's producing fruit in your life. It's producing fruit in that relationship. What fruit? You talking about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. Crawl? Maybe the reason you're going through the cutting is because that's the fruit He wants to produce more of in your life.

And before you start getting ready to send this message to somebody else, don't forget the purpose of fruit. Fruit is never for a tree to eat. It. Fruit is always for somebody else to take a bite out of it. If the fruit is eating itself, it's rotting. But whenever you're producing fruit, be ready for people to take a bite out of you. But when you're connected to the vine, you say, "Go ahead, take a bite. Take a bite. Do what you need to do." You know what? I've got a source. The reason I can forgive you when I know you talked about me is 'cause I've got a source. Oh, the reason I can show grace is because I've got a source. The reason I can show patience is because I, I've got a source. I'm connected to the vine. The fruit's not for me, it's for somebody else.

It starts with the necessary ending. I'm going to ask right here in this room at Echo location, everybody that can, would you stand to your feet? I'm going to ask every head be bowed and eyes be closed. Jesus says, "It is better for you that I go away." Why? So I can send the Helper. How many are thankful for the Holy Spirit, who is the Helper? When there are things that I don't want to cut myself, or things that have been cut from me, I am not without power. I have the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit could not come unless there was a necessary ending. Jesus says, "I can't stay here on Earth doing all the miracles. It's time for me to do them through you." And so He had a necessary ending on the cross and got up from the grave. But understand, that day that He died, the disciples weren't shouting like we shouted Easter. They thought it was over. They thought it was done. And look at Jesus keeping His word, coming back three days later. I'm so sure that their hearts were re-engaged with hope, saying, "We thought we lost you. Now you're back." And then what does He do? He leaves again. Another necessary ending. Why? Because you cannot step into your tomorrow until there is a necessary ending in your today. And anytime there's a necessary ending, it is always so you can bear more fruit. He will never take it away to do less. It's always for more.

And now that gospel and the miracles and the signs and wonders that were only done through His physical body, guess what? It was done through the disciples, through the apostles, through everyone who would believe in His name. The Holy Spirit could work through them and still working today. Heads are still bowed, eyes are still closed. I couldn't help but think about the necessary ending that preceded us planting this church. I was so comfortable. Had been traveling, preaching to churches all over the world, and God started pulling on my heart, saying, "I want you to plant a church." I gave Him every reason why I should not. I said, "No, Lord. At least when I preach at churches on the road, I can leave and go home. I don't want the weight of what it is to carry a church." It was a necessary ending. But hear me, as I obeyed, look at the beautiful beginning. You are sitting and standing, rather, in a beginning that was preceded by a necessary ending. Oh, let me tell you, I did not know when I said yes that we would ever have a Sunday where we would be in Toyota Music Factory and the Echo location. And you don't know what's on the other side of that necessary ending. I know it seems painful. I know tears are going to come down your face, but I'm telling you, God has so much more in store for you. There is greater on the other side. But you've got to trust Him with the ending.

So, with heads bowed and eyes closed in this room at Echo location, I believe that the Holy Spirit was speaking to hearts today. Hear me about some things that need to end. Maybe there's already been a necessary ending, and you were on the other side of it, and you didn't have a choice, and your heart's still broken. God says today, He wants to give you the strength to know there's greater on the other side of it. Maybe He's speaking to you about something that you need to end. Hear me, He wants to give you the courage, the power, and the help for the necessary ending.

And with heads bowed and eyes closed in this room at Echo, if you know what that thing is that needs to end today, could be a mindset, could be an actual relationship. Oh, I hear you speaking, and the cut has got to be drastic. I'm talking to somebody that you've been trying to wean yourself away from the toxic relationship, and you still are checking in on them, and you still hang out. God says, "No, no, no, no. This pruning must be instant, and it must be sharp." Yeah, otherwise you cannot step into the new. And if you know what that thing is that needs to end today so you can step into your beginning, would you just lift up your hand as a sign to say, "God, I know what it is, and I'm giving it to You"? Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, God. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, God. Hands are going up in this room, even at Echo.

Here's what I want us to do. I just think there's something powerful about leaving where you are and taking a step to a new place. So if you lifted up your hand, or you should have lifted up your hand, I'm going to ask you to do something so bold and so brave in this room at Echo. When I count to three, I just want you to come up here to the front and get as close to this altar as you can. I truly believe God wants to do supernatural surgery today. I'm talking to some of you that have been bound by toxic relationships and soul ties. Today is the day God wants to give you the strength to cut it. To cut it. Some people are already moving. Come on! Right there, even at Echo, just come to the front. Come to the front. Come on, today's your day. Today's your day. It's a necessary ending. It's a necessary ending. It's a necessary ending. Come on, come on, come on, come on. I don't care if you're in the top, I don't care if you're in the balcony section of Echo, just come right up there to the front. And come on, today's the day we say, "God, I give You permission to cut." Cut whatever needs to cut. Come on, come on. Just get as close to this altar as you can. Echo, get as close to the front as you can. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, God. Thank You, God. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, God. Come on, get as close as you can. Get as close as you can. Thank You, Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank You, God. God, I'm ready for my new beginning, but my new beginning can't start until there's a necessary ending. A necessary ending. Come on. I want you to just begin to worship as the worship team leads us. I believe God's going to start the surgery before anybody prays with you. So come on, just with your hands raised, would you just begin to lift up your heart to Him? Say, "God, I give it to You."

God, we stand in Your presence, trusting You even in the cutting. Father, we trust You. God, I come against every lie of the enemy that would make us think that whatever You've cut is going to make us less. But God, I thank You that You're always doing the cutting so that there will be more fruit in our lives. So God, we trust You in the cutting. Father, thank You that You are near. You are close. Lord, I pray over my brothers, over my sisters today, that they would sense a nearness like never before. Oh God, that they would sense Your presence, Lord, in their car, at home, Lord, as they abide in You. Thank You, God, that in the abiding, we have the strength that we need so we can trust You even in the cutting. Father, I thank You for these moments in Your presence. But Lord, I'm praying for the strength that is needed after this moment, for the phone call that needs to happen that says, "It's, it's, it's over. It's done. I'm, I'm not taking this anymore." For the strength that is needed, God, to step out into the unknown. God, thank You that perfect love casts out all fear. So God, we lean into Your love. We lean into Your love, and we say, "We're not afraid." We feel the fear, but Lord, we would rather fear You than fear man. We reverence You. We honor Your presence. God, I thank You for opening up our eyes to see the fruit that is coming because we trusted You in the cutting. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name.

I want to do one more thing. As heads are bowed and eyes are closed, I want to be very specific. If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, hear me, that is the first step. As you walk with God and abide in Him, there will always be things that He will prune and always things, always be things that He will cut. But the first step is to say, "God, I, I am Yours." He says, "I am the True Vine," because He knows there are so many other vines that we try to attach ourselves to that never bring life. He's the True Vine. In this room at Echo, at home, I want to give somebody an opportunity to take the first step, which is just to say, "Jesus, I, I give You everything. I give You my life." So with heads bowed and eyes closed, if that's you and you say, "Pastor Robert, I need to surrender my life to this Savior who gave His life for me," that you would, you just lift up your hand. Whether you're at the front or in your seat at Echo, even if you're at home, you don't know why you can't turn off your phone or turn off the TV, it's because God's presence is there with you. Can I see that hand? Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, God.

I want us to pray this prayer as one big family, but especially those of you who responded saying, "I need to give Him my life." Would you pray this? Can we all just lift up our hands? I, I love it because He's Divine, we're the branches, and as we lift up our hands, it's as if we are branches surrendered. Would you just pray this prayer? Say, "Jesus, Jesus, I surrender. I give You everything. Lord, I know that You are the True Vine. You are my life. Jesus, thank You, Jesus, thank You for living the life that I was supposed to live, for dying the death that I was supposed to die. You took my place. So Jesus, my response, my response is to surrender. Forgive me of my sin. Make me brand new from this moment forward. I'm staying connected. I'm abiding in Your presence, in Your word. And Lord, I thank You that my life will bear fruit as I stay connected to You. In Jesus' name. Amen." Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.