The document summarizes reflections from six students, Annabel, Audrey, Jake, Lindsay, Maddie, and Sophie, on John 15:1-6. The class went outside and took nature photos related to images in the passage. Each student then reflected on what their photo represented in relation to the passage's themes about abiding in Christ and bearing fruit. Annabel provided an overview of the passage's central message about growth and fruitfulness depending on abiding in Christ.

2. John 15: 1-6
Reflections by
• Annabel
• Audrey
• Jake
• Lindsay
• Maddie
• Sophie

3. John 15: 1-6
I am the true vine, and my Father is the
vinegrower. Every branch that bears fruit
he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You
have already been cleansed by the word
that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I
abide in you. Just as the branch cannot
bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the
vine, neither can you unless you abide in
me. I am the vine, you are the
branches. Those who
abide in me and I
in them bear much
fruit, because apart
from me you can do
nothing. Whoever does
not abide in me is
thrown away like
a branch and withers,
such branches are
gathered, thrown into
the fire and burned.

4. John 15: 1-6
We went as a class out into the landscape
behind the church and took pictures of
nature that represented images from the
passage.
Each of us reflected on the images,
allowing them to speak to us and help us
connect to the passage in a fresh
way.
Just as we started
Annabel gave us
insight into the whole
of the passage.
“It is all about “IF”
if you are growing,
If you abide in me,
If you do not abide
in me, you wither.

5. • The hand represents life and health
while capturing the fruit in an exotic
manner.
• The hand is the vinegrower.
• Fruit represents health.
• Rising out of a bed of dry, fallen leaves
• The had could be pruning the fruit.
• When I see this picture, I think of the
simplicity of the fruit, leaves and hand
on the outside. Yet there is so much
more going on in the picture. This is
like how from an outsider’s perspective
our relati0nship with God look to be
fairly straight forward, but in reality is
complex and multi-layered.

6. • The branches are about to be thrown
in the fire because they did not bear
fruit.
• Even amongst dead branches, there
are still green leaves and rays of
sunshine, just as God still gives us
hope and prunes us of what is dead
and not producing fruit.
• The branches symbolize the end of the
life cycle. The evolution from the
kingdom that God mad to the kingdom
of God. As it does, something new will
grow in the soil it leaves behind.
• The branches represent the end of a
long-lived life. Impacting nature in
ways never understood. Capturing
location and time endlessly.

7. • Buds show beauty and depict color and
emotion.
• Thorns express protection.
• Leaves in the background express the
pattern of life.
• The dead branches of the rose bush are
enveloping the live ones.
• The gardener would cut away the dead ones
to allow the growth of the live one.
• Pruning comes to mind because it shows
meaning of an endless life and the impact the
vinegrower has on nature.
• The rose and all its beauty symbolizes God’s
plea for us to love one another as her loves
us.

8. • Beauty flourishing next to death, a warning
and a message, perfection in imperfection.
God loves us not despite our thorns but
because he made us, thorns and all.
• A rose is something beautiful and delicate, it
needs to be handled with great care and
caution, especially because it is surrounded
by sharp thorns. In the same way, we are
each God’s child and he can provide for us
despite the negativity and darkness that we
re constantly facing in our lives.