FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - SELF-CONTROL

But the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Against such things there is no low (Galations 5:22-23 - NIV).

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - GENTLENESS

But the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Against such things there is no low (Galations 5:22-23 - NIV).

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - KINDNESS AND GOODNESS

But the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Against such things there is no low (Galations 5:22-23 - NIV).


“Goodness is easier to recognize than to define.”

GOODNESS IN OUR HEARTS BEGINS WITH OUR CONVICTION THAT GOD IS GOOD

The right response is to affirm the truth – God is good – and

Then accept that many times there are no answers to the “why” question this side of heaven.

We accept that somehow, God will work everything for good as promised in Romans 8:28.

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (NIV).

8Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways (Psalm 25:8 - NIV).

16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." (Matthew 19:16-17 - NIV).

ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN CREATE GOODNESS WITHIN US

Man’s goodness only comes through God’s goodness.

God has called us to good works.

10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Goodness must come from a good heart.

43"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:43-45 - NIV).

GOODNESS IS A CHOICE (It is lived out in the things we choose to do)

Serving Others

20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:20-21 - NIV).

Uprightness of Heart and Life.

* What this means is that goodness includes abstaining from every appearance of evil.

22Avoid every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22 - NIV).

* An upright life is an honest one, a life that can be admired.

* Spirit-created moral and spiritual excellence.

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - PATIENCE

SERMON THEME VERSE:

But the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Against such things there is no low (Galations 5:22-23 - NIV).

TODAY'S VERSE:

In purity, understanding, Patience and Kindness in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love (2 Corinthians 6:6 - NIV).

The story is told of a man driving to work during rush hour. At a red light his car stalls. Calmly he tried to restart his car through the green light as the line of traffic behind him honks their horns. After the light turns red again, he gets out of his car and goes back to the man hanging his head out the window in the car behind him, who is still blowing his horn, and tells him, “Well, I can’t seem to get it started; maybe you could go give it a try and I’ll sit here and blow the horn for you.”

Now if you were caught in such a situation, which car would you be sitting in? Would you be laying on the horn and looking at the clock because you are late for work? Or would you remain calm in the midst of a long line of angry commuters?

• The Picture of Patience (Matthew 18:21-35).
• The Purpose of Patience (2 Peter 3:15).
• The Practical Practice of Patience (Ephesians 4:2; James 1:19-20; Proverbs 29:11; Proverbs 29:22).

With patience, we are to restore and maintain relationships with one another . . .

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - PEACE

SERMON THEME VERSE:
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23).


TODAY'S VERSE:
6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace . . . (Romans 8:6 - NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION).

Peace is surrendering and yielding ourselves to the Lord to be in His control, for He is our ultimate peace! Once we make real peace with God we will be able to make and maintain peace with others.


A DEFINITION OF PEACE:
(1) Greek Understanding of Peace - In their understanding of the word Peace the Greeks mainly saw it in a negative light, that is was merely an absence of war and hostilities. Much like today, they failed to see the deeper meaning for peace.

(2) Hebrew Understanding of Peace 0r Shalom - Shalom was the usual word of greeting or farewell. It is found at the beginning and end of all but two of the epistles in the New Testament. Shalom can be interpreted as "The Peace" - a peace personally felt, a deep calmness and mental balance, freedom from strife whether internal or external, security from outward enemies as well as calmness of the heart, all of which is said to come to those who know God.

PEACE IS NOT!!
-Peacemaking is not avoiding a problem - just because we don't deal with a problem not guarantee us of having Peace.
-Peacemaking is not appeasing another person.

Isiah 48:17-18:
17 This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
18 If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

The only way we will fully experience PEACE is when we submit to God's Will - He is looking for Obedient Believers!! We need to remember Isaiah 48:22 "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked.”

May God's Peace be with you today as you reflect upon His Word!!

(Digging Deeper: John 16:33; Matthew 10:34; John 14:27; Philippians 4:9; and Acts 16:22-25)

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - JOY

But the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, JOY, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. Against such things there is no low (Galations 5:22-23 - NIV).

My last post was on Love - the Key to the Fruit of the Spirit but today I want to talk about something that flows from the believer when he is demonstrating God's Love through the Spirit. God wants us to not only have Joy in our Hearts but He wants us to express it through our lives.

I would ask you today do you have that kind of Joy? It is very obvious that many people don't . . . just stand in line at the grocery store check out or better yet the department store check out at Christmas Time! We have either been around such people or we have been such a person. They are Grumps, They are Gripers, They are Negative about anything and everything. As a result they (sometimes us) are not much Fun to be around.

When preparing Today's Sunday Morning Message on the Fruit of the Spirit - Joy, I found this illustration which I plan to share today and would like to share with You!

My story begins with a man was going to the Doctor's Office. As he walked in, he was met by the receptionist. He told her that he had a sore on his chin that he wanted the doctor to examine. She said to him, "Down the hall, first door to the right, and take off your clothes." "But ma'am," he said, "it's just a sore on my chin. I don't think all that is necessary," She repeated, "Down the hall, first door to the right, and take off your clothes." "But Ma'am," he pleaded. "Down the hall, first door to the right, and take off your clothes." So he went down the hall, took the first door to the right, walked in and saw a man already sitting there in his boxer shorts, shivering. He said to him, "Boy, that receptionist is really something, isn't she? I just have a little sore on my chin and she told me to come down here, go through this door and take off my clothes." The man in the boxer shorts said, "You think that is Bad? I'm the UPS Delivery man!"

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

Remember:
- Joy is a Constant - "Be Joyful Always . . ." (1 Thessalonians 5:16 -NIV).
- Joy is a Sign of Your Relationship with the Lord

- Joy Can be Increased - "We write this to make our Joy complete" (1 John 1:4).
- Joy is Eternal

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT - LOVE

5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Romans 5:5 - NIV).

I have always thought that the Spirit Filled Life will have an Outward Expression of what is on the Inside.

44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers (Luke 6:44 - NIV).

Fruit is something that comes about through a natural process. I can remember my Grandfather would give a Fruit Tree another growing cycle after it did not Produce Fruit before he would cut it down and throw it into the Fire. He would do everything he could from the one growing season to the next to help that tree produce fruit. He also understood that some trees took time before he would see their First Fruit. Grandpa would give his trees all kinds of Love and allow them to grow and produce naturally.

As a Pastor, I recognize that not everybody is at the same level Spiritually. My desire is for every believer to begin to Produce the Fruit of the Spirit. I believe that Love is the key to Galatians 5 and key to every believer. If we don't show Love than we won't have Joy, Peace . . .
Our Fruit Grows out a Spirit Filled Life! At the center of that life is Love!

30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31 - NIV).

20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20 - NIV).

As we mature in the Lord, as we give ourselves over to the Spirit, our love will become more and more like the love of Christ. It will move toward “absolute love.” That means we will love people who may not love us in return. That means we will love those who misuse us. We will love people regardless of color; nationality; or economic status. The Spirit Filled Believer will demonstrate the same character of love as Jesus did when He died on the Cross!

THE OLD FORD STATION WAGON

Growing up the son of a car salesman, I was always surrounded by different types of automobiles - sedans, coupes, trucks, station wagons and vans. Sometime between the horse and wagon and the mini-van, the American Station Wagon was the best way to travel as a family. I have six brothers and sisters and growing up we would cram into the old Ford Station Wagon (Country Squire - Paneling and all) and off to where ever we needed to go.

It was in that old station wagon with wood panels that I saw my first Motion Picture (Movie) on a Big Screen. My parents loaded the family into the station wagon and we drove to the Cruise In Drive-In Theater in Cambridge, Ohio to see . . . STAR WARS! Mom packed all kinds of goodies to eat and soda to drink during our adventure into outer space. The memory is so vivid in my mind even though it was thirty-two years ago. We did not get to do much as a family because it was expensive to do anything with such a large family but on this particular night they took advantage of "Car Load" Night at the Cruise In. If truth be told I was the only one really interested in the Movie . . .

I am sorry I just had to share that little memory from my childhood you can blame an article on Yahoo News but I am thankful for a God that reminds us to SMILE!!

CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY

Independence Day is the National Holiday Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A Grand Celebration of the United States of America becoming a Separate Independent Nation.

It was July 2nd, 1776 when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of Independence from Great Britain. They debated and revised "The Declaration for Independence" until it was agreed upon on July 4th, 1776. The actual date of signing from many of the delegates is believed to have been August 2nd, 1776. Because of the date the Congress decided to proceed with the Separation from Great Britain was on July 4th - became historically the date we celebrate.

It was not until 1791 that the term "Independence Day" was found in print describing July 4th. It was not until 1941 that it was declared a legal holiday.

By the early 1800's the traditions of parades, picnics, and fireworks were established as the way to celebrate America's birthday. And although fireworks have been banned in most places because of their danger, most towns and cities usually have big firework displays for all to see and enjoy.

The chances are that you will be going to a BBQ on the Fourth of July. This is one of the most popular times for having a BBQ: Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Potato Salad, Potato Chips, and baked Beans are the most popular food choices.

This Independence Day - I want to Remember that True Freedom comes from knowing Jesus!

Let us Celebrate our Freedom and please someone pass the BBQ Ribs!!

NEW BOOK - I AM READING . . .

While on Vacation in South Carolina, I picked up a new book to read at the Tanger Outlets off of SC-501 for only $5.00. The book is called: "The Relationship Principles of Jesus" by Tom Holladay (Teaching Pastor, Saddleback Church) and it has been hard for me to put it down. It is set up to read over a 40 Day period but I am having hard time putting the book down. I think I am going to use it as my Mid-Week Bible Study in July or August.

 

The book is based on six Relationship Principles:

    1.    Place the Highest Value on Relationships

    2.    Love as Jesus Loves You

    3.    Communicate from the Heart

    4.    As You Judge, You Will Be Judged

    5.    The Greatest Are the Servants

    6.    Treat Others as You Want Them to Treat You

 

I hope to finish the book in the next few days and then start over from the beginning over a 40 day period of time . . . .

 

"God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships." (Tim Holladay)