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The Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22-26

A good life is a fruit-bearing tree - Proverbs 11:30a

Paul's Epistle To The Galatians

• Chapters 1 & 2 - A Narrative
  
• Chapters 3 & 4 - A Discussion
  
• Chapters 5 & 6 - An Exhortation

Galatians General Outline

• Chapters 1 & 2   
  • A Narrative ~ It is personal (An appeal to reason) = Paul’s vindication (Concerning Paul)
• Chapters 3 & 4   
  • A Discussion ~ It is doctrinal (An appeal to choice) = Paul’s exposition (Concerning the Gospel)
• Chapters 5 & 6   
  • An Exhortation ~ This is practical (An appeal to action) = Paul’s application (Concerning the Galatians)

Walking In the Spirit

• Paul says those who walk in the Spirit have:
  "crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires"
  
• They identify and leave behind those impulses that keep them from doing the things they want to do
  
• They do that which Jesus Christ has commanded
  
• They are becoming sanctified
  

Being possessed by God's Spirit

• Responding to His transforming purposes in obedient faith
  
• Results in bearing the fruit of the Spirit
  
• Continually pursuing the process of maturing in holiness:
  
  • In our relationships with God
    
  • With His people
    
  • In and with the people of the world

God always prepares us for the obedience that He requires with the grace that He gives.

God gives what He demands.
---Augustine

Our task, as image bearing, God-loving, Christ-shape, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to the world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion. --- N.T. Wright

Discipleship

• Moving from
  
  • 'come and see'
    
  • to 'come and die'
    
• He said you are his disciple if you:
  
  • Obey his word (John 8:31)
    
  • Love each other (John 13:31)
    
  • Bear much fruit (John 15:8)

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Celebrating Kindness
Father's Day
What is desirable in a man is his kindness Proverbs 19:22a

The first commandment with a promise!
Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God has given you. Exodus 20:12

Our Father In Heaven

• Psalm 103:13
  
  • "Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him."
    
• If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
  
• If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
• God is a Father in search of a family
  
• Hosea 14:3b "For in You the fatherless finds mercy"
  
  • Only in God do the fatherless find compassion
    
• God's instruction is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – The Sh'ma

Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. II Corinthians 5:11a NLT

Building Families
The family is the place to:

1. Establish identity and security.
   
2. Teach and transmit values.
   
3. Make and store lifetime memories.
   
4. Develop hidden talents and potentials.
   
5. Learn how to love and forgive.
   
6. Grow in a safe environment.
7. Learn honesty and transparency.
   
8. Fail without criticism or condemnation.
   
9. Hide during the storms of life.
   
10. Experience the kingdom of God in action.
    
11. Translate Scripture into living realities.
    
12. Establish a command center for safety to bring the Kingdom of God to a lost world.

12 Duties of a Father

1. Love – Genesis 37:4; I John 4:7-8
   
2. Command – Genesis 50:16
   
3. Instruct – Proverbs 1:8; Deuteronomy 6
   
4. Train – Proverbs 22:6
   
5. Rebuke – Genesis 34:30
   
6. Restrain – I Samuel 3:13
   
7. Punish – Deuteronomy 21:18-21
   
8. Discipline – Hebrews 12:7
   
9. Nourish – Isaiah 1:2
   
10. Supply Needs – Matthew 18:11
    
11. Guide and Warn – I Thessalonians 2:11
    
12. Do not provoke – Ephesians 6:4

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the great and foremost commandment. 
The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 22:37

Growing Through Imperfection

• First, admit you've blown it.
  
  • A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful.  But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance. Proverbs 28:13
• Second, learn from it.
  
• Third, expect God to turn your greatest failure into your greatest strength.
  
• Fourth, realize failure isn't fatal.
  
• Fifth, don't quit.

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
~ Abraham Joshua Heschel

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God's Point of View
I Corinthians 2:1-5

My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. I Corinthians 2:4-5

A Fourfold Wisdom:

1. Greek wisdom – I Corinthians 1:22-23
   
2. Jewish wisdom – I Corinthians 2:8
   
3. Conventional wisdom; the wisdom of this world; systems of knowledge defined by men to create a narrative apart from God and His revelation.
   
4. The Gospel, which is called here the wisdom of God in a mystery – I Corinthians 2:7

The Testimony of God

• Jesus Christ, and Him crucified
  
• Truth is defined as reality from God's perspective, God's point of view!
  
• The demonstration of the Spirit is spiritual!
  
  • A conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment to me."
    
  • Sometimes God will offend the mind to reveal the heart.

The Mind of Christ

• Matthew 22:37 "Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'"
  
• Mind <Gk> dianoia = deep channels of thought, imagination, understanding
  
• Luke 12:22, 29
  
  • "do not worry about your life" = a "distraction" or a "care" "nor have an anxious mind."
    
• Romans 1:28a "a depraved mind"

The Faith Life

• Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
  
• Substance <Gk> hupostasis
  
  • hupo = under & histemi = to stand
    
• Essence & assurance = truth & trust
• "Substance of things hoped for"
  
  • Hope is the confident expectation of good
    
  • Love is the motive and expression of our life of hope
    
    • I Corinthians 13:1-13 "But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love."
      
  • Trust is the expression in Whom our faith lies
    
  • Belief is the expression of where our faith lies
    
  • Obedience is the actual expression of our faith
    
    • "The evidence of things not seen"

The Mind of the Lord by the Spirit

James 3:13-18

• How?
  
• Practically; pursue God's wisdom
  
  • get out of debt
    
  • avoid the temptation to believe the world's point of view
    
  • read your Bible!
    
  • "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering!"

Hebrews 10:23-25

• We gather in the temple and house to house
  
• We worship together in one voice
  
• We pray together in one heart
  
• We give together in one purpose
  
• We learn together in one vision