We live by the flesh, or we live by the Spirit. We walk by the flesh, or we walk by the Spirit. Either way, fruit will be produced in our life.
Fruit of the flesh (
Galatians 5:19-21 The Message):
- repetitive, loveless, cheap sex
- a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage
- frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness
- trinket gods
- magic-show religion
- paranoid loneliness
- cutthroat competition
- all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants
- a brutal temper
- an impotence to love or be loved
- divided homes and divided lives
- small-minded and lopsided pursuits
- the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival
- uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions
- ugly parodies of community
Fruit of Spirit (
Galatians 5:22-23 The Message):
- affection for others
- exuberance about life
- serenity
- willingness to stick with things
- sense of compassion in the heart
- a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people
- involved in loyal commitments
- not needing to force our way in life
- able to marshal and direct our energies wisely
So, what fruit are you producing? Which list do you find yourself on the most? I know the tendency is to try and produce the fruit of the Spirit on our own, but we must remember that a branch can not produce fruit by its own power. It only produces fruit because of its connection to a vine. Jesus said, ”I am the true vine…Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:1,4). The word abide means to remain as one, not to become another or different, to wait for, to last or endure, not to depart, and to be held and kept continually.
We will all bear fruit according to the vine we are connected to, so if you want to be a producer of the fruit of the Spirit, there is only one action step to take – Abide in Christ. The fruit of the Spirit will be the result.
Read for further study Galatians 5:16-26 and John 15:1-11.
What are some of the things you do to abide in Christ?
I can talk all day long about the amazing experiences we have at Church Online. I could go on and on about why we do what we do. But today, I’ll let Gary Molander talk. I encourage you to read his whole post, but here’s a few snippets of what he wrote:
I just returned from an amazing church experience. It touched me so much, I had to blog about it.
It was very welcoming. Before the service, everyone kept saying, “Welcome. We’re glad you’re here. It’s about to start.” These comments seem to take down some of my barriers as a new person.
He went on to share about what he saw during the experience:
Bryan was asking him a ton of questions about faith. His main question was centered around God the Father. He wanted to know if Jesus (The Christian Faith) and Mohammed (The Muslim Faith) were prophets who both pointed to the same God. I listened (and watched) at how Tyler – a Christian man from the church – walked Bryan through the Christian belief about God. It was loving, and filled with grace. It was also filled with biblical truth.
Then, I heard Bryan make this comment to Tyler: “I just thank God that He loves me, even though I’m gay.” The music was getting softer, so I could experience their conversation fully.
Tyler’s response was amazing: “I used to struggle with that too. But Jesus set me free.”
Every week we have people from all backgrounds, faiths and lifestyles come to our experiences. We want to show each of them the love of God because anything less could keep them from encountering it more personally. This is why we do what we do, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.
I’d love to hear from you. Can you remember your first Church Online experience? What stands out to you about that encounter? Please post your thoughts in the comments section below!
This past weekend Craig talked about speaking in tongues and where it fits into our lives as we are filled with the Holy Spirit. (You can catch all the sermon notes and scriptures on our YouVersion Live Event.) Watch the videos below, but I’d love to here how this message connected with you!
Craig walks us through Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the Disciples
Kevin shares his experiences having the gift of Speaking in Tongues
This coming week we get to the last message in our current series Ghost, which has been a study looking at the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This weekend we get a chance to look at what it means to have a spirit filled life.
- Does a spirit filled life mean when a preacher lays a hand on us we fall over?
- Do we all speak in tongues or just some?
- Does being spirit filled mean “emotional?”
These questions and more are what we are talking about this next week at LifeChurch.tv. You can connect with this message at any of our Campuses or Church Online!
What have your experiences been with a “spirit filled” life?
You don’t want to miss Church Online this weekend – we have just launched a whole new look! We have also added some helpful features you can check out:
- When you come to Church Online when there isn’t a LIVE experience it will automatically detect your time zone. This way you can always know when experiences are happening based off of where you live. All of the times are now listed there as well, so you can view and even invite friends to join you easily!
- When you come to Church Online between experiences you can see the most recent blog post and other community updates.
There are other features to check out along with the fresh new look of Church Online. Be sure to drop by this week and check it out!
Holy Spirit,
Open me up,
to your work in my heart,
to the darks places in my life I try to hide,
to your grace,
and to the opportunities to move in faith each day.
Reveal in me,
the gifts you’ve given me,
my place in your kingdom,
a new spirit of repentance for ignoring these spiritual gifts,
a refreshed vigor to serve yielded to your voice.
I pray for a spirit filled life,
I pray for the results of my everyday to reveal the presence of you in my life,
I pray for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control,
I pray for courage to move in compassion to open this world up to your love,
I pray that you would pour yourself out onto my life this week.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
