Fruitful
Notes
Transcript
I. Series Introduction
I. Series Introduction
Big Idea: the Fruit of the Spirit is not merely evidence that the Spirit lives in us; it is the character of Christ being reproduced in us so that Christ can be revealed through us.
Theme Text: Galatians 5:16–25
Key Verse: Galatians 5:22–23
Series Question: If the Holy Spirit is living in me, what is He producing through me?
Central Series Thesis
God did not save us merely to get us into heaven.
1. He saved us,
2. filled us with His Spirit, and
3. placed us in the world so that the life of Christ could become visible through us.
You are strategically placed to emulate the character of Christ.
We as fruit bear witness and point to Christ that others may see him. “The world should EXPERIENCE the gospel through the fruit we bear”-WB
The fruit is:
Produced by the Spirit → developed through surrender → displayed through the believer → experienced by others → used for the glory of Christ.
That gives you a powerful evangelistic dimension. People should be able to taste the effect of our relationship with God.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
People should see our lives and find something “tangible” they can hold on to.
At the end of the day, our goal is that our lives will point people to Christ. Christ calls us therefore beyond a life that simply asks “Am I saved?” the right question to ask is “Am I fruitful and whois experiencing the fruit God has made in me?
The apples is not for the apple tree. The orange is not for the Orange tree.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
Sermon Start
Sermon Start
SERMON 1 — LOVE
“The Fruit That Changes Everything”
Primary: Galatians 5:16–25
Supporting: John 13:34–35; 15:8–13; 1 Corinthians 13:1–8; 1 John 4:7–12
Big Idea
Love is the clearest evidence that the invisible God is doing a visible work in us.
(Love is the clearest evidence of an invisible God through our demonstration)
Introduction:
Introduction:
This morning we ask a very viral question. “What is being produced by the Spirit’s presence in my life?
What makes me recognizable as a christian?
Our preaching and teaching gifts,
Our theology or our music
Our houses of worship or our religious activity.
Jesus says the mark of our discipleship is love. One of the fruit of the spirit.
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” — John 13:35
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
I. LOVE IS PRODUCED BY THE SPIRIT
I. LOVE IS PRODUCED BY THE SPIRIT
Here we are confronted with the reality that we have to opposing natures (each one seeking to bear fruit and express itself in our live through that fruit)
The Spirit has love but the Flesh also has its own counterfeit version.
The fleshes love is:
based on reciprocity
Based on tactical advantage
Based on agreement and confirmation bias
Based on the meeting of expectations
Biblical love is:
Unconditional
Galatians 5:22— “But the fruit of the Spirit is love…”
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Loved produced by the spirit says:
“I have received love from God, therefore I have love available to give.”
Romans 5:5 is huge here:
5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
“The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost…”
II. LOVE TRANSFORMS THE PERSON WHO GIVES IT
II. LOVE TRANSFORMS THE PERSON WHO GIVES IT
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Analogy of a plant dying to itself to produce more fruit. We must yield to the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 13 goes beyond a litmus test with which I can test the purity of the love I receive.It is the barometer to the manifestation of the Spirit’s work in our lives.
Read 1 Corinthians 13 from a different perspective.
We usually ask, “Is someone loving me this way?”
Instead ask:
“Is the Spirit transforming ME into this kind of person?”
Am I becoming more patient?
Less easily provoked?
Less self-centered?
Less resentful?
More forgiving?
III. LOVE TRANSFORMS THE PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE IT
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
1 John 4:12 gives you a tremendous thought:
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us…”
People who cannot see God can experience something of God through God's people.
That's evangelism through character.
IV. LOVE MAKES CHRIST VISIBLE
John 13:35.
Our love becomes part of our witness.
Challenge:
If the only evidence someone had that Jesus was real was the way I treated them, what would they conclude about Jesus?
