This week, we examine the Fruit of the Spirit that we call Peace. What is peace? How can we come to a place of peace when we are surrounded by pressure and division; violence and unrest? Is peace merely the absence of conflict, worry or tension? Is it more than just personal, but also extending to society and our larger world? What kind of peace does Jesus dream of for us when He says “Blessed are the peacemakers”? Let us keep joining together thoughtfully and prayerfully seeking to grow in this Fruit.
7/18/2021: Never Stop Growing WEEK 2: JOY
This week, we continue to explore the Fruit of the Spirit promised to us in the life of faith and we focus on JOY! We will think about how joy is worlds apart different from happiness, though both of which are lacking in our post-pandemic world. Yet we are called, no matter the circumstance, to be a joy-full people! How do we do that? What does that look like? What difference does it make? And finally, how is joy connected to our central faith story of God’s amazing grace?
7/11/2021: Never Stop Growing WEEK 1: LOVE
This week begins a new sermon series that will take us through the rest of this summer! It is called “Never Stop Growing” It will explore in depth the fruit of the Spirit promised to us in Galatians chapter 5. These fruits are signs that Christ and the Holy Spirit are living and active in our lives, but none of us is perfect. Because of the Spirit, we never stop growing: in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. What would our families, workplaces, friendships, and sense of our place in the world look like if we focused on growth in these things? How does our world define them and maybe how would God invite us to redefine them in the life of faith?
Link to this week’s sermon: readable PDF
- WEEK 1: Love
- WEEK 2: Joy
- WEEK 3: Peace
- WEEK 4: Patience
- WEEK 5: Kindness
- WEEK 6: Generosity / Goodness
- WEEK 7: Faithfulness
- WEEK 8: Gentleness
- WEEK 9: Self-Control
7/4/2021: Who is the Holy Spirit? WEEK 5: The Vine for Our Fruit
This is a bridge week sermon: it is the last sermon in a more general series asking “Who is the Holy Spirit?”. But it also is helping to introduce the series we will dwell in for the rest of the summer focused on the fruit of the Spirit. This week we ask ourselves the questions that Paul was attending to in Galatians:
How do we know we are Christians? How do we know God is at work in us? How does the world know? How does this fruit actually grow in our life and what will it look like?
In weeks to come, we will explore each fruit more in depth, but for now, let us consider how our openness to the Spirit’s work helps us to grow in ways we never could on our own.
6/27/2021: Who is the Holy Spirit? WEEK 4: The Source of Unity
This week we explore Paul’s writings to an early church, torn up by competition and divisions among them. Paul tells them that although they are different, each one of them is filled by the Holy Spirit and so is given different spiritual gifts in order to build up the community for the better. He urges them to think of themselves as the BODY OF CHRIST, an image that is powerful in helping us understand the kind of unity we are called to as Christians. We are not called to be the same or even to always get along and agree. We are called to a relationship with fellow believers where we are committed to continuing our shared life together. In these divided and polarizing times, what can we learn from a message like this? How can the church be profoundly countercultural in living out this challenging unity?