What is ____, Baby don't hurt me. Don't hurt me...no more!
What is Spiritual Fruit?
Spiritual Fruit is a set of Godly characteristics that we are meant to embody and share with those around us.
Where do the Fruits of the Spirit come from?
God's Character/Personality
Why should we try and grow Spiritual Fruit in our lives?
Hint: There are two correct answers. Extra 100 pts if you provide both!
1. The Fruit of the Spirit are characteristics of God. If we develop them in our lives we will become more like God.
Bonus (100 pts): When we cultivate Spiritual Fruit in our lives, we can offer it to the people around us and share bits of God's character with the world.
Use your Bible to fill in the blank. The key verse for this sermon series is G________ 5:2_-25
Galatians 5:22-25, "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 Now those who [h]belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.”
Your Week 3 (Godly Love) challenge was to count how many opportunities you notice throughout the day to show Godly Love and keep track of how many times you make the effort to do so!
Describe a situation where you've shown someone Godly Love in detail.
What is Godly Love?
Godly Love is the act of giving sacrificially and freely to others without expecting anything in return as a result of receiving God's love through Jesus.
Bonus (200 pts): How does this differ from the human version of love?
Where does Godly Love come from?
Our ability to show Godly Love comes from experiencing God's love first.
Why do we try to show Godly Love?
Hint: There are two correct answers. Extra 200 pts if you provide both!
1. When we show Godly Love to one another, we follow the example that God demonstrated for us.
Bonus (200 pts): Godly Love is counter to our instincts/culture. Every time we truly show Godly Love to others, we demonstrate to ourselves and to those around us that God is at work in our lives.
Use your Bible to fill in the blank. In 1 John 4, John writes, "Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from ___, and everyone who loves has been born of ___ and knows ___.
Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Your Week 4 (Godly Joy) challenge was to identify a tough situation in your life that you could try to find Godly Joy in.
How can someone find Godly Joy in the midst of a tough situation?
No one likes going through tough things, but we can find Godly Joy in the fact that God loves us and that, if anything good can come from it, this tough situation can bring us closer to Him.
What is Godly Joy?
Godly Joy is unshakable happiness rooted in our confidence in the fact that God loves us and wants to have a deep relationship with us.
Bonus (300 pts): How does this differ from the human version of joy?
Where does Godly Joy come from?
Our ability to feel Godly Joy comes from being confident that God loves us and wants to have a deeper relationship with us.
Why are we able to have Godly Joy?
We are able to have Godly Joy because of God's unchanging nature. He stays the same and because of that, we can be confident that the fact that He loves us will never change.
Use your Bible to fill in the blank. The Parable of the Sower is found in Matthew 1_:_-8
The parable of the Sower is found in Matthew 13:1-8.
Bonus (300 pts): What is the main message Jesus is trying to get across by telling this parable?Your Week 5 (Godly Peace) challenge was to identify some thing or situation in your life that is causing you stress and to practice accessing Godly Peace even if it didn't make sense.
Describe a time in your life when you've experienced Godly Peace or peace that didn't make sense at the time.
If you don't have a past example, describe a situation in your life that you want to try and practice accessing Godly Peace.
What is Godly Peace?
Godly Peace is a sense of calm that exists regardless of one’s circumstances because it is rooted in God’s proven goodness.
Bonus (400 pts): How does this differ from the human version of peace?
Where does Godly Peace come from?
Godly peace comes from choosing to focus on God’s proven goodness and trusting in him instead of focusing on the current struggles or situations going on around you/Acknowledging God.
Why do we always have access to Godly Peace?
Hint: There are two things we can do to access Godly Peace. One starts with starts A__________ and the other starts with an F____.
Our access to Godly peace is rooted in our ability to acknowledge God’s goodness in the past and our choice to focus on that goodness in the present instead of our circumstances. As long as we choose to do both of these things, we'll always have access to Godly Peace.
In Isaiah 26:3, Isaiah gives us the key to accessing Godly Peace. What is it?
Trusting God/Focusing on God
Which of the three Spiritual Fruits that we've covered so far do you struggle with the most? Why do you think it is hard for you?
Thanks for being honest!
What is the Soil?
Soil = The condition of our hearts.
Bonus (500 pts): Name all four types of soil from the parable and what they represent. You can use your Bible App/Bible, but not the internet.
Where does Natural Fruit come from?
How is this a metaphor for Spiritual Fruit?
Natural Fruit grows as a result of a healthy connection between the branches, vines, trunk, and roots + time/maturity.
Spiritual Fruit grows as a result of a consistent/healthy relationship with Jesus, other believers, and God + time/maturity.
Why is the condition of the Soil important in the Parable of the Sower?
The condition of the Soil determined how well the seed could take root and, thus, whether or not the seed would be able to bear fruit.
It is the same for us. The condition of our hearts determines how open we are to the truth of the Gospel and, thus, whether or not we can develop Spiritual Fruit in our lives.
Recite the Fruits of the Spirit in order.
Hint: Here are the last six in no particular order (patience, gentleness, goodness, self-control, kindness, and faithfulness)
1. Love, 2. Joy, 3. Peace, 4. Patience, 5. Kindness, 6. Goodness, 7. Faithfulness, 8. Gentleness, 9. Self-Control
Match all three of the Spiritual Fruit that we've covered so far with the Natural Fruit you think best represents it. You must be able to explain your answer.
Love = ______
Joy = ______
Peace = ______