Evidence of the Gift

Good morning folks.

We're glad you're here this morning.

Folks, let's continue with our worship.

Thank you so much for being here.

The statutes of the Lord are pure, enlightening the eyes.

More to be desired, are they than gold yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb?

The fear of the Lord Is clean, enduring forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous, altogether.

More to be desired, are they than gold yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb?

Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise, for it was grace that brought my liberty.

I do not know just why he came to love me so.

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary To view the cross where Jesus died for me.

How marvelous a grace that caught my falling soul.

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise, for it was grace that bought my liberty.

I do not know just why he came to love me so he looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

I shall forever lift mine eyes to Calvary to view the cross where Jesus died for me.

How marvelous the grace that caught my falling soul.

He looked beyond my fault and saw my need.

Amen, please be seated.

Good morning you pray with me.

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning.

We thank you so much for this bread that represents your son's body, dear Lord, something that we get to do every Sunday to remember what you have done for us.

Dear lord, we thank you so much in jesus name, amen.

All right On bended knee.

I come With a humble heart.

I come Bowing down before your holy throne, lifting holy hands to you as I pledge my love anew.

I worship you in spirit.

I worship you in truth.

Make my life a holy praise unto you so.

Continue in prayer with me.

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you at this time.

We thank you so much for this cup, Dear Lord.

It represents the blood, the blood that covers our sins.

Dear Lord, Can't thank you enough for that.

In Jesus' name, amen, I'm going to make a little.

Hold it.

What do you have?

What do you have in your hand?

On bended knee, I come With a broken heart.

I come Bowing down before your holy throne as I look upon your face.

Show your mercy and your grace.

Change my life, o Holy Spirit no-transcript.

In Jesus' name we pray Amen.

On bended knee, I come with a humble heart.

I come bowing down before your holy throne, lifting holy hands to you, as, as I pledge my love anew, I worship you in spirit.

I worship you in truth.

Make my life a holy praise unto you.

Good morning.

Today's scripture reading comes from Galatians 5.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

There is no law against these things.

Alright, good morning, we're going to go ahead and get started with the word of prayer.

Father, god, we thank you so much for your love.

God, we're thankful for Jesus and his example of how to live and how to interact.

God, we're thankful for the spirit, thankful for the gift that you've given us.

God, I pray that you'll open up our eyes and our hearts and our ears so that we can see evidence of the gift that you've given us.

We thank you for the way that you love us.

We pray for opportunities to see your love and to show your love to the people around.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Alright, next year we're doing Hawaiian shirts and bro tanks.

It is hot, it is hot.

Good morning, hopefully you were able to join us for breakfast this morning.

I did not get a total count.

I know we went through.

We set out 250 plates.

We went through 250 plates, but you might have went through twice, like me, so that's all right.

A couple things before we get started.

I was told I had to pick a winner.

Some of the ladies this week did a cookie exchange here at the church.

They exchanged cookies with one another.

They also took cookies to different places and different shut-ins and things like that.

But I, at my house, received a tub of cookies that I was supposed to try every cookie and tell everybody what my favorite one was, because now all those ladies have every single recipe.

So if I pick a favorite, then each week they can just coordinate and each bring me a cookie each week as we go.

So, in no particular order, there was a top three.

One of them was made by Brianna.

She made a peanut butter pretzel cookie.

It was my favorite.

I'll just say that it's just number one.

So if you go see Brianna today, if you don't know Brianna, find Brianna, get that recipe.

They're great cookies and I can tell you where I live later and you can send them there.

Brooklyn came in.

She was in top three.

Brooklyn made a snickerdoodle, which I.

Brooklyn made a snickerdoodle, which I had already had the snickerdoodle before.

So I knew it was going to be great.

So again.

And then I picked my wife's Christmas tree cookie too, because it's real good.

So, yeah, all the cookies, all the cookies were very good and thanks for sending those my way.

So that's that before we get started.

This morning I did want to share something with you.

I should have done this earlier.

I should have done this two weeks ago, actually.

As we started this series on the Holy Spirit, I explained to you at the very beginning that it's an uncomfortable thing.

We don't know a lot about it, we sometimes avoid it because we are unfamiliar with it, and so, in preparation for the sermon series, I did begin reading this book.

It's called the Holy Spirit, an Introduction.

It's by John Bevere and I just wanted to share that with you.

Some of the things, a lot of the things that we shared the last few weeks have came from that book.

So if you have enjoyed that, I would suggest getting that book, because we only looked at a couple different chapters.

So I wanted to share that with you this morning.

Then this morning we're going to jump into maybe something a little more comfortable.

We're going to talk about the fruit of the Spirit, and many of you now know the song the Fruit of the Spirit, and I wanted to sing it with all of you while the kids were gone, but I don't know if we have time.

But we're going to look at the idea of the fruit of the Spirit.

Every fruit is produced from a source.

There's always a plant, there's always a tree that the fruit has to come from.

Therefore there is a source and therefore the fruit is a product of the source.

And so this morning we're going to play a game with you.

You have six blanks there on your outline and I'm going to show you a picture of a plant or a tree and you're going to write down what you think that plant or that tree produces.

Okay, so I was careful enough to pick pictures that didn't have the fruit in them, and so do not shout out the answer.

In the 830 service, every time I put the tree up there, there was one guy and he would just yell out the answer and he knew his stuff.

So everybody got 100.

So it was not Doug Frame.

Alright, here we go.

That's your first one.

This should be an easy one, okay.

So what you're going to do?

You're looking at that plant and you're writing down on that first blank what you think that plant produces.

Okay, rigo, are you a plant expert Somewhat?

Okay okay an expert, somewhat, okay.

Okay, there's always a guy he's over here going, it's strawberries, it's this guy, it is strawberries.

So if you got strawberries, go ahead and put your hand up and give yourself a pat on the back.

There you go, congratulations.

You know plants?

Okay, here we go.

Remember, we're going to be quiet, we're not going to say what it is.

Here we go.

This is a tree.

What fruit does it produce?

Go ahead and write down a guess or an answer.

What does that tree produce?

Okay, do I have any tree experts?

Anybody confident in what that is what it produces.

Yes, coconut, you're wrong, hey, ian what do you got Banana tree.

You got it.

Man, that's a banana tree.

Ian knows that because he puts peanut butter on his banana, because he needs protein.

All right, here we go.

This is a tree.

I think it's a tree.

This one I'm unsure about.

I've got to be honest with you.

I Googled a bunch of pictures and I put this one up there.

I think this is what it is.

It's a hard one.

Nobody in the 830 got this one.

It just looks like a weed to me.

It looks like there's little berries on it.

Alright, anybody got a guess?

Greg Elderberry, wrong.

Yeah, you in the back with the sign.

Look at this guy, what's that?

Say Boo, are you booing me?

What's he saying?

What wrong?

Yes, rhubarb, wrong.

Elderberry's already been wrong.

It's kiwi.

Oh, oh, this game is fun.

I like this.

Alright, here we go.

A couple more.

A couple more, a couple more.

There you go, what's that one?

We're getting back on the easier ones.

Don't say it out loud yet, don't get excited.

Okay, everybody got an answer.

Anybody confident in that answer?

What is it?

It is blueberry.

It is blueberries, blueberries.

All right, two more, two more here on your outline.

There you go.

Yep, that's a tree.

It is a tree, pumpkins.

Oh, you're trying to zoom in.

Lee's over here trying to zoom in on it.

All right, anybody confident in an answer?

Walnut, a fruit?

I have no idea.

It's not a walnut.

All right, anybody know Cherry?

Who said that?

Wrong, you can't see it.

You can't see the leaves.

Oh see, they know their stuff.

You got to see the leaves.

You can't see the leaves.

Oh see, they know their stuff.

You got to see the leaves.

Yeah, in the back.

Orange shirt.

Yeah, you're good.

Apple Boom, he got it.

Nice guess, good answer, it's an apple.

And the last one, maybe.

There we go.

Who knows it?

Easy one, easy one.

Hey, in the back, here you go.

Grapes, correct, all right, you can identify the source, or you can identify the fruit from the source, and oftentimes you identify the source from the fruit.

And as we start to look at the Holy Spirit, as we've kind of defined it from the beginning, the simple answer for the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to point us to Jesus.

Jesus Himself, like we talked about the first week, jesus Himself said it's better for me to leave so that you will receive the Holy Spirit, because it is such a gift for you to have the Holy Spirit, that it will be a helper and that it will continue to help you point to Jesus and it will continue to keep you in a relationship with God.

And so Jesus, in simple terms, said it's better for you to have the Spirit than for me to be here on earth with you.

And so we've looked at that idea, and the purpose of Jesus was for God to show us his ultimate love, and so, through his son, he shows the example of how much he loves us, and he showed us how we should live.

Jesus lived the perfect life.

Jesus was the ultimate example for how we could love other people, how you and I can do that.

And through his life, death, burial and resurrection, jesus points directly to the love of God, and from Genesis on, god wanted to show his love for his people.

Even though they were lost to sin, he continued to show and strive for them to understand His love.

Even in the craziness of the Old Testament and some of the stories that we read, the message was for the people to know that God loved them and he would do whatever to create and repair the relationship that had been broken through sin.

And so the goal today is for us to hopefully be able to see and to identify how the Holy Spirit has been working and will work in our life.

The Holy Spirit is all around you and you've seen it working in people.

Maybe you just haven't identified it or maybe you haven't noticed it.

And so Paul's writing Galatians to a group of people that are struggling with the idea the Jewish Christians are telling the non-Jewish Christians that they're not really truly part of the family because they didn't go through all the things that the Jewish Christians went through.

And so Paul reminds them throughout the book of Galatians that no, what Jesus did was to come and to change the law, to fulfill the law, so that all were able to have a relationship with Jesus.

And as we read through Galatians, paul goes on to tell us what life looks like if we follow flesh, and he tells us what life looks like if we follow the Spirit, if we allow the Spirit to lead our life.

He says if we follow the flesh and the earthly desires that we have, it's going to lead to selfishness, envy, divisiveness, it's going to lead to sexual immorality, idolatry and even murder.

But he says if you follow and you have the Holy Spirit, then it will produce things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

And he said that is what the fruit of the Spirit is.

And so, as we read Galatians 5, it says but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

There is no law against these things.

Notice there that it says fruit of the Spirit.

It's not fruits of the Spirit, it is the fruit of the Spirit.

It's like a cluster of fruit that we should show from us.

It's not the idea that I would have one of the fruits and you would have a different fruit, but as Christians, if we're full of the Holy Spirit, then we should show all of those characteristics.

Does that make sense?

And so sometimes we think of our gifts and we think of our abilities and we say, well, I may have the gift of speaking, but you have the gift of listening.

Well, that's different.

We should have all characteristics of the Holy Spirit.

We should have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

And it's more of a cluster of that.

Some people think you read through commentaries and you read Galatians 5,.

Some people think that the fruit of the Spirit is just love.

It was listed first and it's love, and then the rest of the characteristics that are listed describe what love and action looks like, and that would make sense.

You know, love is joy, love is peace, love is patience, love would be kindness, goodness.

But it doesn't matter if that's what it is or not, it's just what some people think.

But if God is love and Jesus was the example of great love, then of course the fruit of the Spirit is definitely love.

It is one of those, and so as we begin to look today, we're going to look at a couple different stories in the Bible and hopefully understand and identify where the Holy Spirit has been working and influencing throughout all of Scripture.

The Holy Spirit was been working and influencing throughout all of Scripture.

The Holy Spirit was there in the beginning.

We read in Genesis 1, in creation, that the Holy Spirit was there.

So it's been here the whole time.

But through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we get the indwelling of the Spirit.

But I do believe that the Holy Spirit was influencing throughout the Old Testament.

There's a story that we came across this week.

I was studying with a group of guys and we came across this story in 2 Kings 5.

It's one of my favorite stories and I don't have all of the verse up there on the screen.

So if you want to follow along, we're going to be in 2 Kings 5,.

If you have your phone or your Bible, we're going to start in verse 1.

We'll get to that verse that's up there on the screen in just a second.

It says the king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories.

But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.

So there was a man by the name of Naaman who was the army leader, he was the chief leader and he led a lot of great victories and he had a belief in the Lord.

And the Lord delivered him in a lot of different ways.

He was a mighty warrior, he was a commander of the army, but he had leprosy.

If we keep reading, it says the Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid.

So Naaman's soldiers had went into a land of Israel, went into the land of Israel.

Not only did they defeat Israel, but they started to take things.

They would take things from the land of Israel.

Not only did they take things, they took people.

And they took this girl who we read about in this story, and they take her and she is now ripped from her home.

She is no longer living with her family.

She now serves Naaman, which would be a really hard situation to be in.

Imagine having to serve the person that ripped you from your family.

The reason that you're no longer with your mom and dad or brothers and sisters is because of the man that you have to serve on a daily basis.

Now, if it was me, I'll just be honest I would be bitter, I'd be angry and I'd be upset.

I wouldn't make him avocado with toast, I'd make him spit on toast.

Right, it would be really hard to love this family.

It would be a challenge.

It would be really hard to love this family.

It would be a challenge.

It would be difficult.

She has every reason to be upset.

This servant girl has every reason to be upset.

She has every reason to be mad.

But here's what happens.

She overhears Naaman's wife say that Naaman has leprosy, and that's where we get to this verse, verse 3, where she says I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria.

He would heal him of his leprosy.

And so, instead of being angry, instead of being bitter, instead of being mad, she shows the fruit of the Spirit.

So you have on your outline there I think I have listed there on your outline all the fruits of the Spirit.

So, in that story, which characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit do you see?

Do you see love?

Do you see peace?

Do you see patience?

Do you see peace?

Do you see patience?

Do you see kindness?

Do you see goodness?

Do you see faithfulness?

Do you see gentleness?

And definitely, you see self-control.

She goes on to tell him where the prophet is.

They didn't listen very well.

Instead, they went to the king of Israel.

You remember the story, and the king of Israel takes it as an insult that they sent the enemy to him and asked if he could heal the leprosy, because there was no cure, there was no answer to leprosy.

So, finally, naaman's going to get to the prophet, elisha, and Elisha is going to clear the leprosy.

But it all started with this little girl.

And yes, it's in the Old Testament.

Yes, the pouring of the Holy Spirit hasn't happened, but I do believe that the influence of the Spirit has taken place.

I think you see the fruit of the Spirit in that story.

It's the Old Testament.

We'll go to the New Testament, we'll go to the Gospel.

I believe this is John, chapter 8, where we're going to be in this story.

John 8 · chapter mention

You'll know this story and again, it's not all up there, but we'll kind of read through it.

A crowd is gathering at the marketplace and while they're there at the marketplace the whole crowd is there A group of angry people come bringing a woman who they found was caught in adultery, and they throw this woman in front of Jesus and they demand that Jesus condemn her according to the law.

And the law would say that this woman, because she was caught in adultery, needs to be stoned.

So then, after a moment, I think the crowd was expecting Jesus to react in a way.

But after a moment, jesus stands up, looks at the crowd and he says let any of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.

You have to imagine thinking through this story.

Put yourself, here probably got real quiet.

The words were just sitting there, everybody sitting quietly, and then all of a sudden there was a little rippling as, one by one, the accusers began to drop the stone and to walk away.

They understood their own shortcomings and began to leave.

And it started with the oldest and went all the way to the youngest, to where, eventually, everybody was gone and it was just Jesus.

And it was just that woman.

And Jesus turned to her, not to condemn her, but with gentle concern.

He says where are the accusers?

Didn't one of them condemn you?

And she responds no, lord.

And Jesus said neither do I Go and sin no more.

Do you see the fruit of the Spirit in that story?

You see love, with Jesus not condemning the woman despite her past, but he shows her love and compassion.

He prioritizes her well-being over the judgment.

In the middle of the society, you see peace.

The crowd was expecting Him to respond and to react and Jesus didn't give them that satisfaction.

Instead, when they throw this woman in front of him, jesus bends down and starts writing in the dirt.

And this is one of the questions I have for God.

When we get to heaven I won't care anymore, but I do while I'm here on earth.

What was Jesus doing as he scribbled?

What did he write?

We don't know.

I'd love to know.

Tacey brought up at the 830,.

Every time Jesus was tempted he usually went back to Scripture.

So maybe he started to write Scripture I've thought about.

Did he write all their sins down?

Was he drawing smiley faces?

Did he play Sudoku?

I don't know what was he doing.

But in a gentle, peaceful way, jesus said what he needed to say.

He said without sin, you throw the first stone and it got real quiet and then you probably heard people dropping their stones and feet, just real quiet.

And then you probably heard people dropping their stones and feet, just walking away.

So you have the gentleness, you have the kindness.

Jesus embodied the fruit of the Spirit.

He demonstrated how we can live a life with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control Probably took a lot of he's Jesus, so it didn't.

But if it was me it would have taken a lot to not just outburst to the crowd.

What are you doing?

We talked about he looked down.

He didn't even give him the satisfaction of looking at the crowd.

He just looks down and starts writing.

If it was me, I would have just been staring at him, been like, really you think you should throw the stone, get out of here.

You know, like when you stare at your kid when they're doing something you know they know they're not supposed to do, and you just kind of stare at them in hopes that they understand what you're saying or thinking that's what I would have done if I was Jesus.

But you see the fruit of the Spirit in Jesus and then we're going to go to the New Testament and look at one more guy this morning.

And this all takes place in Acts.

So this is after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

This is after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

This is the New Testament church, beginning the church and responding to the Holy Spirit.

And as we get to Acts, chapter 4, again, not the whole story is up there, but I'll read the beginning.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Acts 4, verse 32, says All of the believers were united in heart and in mind and they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

Acts 4:32

The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of Lord Jesus and God's great blessing was upon all of them.

There were no needy people amongst them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give those for those in need.

Verse 36 up there on your screen says, for instance, there was Joseph, one of the apostles nicknamed Barnabas, which means son of encouragement.

He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus.

He sold a field.

He owned and brought the money to the apostles.

This was a crazy time in the New Testament.

People were on fire for Jesus, literally Ready to go and to do whatever they could to serve Jesus, and they trusted in the Holy Spirit.

And so we get introduced to a guy by the name of Barnabas.

Barnabas is one of those hidden characters in the New Testament that kind of gets outshined by everybody else.

But if you look throughout the stories in the New Testament, barnabas was a part of all of it.

He just was kind of the guy that sat in the background.

Why guys like Paul get all the mentioning?

And so we get Barnabas.

In this story we find out that Barnabas sells a field and gives the money to the apostles.

So do you see the fruit of the Spirit in that action?

You see love, you see peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

You see love, you see peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control.

If it was me, I probably would have sold four acres and kept that fifth acre just in case it didn't work out.

But you see that he sells all of it.

We jump around just a little bit.

This morning we're going to go to Acts 9.

This is after Saul's conversion.

We've talked about this story before.

Saul has a coming to Jesus moment where he decides well, god decides that he's going to start following, and Paul starts preaching and teaching the gospel.

And it rubbed people differently, because some people just didn't believe that this man who was once persecuting Christians is now telling them to love one another.

And so, as Paul began to preach, there was a lot of different reactions.

Some people listened and heard, some people were just nervous and scared.

And so we read through Acts, chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

We find out that Paul is going to go to Jerusalem and he has this really great idea when he gets to Jerusalem, he wants to meet up with the disciples, which makes sense.

He wants to be around the fellowship, he wants to be around his brothers and sisters who are going to help encourage him.

But we know as we read the story, when Paul gets to the disciples, they're scared, they're afraid, they're unsure if he really became a believer, and so they kind of send him away.

And as he gets sent away, we get this part of the story, verse 27.

Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul.

He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

If Barnabas wouldn't have stepped up, what would have happened?

Think about this this is a new Christian who just discovered his faith and he's excited to share with Jesus, but he gets rejected by other believers.

So I imagine if Paul would have walked away, he would have maybe gave up, maybe he would have quit, which would have been crazy, because most of the New Testament is written by a guy named Paul.

But in this story you have a guy named Barnabas who steps up in a moment where he needed to.

And he steps up and he grabs Paul by the shoulder and he says no, come back.

And he goes in and pleads with the disciples and after Barnabas shares a little bit about what Paul's been doing, they allow Paul to stick around and they start preaching and teaching the gospel together.

A couple more verses this morning as we go to Acts 11.

This is, after some time, verse 36, or no, not that one verse 22.

When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.

When he arrived, he saw this evidence of God's blessing.

He was filled with joy and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord.

Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith, and many people were brought to the Lord.

Then Barnabas went to T man and he's full of what the Holy Spirit.

Barnabas is a really good example of someone that's full of the Holy Spirit.

There's one last awkward interaction that takes place that I want to look at this morning.

In Acts, chapter 15, paul and Barnabas become missionaries.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Paul and Barnabas are going around to different nations and cities sharing the gospel of Jesus.

They're working together as a team and oftentimes, as they would travel, they would take along more people with them.

They would take other disciples or other people to help share about Jesus, and on one trip they'd take a guy by the name of John Mark.

John Mark would have been one of the youngest guys, but they say, hey, let's bring John Mark alongside us.

So they take John Mark on the mission and they're traveling, but as they started to bounce from city to city, john Mark, for whatever reason, decides that he wants to go home.

I don't know if he got nervous, if he got scared, if he got tired.

He was a young kid, maybe he just missed his mom.

But eventually John Mark decides I'm leaving, I'm not going with you any farther.

And so John Mark in Paul's words.

We're going to read them in just a minute.

John Mark deserted them when things got a little bit rough.

John Mark deserted them when things got a little bit rough.

John Mark left.

That rubbed Paul a little bit wrong.

He's upset about it, he's angry.

That's where we get this interaction Acts 15, verse 36.

Acts 15:36

It says after some time Paul said to Barnabas let's go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord to see how the new believers are doing.

Barnabas agreed let's go do that, and he wanted to take along John Mark.

So Barnabas says okay, let's take this young guy again.

Okay, I know what he did last time, but let's take him again.

Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them the last trip and not continued on the work.

Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated.

Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.

Paul chose Silas and, as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord's gracious care.

Then he traveled through Syria and Sicilia strengthening the churches there, barnabas, the churches there.

Barnabas, full of the Holy Spirit, shows us the fruit of the Spirit.

He shows love to John Mark, he shows kindness to John Mark and he shows patience to John Mark.

Paul had kind of had enough.

Paul said we're not taking this guy again.

He deserted us the last time.

We're not taking him.

Barnabas says no, let's give him one more shot.

So hopefully this morning I know we bounced around from story to story Hopefully this morning, though, you see the evidence of what the Holy Spirit has influenced and what the Holy Spirit has done and what the Holy Spirit continues to do in people.

This room is full of evidence of the Holy Spirit.

I was talking Monday morning with our Bible study and we said, yeah, the people that we see the Holy Spirit work in is just sometimes, the quiet person there at church.

You see the gentleness, the kindness.

It's not always the flashing lights or the loudest person in the room, but the fruit of the Spirit is in all people and when you interact with those people, you feel it.

You feel and experience the Holy Spirit.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you so much for your love.

God, we thank you for the way that you work in our lives.

God, we're thankful for Jesus, we're thankful for his love and his interaction with people and that we can use it as an example to go into the world and hopefully be that example of love as well.

God, we're thankful for the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Holy Spirit and, god, I pray that, as we continue to study it, that we will tap into it and be aware of it and will allow you to work through us.

That we can be an example of that fruit, that we can be people that are loving, be people that are kind, patient and all of those things.

That we can go out into a world that needs to experience and see those things and we can show it to them.

We pray for opportunities this week to use your spirit to make an impact on this world.

Thank you for Jesus.

It's in his name we pray, amen.

When peace like a river attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll.

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say it is well, it is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought.

My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul, with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul, with my soul, wonderful, merciful Savior, precious Redeemer and friend.

Who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of men?

Oh, you rescue the souls of men.

You are the one that we praise.

You are the one we adore.

You give the healing and grace Our hearts always hunger for.

Oh, our hearts always hunger for, counselor, comforter, keeper, spirit we long to embrace.

You offer hope when our hearts have hopelessly lost our way.

Oh, we've hopelessly lost our way.

You are the one that we praise.

You are the healing and grace Our hearts always hunger for.

Oh, our hearts always hunger for.

Almighty, infinite Father, faithfully loving your own, here, in our weakness.

You find us falling before your throne.

Oh, we're falling before your throne.

Oh, we're falling before your throne.

You are the one that we praise.

You are the one we adore.

You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for.

Oh, our hearts always hunger for.

You are the one that we praise.

You are the one we adore.

You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for.

Oh, our hearts always hunger for.

Amen, God bless you everybody.

Be filled with the Spirit this week.