The New Year
January 1, 2023Pastor Patrick presented today's brief, stand-alone, New Year's message. A video of the message is here (starting at 13:16).
[Conversation Starters will begin again with the start of the next official life groups session.]
Patrick referenced Galations 5:22-23a: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." He suggested that this is what God's wants for us in the New Year (always, actually). He also indicated that the upcoming message series will be "The Life You Always Wanted" and it will be tied, at least in part, to this verse.
So, since it seems we're going to be studying something about these "fruits of the Spirit" for a while, I thought an exercise to look at the various connotations in meaning and how the Greek relates to the Hebrew might be in order. Here's a chart with what I gathered:
Also availabe (more readable): .PDF, .XLXS
The Fruit of the Spirit series was called "The Life You've Always Wanted" and started on January 29, 2023.
Bonus
The Lord does command gratitude in the Torah. For example, Deuteronomy chapter 8 is all about Moses reminding the Israelites what God has done for them in bringing them to the Promised Land. Verse 10 in chapter 8 says, "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you." The word "praise" is the operative word. Give thanks! Recognize from whom all blessings flow.
It's also interesting to note that what the Torah fears in this chapter (and others) is that you'll forget Him in good times. We often think that people forget or dismiss God in bad times, but it's not true, or at least not totally true. When things go well for us, we gravitate to thinking it was our doing that got us there. The Torah says no, you got there by applying the gifts and talents God gave you! Be grateful!