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Today we are talking about the fruit of the Spirit which is goodness.  This is more exclusively an attribute of God.  In Luke 18 when Jesus was talking to the rich young ruler he called Him “good master” (Luke 18:18).  Jesus did not deny that the word applied to Him but He wanted him toContinue reading “Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness”

The next fruit we are talking about is kindness. Let’s first of all talk about what kindness is not. In Proverbs 18:8 it says: “The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.” The Puritan Charles Bridges says: “No good results can arise from the spirit ofContinue reading “The Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness”

The fruit of the Spirit we are talking about today is peace. The verse we begin with is Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.”  When we think about God and his perfect peace, this should remind us that we are restingContinue reading “The Fruit of the Spirit: Peace”

The second fruit of the Spirit is joy. Joy is in the same family of Greek words as grace. This means to me that because we are saved by the underserved grace of God, the joy we experience is non-circumstantial. This does not mean that we are outwardly happy about our circumstances all the time,Continue reading “The Fruit of the Spirit: Joy”

I will be doing a series of pastor’s pens on the fruit of the Spirit, not fruits of the Spirit. They are called the fruit of the Spirit because all of these qualities are ours the day we believed. The fruit are different manifestations of God’s sanctification in our life. Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But theContinue reading “The Fruit of the Spirit: LOVE”

Since Easter was this last Sunday, I thought I would devote my column today to some thoughts on the practicality of our faith. In Ephesians 1:19 Paul said: “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.” Paul prays that we might know the exceedingContinue reading “God Gives Us Power”

I John 4:8 says: “He who does not love does not know God for God is love.” God created us with a desire to love and to be loved. This desire however has been buried under the false views of denying the existence of God. Many fallaciously believe that by eliminating God we are freerContinue reading “The Trinity as the Basis for Love”

As you know on Sunday mornings, I am preaching through the Book of Acts. My title for the overall series is: “Inside Out: How the Church Can Change the World.” What I am learning in this series is that for us to effectively reach the world for the Gospel, it must begin with the localContinue reading “Inside Out: How The Church Can Change the World”

In Lee Beach’s The Church in Exile, he begins by saying: “On July 1, 1967 a crowd of 25,000 people gathered in Canada’s capital city for the country’s centennial birthday celebration. In addition to all of the dignitaries were members of the clergy. The service consisted of readings from the Bible, hymns from the ChristianContinue reading “How Did They Change?”

This past Sunday I preached on Acts Chapter 3 which is the passage about the healing of the lame man. He was healed in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The lame man eventually died. What was the purpose of the healing? It pointed to the healing of our soul as well as ourContinue reading “The Healing of the Lame Man in Acts 3”