Five weeks ago we launched into the worship series “Led by the Spirit.” We’ve been using a portion of the letter to the early church in Galatia as the foundation of our time together, in particular the Apostle Paul’s description of how God’s activity in and through these Jesus followers is going to be experienced. Our worship planning team and leaders hope you’ve taken some time to consider how God’s activity in your life has been and continues to be made manifest in comparable ways.
- love
- joy
- peace
- patience
- kindness
- generosity
- faithfulness
- gentleness
- self-control
These nine “Fruits of the Spirit” can be understood in a few ways. They can be aspirational, as in, “I need to find more joy in my life,” or “I could be kinder to this person.” They can also be evidence of God at work, as in “that person’s faithfulness to their community is inspirational” or “clearly, that person is supported in a loving relationship.”
What examples can you point to? Which of these “fruits” would you like to have more of in your life? Which would you attribute to God’s activity in the world?
Yesterday, we focused on “joy” in our worship. As we continue to make so much progress towards renewing our ministries post-Covid, I’m letting joy, in particular, be an important marker for the work we do. Like the organizational guru Marie Kando, I keep finding myself asking, “does this bring me joy?” And then I ask, “if not, why not?” or “if so, how do we experience more of the same?”
Before we launch into the next worship series and leave all this talk of fruit behind, I hope you’ll take a few moments to continue savoring these treats that God has brought into our lives. And then, ask how we might continue feeling blessed by more of the same in the weeks and months to come.
May God’s joy come to you this day. -Pastor Peter
Let us pray…
God of joy, worldly happiness may be temporary, but your joy is eternal. It exists no matter what our circumstances may be. It is finding joyful innocence in our grown-up hearts. It is accepting your love with a simple, childlike faith. Joy is discovering new things about you every day. Thank you for your sharing your delight in and with us! Amen.