Sermon by Justin Gates on November 24, 2024.
We are often distracted many different things that gain our attention and focus. This week we look at the Apostle Paul's words that show us 3 distinct benefits of focusing our attention on the Lord.
Fruit of the Spirit
Do you ever feel like there are two competing forces waging war within you as you try to follow Jesus? Do you ever feel a gap between what you want your discipleship to look like and the actual lived reality of your day-to-day life?
Galatians 5 gives weight to this battle within us, telling us about these two competing forces with competing desires - the Spirit and the flesh. And the invitation for all of us as followers of Jesus is to crucify the flesh and cultivate the fruit.
This series will take nine weeks to walk through the Fruit of the Spirit we are called to cultivate, as we examine the life and teachings of Jesus and how the Fruit of the Spirit was evident in His life.
To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.
Week 1: Love in a Time of Self-Interest
Week 2: Peace in a Time of Anxiety
Week 3: Patience in a Time of Irritability
Week 4: Faithfulness in a Time of Compromise
Week 5: Gentleness In a Time of Harshness
Week 6: Goodness in a Time of Brokenness
Week 7: Kindness in a Time of Polarization
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Week 8: Joy in a Time of Cynicism
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Week 9: Self-Control in a time of Self-Fulfillment
Philippians
SERMONS | READING PLAN | PRACTICES | RESOURCES
In 62AD, we find the apostle Paul bound in prison and disconnected from his friends and church family. Yet during his imprisonment, he’s able to pen what is considered to be the most joyful book of the Bible - the letter to the Philippians.
In this 12-week series, we'll take a look at how our church family can become people of joy as we slowly transition back into “normal” life, and how our joy can be a witness to our city that Jesus is alive.
To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.
Week 1: Joy Defined
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Week 2: An Unstoppable Kingdom
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Week 3: Joy in Life or Death
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Week 4: Live as Citizens of the Gospel
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Week 5: The Humiliation & Exaltation Of Christ
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Week 6: Joy in our Perseverance
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Week 7: Gospel Friendships and Gospel Goodbyes
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Week 8: Delighting In The Surpassing Worth Of Christ
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Week 9: Pressing on to Maturity
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Week 10: Peace Over Anxiety
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Week 11: Rejoice In The Lord Always
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Week 12: The Power of Contentment
As we launch new teaching series, we want to introduce new tools and practices that help you learn to be with Jesus and look more like Him.
For this series, we want to focus on a particular tool to help us learn to follow Jesus more closely. Given that the book of Philippians is one of the most joy-filled books in the Scriptures, our spiritual practice for this series is gratitude.
For those wanting to dive further into Philippians, we’d recommend the following videos, books, and commentaries:
Philippians: The NIV Application Commentary
Paul’s Letter to the Philippians by Gordon Fee
Paul's Letter to the Philippians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder and Michel Hendricks
