“Peace of Fruit” on Ephesians 2:11-22 by Joe Ellis – June 26, 2022
Imagine a society that has a set of laws that create a huge amount of tension among the people who live in that society. Because of these laws, there are insiders and outsiders. Groups are formed based on whether or not they comply with the set of laws. Imagine you could tell which group they belonged to just by the way the people acted, what the people wore, how they looked, what they did or didn’t put in their bodies, or by who they associated with. Imagine that because
“Rejoice Always?” on 1 Thess. 1:1-6, 5:16-18 by Michelle Ellis - June 19, 2022
We’re continuing our series exploring the fruit of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians. There, Paul describes what kind of actions and behaviours flow out of a life lived in the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23a says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Last week, we explored Love as the first fruit of the Spirit. Today, we are going to explore Joy. I want us to look at these 2 passages f
“Gifts vs Fruit” on 1 Corinthians 12:27-14:1 by Joe Ellis - June 12, 2022
Today, we are reflecting on the first fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23 — love. This in a way is the fruit of all fruits. Last week, I said that all of the other fruits are sub-fruits of love. I stand by that — after all, Jesus summarized the Old and New Testament as an outworking of the commands to love the Lord your God, and love your neighbour as yourself. All ethical commands that you’ll find in the New Testament are elaborating on what it means to love God a
“Baby Sitters & Blueberry Bushes” on Galatians 5:22-26 by Joe Ellis – June 5, 2022
Today, as we celebrate and remember the day of Pentecost, I thought it might be helpful to explore something about the Holy Spirit that has always been confusing to me. This exploration today will then be a bit of a springboard for the rest of the summer, where we will reflect more deeply on each of the 9 fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists in this passage (Galatians 5:22-26) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23
