Living a Fresh and Fruitful Life in Christ
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Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
1. "Understand life is a produce aisle. And people are walking down the produce aisle, including all of us, and saying, I want something real. I want something genuine. You and I can experience that. We can live a life that's characterized by the freedom that Paul was talking about." [01:04:39]
2. "Your destiny is to live that kind of fresh life. And if you're not experiencing that, maybe you just need to ask yourself, like, is one of those two ingredients missing? Am I unwilling to say no to the self-directed life, to put that aside? Am I not willing to actually listen to and accept the guidance of the Spirit?" [01:05:45]
3. "Life is a produce aisle, and we all spend time walking down the produce aisle, kind of looking around for something that looks better. Maybe you're one of those people like, I got issues in my life. If we were to use the analogy of produce, we say, you know what? I got this bugs or this blight or something like it's just not working right, and I'm looking for a better option." [37:21]
4. "Jesus uses this very analogy when he talks about our lives as fruit-bearing plants, if you will. And it comes up again and again in Jesus' teaching and in his followers. So let me give you some examples, right? In Matthew chapter 7, verse 16 and following, here's what Jesus says. He says, you know what? Pay attention to the people around you, the people that you're, like, you're listening to them and they're trying to tell you about life." [39:19]
5. "Your destiny, as a human being, like you were created and designed for a fresh life. A life that is flourishing, that is overflowing with fruitfulness. not one that's plastic. Not one that's just shiny and looks good on the outside. But one that is life-giving." [41:32]
6. "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear fruit. Like, what does that mean? I think the best way for us to understand it is to say, this is what happens when your life and my life begin to bear this kind of fruit that Jesus is talking about, is the Father, the God who created and designed you, steps back and He says, that's what I had in mind." [43:14]
7. "The fresh life needs two ingredients, all right? And it's important for us to remember, because I've had these conversations over the years with people like, oh, I could never be that kind of person. I could, like, that's just not who I am. No, it doesn't happen automatically. It happens when we bring together the right ingredients." [51:14]
8. "The crucifixion of the flesh. What is that? Well, it's easy. It's easy to think about flesh as kind of this, the physicality. But that's kind of a misunderstanding because of the way our Bibles are often translated. We can think about, oh, it's like gluttony or, you know, sleeping with the wrong people or whatever happens to people. But that's not really what Paul has in mind here." [53:33]
9. "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Earlier in this same passage, he had talked about walking by the Spirit. So that you don't gratify the desires of the flesh. In other words, it's a binary option. Like, we're choosing one or the other. We're either saying, I'm going to crucify the flesh and walk by the Spirit, or I'm going to walk by the flesh and not really pay attention to the Spirit's guidance and power." [56:00]
10. "Sometimes God does speak through prayer. If your experience with prayer is nothing more than you talking and hoping God is listening, I can assure you He is. And He is often waiting for us to stop talking and listen. That's part of prayer, is a conversation. And in those moments, right, if we'll stop making our noise, we can often hear God speaking." [01:01:49]
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2. "Your destiny is to live that kind of fresh life. And if you're not experiencing that, maybe you just need to ask yourself, like, is one of those two ingredients missing? Am I unwilling to say no to the self-directed life, to put that aside? Am I not willing to actually listen to and accept the guidance of the Spirit?" [01:05:45]
3. "Life is a produce aisle, and we all spend time walking down the produce aisle, kind of looking around for something that looks better. Maybe you're one of those people like, I got issues in my life. If we were to use the analogy of produce, we say, you know what? I got this bugs or this blight or something like it's just not working right, and I'm looking for a better option." [37:21]
4. "Jesus uses this very analogy when he talks about our lives as fruit-bearing plants, if you will. And it comes up again and again in Jesus' teaching and in his followers. So let me give you some examples, right? In Matthew chapter 7, verse 16 and following, here's what Jesus says. He says, you know what? Pay attention to the people around you, the people that you're, like, you're listening to them and they're trying to tell you about life." [39:19]
5. "Your destiny, as a human being, like you were created and designed for a fresh life. A life that is flourishing, that is overflowing with fruitfulness. not one that's plastic. Not one that's just shiny and looks good on the outside. But one that is life-giving." [41:32]
6. "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear fruit. Like, what does that mean? I think the best way for us to understand it is to say, this is what happens when your life and my life begin to bear this kind of fruit that Jesus is talking about, is the Father, the God who created and designed you, steps back and He says, that's what I had in mind." [43:14]
7. "The fresh life needs two ingredients, all right? And it's important for us to remember, because I've had these conversations over the years with people like, oh, I could never be that kind of person. I could, like, that's just not who I am. No, it doesn't happen automatically. It happens when we bring together the right ingredients." [51:14]
8. "The crucifixion of the flesh. What is that? Well, it's easy. It's easy to think about flesh as kind of this, the physicality. But that's kind of a misunderstanding because of the way our Bibles are often translated. We can think about, oh, it's like gluttony or, you know, sleeping with the wrong people or whatever happens to people. But that's not really what Paul has in mind here." [53:33]
9. "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Earlier in this same passage, he had talked about walking by the Spirit. So that you don't gratify the desires of the flesh. In other words, it's a binary option. Like, we're choosing one or the other. We're either saying, I'm going to crucify the flesh and walk by the Spirit, or I'm going to walk by the flesh and not really pay attention to the Spirit's guidance and power." [56:00]
10. "Sometimes God does speak through prayer. If your experience with prayer is nothing more than you talking and hoping God is listening, I can assure you He is. And He is often waiting for us to stop talking and listen. That's part of prayer, is a conversation. And in those moments, right, if we'll stop making our noise, we can often hear God speaking." [01:01:49]
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