Walk This Way [Free People] — Pastor Jason Burns

Jul 20, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Cathedrals Become Carnival Rides

The beauty of sacred spaces loses meaning when disconnected from their purpose. A basilica designed for worship becomes a hollow tourist attraction, paralleling lives that prioritize outward religiosity over inward transformation. True freedom comes not from maintaining appearances but through surrender to the Spirit’s power. Like a museum faith, many settle for routines that look holy but lack life-changing connection. What once drew people to God’s presence now entertains crowds seeking thrills. [04:02]

“They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Avoid people like that!”
(2 Timothy 3:5, NLT)

Reflection: Where does your faith feel more like a curated performance than a living relationship? What practical step could reconnect you to God’s transformative power?

Day 2: Feeding the Right Dog in the Daily Fight

Two internal forces war within: selfish cravings and Spirit-led surrender. Like Chief Sitting Bull’s parable, victory comes through intentional nourishment—starving the flesh’s demands while feeding spiritual hunger. This battle isn’t won in grand gestures but through mundane choices: what we watch, how we react, where we linger mentally. Each decision either weakens sin’s grip or strengthens Christ’s character. [16:34]

“For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
(Galatians 5:17, NIV)

Reflection: Which “dog” have you fed most this week through your entertainment choices, private thoughts, and secret habits? What single craving needs intentional starving today?

Day 3: Fruit Grows Through Connection, Not Closeness

A disconnected banana won’t grow near a vine, just as spiritual growth fails through proximity without attachment. Real fruit—love, joy, peace—emerges only through abiding in Christ, not church attendance or moral behavior. Like the rancid homegrown pineapple, disconnected efforts produce bitter results. Vitality comes through surrendered dependence, not self-managed religion. [25:57]

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
(John 15:4-5, NIV)

Reflection: Where are you relying on spiritual “closeness” (services, habits, knowledge) instead of raw dependence on Christ? What needs pruning to strengthen true connection?

Day 4: Tiny Permissions Become Slavery’s Open Door

Compromise creeps in through justified exceptions: lingering looks, “harmless” lies, or self-entitled indulgences. Like affairs beginning with minor boundary crossings, sin’s progression follows permission slips we rationalize. The internal lawyer negotiates exceptions, but integrity demands ruthless honesty about choices that seem insignificant yet erode freedom. [20:23]

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”
(James 1:14-15, NIV)

Reflection: What “tiny permission” have you recently excused? How could addressing it today prevent future entanglement?

Day 5: Walking in Step, Not Sprinting Ahead

Following Jesus isn’t about dramatic leaps but daily alignment—like a child matching her father’s pace at Disney. Keeping in step requires attentiveness to the Spirit’s rhythm, not self-made spiritual agendas. Growth happens through ordinary obedience: forgiving quickly, serving quietly, choosing patience. The goal isn’t perfection but persistent proximity. [27:39]

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
(Galatians 5:25, NIV)

Reflection: Where are you rushing ahead of God’s timing or lagging behind His promptings? What “next step” with Jesus feels urgent today?

Sermon Summary

Paul’s letter to Galatia keeps pressing one big thing: God created people to live free, not tangled up in sin and not worn out trying to earn a gift God already gave. The picture from Mount Tibidabo lands hard because the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus looked beautiful, sacred, and holy, but it had become more museum and theme park than a place full of life. That place had “the appearance of godliness” but lacked the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians can look the same way: called by God, close to church, close to worship, close to spiritual things, but lacking the power to actually do what God has called them to do.

Paul answers that problem in Galatians 5 by saying, “walk by the Spirit.” The flesh, or sarx, is that internal appetite that wants what it wants, when it wants it, with no real concern for God. The Spirit wants God’s best, and the flesh wants immediate cravings, so Paul says there is a real conflict inside every believer. Paul names the works of the flesh plainly: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, hatred, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, factions, envy, drunkenness, and the like. The list is not comfortable because it reaches into behavior, thought life, relationships, appetites, and the hidden places nobody else sees.

Paul then gives the big “but.” The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The word is fruit, not fruits, because the Holy Spirit produces one whole kind of life. The issue is not trying harder to tape fruit onto a dead branch. Fruit is never about effort. It is about connection.

Jesus says the same thing with the vine and branches. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself, and “apart from me, you can do nothing.” The banana stuck near the vine is close, but it is not connected, and close does not count. Growth comes from attachment to Christ, not from being around Christian stuff.

Paul’s call to “keep in step with the Spirit” makes freedom a daily walk. The flesh overpromises and underdelivers, like a burger commercial that never matches what shows up in the bag. Big sins usually begin as tiny permissions, and the internal lawyer always has a “but.” The battle is won in the small unseen decisions where the flesh is mortified and the Spirit is vivified. Whatever gets fed grows, and whatever gets starved dies.

Key Takeaways

1. Close does not mean connected A heart can stay near church, worship, serving, and spiritual language without staying attached to Christ himself. The banana on the vine picture makes the issue painfully simple: proximity cannot produce life. Fruit grows from living connection, not from being around the right religious environment. [25:57]
2. The flesh always oversells sin The flesh promises happiness, freedom, and relief, but it delivers brokenness, slavery, and shame. Its strongest lies often sound reasonable, especially when the internal lawyer starts saying, “I know the Bible says, but.” Spiritual ruin rarely begins with one giant leap. It usually starts with tiny permissions that no one else sees. [19:35]
3. Integrity is wholeness in secret Integrity is not mainly public reputation. Integrity is what happens when the browser is open, the spouse is away, the taxes can be fudged, or the corner can be cut. God does not want a fractured life with a clean outside and a hidden inside. God wants a whole, healed person. [17:32]
4. Fruit proves what has been fed The Spirit produces visible evidence, not private religious decoration. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control show what kind of life is actually growing. Whatever gets fed grows, and whatever gets starved dies, so the fruit reveals the source. [28:51]
5. The Spirit supplies real power God never asks a person to obey in mere human strength. The Spirit empowers what the flesh cannot produce, because self-control, gentleness, peace, and faithfulness are not manufactured by willpower alone. The Christian life is not taping fruit onto branches. It is remaining in the vine until life comes from Christ. [22:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:50] - A Mediterranean Cruise And A Marking Moment
[02:35] - The Basilica With No Life
[04:37] - Called But Lacking Power
[04:57] - Walk By The Spirit
[06:45] - Paul Names The Flesh
[11:36] - The Fruit Of The Spirit
[13:55] - Walking By The Spirit Daily
[16:34] - Feeding The Right Dog
[18:55] - Sin Overpromises And Underdelivers
[22:02] - The Spirit Empowers What Strength Cannot
[23:08] - Jesus The Vine And The Branches
[25:57] - Close Is Not Connected
[27:12] - Keeping In Step With The Spirit
[28:51] - Three Questions For The Heart
[30:47] - A Prayer For Visible Fruit
[32:37] - Choosing To Follow Jesus

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Galatians 5:16-25
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” [04:57]

John 15:4-5
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” [23:08]

2 Timothy 3:5
“having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” [04:29]

Observation questions

In Galatians 5, what contrast does Paul make between the “works of the flesh” and the “fruit of the Spirit,” and what kinds of behaviors or qualities show up in each list? [11:36]
What words or images are used to describe the conflict going on inside a believer between the flesh and the Spirit? [15:04]
In John 15, what does Jesus say a branch must do in order to bear fruit, and what does he say happens apart from him? [23:50]
What are some examples of “small unseen decisions” that reveal integrity or a lack of it? [17:32]

Interpretation questions

Paul says the flesh and the Spirit are opposed to each other. What does that reveal about why following Jesus can feel like a real struggle even for sincere believers? [14:26]
The fruit of the Spirit is singular, not plural. What might that suggest about the kind of life the Holy Spirit produces in a person? [22:25]
Jesus says that fruit comes from abiding in the vine, not from a branch trying harder on its own. How does that challenge a performance-based view of the Christian life? [26:26]
A person can have the appearance of godliness but lack spiritual power. What might that look like in real life, especially for someone who stays close to church things but is not truly connected to Christ? [25:57]

Application questions

Where does life currently feel most like a battle between immediate cravings and what God wants instead? What patterns, habits, or situations tend to wake up the flesh most strongly? [14:41]
Big sins often begin as tiny permissions. What “small compromises” need to be taken seriously right now before they grow into something bigger? [19:53]
Integrity is wholeness in secret. In what private area of life is there the greatest need for honesty, repentance, or a change of direction? [17:24]
Whatever gets fed grows, and whatever gets starved dies. What has been feeding the flesh lately, and what practical change could help feed the Spirit this week? [28:51]
Close does not mean connected. Is there any area where someone might be near Christian activity—church, worship, serving, Bible talk—but still not really abiding in Jesus? What would deeper connection actually look like? [25:57]
The fruit of the Spirit gives visible evidence of who is in control. Which part of that fruit list—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control—most needs to grow right now? What would that growth look like in one specific relationship? [29:33]
Keeping in step with the Spirit is a daily walk. What is one next step that would help someone stay in step with the Spirit this week instead of drifting into disconnection? [27:12]

Sermon Clips

60s

#ConnectionOverCloseness

“``Here's the question. Will it grow? It's near, but it's not connected. close, but it's not attached. It's near, but it's never gonna grow because growth happens when there's a connection to it. Okay, let me try to make this personal for you spiritually. A lot of Christians, in my opinion, we're close to the things of Jesus. We're we love church and so we're close to church. We love the worship. Oh, it gives me the goosebumps. I love it so much. Our our students love Access Youth, so they're close to Access Youth. We we try to get close to God through serving, close to God through giving, and we try to get ourselves close, but then we think, I'm just not really growing spiritually. It's because close doesn't count. It's connection that grows you. Well, let me show it to you like this. Fruit is never about effort. It's about connection.”

50s

#TinyPermissions

“that that's how this works. Sin does the same thing. It overpromises. It gives you a picture of what life will be like, but it always falls short, it always under delivers, it always leaves you broken. In fact, let me give you three lies of the flesh. Number one, if you indulge me, you'll be happy. Truth is if you indulge sin, you'll be broken. Number two, follow me and you'll be free. The truth is you follow your sin right into slavery of your soul. Number three, here's one, you deserve this. You deserve this. Come on, it's no big deal. You earned it. You you have worked so hard. Just blow some steam off. Can I can I tell you the truth? Big sins usually begin as tiny permissions.”

56s

#ChooseIntegrity

“Integrity is choosing to not cut a corner on your taxes even though nobody will probably catch you and you'll have a few extra dollars in your pocket. Integrity is choice after choice after choice to be whole. Now let me try to explain it to you like this. I said it a moment ago, if you follow the ways of the world, you get the you get the results of the world. And what are the results of the world? Brokenness. Some people will say to you, well, like sin is no fun. Yes. It is. You're not doing it right. Okay? Like it is. But it always leads to brokenness. Right? Integrity comes from the root word integris, which means whole. God doesn't want you broken. He wants you to be a whole healed person. So what if you just made this decision to say instead of settling for the immediate, which is what I want, I'm gonna shoot for the ultimate, which is what God wants.”

44s

#WhatAreYouFeeding

“As I as I read these questions to you, I I wanna challenge you this week to wrestle these to the ground. I want you to fight through these. I want you to ask the question, is there fruit in my life that's evident of my following of the spirit of God or am I living to satisfy and gratify my own flesh? Question number one, write this down. What are you feeding? Because remember, whatever you feed grows and whatever you starve dies. So listen to me. If you are feeding the things of God, you will be growing the fruit of the spirit. But if you feed your selfishness, your sinful desires, that is what's going to grow. Number two, what fruit is growing?”

35s

#WhoIsInControl

“Here's how I wanna end today. Would you take just ten seconds and ask the question, who's in control? The way you can know is by the fruit. Again, I don't know a lot about fruit, but I just know all it takes is connection to the source for it to grow. If there's no fruit in your life, you should ask the question, who am I following or who am I connected to? Is it my sinful selfishness or is it following the spirit of God?”

62s

#VisibleFruitOfSpirit

“God never asked you to do anything in your own strength. The book of Philippians, Paul also writes it. He says, in my weakness, God's strength is made perfect. Like I I don't have to do anything in my own strength. And Paul says this, the result of being connected to or walking with the Holy Spirit is there's going to be evidence to the world around you. There there should be what he calls the fruit of the spirit. I want you to notice this. The fruit of the spirit is nine things, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Nine things. And I want you to notice his his language is intentional. He doesn't say it's the fruits of the spirit. It's the fruit. It's when the holy spirit is alive and working in you. All of those things, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. All those things are gonna be evident to the world around you. In fact, if the world around you isn't noticing there's something different about you, you should maybe check the fruit.”

41s

#ChooseSelfControl

“Self control is a big one because a lot of us are controlled by our desires. We're controlled by our appetites. And by the way, your appetites and your cravings are never once and for all fully satisfied. This is important for to understand. Have you ever had a buffet? You you ever you ever had a Thanksgiving meal and you ate so much that your back hurts and you think I will never be hungry again. And the next morning you see Tony the Tiger's face and you're like, they're great and you have a bowl of Frosted Flakes. It's because an appetite, a craving is never once and for all fully satisfied. Self control says I can be in control. I don't have to let my appetites and my cravings control me.”

38s

#CheckYourFruit

“All of those things, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. All those things are gonna be evident to the world around you. In fact, if the world around you isn't noticing there's something different about you, you should maybe check the fruit. Are you living it out? The bible uses a lot of fruit language, a lot of agrarian farmer language. Jesus in Matthew chapter seven says that you will know the kind of tree it is by the fruit that it produces. Here's the translation for you. You will know what kind of Christ follower you you are by the fruit of your life. Are people noticing?”

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Walk This Way [Free People] — Pastor Jason Burns

Devotional

Day 1: When Cathedrals Become Carnival Rides

Day 2: Feeding the Right Dog in the Daily Fight

Day 3: Fruit Grows Through Connection, Not Closeness

Day 4: Tiny Permissions Become Slavery’s Open Door

Day 5: Walking in Step, Not Sprinting Ahead

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Walk This Way [Free People] — Pastor Jason Burns

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