Good Evening!
Welcome to Nathan's report. Today is a special day, "FATHER'S DAY". Before I go further, here is a beautiful poem dedicated for fathers, written by an anonymous poet:
"My hero is the quiet type,
No marching bands, no media hype,
But through my eyes it's plain to see,
A hero, God has sent to me.
With gentle strength and quiet pride,
All self-concern is set aside,
To reach out to his fellow man,
And be there with a helping hand.
Heroes are a rarity,
A blessing to humanity.
With all they give and all they do,
I'll bet the thing you never knew,
My hero has always been you."
Fatherhood is the greatest delight of a man’s life, but it is also his biggest challenge. As those who have been privileged enough to have a father we can all too easily criticize our fathers. One reason is that just as sometimes people find it hard to relate to God because they found it hard to relate to their father, we Fathers have a pretty hard act to follow in being compared to our Father God! We can never be the perfect father that God is for all of us. But we can father our kids, and we can be a spiritual father to others. Like Ephesians 6:1-4 say, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Alright, we started off with a powerful praise and worship. Here is the playlist:
1) Father in heaven - Bob Fitts
2) Jesus loves even me - Traditional Hymn
3) Here is love - Traditional Hymn
4) Let us adore - Hillsong United
It was a wonderful session which ended with a powerful prayer. We move ahead for offerings and announcements. Followings are the announcements:
- Men's fellowship and breakfast is on 19th at 6:30 AM.
- Young adults meeting is on 21st at 4:30 PM at Church office.
- Children's Church starts at 9:45 AM every Sunday.
- Youth meet at 8 AM on Sunday.
- "One Way Jesus", Christian concert is on 29th June, Sunday, starting at 6:30 PM. For passes, please contact.
As you all know, we have a monthly theme at our Church. This month's theme is "Holy Spirit" and today we will be talking about "Fruit of the Holy Spirit".
The fruit of the Spirit is what God desires our lives to exhibit and, with the Holy Spirit's help, it is possible. As we get to know the person, presence and power of the Holy Spirit there will be a natural by-product: Fruit. What does that mean? Simply this: As you develop your relationship with God, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, there will be a marked change in your attitude toward everything. The Holy Spirit’s power is more than just to enable us to do the supernatural. He empowers us for the journey from doing what pleases the flesh to what pleases God. This is not an easy journey but it is also not a lonely journey. We have been given the Holy Spirit and we have been given the church to help us develop into the person God intends.
Like the word of God says, we are the "Salt". Salt influences curry, curry doesn't influences salt. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be able to influence others. Pray a prayer of surrender. Because we have a free-will, we can resist the working of the Holy Spirit in us. But why would we want too? We need to come down on our knees and simply pray, “Lord, I surrender all of me to you and your will! Produce in me the character of Jesus Christ!” John 7:37-38 says, "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Be a salt, not the curry. Pray and seek Lord's help!
We have few cross references:
Acts 2:4, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Acts 4:31, "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness."
Ephesians 5:18, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."
Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is an introduction to the realm of the Holy Spirit. We must continue to “walk by the Spirit”, and so, “not fulfill the lusts of the flesh”. It is possible to begin in the Spirit and then later “fall from grace”. This happens if we turn back to the law and ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we must not become proud and self-satisfied with the idea that we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, but we must continually humble ourselves, deny the flesh and be led by the Spirit day by day.
A good example is the china berry tree, which is deciduous, which means that it loses its leaves seasonally. When fully grown, it is typically around 33 feet (ten meters) high. When the tree flowers, it has small, sweet-smelling lilac or purple blossoms. These eventually result in an abundance of yellow, berry-like fruits called drupes, which are an important source of food for many species of fruit-eating birds. The flowers, on the other hand, are typically unpalatable for many animals, including bees and butterflies. It is a highly invasive tree which has a tendency to spread rapidly, and is extremely difficult to uproot once it is established. However, the faster it grows, the lifespan is shortened and it eventually dries.
Chinaberry Tree
Let us not be like the China Berry tree. The Holy Spirit wants us to meditate on the Word and on good things. Let us not grieve Him. Let us be obedient to Him. Let us talk to Him and CONTINUE in a wonderful relationship with Him. Then the purposes of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit will be achieved in our lives. It would be good to re-read this lesson and meditate more on what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us.
We have few more references:
Matthew 7:16-20, "16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits."
Galatians 5:22-25, "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit."
Nothing so much prevents men from entering the strait gate, and becoming true followers of Christ, as the carnal, soothing, flattering doctrines of those who oppose the truth. They may be known by the drift and effects of their doctrines. Some part of their temper and conduct is contrary to the mind of Christ. Those opinions come not from God that lead to sin.
If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves up to be led by the Holy Spirit, are not under the law as a covenant of works, nor exposed to its awful curse. Their hatred of sin, and desires after holiness, show that they have a part in the salvation of the gospel. The works of the flesh are many and manifest. And these sins will shut men out of heaven. Yet what numbers, calling themselves Christians, live in these, and say they hope for heaven! The fruits of the Spirit, or of the renewed nature, which we are to do, are named. And as the apostle had chiefly named works of the flesh, not only hurtful to men themselves, but tending to make them so to one another, so here he chiefly notices the fruits of the Spirit, which tend to make Christians agreeable one to another, as well as to make them happy. The fruits of the Spirit plainly show, that such are led by the Spirit. By describing the works of the flesh and fruits of the Spirit, we are told what to avoid and oppose, and what we are to cherish and cultivate; and this is the sincere care and endeavor of all real Christians. Sin does not now reign in their mortal bodies, so that they obey it, Romans 6:12, for they seek to destroy it. Christ never will own those who yield themselves up to be the servants of sin. And it is not enough that we cease to do evil, but we must learn to do well. Our conversation will always be answerable to the principle which guides and governs us, Romans 8:5. We must set ourselves in earnest to mortify the deeds of the body, and to walk in newness of life. Not being desirous of vain-glory, or unduly wishing for the esteem and applause of men, not provoking or envying one another, but seeking to bring forth more abundantly those good fruits, which are, through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God.
While talking about the fruit of Holy Spirit, we will talk about Love and Joy. Bible says, "God is Love". Because God loved us, He gave us His only Son.
Few references:
1 John 4:7-12, "7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."
1 Corinthians 13:1-13, "1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 13:3, Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast.
1 Corinthians 13:5, Greek irritable and does not count up wrongdoing.
The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God. For it is God's nature to be kind, and to give happiness. The law of God is love; and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness of sin, and the salvation of sinners, consistently with God's glory and justice, shows that God is love. Mystery and darkness rest upon many things yet. God has so shown himself to be love, that we cannot come short of eternal happiness, unless through unbelief and impenitence, although strict justice would condemn us to hopeless misery, because we break our Creator's laws. None of our words or thoughts can do justice to the free, astonishing love of a holy God towards sinners, who could not profit or harm him, whom he might justly crush in a moment, and whose deserving of his vengeance was shown in the method by which they were saved, though he could by his almighty Word have created other worlds, with more perfect beings, if he had seen fit. Search we the whole universe for love in its most glorious displays? It is to be found in the person and the cross of Christ. Does love exist between God and sinners? Here was the origin, not that we loved God, but that he freely loved us. His love could not be designed to be fruitless upon us, and when its proper end and issue are gained and produced, it may be said to be perfected. So faith is perfected by its works. Thus it will appear that God dwells in us by his new-creating Spirit. A loving Christian is a perfect Christian; set him to any good duty, and he is perfect to it, he is expert at it. Love oils the wheels of his affections, and sets him on that which is helpful to his brethren. A man that goes about a business with ill will, always does it badly. That God dwells in us and we in him, were words too high for mortals to use, had not God put them before us. But how may it be known whether the testimony to this does proceed from the Holy Spirit? Those who are truly persuaded that they are the sons of God, cannot but call him Abba, Father. From love to him, they hate sin, and whatever disagrees with his will, and they have a sound and hearty desire to do his will. Such testimony is the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
In the light of 1 John 4:7, Love is slow to suspect but quick to trust; slow to condemn but quick to justify; slow to offend but quick to defend; slow to expose but quick to shield; slow to reprimand but quick to empathize; slow to belittle but quick to appreciate; slow to demand but quick to give; slow to provoke but quick to help; slow to resent but quick to forgive. Jerry Cook tells about a church where the people make the following pledge to each other: “I’ll never knowingly say or do anything to hurt you. I’ll always, in every circumstance, seek to help and support you. If you’re down and I can lift you, I’ll do that. If you need something and I have it, I’ll share it with you. If I need to, I’ll give it to you. No matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens in the future—either good or bad—my commitment to you will never change. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Many people commit harm to their and other's bodies, and even attempt to take their and own lives. That is because it is not a Spirit of love, but a spirit of hate, which is not from God. Spirit of love binds us together. God is love, who gave us life.
Joy is deeper than Happiness. We rejoice in Lord. World can give you happiness but Joy can only be received with Jesus Christ.
The persecution of the early Christian church is what led to the spreading of the word of God throughout numerous regions in the book of Acts. John Calvin once said that “the Church doth always over live her enemies.” The Church was not limited to preaching the word in just Jerusalem to the Jewish people, but rather had now become witnesses to all people for the mission of God. It was only through the persecution of the early church that this was realized. Without the persecution of the church and the martyrdom of Stephen, the Gospel might not have been sent out throughout the world. The documentation of the early church in the book of Acts shows that even though many will oppose the word and people of God, they will never succeed in disrupting the sovereign will of God. The persecution and suffering of God’s church is all a demonstration of a masterful plan that is far and above any human will or desire. The wonderful picture in the book of Acts is that through persecution, the joy of the Gospel reigned supreme. The Great Commission that Jesus gave was acted on in the book of Acts and has given believers today the realization that persecution may come, but God’s sovereign will is always going to be accomplished. Let us hold strong to this hope.
During this time, when Stephen was being persecuted by the punishment of stone pelting, which was much tougher than that of hanging, Stephen had Joy in his heart. Acts 7:59 says, While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Joy can come by knowing that "We are forgiven".
We encourage you to pray and ask Lord to fill you all with His Holy Spirit and may you all share Love of God and Joy in His Spirit.
We moved to the closing with a powerful prayer followed by a meet and greet session.
We hope you enjoyed this service. May God bless you all as well as your families, ABUNDANTLY!
God Bless and blessed 'Father's Day' regards to all!
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