“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” —Galatians 5:22-23

What We Are Teaching our Children This Week at Bible School

God created the world—including people—and called us “very

.” (Genesis 1:26-27, 31)

God sent Jesus so we could have a

with Him forever. (John 3:16-17)

We can follow Jesus’ example and make

to make a

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in the world around us.

When we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior, God gives us the Holy Spirit as our

. (John 14:15-17, 25-26)

God’s Spirit will help us

others the way Jesus loves us.

God can help you

the world around you.

My additional notes:

What I Want the Adults to Know: Additional Context and Content

“Galatians 5:13-26 is the most impassioned defense anywhere in scripture of the sufficiency of the Spirit to guide the community of faith.” —New Testament Professor Richard B. Hays, Duke Divinity School

Paul is calling for a faith community of

and freedom, guided by the Holy Spirit rather than law.

When Jesus’ Spirit is in control, it looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and

. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Paul lists

common problems of his time, of which more than half are about division. (Galatians 5:19-21)

“We should not interpret this fruit as referring only to character qualities of the individual; Paul is primarily concerned with the way in which the Spirit’s work is made manifest in community.” —Professor Richard B. Hays

Paul’s list of virtues begins with

produced by the Spirit and ends with self-control.

“Christianity is about helping others and controlling yourself. When it becomes about controlling others and helping yourself, it ain’t Christianity.” —Anonymous

Catalogues of vices and

of virtues were common in the Greco-Roman world. (Romans 1:29-31)

Fruit cannot be humanly manufactured; it can only grow organically, as

gives the growth. (John 15:1)

You can’t

what you don’t have. (John 15:4-5)

The fruits of the spirit come from being

to Jesus.

Our connection to Jesus—abiding—changes

, including what we

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for. (John 15:7-9)

When you

love someone, you begin to love the things that

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love.

Love in the

means unconquerable benevolence.

“It means that no matter what a man may do to us by way of insult or injury or humiliation we will never seek anything else but his highest good… It describes the deliberate effort – which we can only make with the help of God – never to seek anything but the best, even for those who seek the worst for us.” —William Barclay

When we are kind to others, that has a

effect.

“…experiments with large numbers of people show that if you are kind and compassionate, your friends, your friends’ friends, and even your friends’ friends’ friends are more likely to become kind and compassionate.” —Douglas Abrams

Small things done with

love can change the world.

The kindness we show can

from that one person to the next person to the next.

My additional notes:

Action Steps

for everything associated with Bible School Tuesday – Thursday 6p-8:30p.

Invite the Holy Spirit to show you how you can

and trust God with the ripple effect.

My additional notes: