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picture of a peeled tangerine with orange segments in front

The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, and it grow in us through the presence and working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. It is not a collection of fruits, but rather part of one larger fruit, like the segments of an orange rather than a bunch of grapes. Pastor Ryan gives a deep dive into these segments in this series from the winter of 2025.

January 12 – Being Fruitful – Introduction
January 29 – Love
January 26 – Joy
February 2 – Peace
February 9 – Patience
February 16 –Kindness
February 23 – Goodness
March 2 – Faithfulness
March 9 – Gentleness
March 16 – Self-Control

Pastor Ryan led us in this prayer by John Stott:

“Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

One book Pastor Ryan is using as a basis for this sermon series is Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit: Growing in Christlikeness, by Christopher Wright.

Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay

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God is Love, and we are called to love each other — but not just as a task that we have to do. Love, as part of the Fruit of the Spirit, is an outcome of the Spirit dwelling within us, a way we reflect the image of God to the world. Our love for others gives evidence to our claim to have Jesus in our lives, as well as other things.

“Being Fruitful: Love”, by Pastor Ryan Emmons

Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) ; 加 拉 太 書 5:22-23 (CUVS)
1 John 4:7-16 (NLT) ; 約 翰 一 書 4:7-16 (CUVS)

You can set up a real-time transcript when you listen on your device. You can also download Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript).

Photo by Anna Kolosyuk on Unsplash

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One reason Jesus came to Earth is to make it possible for us to walk closely with God again — which is abundant life for us.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT) ; 以 弗 所 書 3:17-19 (CUVS)
John 10:6-10 (NLT) ; 約 翰 福 音 10:6-10 (CUVS)

You can also download Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript). During the sermon he demonstrated a silly camp chant called “My Name is Bill”. Here is a similar one called “My Name is Joe”.

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You can also get real-time audio captions when you listen with these apps:

Photo by Sebastián León Prado on Unsplash

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The thief who was crucified next to Jesus was a criminal, a villain. Yet through the loving sacrifice of Jesus, the hero, he was not condemned but given new life. (sermon by John McGregor)

Luke 23:32-43 (NLT) ; 路 加 福 音 23:32-43 (CUVS)
John14:1-4 (NLT) ; 約 翰 福 音 14:1-4 (CUVS)
Psalm 107:1-16 (NLT) ; 詩 篇 107:1-16 (CUVS)

There are no sermon notes for this sermon, but you can get real-time audio captions when you listen with these apps:

Photo by Hasan Almasi on Unsplash

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Pastor Ryan’s sermon “Before the Throne” invites us to imagine what it will be like to come before the Throne of God, based on the imagery in the books of Isaiah and Revelation.

Isaiah 6:1-7 (NLT) / 以 賽 亞 書 6:1-7 (CUVS)
Revelation 20:11-15 (NLT) / 啟 示 錄 20:11-15 (CUVS)
Revelation 4,5 (NLT) / 啟 示 錄 4-5 (CUVS)

Here is a PDF of Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript) for you to download.

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Pastor Ryan’s sermon “Love Begins at Home” teaches that loving one another, within the family of God, is the first thing that must happen before anything beyond that can be fully and truly realized. Also, since our love for others comes from our love for and in Christ, we must fill ourselves with God’s love above all.

John 13:31-35 (NLT) / 約 翰 福 音 13:31-35 (CUVS)
1 John 4:15-21 (NLT) / 約 翰 一 書 4:15-21 (CUVS)

Here is a PDF of Pastor Ryan’s sermon notes (not a transcript) for you to download.

The CBWC Heartland “Theology of the Ordinary” podcasts include a series by Ed Neufeld called “Not Improving On Our Instructions“. It deals with this topic of loving each other as Jesus’s primary instruction to the church.

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