September 6, 2026
Sermon: Producing Fruit
Reverend Betty Jo Sims
Invocation
Good morning, Lord,
In times of weakness and our hour of need,
yours is the strength by which we carry on,
the shoulder we rest our head upon.
When our load is heavy and too much to bear,
yours are the arms stretched out to help us,
the grace that we depend on.
In times of weakness and hour of need,
your voice is heard, ‘Come… and find rest.’
This is grace divine, the path we tread to wholeness
of body and spirit, the path that leads to you,
and for which we offer our offering of praise.
Lord, help us accept your call on our lives and to trust that what you equip us to do is what you call us to do as members of the Body of Christ.
Be with us as we worship together. may our worship be a sweet fragrant offering to you, O Lord, for you are our rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Scripture Galatians 5: 16-25
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
This is the word of God for us, the people of God ….
Thanks be to God.
Let us pray –
You call us – to discipleship, to be Jesus for others, to be your hands and feet in the world. You, O Lord, offer your yoke to us, promising to come alongside and stick with us no matter where our journey takes us. So when our week gets hard, when we feel like we are at our wits’ end, when the overwhelm is too much, Christ holds out his yoke to us. Will we take it?
As we gather to hear your word proclaimed, may we also hear your call to us to go! Go into the uncertainty of the journey ahead, trusting that of this we can be certain: God is with us, and we are sent out together. We are not alone.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
“Producing Fruit”
A friend of mine worked for an orchard while he
was in high school and during his summers home from college. He worked in several different
aspects of the orchard, from picking fruit to basic tree care.
Bob told me about one season where he was helping to spray all of the trees from insects to insure that the fruit would not be infested when harvest time came.
The work of spraying the trees went well but one small section of about ten trees was somehow missed during the work and no one noticed until it was time for fruit to develop on the trees.
As the fruit developed, things looked good with the fruit growing large but as it was ready to be harvested, it became apparent that the fruit was infested with bugs. Those ten trees produced fruit but it was none fit to eat because of the infestation.
Our lives in Christ are meant to be fruitful for Him but far too we become infested with sin that destroys the spiritual fruit in our lives. The fruit
we produce becomes filled with the corruption of sin and is unfit for the Kingdom of Christ.
When Christ looks into your life and sees the fruit there will it be fit for His Kingdom? let’s take a look at what the apostle Paul teaches about spiritual fruitfulness in Galatians 5:16-26
A. Walk by the Spirit
1. Walking as a way of Life: Continual and regular action, not an option, implies progress, lead from where we are to where we ought to be,
submission to the Spirit - direction to where God wants us to be and go
2. The role of the Spirit: the Holy Spirit gives us power to live, the power of Jesus – in salvation, Holy Spirit becomes the guide, He directs and gives help, lifts us beyond the carnal human existence
B. Desire of the Flesh
1. We will not do: Christian life is above human life, Christian life is founded in the Spirit, human life is founded in fleshly desires, walking by the Spirit - not by the flesh
2. Desire of the flesh: We live either by the Spirit or live by the flesh, never both at the same time, it is impossible to do,
C. The Conflict
A. The Battle: Flesh Vs. Spirit
1. War of the soul: Flesh against the Spirit, both are exact realities - Flesh is real: it is human nature, Spirit is real: leading of God, they can not exist
together without conflict
2. The conflict: Spirit wages on our behalf, flesh seeks to control, human nature is in direct contrast with God, we are in God’s image and His likeness but we conform more to our own image, Christianity runs counter culture with society, we are to be different from the world
B. The Strife: We do what we do not want
1. The flesh: We will be living by the flesh or by the Spirit, not both, when one is in control the other fights for control, thus there is always a battle and strife in this life.
when we become Christian we reject the flesh, we still do stupid things - we say mean things, do hurtful deeds and cause harm to others, we give in to the flesh, the flesh takes us back for those times, Satan only needs a few moments to ruin our lives, it is those moments that make us who we are, they define our character.
2. The Spirit: When we were living by the flesh, Spirit was at work, moving us toward God, nudging us in the right direction, convicting our hearts,
allowing us glimpses of hope, helping us to see God & His grace, the struggle for the soul was done.
C. The Freedom
1. Spirit as Leader: When the Holy Spirit guides,
we go in right direction. the Spirit shows us the way. whether we follow or not is our choice.
we can not accomplish work of Christ on our own. we need the power of the Spirit - he alone will lead us to glory in Christ.
2. Free from the Law: Galatian church was living a perverted Christianity, they were following the Jewish Law and claiming Christ as Lord, they had no real freedom, Christ died to give us freedom from the bondage of sin, and sin is the real bondage that must be broken.
When we practice a perverted Christianity - when we look down on others, when we think we are better or more important than others, we place our restrictions and regulations on people. Jesus loves everyone and He died to save them, we need to love them too.
The Condemnation of the Sinful Nature
1. Sexual Sins:
Immorality - broadest term for sexual acts, all types of illicit sexual behavior, society has trivialized sex. Sex is meant to be for marriage, it is a gift from God. Human nature can pervert this gift and we take what God meant as a blessing and sometimes make it a curse.
Impurity - being unclean. The Greek understanding is that of having an infected wound, illicit sex causes pain and destruction. children need to be given moral instruction. we can not have right relationship with God there is a need for healing.
2. Religious Sins - they include:
Idolatry - central source of false beliefs, worship of anything besides God. If we don’t have this problem –whatever is of 1st importance in your life is your God, family, possessions, or your job -if whatever comes 1st is the basis for your life, we place our priorities out of order.
Sorcery – is the practice of witchcraft or magic. idolatry and sorcery were used together as a means of pagan worship. magic was used to control the world and even manipulate the gods. sorcery is seen throughout our society in movies and on TV. it is seen so often that we fail to recognize it.
3. Relational Sins:
Hatred and discord - Like all of the relational sins there is a set pattern, first is the attitude and second is the result. hate is the deadly attitude that results in discord. when hate enters the heart there can be no love for anyone, no one can say they love God and still hate another person. The two realities cannot exist together.
Jealousy and fits of rage - jealousy is a form of anger. it is natural to assume that jealousy will result in examples of anger, fits of rage, uncontrolled and unprovoked reactions of anger.
Selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy - These are all ongoing expressions of the flesh, the representation of ongoing fights & feuds. sinful action becomes established, a part of life, it absorbs the heart and the soul.
Drunkenness, extreme parties, orgies and the like were a central part of pagan worship. large rituals were characterized by drunkenness and illicit sex,
a more general reference calls to any and all rowdy and crude behavior
4. The results: This is a representative list, not exhaustive or all inclusive, Paul clearly states that these people will not inherit heaven, they will not see God, this result comes from a way of life, so he issues a call to walk in the spirit so they don’t do these things at all,
The Commendation of the Fruit of the Spirit
1. The fruit: These are actions done through the Spirit, done for God’s glory. this fruit will only be evident in lives of believers..
Love: 1st and foremost, the greatest expression of the Spirit’s work, it is love that motivated Christ to die. love is the sure mark of salvation, supreme virtue.
Joy: deep sense of well being, not humanly made – but divinely stimulated. “the joy of the LORD is your strength” Neh. 8:10. joy comes from God - he gives it to his children, exhilaration of the heart, being right with God.
Peace: Tranquility of the mind, being right with God. peace does not come from circumstances, God is in control and that fact gives us peace.
Our trust is in God. The peace that passes understanding.
Patience: Ability to endure injury inflicted, or acceptance of situations that are irritating or unfair. we wait when God seems distant, we wait for God to act and show us his way. we are called to live by God’s time line not ours.
Kindness: Deep concern for others, genuine desire to treat others gently. God give us the ability to be kind, Jesus is our grand example.
Goodness: moral and spiritual excellence. goodness is high moral standards and kind action combined. God has the basis for our moral codes. God sends His spirit to grant us goodness.
Faithfulness: Strong loyalty & trustworthiness. Jesus is the supreme example of faithfulness. Jesus was faithful first and He will return. Jesus keeps His promises. we are to be loyal to one another, worthy of the trust we have been granted.
Gentleness: meekness, humility and gentleness of attitude and Spirit, submission to God, the ability to be taught and have consideration of others.
Self-Control: Restraint in action and desire. this does not apply to God. He does not change. Jesus had the ability to stand in place of temptation. Jesus was the epitome of self-control. he resisted all forms of temptation and trickery.
2. Lawful Action: No laws are against these actions, these actions are never harmful, pagans would not have laws against these things.
How do we find the power and strength to do these things?
We are meant to produce spiritual fruit that brings glory to the name of Jesus!
How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit To those who ask Him. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your guide. And if you do, The Holy Spirit will lead you into an abundant life.
We are going through this life together and we need to support each other as much and as often as we can. Together we make a much better world than any one of us alone.
We have our calling!!
May the peace of Christ be with you! Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
O God, you love us and call us. When we offer you our confessions, we join the beautiful work of reconciliation, which begins with our reconciling with you. Trusting in our Partner in grace, let us make our confession, first in silent prayer.
Silent confession.
Gracious and loving God, open our hearts so that we are able to admit to you the fullness of our lives – that which is beautiful and good, and that which is hurtful and hateful. We confess that we do not follow Jesus in all that we do. We love with condition. We judge. We cast the first stone, and keep the logs in our own eyes. We do not turn to You as the source of our healing.
Forgive us, we pray. Forgive our sin, and empower us to be imitators of Christ in love and service.
As Friends in Christ, know this: the mercy of God is from everlasting to everlasting, and we are reminded of your ever-surpassing grace – for it is in Jesus Christ that grace is offered and we are forgiven.
Forgive us for neglecting the beautiful and varied calls you place on each of our lives. Forgive us, God, and free us to joyfully bear the weight of your call on our lives as members together of the Body of Christ, redeemed and united by your love.
Father make us one. Father, make us one, so the world will see how pleasant and how good it is for all people to dwell in unity. For when we work together in harmony, you command the blessings.
O God, hear our prayers and answer them as you know is best for us.
We know that those who call upon your Name rejoice.
Help us as we pray for these …..
our police officers, EMTs & firefighters, all in our military service & their families, our doctors, nurses, and medical technicians, our nation, our church, Victims of the wildfires and floods, people of Ukraine & Russia, the Middle East, Cuba & Venezuela, Japan, Nepal, all victims of violence
And others we carry in our hearts ……………
Give us a new peace this day. Help us to pray and listen for you. Now may we boldly pray together the prayer you taught us - - saying
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us, not into temptation
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.