Fruits of the Spirit

Fruits of the Spirit, a ladies fellowship at St. Thomas' meets Monday evenings 6:45 - 8:00 pm during Lent. We have discussed LOVE, JOY, and PEACE in past meetings, considering also our progression on the journey from being sinners to being resurrected with Jesus – sin, salvation, grace, faith, righteousness, justification, sanctification, redemption, death and resurrection.


The March 5th class looked at PATIENCE, considering faith and righteousness.

(The REVIEW section is formatted for a future web page to be available from the St. Thomas' Blog.)

REVIEW

We are looking at the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT which Paul
strongly urged the early Galatian churches to strive for as
evidence of saving faith in Jesus Christ through God's grace.
Each fruit will be considered individually and as a stepping
stone toward maturing. Paul's letter to the Romans outlines
the steps of our life long road to eternal life with God. These
two themes will be combined for our study.

Overview of lessons on LOVE, JOY, and PEACE.

We began our journey becoming aware of sin
Sin is doing what we want instead of what God wants
God gave us freedom of choice
We choose sin
Sin is like like quicksand, impossible to get out by yourself!
And out of relationship with God
God promised to send us a way out, a Savior

In LOVE, God reaches out to us
He lifts us out of the pit (of sin) and places us on dry ground!
We are on a path
Still sinners, we can look through God's

LOVE

and glimpse a light ahead-salvation, being free from sin's penalty, is potential, and brings

JOY!

How is the question? Grace the free gift of God is the answer bringing

PEACE

God said (promised in the Old Testament) a Savior would come to pay our penalty
Our relationship with God can be restored (by FAITH in His promise)

This is the lesson used for fellowship and discussion
(NOTE: The next study KINDNESS scripture has been changed to Luke 5:27-32)