If you have a Bible this morning, the book of Luke, chapter 19, then we're gonna go to the book of John, chapter 15. So the book of Luke, chapter 19, and then we're gonna go to the book of John, chapter number 15. Luke, chapter 19, verse 10 says, for the Son of Man, meaning Jesus, for the Son of Man has come. How many are thankful that he has come?
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost. How many are thankful for that today? That Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Let me ask you a question, who's the fruit for?
The fruit is never for the tree. I was standing here for a few moments as we were worshiping, and I was looking out at the fresh snow across the field, and I thought, we have been here for 25 years, and I have never seen the field throw a corn party. I have never seen the field boil corn and have a corn party. That has never happened.
The corn isn't for the field. The corn is for the people or for the animals that the corn will feed. The fruit is for someone else. The corn stocks do not consume the corn in and of themselves.
John, chapter 15, if you'll turn there with me, we're gonna be in verse number one. Some of you know it's very for a million portion of scripture. I wrote a little book concerning this portion of scripture, and it's gonna be the main text of our message this morning. John chapter 15, verse one through eight.
Jesus declares, I am the vine, and my father is the husband man. Every branch in me that bareth not fruit, he take it away. And every branch that bareth fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Say more fruit.
More fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken. Do you, how many are thankful for the word of God? Come on, there may only be a few of us here today because of the weather, but we can still rejoice in the goodness of our God, Amen.
We can let our voice rise today and thanksgiving to the Lord because he has good and he has cleansed us and he has washed us and he has taken away our sin, Amen. Thank God he came into the world. You are now clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Then Jesus declares this powerful statement.
He says, abide in me, which you know that word abide means to remain. It means to stay, it means to be fixed. Jesus says, stay in me, remain in me, be fixed in me. He said in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself.
The branch in and of itself cannot bear fruit. The branch needs a source. The branch is connected to a source except it abide in the vine. So Jesus is telling us unless the branch is connected to the vine, it can do nothing in and of itself except that it abide in him.
And it's a reference to us in him. We're the branch and he's the vine. Unless we remain connected to him just like a natural tree, our branch can bring forth no good fruit unless we are connected to him. Amen.
He said, I am the vine and you are the branches and he then abide in me. Notice he repeats this numerous times within these verses and numerous times throughout the verses, he admonishes us to stay, to remain, to be attached, to be fixed, not to move, not to leave, not to separate ourselves, but to remain because the life is in remaining and the fruit that we will bring forth comes from remaining in him. It's not in and of ourselves. He that abided in me and I in him, that person, that same one who abides and remains and stays in his fix will bring forth much fruit.
Say much fruit. We're not called to bring forth a little fruit. We're called to bring forth much fruit. No farmer rejoices over one corn stock.
They rejoice when the field is full. They don't rejoice in one cherry tree. They rejoice in many trees and many cherries on the trees. They don't rejoice in one apple tree, but in many apple trees with many apples.
Amen. If you've ever been to Florida and see the cherry tree, or I mean the orange trees and the orange grows, you can go in some places and for miles and miles and miles. You see these acres and acres just full of orange trees and the fruit on those trees. It's not one orange.
It's many oranges. Amen. And we are called to bring forth much fruit. Why?
Because it's a big world with a lot of people that need what you and I have to offer. For without me, Jesus said, you in and of yourself, you can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them up and they cast them into the fire and they are burned.
If you abide in me, he says, in my words, they remain in you. They abide in you. He said, you shall ask what you will. And it shall be done for you.
How many of you here today? Does that give hope? Does that give joy? Does that give peace?
Does that give strength? That if we remain in him, we have access to him because we remain in him and we can go to him and we can ask things of him because we are of him in that good news. And he said, it'll be done to you. Herein is my father glorified.
How? When we remain in him. How is the father glorified? When we stay, when we're fixed, when we remain and when we bear much fruit, when we are fruitful in our lives and we produce fruit that lasts in the world.
And our fruit is not for ourselves. Our fruit is for others. He said it glorifies the father that you bear much. Notice, he's used that word a few times, much.
We're not just called to get by. We're not called to just do as little as possible. We are called to bear much. We are called to do much.
If he says we were created unto good works, amen? We know we're not saved by our works, but we're created to do good works. And in him we do good works and we do good things and we remain in him and we stay in him. And because of that, the father is glorified.
He said, and so shall you be my disciples. When we remain, when we stay, when we bear fruit, then he said we shall be his disciples. Amen? In chapter 5 verse 22, will you turn there?
Galatians 5, 23. Galatians 5, 22, 23 says this. But the fruit of the Spirit, say fruit of the Spirit. That spirit we're talking about is that same spirit that raised Christ up from the dead.
It's that same spirit that hovered over the waters, that hovered over the darkness. It's that same spirit, the very spirit of God. The fruit in the essence of God's spirit. But the fruit of the spirit, we're told here, is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
And against such, the Bible says, there is no law. The fruit of the spirit, what should be coming from us, what should be made manifest in our life because of the Spirit of God. These things are what should be coming from us. What is coming from us?
What comes from you? What comes from your life on a daily basis? When others see you, when those that you work with, when those that you hang out with, with those who you're friends with, with those in your neighborhood, what do they see coming from you? What is being made manifest in your life?
What's being poured in you and what's coming out of you? What is the reflection of what's in you? Jesus said to us that we are to remain in Him and when we do, we will bear fruit. And here's the fruit that we bear.
We bear love. We bear love. Joy and peace and patience and gentleness and goodness and faith and meekness and temperance. First Corinthians chapter 12, 7 says, but the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit with all.
To profit. Another, another translation says it like this. A demonstration of the spirit, say demonstration. A demonstration is something that's shown, something that's shown, something that's portrayed, something that we can see.
It's a work that's done so that someone can see what it is. Have you ever seen something that's been demonstrated? Has anyone ever demonstrated something for you? The Bible says a demonstration of the spirit is given to each person, catches, to produce, to produce what is beneficial.
We are to produce something that is beneficial. Now let me ask you, it's love beneficial. It's joy beneficial. Come on, you made it.
You might as well participate. It's peace beneficial. It's being long-suffering beneficial. It's being gentle beneficial.
It's goodness beneficial. It's faith beneficial. It's meekness beneficial. It's temperance beneficial.
Yes, why? Because they are the manifestations of the fruit of the spirit. And these are the things that should be flowing from each and every one of us. And we should demonstrate.
We should demonstrate those things. We shouldn't be demonstrating our anger and our frustration and our bitterness and our anxiousness to the world. We should be demonstrating what the spirit of God has given to us. Amen?
Come on, church. He's given so much to us. And we are called to be the representation of God on this earth. We are called to be ambassadors in this life.
We are called to be the light of the world. Jesus came into the world. The light came into the world. And because of that and because of his spirit, we were to rise and lent that light so shine before men.
Amen. God produces in you and I. It's meant to flow in and out of us to others. It's not meant to just be a reservoir.
It's not meant to be a reservoir. A cherry tree. And this is where this all started. I read something this week and it made this analogy.
It was just a real quick little thing. And the writer said a cherry tree doesn't eat its own cherries. It said an apple, actually said something else if I couldn't remember what it was. So I just put apple.
But an apple tree doesn't eat apples. It produces apples. A cherry tree produces cherries. Or for someone else.
The tree doesn't say when someone comes to pick them. Hey, no. Don't you pick my cherries. Don't you pick my apples.
These apples are for me. No, the tree produces those things for someone else. Isn't that good? No tree has ever tasted the fruit that it produces.
The fruit is not for the tree. The fruit is for someone else. And the tree draws its source, its nutrients from a source, the sun, the soil, water. And then they produce something that benefits others.
See, we draw from the Lord and we are called to produce something that will benefit other people. We're not just have love, just have love. Our love is to go out to other people. We met the other night as a leadership team and we went to dinner together and afterwards my wife was speaking to the waitress and boy this time of the year, waitresses are just swamped at restaurants and they're doing the best at most of her doing the best that they can.
And so many of them are going through life struggles and battles just like a lot of people are. And the young lady that waited on our group and we had about 18 of us there and you could tell she was a little frazzled at times but she was doing the very best that she could. We were very kind and very gracious to her but not everybody that night had been very kind nor had they been very gracious to her. And afterwards she had brought the bill to my wife and she said they tell us that we're to put the tip on.
She said I don't like to do that. She said some people get mad when you do that. She said they tell us to do it but I didn't do that. I just want you to know the tip is not included in that.
She said you're free to give her whatever you would like to give and so she said okay and so she took the bill and she filled it out and the waitress came back and she just looked at my wife and she said you have no idea. She said I had a large table just before you and it was a large bill. She said and they barely gave me anything. She said and I'm a single mom and she said life is really hard right now and things are tough at this time of the year.
She started crying and Susan didn't say this to her but it's a good thing she didn't put her tip on because she would have shortchanged herself because we tipped her way more than what she would have tipped herself. We wanted to bless her and she stood there and she wept and she cried and she was so thankful. See our love is different folks. Our love goes above and beyond and maybe it comes out in just an expression of just maybe giving a little bit more maybe giving a little extra time maybe giving a little extra effort maybe noticing maybe it don't cost you anything but time and effort to maybe just notice someone.
Have you ever just wanted to be noticed? Did you ever just wish that somebody saw you? You know what I'm talking about? It's not the external but they saw you.
Did you ever just wish that somebody seen you that they got you that they understood or they had an inkling or a drawing that something was going on in your life but they just passed you by? Sometimes just a moment. Sometimes just an embrace. Sometimes just a hey we're thinking about you.
Sometimes it's just we're praying for you. Sometimes it's just a hey what's going on in your life. Sometimes it's just opening the door to allow someone to speak so that you can pour into them. That's our fruits.
What we've done to up to this morning and singing worshiping some of you just take it maybe it's just singing words but it's the very fruit of your lips giving honor and glory and praise to the king of kings and the lord of lords. It's flowing out of our innermost being. It's not just words. It's the fruit of life that's coming out of us to honor our heavenly father in that good and he pours gifts into us and there are things that he manifests in us that are meant to be poured out.
Arts isn't to be frustrated all the time with people. That is one of the biggest tricks of the enemy today is to cause us to be frustrated with one another, to be frustrated with other people. The enemy wants us frustrated with each other. He wants us frustrated with people.
Why? Because if we're frustrated we're not ministering. If we're frustrated we're not pouring out. If we're tired and we weary sometimes those are the greatest times to pour out.
Maryland in that moment of weakness and tired she gave what she had. She gave of the gift that was placed in her. The willingness, the simplicity church of the willingness to be obedient in a moment you may never know nor understand what that could do in a person's life. I have spoke to people that I had no idea that were within hours of taking their own life but in a moment changed that decision because of an encounter with someone that was willing to speak into their life.
Because their whole world was collapsing. Their whole world was falling apart. I got called one time to go into a situation with a distant family member of ours and one of the family called and said could you come? This situation is bad.
This situation isn't good. I wasn't their pastor but they called me and I went and the family member that was in the house looked at me and pointed their finger at me and said what are you doing here? If I wanted a pastor I'd call my own pastor. I said well that's great because I didn't come here as your pastor.
I came here today because I'm your nephew. I came here today because I care about you. I came here today because I love you. I came here today because I just wanted to spend a little time with you and instantly the defenses started to melt down instantly.
But I didn't say well were you to reject me. Do you know who I am? I'm called of God. I'm anointed of God.
I'm a pastor. Don't you speak to me like that. No but yet I just poured. I didn't look to be offended.
Church ours is not to be. ours is not to look to be offended at every situation. Because I can tell you offense will come. Oh if you want to be offended you can be offended.
Some of you could be offended by the time you got here today or before you leave. Offense it happens doesn't it? Say it happens. Get over it.
Get over it. We can't live in that because when we do it blocks the source of the Spirit of God moving through us. It like puts a clog a spiritual clog in the fruit that should be flowing out of us then gets cloved up and it's not able to flow out from us. God never intended for our fruit to just be for us.
He intends for the fruit of his Spirit for the callings that he places on our life to benefit those in whom we come in contact with. Everything God gives you and I. He gives it to us not just so that we can have it but so that we can be a blessing. And if we just hold on to everything ourselves something is wrong.
You hear me and you've heard me say for years God blesses us too. They were awake when I said that. God blesses us to be a blessing. We should look and desire and want to be a blessing.
You know it's easy to read a room these days. It's easy to walk into a place and to be able to see the countenance on someone's face. This almost says why is my countenance falling? You can see by the look on people's faces things that are going on in their life.
Don't be afraid. Don't be too consumed in your own problems or your own miseries or your own difficulties or your own hardships not to look to others. It's easy to see the difficulty that others are going through. God blesses us to be a blessing.
Some of you just your time can be a blessing. The very fact that you acknowledge someone can be the blessing. Maybe it was a little extra in a tip to a waitress or maybe it was a gift to a widow or to an orphan or to some family that isn't quite as blessed as you are and you felt the prompting of the Lord to do something to bless them. This time of the year people are doing things like that.
Going into stores and paying for people's order. I saw the other day someone was checking out and it came up and the person said total and the person behind him walked up and went whoop and walked away. And the woman just looked like that and she said what did they do? And the cashier said they just paid in full.
They paid in full. That was a grateful heart. The person who paid someone else's in full was a grateful heart. They were grateful for what has happened in their life and they were returning that.
They were not holding on. See we've been convinced that if we hold on then we'll have and we'll have more. But really the kingdom's theory is in the kingdom philosophy and the kingdom way is when we give then he gives more back. See if we use what he gives us then he gives us more.
You don't have to worry about giving it all and then you won't have any left. The more you give it, the more God gives it back. I've heard people who were so busy and said the busier they were with doing the things for the kingdom, the more time they seemed to have to do more things than the person who was lazy or the person who didn't do much. Spend your time wisely.
Spend your gifts and your talents and your abilities wisely. He didn't leave his throne and glory. He didn't come to this earth. He didn't bless us with salvation and give us the fruits of the spirit for us to be dormant.
He doesn't want us to be trees that when people pass were fruitless. He wants our fruit to abound. He wants there to be much fruit. But he reminds us that he's the source.
He says, I am the vine and you were the branches. Charge, we need him. We desperately need him. We need to remain in him, stay in him, be fixed in him.
And when we do then we can do great things. Notice that Jesus did not say you are the vine. He said I am the vine. He said I am the way, the truth and the life.
If we remain connected to him then we are connected to the source. Amen? The source of all life. And what flows from him to us.
All responsibility is then to let that flow to others. This is really important for us as the church to understand this. The branch in and of itself is not the source. The tree in and of itself is not the source.
A cherry tree doesn't manage your facts or by steel, sheer willpower. A cherry tree doesn't sit there and go, I think I can. It's not by willpower. It doesn't strain.
It doesn't struggle. Do you know what it does? It simply draws from the nutrients that is available to it. And then do you know what it does?
It produces. It produces because of what it's drawn from. What are you drawing from? What are you drawing from will be a great indicator of what you manifest.
If you're drawing from hurt you'll manifest hurt. You'll manifest pain. You'll manifest suffering. Whatever it is that you're manifesting from is what the fruit will be.
If it's anger, if it's bitterness, if it's frustration, if it's anxiety, if it's fear. Whatever those things may be, whatever you're acting from is what will fruit will manifest. Our spiritual fruit is not produced by our effort. It's the free gift that comes from the Father.
Amen? Love is not something that you and I create. It's not. It flows from God.
God is love. We don't try to love. We are people of love. Why?
Because God loves. Is it difficult to love some people? You say it. I can't.
Is it difficult at times to love some people? Are some people difficult to love? Yes. That's a reality of life, right?
Everybody is someone that you click with personally. Not everybody is somebody that maybe you connect with personally. But do not withhold love. Do not withhold kindness.
Do not withhold gentleness, meekness, kindness. For it is the fruit of the spirit. Have patience with one another. That's a fruit of his spirit.
Amen? And so don't allow just because you don't connect with that person. Don't allow that to stop the flow of the fruit of the spirit in your life toward people. We don't create love.
We don't create these things. They flow in us and they are to flow through us. Joy is not something that you and I hype up. It flows from God.
Why some people are so miserable all the time because they'll go into certain settings where it gives them the feeling or the emotion of being happy. But then they crash again. Anybody know what I'm talking about? You go to a certain place or maybe it's a party or get together or whatever it is and then you feel really happy or you feel excited and before you even get home you crash again.
That's because that thing isn't your source of your joy. It's not the source of your happiness. My wife and I was listening to a gentleman the other day who's unbelievably wealthy. I mean unbelievably wealthy.
His wealth has very little limits. That's how wealthy he is with tears streaming down his face because there's something missing in his life. Money in and of itself will not make you happy. He helps a little.
It takes money in his life to do things. But money isn't just the answer. A new car isn't just the answer. I've had the hype of a new car.
I know that feeling. I like that feeling. Anybody know what I'm talking about? I've had numerous people throughout my life come and bless me with financial gifts.
This isn't I were young and just married. I was working a job in my boss came in one day and laid a water cache on my desk and slid it over to me bigger than any water cache I had ever seen in my life. And as I unraveled it, it was 5,000. It was 5,000.
It was 5,000. And to me back in 1985, 1986, 5,000 dollars was a lot. 5,000 dollars on money to me today. I mean what I'm saying.
That 5,000 dollars. But they saw me. They saw me and they wanted to speak into my life and they wanted to encourage me and they wanted to be a blessing. But the joy of that 5,000 dollars lasted to the 5,000 dollars was gone.
Am I talking to anybody today? You all just wish you were home and didn't come. The joy of that 5,000 dollars and lasted to the 5,000 dollars was gone. And then it was on to the what are you going to do for me next God?
Anybody been there? The joy of the Lord of the Bible says He is our strength. If you showed up today and thought you were going to get a short version just because there were going to be a lot of people missing. Surprise!
We're giving you the full version and we may even give you a little extra just because you came. Well, thank you all three of you for that. That's incredible. Peace.
Patience. Kindness. They're not personality traits by the way. They're not personality traits.
They are evidence. They're evidence to be demonstrated. They are the fruit of God's spirit. The fruit of His spirit is good.
If the fruit's bitter, the problem isn't the fruit. It's the source. If the fruit is missing, the issue is not with activity. It's with connection.
A dead tree produces nothing. Jesus said in Matthew 717, every good tree bears good fruit. Every good tree bears good fruit. Who said it?
Jesus. Jesus said it. Every good tree bears good fruit. Fruit for us.
Fruit is the Christian. It's not optional church. Fruit is the evidence that life is presence. That life is present.
That Christ is present. Church attendance is not fruit. Bible knowledge in and of itself is not just fruit. Religious speech and language is not fruit.
Fruit is what others can taste, see and benefit from. The fruit of the spirit. If people around you are never fed, encouraged, strengthened, delivered, healed by what flows out of your life or my life, then something isn't right. Something isn't right.
The people that come into our existence should be touched by our presence. They should be encouraged by us. Just like that little waitress. I was thinking the other day, I should just have like a ministry to restaurants.
It's amazing to me how open most waitresses are if you just speak to them. You just ask simple questions. It's not uncommon for some places that Susan and I may go for the waitress to come and hug us. They know our names.
They'll bring our drinks to the table before we even order them because they remember. Why would they remember what we wanted? Because we were kind to them. Because we were caring to them.
Because we showed them that they were important. That we saw them. And we cared about them. And we tried to do that.
And when I'm not painting, I have to be these great people. Because somebody cut me off the other day and I wanted to really let them have it. Well, I know none of you have ever done that, right? And then it was my father-in-law and I realized I really couldn't let him have it.
So Susan said, hey, that's my dad. I'm just kidding. I just wanted to wake him up back there. No.
No, don't everybody look at him. Come on. I've got to go to lunch with this guy and then I'm going to hear about it from my mother. I'm going to go to lunch with this guy.
And then I'm going to hear about it from my mother-in-law. God bless mother-in-law, huh? Well, it's Jesus thinking when you roast Peter's mother-in-law. I don't know.
Back to the message. Some of you get that later. It's just a joke. It's a joke.
But our lives, what flows from our lives should be encouragement, right? It should be uplifting. It should be strengthening. And some of you know people like that and some of you know people that are opposite of that.
Here's a question that maybe you've been attending, but are you abiding? Maybe you've been showing up, but are you abiding? Church, the fruit is never for the tree. We got to get it.
We got to understand it. Your fruit is not just for you. A tree doesn't sit under its own shade. Any of its own fruit.
The shade exists for someone else in the fruit, exists for the hungry and the weary and those who are in need. Your love is for someone who's hard to love. Your patience is for someone who may even put you to the test in your wisdom is for someone who made lack direction in their life. Your mercy is for someone who may in your mind doesn't even deserve it, but great is his faithful and to say, man, how are you glad his mercy is new every day?
God never blesses us just to improve our comfort. He blesses you and I so that we can be a blessing, that we can be a conduit. Come on, worship team, we come back to the platform so that we can be a conduit. What is a conduit?
A conduit is something that makes a way for something to pass through. He blesses you and I to be a blessing. He gives us love so that we can love. He gives us peace so that we can speak peace.
He gives us comfort so that we can comfort. Amen? These things are not just for us. They're good for us.
And yes, thank God we can enjoy them. But we're to pour them out to others. We're to be a conduit to bless others. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 7, hold on to it.
The manifestation of the spirit is given to each one to profit. They're given for us to use that we can be a blessing. Our gifts are not trophies. If we're blessed with a beautiful voice, it's not a trophy just to be shown.
If you're blessed and being hand-y or gifted and fixing things, it's not just for the pats on the back. It's to be a blessing. It's to be a help. It's to be a guide.
It's to be a lead. If you build the kingdom, amen? Preachers are not just for preachers. Aren't you glad for that?
Singers are not just for singers. Aren't you glad for that? Teachers are not just for teachers and leaders are not just for leaders. If your gift only builds your reputation, if your gift only builds your reputation, then you've missed its purpose.
Then you've missed its purpose. It's not about you. It's not about me. It is about him.
Arashine for the light is calm. The glory of the Lord is risen, amen? Spiritual gifts are fruit on a tree and fruit that never leaves the branch eventually rots. If the fruit just remains on the branch and it's never given out, it's never used.
The branch remains, but the fruit must be, do you understand what I'm saying? The branch remains so that it can produce more fruit, but if the fruit just remains on the tree and it's never picked, then it rots. There are so many people today eating of their own fruit that there's nothing left for others because we consume all of our own fruit. Here's where it may get a little uncomfortable.
Some believers are living off of what God meant for them to give away. Some in the body today are living off of what was meant to give away, but here's the key. If you give away what God gives you, the fruits of the Spirit, if you put out what God has poured into you, the love, the joy, the grace, the mercy, the forgiveness, and all, that stuff, you following me? God will pour those things back into you.
You're kindness. You can't give out enough kindness. And when you put out kindness, the Bible says, what man soeth, that also shall he what? Reap.
Don't just live off of what's meant to give away. We hold on to encouragement sometimes that's meant for others. Sometimes we hold on wisdom that's meant for others. Sometimes we hold back the calling that God's placed on our life that's meant to be shared with others.
Fruit that's not harvested is wasted potential. Fruit that's not harvested is wasted potential. Oh my, let's not waste our potential today. Let's not waste it.
Leaves look good, but fruit feeds people. Leaves look good, but fruit feeds people. Come on, stand with me this morning. God's not impressed with appearance.
He's looking for what we will do with what we've been given. When you give fruit, more fruit comes. And Jesus said, my father is glorified. That the Father is glorified.
The more you give, the more God will produce, and the Father is glorified. The tree in and of itself doesn't decide how much fruit they'll give. They just stay connected to the source, and they let the source produce the fruit. Come on, church.
So what's growing on your branch? What's growing on your branch? As believers in Jesus Christ, we're never meant to live off of what God produces in and of us. Our fruit is for our family.
Our fruit is for our church. Our fruit is for our community. Our fruit is for our hurting world. Yes, we get to partake of it too, but it's meant for us to bless others as well.
Fruit that never feeds others is fruit that's missed its calling. Stay connected. Stay available. And let God grow in you.
What will bless others? Let God grow in you. What will bless others? We may be blessed to be a blessing.
Let's pray. Father, today we thank you for the opportunity to be here today. Thank you, Father, that you are the vine and we are the branches. Thank you, Father, that you produce fruit through us.
That will be a blessing to others. God, not just at this time of the year, may we be mindful of giving, but Lord, may that be our nature throughout all of our lives. Lord, that we will be so thankful for who you are and the blessings that you pour into our life that we are constantly looking to pour out. Whether it's our love, our joy, our peace, our comfort, our strength, our hope, Father, the gift of salvation that you poured into us that we can share with others.
Whether it's a natural thing, Lord, that you may speak to our hearts to do. Whatever it may be, Father, may we be found faithful, faithful with the fruit that you poured into us. That we can be a blessing, Lord, to others. Open doors, open windows, open opportunities in our life.
Father, that that what you have poured into us can manifest in us and flow out from us. That we can demonstrate, oh God, that we can demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit to everyone we come in contact with. And God, when we miss the marker, we fail or we blow it. May we just shake that off, may we brush it off, may we get back up and start over again.
Say, God, I miss that mark. I miss that thing, but God use me today. Help us, Father, to be sensitive. Help us to be sensitive.
Help us to see others. Help us to not just walk by, but help us to see one another. May our words be seasoned. May our words bring hope.
May our words bring comfort. May they bring life. And may they point those who do not know you to you. And to those who are discouraged, Father, may we speak words of comfort.
Use us. Use us for your glory and your honor. Father, as we remain connected, may we bear much fruit to glorify the Father. Strengthen your people today.
Lord, I pray that in the rising and they're sitting and they're coming and they're going. They will find strength and peace and joy and comfort and strength and hope. Father, wherever their feet may trot and whatever their hands may touch. Father, I pray we'll be blessed of you.
Oh God, use us for your glory and your honor. God, I pray safety over each one today. They travel out through the roads and the streets. God, for your safety.
Help us to use wisdom. Help us to drive safely. Help us to be wise. We give you glory.
We bless you. I pray God every good and perfect gift. Whether they're gathered in this house today or they're listening over the Internet. God, I pray every good and perfect gift because you are the giver of every good and perfect gift in Jesus' name.
So come on Church, let's arise. Let's shine. Why? For the glory of the Lord is come, right?
Come on, sing this final song with us this morning. I know a name. That should be your message, especially this time of the year. Somebody says to you, well, you know, I know a name.
How many of you have had somebody say to you this week? What do you know? When they ask you that question, tell them I know a name. Come on, worship team.