Vibe Check 2 | The Greatest Vibe – Love

  Welcome back to Redemption Church in Plano Tx. My name is Chris Fluitt.Welcome everyone joining us for the first time. We are glad to have you. We are in the 2nd week of our sermon series – Vibe Check What is a Vibe?Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys?   Vibe – A person’s emotional state, felt by others; The tangible atmosphere created by the disposition of our being. Also.. A practical revelation of a spiritual reality. Vibe – the cologne or perfume of your life. (2 Cor 2:14-15) Vibe Check In this series we are focusing on the vibe… but also the Vibe producer.In week 1 we walked about Flesh Vibes & Spirit Vibes. Flesh Vibes or Spirit Vibes We must focus on what is producing within us.     The greatest vibe Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV) 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.     Love is more than a feeling.We need love to grow in us A supernatural source   Love is the most excellent way – The Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 12:31) Every city or society of men is held together by some law, and the city of God is held together by the law of love. – The theologian Augustine “Love will have the final word.” – The Reformer Dr. Martin Luther King Jr “Love has no awareness of merit or demerit; it has no scale. Love loves; this is its nature.” – The Pastor Howard Thurman “Love conquers all’ – The Poet Virgil “Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil.” – The Historian Arnold Toynbee “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” The Novelist Victor Hugo “Where there is love there is life” and “Real love is to love them that hate you, to love your neighbor even though you distrust him.”  – The Activist Ghandi “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.” The Humanitarian Mother Teresa “You can break God’s heart, but you can’t break God’s love.” The Preacher E.K. Bailey     What is your vibe? What is producing your vibe? Our culture focuses on what the can see, touch, feel, and experience. There is value in this.But let us take a step beyond the vibe what we experience and search for what is producing the vibe. Flesh Vibes or Spirit Vibes Galatians 5 talks about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. Flesh and Spirit produce their own vibes. The best vibes are produced by the Spirit. –          Tangible, possible to experience, real, factual fruit.   Psalm 34:8 (NIV) Taste and see that the LORD is good Are you experiencing the fruit of the Spirit? –          Recognize the difference between Spirit and flesh. Call out your vibe. Focus on what is producing in you. –          Focus on what’s growing in you more than what is happening around you Do not allow the external happenings to produce your vibe. Allow God’s Spirit to produce your vibe and watch your external situations change. Not enough love, joy, peace around you?  Produce it! –          Focus on the kind of person you can be to the people closest to you as the Spirit produces   Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV) 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. What vibes are in you?What vibes are in your home?What vibes are in your friendships?What vibes are in your church or connect group? The best vibes are produced by the Spirit. How do we produce the Vibes of the Spirit? You need God’s Spirit. Repent of sin and what sin produces. Let the Spirit overflow.  Meditate – read – think – pray – worship Read what you want to produce.Think about what you want to produce.Pray to God about what you want to produce.Worship the one who produces.   Flesh Vibes or Spirit Vibes The wrong vibes always come from the flesh. The flesh is that part of your human nature that attempts to satisfy and solve our human issues with SELF without God. Galatians 5 tells us about the fruit of the Spirit, and it also tells us about the acts of the flesh. Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV) 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. The acts of the flesh are obvious. The flesh produces bad vibes. The flesh can seem like a good idea, but no one will like the end result. Romans 8:6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Flesh produces death.Dead marriagesDead dreamsDead heartsDead mindsDead churches Flesh may have right application but the wrong motivation.Flesh may have right motivation but the wrong application. Ray Kroc was a business man who bought a fast food restaurant called McDonald’s. “I believe in God, family, and McDonald’s. And in the office, that order is reversed.” – Ray Kroc Ray’s application and motivation changed with whatever the flesh desires at the moment.  Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle would council married couples, and when he was not able to get them to agree on anything, accept any wisdom, receive any correction, Cymbala would stop the counseling session and order the couple to go sit in the prayer room. “You can’t council the flesh.”  – Pastor Jim Cymbala He wouldn’t even tell them to go pray, but to at least sit in the atmosphere of prayer… the atmosphere of the Spirit. After they had been in the presence of the Spirit… they were able to be counseled. Flesh may have right application but the wrong motivation.Flesh may have right motivation but the wrong application. BUT Spirit brings life AND peace. Spirit has the right application and the right motivation.   Flesh violatesThink back to Galatians 5 where it said the acts of the flesh are obvious… Flesh violates sacred sexuality – Sexual immorality, impurity, and debaucheryViolates Sacred Worship – idolatry and witchcraftViolates brotherly love – hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envyViolates community – drunkenness, orgies, and the like… Spirit protects Spirit violates sacred sexuality Spirit protects sacred WorshipSpirit protects brotherly loveSpirit protects community Vibe Check What is your vibe?What comes out of you is a reflection of what is within you.Who is producing your vibe?  Romans 8:5 (NIV) Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. Jacob & Esau Twins battling within…Esau – willing to sell everything for temporary relief and pleasure.Jacob – willing to wrestle, work, and wait. Esau – family of flesh no longer exists.Jacob became Israel and will exist forever. Vibe Check Change your Desire. (Produce Spiritual Vibe) You need God’s Spirit. Repent of sin and what sin produces. Let the Spirit overflow.      1 | Page