SERMON FOR THIS WEEK
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JULY 13TH, 2008
July 13, 2008
Rev. Murray Brindle
Rev. Murray Brindle
Galatians 5:22 (sermon notes from a conference given by Pastor John Maxwell)
FRUIT THAT IS NEVER OUT OF SEASON GENTLENESS
Robert Ringer wrote the book Looking Out For Number One.
Greeks understood immediately what he was saying because they knew well the teachings of Aristotle, who said that virtue was the mean between two extremes.
The Bible says that Moses was a meek man; in fact, God's word in Numbers 12:3 says, "He was more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth."
When you look at Moses' life, there are a lot of things that show he wasn't a perfect person. But the Bible says he was a meek person.
Moses was pleasing to God because although he had this incredible power, there was a gentleness about him. He didn't feel that he had to put people in their place. He didn't feel that he had to fix everything and everybody.
Nowhere probably, do we have a better example of that gentleness than in the triumphant entry of Jesus. Listen to these words in Matthew 21:5, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
There are two steps or ingredients to becoming biblically a meek or a gentle person.
1. I think the first thing that I would want you to realize is that only God's grace can do this for us.
2. I would want you to notice is that it's a conscious decision.
Gentleness is power under God's control. Philippians 4:5 Five elements of gentle people: I'll use the letters of the word Power to define them:
· P Personality ... under God's control. A gentle person takes the personality that God has given them, unique as it is, and places it under the control of God.
· O Outlook ... under God's control. Philippians 2:4The results? We start working for the benefit of others not just ourselves.
· W Words ... under God's control.
· You know it isn't the things that go in one ear and out the other that cause damage. It's the things that go in one ear, get all mixed up and come out the mouth.
· E Expectations ... under God's control. When we are gentle people, we not only place our personality, outlook, and words under God's control, but even our expectations.
· R Response ... under God's control. Gentle people are proactive, not reactive. Proverbs 16:32; 15:4A proactive person is self- controlled.A reactive person is other- controlled.
FRUIT THAT IS NEVER OUT OF SEASON GENTLENESS
Robert Ringer wrote the book Looking Out For Number One.
Greeks understood immediately what he was saying because they knew well the teachings of Aristotle, who said that virtue was the mean between two extremes.
The Bible says that Moses was a meek man; in fact, God's word in Numbers 12:3 says, "He was more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth."
When you look at Moses' life, there are a lot of things that show he wasn't a perfect person. But the Bible says he was a meek person.
Moses was pleasing to God because although he had this incredible power, there was a gentleness about him. He didn't feel that he had to put people in their place. He didn't feel that he had to fix everything and everybody.
Nowhere probably, do we have a better example of that gentleness than in the triumphant entry of Jesus. Listen to these words in Matthew 21:5, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
There are two steps or ingredients to becoming biblically a meek or a gentle person.
1. I think the first thing that I would want you to realize is that only God's grace can do this for us.
2. I would want you to notice is that it's a conscious decision.
Gentleness is power under God's control. Philippians 4:5 Five elements of gentle people: I'll use the letters of the word Power to define them:
· P Personality ... under God's control. A gentle person takes the personality that God has given them, unique as it is, and places it under the control of God.
· O Outlook ... under God's control. Philippians 2:4The results? We start working for the benefit of others not just ourselves.
· W Words ... under God's control.
· You know it isn't the things that go in one ear and out the other that cause damage. It's the things that go in one ear, get all mixed up and come out the mouth.
· E Expectations ... under God's control. When we are gentle people, we not only place our personality, outlook, and words under God's control, but even our expectations.
· R Response ... under God's control. Gentle people are proactive, not reactive. Proverbs 16:32; 15:4A proactive person is self- controlled.A reactive person is other- controlled.
