July 4, 2010

Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Galatians: A Grace-full Life

A basket of fruit: Patience,  a gift of the Spirit (Part 5)

Sermon Series: Galatians: A Grace-full Life

Title: : A basket of fruit: Patience, a gift of the Spirit (Part 5)  Text: Galatians 5:22-24

 

Introduction: Patience. I believe the Holy Spirit has planted that spiritual tree in my garden, but it has yet to produce a lot of ripened fruit.

 

ILL: Someone wrote: Patience is a virtue, Possess it if you can. Found seldom in a woman, Never in a man. (Source unknown)

 

USA today once reported on motorists running red lights. This is what they, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found.

 

·       Running red lights injures 250,000 people a year and kills 800.

·       Running red lights racks up an estimated 7 billion dollars in property damage, medical bills, loss productivity and insurance hikes.

·       Running red lights, on average, saves less than 50 seconds.

 

We live in a society that’s in a hurry for everything. We’re just not willing to wait for anything or anyone. And if I were to be honest, I’m standing impatiently in that line with them.....but I’m ahead of you!

 

Patience is hard to develop...even for mature Christians. Listen to this.

 

ILL: A church in Florida advertises 22 minute worship services. The sermons are just 8 minutes long.’ (Melvin Newland)

 

Don’t get any ideas.

 

Transition: Patience. Turn in your Bibles to Galatians 5:22 (Pg. 889 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) For it’s there we’ll find Patience, the 4th fruit the Holy Spirit places in our Spiritual baskets.

 

Galatians 5:22-24                Patience

A. Understanding the fruit

Read: Galatians 5:22-24

 

Patience.......One of the problems with our lack of patience, is that it’s not part of our make up. We’re just not wired to be patient. Don’t believe me?

 

ILL: What happens when a baby’s hungry, or wet and you don’t get to them right away? The baby doesn’t think ‘I know mom and dad are tired because it’s late, so I will wait till a more convenient time for them to change my diaper.

 

Yea...like that happens. And it doesn’t get better

 the older they get...am I right?

 

Before we talk about cultivating patience in our lives we need to talk about what patience is.

 

Here are a few definitions:

·       Patience is self-restraint which does not hastily retaliate against a wrong.

·       Patience is the ability to accept delay or disappointment graciously.

·       Patience is the calm endurance based on the certain knowledge that God is in control.

·       Patience is accepting a difficult situation without giving God a deadline to remove it.

·       Patience is the ability to let go of the need for immediate gratification.

·       Patience is the even temper that comes from a big heart.

 

The New Testament has three different Greek words for patience.

·       Anecho: up hold. to bear with someone.

·       Hupomome: abide under, endurance, perseverance, longsuffering.

·       Makrothumi: slow to anger, short memory and a long fuse.

 

In a nutshell, patience means to wait, to delay appropriate action, in a trying situation, by trusting, in God’s timing.

 

Transition: OK. Now for what you’ve been waiting for...no, not the Benediction. How do we grow/cultivate the spiritual fruit of patience in our lives?

 

B. Growing the fruit

1. Abide in Christ. We start at the same place for all the fruit of the Spirit. We stay close to Jesus.

 

Read: John 15:5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.’

 

2. Slow down. Here’s something that makes me go ‘hmmm!’ The company whose motto is ‘You deserve a break today’ sells fast food. It’s like they’re saying ‘Come on in. Let’s see how fast you can take a break and then get quickly back on the road again.’

 

Slow down... God came up with the idea of a Sabbath Rest...our bodies need it, our minds need it, our spirits need it.

 

Read: Exodus 20:10 ‘ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.’

 

3. Overlook the little frustrations of life. In other words, don’t sweat the small stuff. More relationships crumble, not because of devastating situations, but because of little things that are blown out of proportion and held on to.

 

Read: 1 Peter 4:8 ‘Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.’

 

4. Trust God with the big things of life. Cancer, death, unemployment, broken relationships....there are some things we just can’t handle alone...we need to trust in God’s help.

 

There is a great illustration of this in the Book of Exodus. Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage and slavery. They were standing on the banks of the Red Sea.

·       In front of them is this deep and wide, body of water.

·       Behind them they heard the rumbling of the Egyptian chariots with the greatest army the world, heading their way.

·       They are caught between a rock and a hard place.

 

They turned and shouted to Moses ‘Moses. Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt? You led us all this way to die in the desert.’ Listen to how Moses responded.

 

Read: Exodus 14:13-14 ‘Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’

 

While the circumstances are different, we still need to heed Moses advice. Stand firm...be patient...the Lord will fight for you...you need to be patient and trust God.

 

5. Pray....more.

Read: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ‘pray continually’

 

But you have to slow down to do that.

 

 

Conclusion

Can I be honest? Here’s what I think. A lack of patience, is most often the result, of an over-abundance, of self. Think about it:

·       Long lines at the store. Who are they delaying? You!

·       Having someone pull out in front of you and drive slower than you. Who are they slowing down? You!

·       Waiting for hours to be seen at a doctor’s office when you have an appointment. Who are they keeping from other important things? You!

·       What’s the common factor in your stress, aggravation and impatience...you!

 

A lack of patience, is most often the result, of an over-abundance, of self.

 

Read: Ecclesiastes 7:8b ‘...patience is better than pride.’

 

Take a moment right now and ask yourself ‘Who has God placed in my life that I need to be more patient with?’ If you’re married, if you have children, if you have aging parents, you won’t have to think very long.

 

Now ask God to help you be more patient with them by taking ‘self’ out of the equation.

 

Read: Ecclesiastes 7:8b ‘...patience is better than pride.’

 

Cultivate patience and God will ripen that spiritual fruit and place it in your spiritual basket.