Central to the Christian message is the word “love.” God is called love. Jesus embodies love. Christians are called by the Holy Spirit into a life of love. As the first of the Fruit of the Spirit, we are told by Paul that we can grow in love—that love can flourish in us, that we can be marked more and more by love. In this series, we will define what Jesus, Paul, and other biblical authors had in mind when they had “love” on their minds, discuss some of the enemies of love, lay out what our church is doing to partner with parents to help them raise their children in the Christian faith, and discuss practical ways we can cultivate love in our one-on-one relationships, be they romantic relationships or friendships.

“What brings you joy?” That’s a popular question these days. But what if joy isn’t something that can be brought to us from the outside? What if joy is cultivated within? Often mistaken for happiness, or even pleasure, joy – at least in the way Jesus describes it – isn’t deflated by unfavorable circumstances. Instead, it changes the way you endure them. Joy is on offer to you now. Come and claim it!

Jesus had Jerusalem in his hands. Israel was ripe for rebellion. Using nothing more than his words, Jesus could have stirred up a revolution. Using the full weight of his power, he could have ended Rome in an instant (Matthew 26.53). The political implications of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem were palpable for his followers, and throughout the week more and more of Jerusalem began to wonder who this man was and what he would do. In this series, we will discuss what peace is, how we cultivate inner peace and how we live as makers of peace.

There may be no greater felt need in the list of the nine Fruit of the Spirit than patience. We will tie this into our advent theme and help people find themselves in God’s story. In this series, we will talk about patience on the very personal level as well as on the larger, existential level. We all have things we as individuals are waiting for as well as things we collectively are waiting for. What does it look like to wait well? What do we do while we are waiting and how can we grow in the space between where we are and where we will be? In short, how do we cultivate patience?

Kindness matters. There are few of us who do not want to be kind. In fact, most of us probably believe we are, at least relatively, kind. However, most of us also want to live in a far more kind world. Where is the breakdown? In this series, we will explore what gets in the way of our kindness. Again, it is not a lack of desire, so what is it?

From the first pages of the Bible, a key question facing humanity has been, “What is good?” The snake in the garden did not convince Adam and Eve to do something they knew was bad; the snake convinced them that something bad was actually good! How do we know what it means to do good, and then how do we actually do it? In this series, we’ll take a look at the age-old question and point towards answers that can inspire and empower us today.

Few ideas are more central to the way of Jesus than faith. To have faith in something is to trust that thing, to believe in that thing, to orient yourself around that thing. To have faith in Jesus is to trust him, to believe in him, to orient yourself around him. In this series, we will look at men and women who came before us and who—by faith—did extraordinary things and lived extraordinary lives. We will see the leaps of faith they took and hopefully be inspired to take some leaps of our own.

What it means to be gentle is to carry your authority with care and humility. That is how Jesus handles us, with care. His heart is full of gentleness and he wants to pour that same gentleness into our hearts.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." —Matthew 11:29

Self-control is a mastery over self. It is the ability to say “yes” when a big part of you wants to say “no.”

Self-control has been a virtue throughout the ages. Socrates listed it as a cardinal virtue 400 years before Paul put together his list. But Paul made a unique contribution to the idea of self-control, both in regard to how we develop it and what we do with it!