Today we're starting a brand-new series entitled Life by the Spirit. Say "life." How many of you want to have life in your life? Yeah, we all want to have life in our lives. We want life in our families. We want life in our jobs. We want life in every single aspect. But one of the things I've noticed is that so often the challenge is we look for life in all the wrong places. And then we wonder why we don't have the life we intended to have.

What we're looking at in this series is living the life God called us to live, which is a life marked by His fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. The more fruit you have in your life, the more life you're actually going to have. So my job today is twofold. One job is to set up this series, and my second job is to talk about our first fruit, which is love.

Why does the fruit of the Spirit matter?

Let me tell you a couple of reasons I wanted to do this series. The first reason is that God has a hope for all of us, that we will bear the fruit of Christianity. That if people look at you, they will say, "Oh my gosh, you look like a Christian." Why? Because of your fruit. The goal of this life is not just to go to heaven. No, the goal is that we will bear fruit, so that people will be attracted to the God inside of us and they will want what we have.

But so often what happens is that people are so hungry for God, and it's not that they're rejecting God. They're rejecting us, because so often we don't actually look like God. We are to bear the fruit of Christianity. Let me say it this way: we can't make a difference if we're not different. That's right. You can't make a difference if you're not different. People are like, "Why do I need to follow you? You've got the same issues I do. You're as depressed as I am. You're as angry as I am. You medicate the same way I do. Why do I need to look like you when you look so much like me?" We can't make a difference if we're not different. God desires for us to actually bear the fruit of Christianity.

The second reason is that fruit is critical. Say "critical." Fruit is critical because it is actually the evidence that you are a follower of Jesus. If you want to know what a follower of Jesus looks like, we have to look at the fruit. John 13:35 says this: "By this," by what? "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." That's how they know we are His disciples. Later, John 15:8 says this: "This is to my Father's glory." If you remember, last week we talked about how we are made to give God glory, so whatever comes next is incredibly important. "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." The fruit of the Spirit is proof. It is the evidence that we are following Jesus.

So let me say it this way: if the fruit in your life doesn't look like the fruit of the Spirit, it could be that you aren't following the Spirit. Can I say that? If the fruit of our lives doesn't look like we're following Jesus, then it may be that we're not following Jesus. You're like, "But Brad, that's not my personality. That's not who I am. I wake up like this. I don't have joy. I don't have love. It's just who I am." Thank God Christianity is not based on a feeling. It is based on a choice. So either we're going to choose to follow Jesus or not. Because my identity is not going to be found in my sin. It's going to be found in who Jesus says I am. Amen.

God wants us to have all of these things. Do the people at our jobs know we're Christians? Why? Because they taste our fruit. We have to ask ourselves this question: what does your fruit taste like? When someone comes across your life, are they like, "Man, I taste the fruit of anger. I taste the fruit of frustration. I taste the fruit of bitterness"? Or do they taste the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience? If someone were to eat off your tree, would they experience life, or would they experience death?

We have to ask ourselves this, because Jesus says this is how you'll be able to identify whether they are His disciples. Matthew 7:16 says this: "By their" what? "Fruit you will recognize them." And He clarifies, in case you're asking, what is fruit? Is it a mindset? Is it a feeling? Is it a state of being? No, no, no. You will identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. How we act is our fruit. Not how we attend church, not how we worship. How we act is actually the fruit in our lives.

So if we respond in anger, that's our fruit. If we respond with the silent treatment, "I'm going to get you. Just watch. I can be quieter longer than you can," then that's our fruit. If we respond with manipulation, then that's our fruit. The challenge is that sometimes we think we can live however we want and not deal with the consequences. But people are eating off your tree, and then it comes to a point where you actually want to invite them to church, and they're like, "Why would I ever go to church? I remember what you did in that meeting. I remember how you took me out in that meeting." Our fruit is the evidence of our Christianity.

The passage continues, and it's kind of scary: "Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears" what kind of fruit? Good. "But a bad tree bears" what kind of fruit? Bad. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire," which is talking about final judgment. Now, if that doesn't freak you out... I read that and I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I've got to be a good tree." Just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, you can identify people by their actions. And if our fruit doesn't look like Jesus, like I said, it could be that we're not following Jesus.

What kind of tree are you?

It's the tale of two trees. I have two trees to make my point today. One thing we have to understand about what this verse is saying is a process called the order of salvation, ordo salutis, which is basically what happens when we get saved.

The first part is salvation. That's when we say, "Jesus, I'm making You my Lord. I'm making You my Savior." At that point, we are saved. Then we are regenerated. What is regeneration? Regeneration means we receive a new heart with new desires and new passions. We no longer desire to please the flesh. We desire to please God. At that point, we're justified. What does that mean? Just as if it never happened. We stand before God, and we are declared righteous. And then we go through the process of sanctification, where we become more like Jesus and produce more and more fruit that looks like Jesus, until we get to the point of glorification. When we die, we receive our glorified bodies, and we're with Jesus forever, and sin and decay are taken away. Amen. That's the process.

So we have these two trees over here. I have a lemon tree, which represents who we are before we meet God. If you like lemons, I'm sorry. I like lemons too. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't sell thorn trees. I looked, but for some reason I don't think people want thorn trees in their houses. So today we're going with a lemon tree as our thorn tree. That's what we're working with today.

This represents who we are before we meet God. And we can try through the law: "I'm going to be good. I'm going to do the good stuff." Here's the thing: it doesn't matter whether it's a good thorn or a bad thorn. It's still a thorn. I can love people, but if I don't know Christ, the motivation isn't coming from Christ. It's coming from self-service. I can still love people, and my action is good, but it's still a thorn. It's still a lemon.

Then we come to a place where we're saved and we're regenerated, and I no longer desire to please my flesh. Instead, I desire to please God. And even when I fail and I produce a bad orange, it's still an orange. And when I produce a good one, it's an orange. What's the difference? The difference is where my desire is. So what the Bible is saying is that if you're the wrong kind of tree, you will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So before we talk about fruit, we first have to talk about what tree we are.

And if you're like, "Brad, I don't know. How do I know?" here are a couple of questions you can ask yourself.

1. What is your desire?

The first question is this: what is the desire of your life? Do you desire to please God? If your desire is for God, that means you have a regenerated heart. You're an orange tree. But if you live in sin, it's unconfessed, and you don't care, "I don't actually want to change. I go to church, but I'm not repentant. Jesus is not Lord. My desire isn't to please Him," you might be a confused lemon tree. Even if it's a good lemon, that's a lemon.

Where is your desire? If our desire is for God, if we're saying, "God, I know that I sin. I know that I make mistakes. But my desire is to please You," that means your heart has been regenerated. If we don't have a desire to please God, we might be the wrong kind of tree. Can I say that?

2. What is your comfortability with sin?

The second question is this: what is your comfortability with sin? We know every person sins. 1 John 1:8: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." The question is not whether we sin. The question is this: when we sin, what do we do with it? What is your response to sin? Are you sinning, or are you living in sin?

An unregenerate heart is comfortable with sin. "That's my pattern. That's who I am." A regenerated heart grieves sin and repents. For one, sin is the exception. For the other, it's the rule. It's my identity. It's who I am.

So imagine someone comes up to me and says, "Brad, this has got to stop. This anger, lying, laziness, addiction, cussing, sexual immorality, alcoholism, envy, gossip, slander," insert sin here, "this is not God's best for you." If I say, "Father, forgive me. That's not my desire," I'm the right kind of tree. But if I'm like, "How dare you? You can't say that. It's my life. It's my truth. I won't submit. I won't change. But I go to church. But I pray," I don't know that we have experienced the truth of the gospel. Is that okay?

Because when I say Jesus is my Lord, and I've said this before, it means I am under His Word. The mistake comes when we put the Bible on the ground and say we're over it, so it doesn't dictate to me, I dictate to it. Then we might be the wrong kind of tree. So before we ever get into fruit, the question is this: where are we? We have to determine that.

The Bible says this in Philippians 2:12: "continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling." That doesn't mean be afraid of God. That's not what it's saying. But it is saying, work out your salvation with reverence and awe, knowing that we're standing before a holy God. I love you. And my job as a pastor is to prepare you for the day you stand before God. So I'd rather say something that rubs you the wrong way, so that one day when you stand before God, you can say, "I made Jesus my Lord and my Savior." Amen. I'd rather you dislike me and stand before God one day thankful that we asked ourselves the right questions. Is that okay?

So even before we get into the fruit of the Spirit, we have to ask: are we trying to do this through law, or are we doing this through the gospel? That's the first question.

How do you produce the fruit of the Spirit?

The second question is this: how do we produce the fruit? Once we've established that we're an orange tree, and I love this, once we've established that we are a big, juicy orange tree, how do we produce more good oranges? That's the question.

And this is important, because we'll mess up this whole series if we just say, "Here is love. Love more." "How do I love more?" "Try." "What do I do?" "Just try harder. Love. Love." The way it's going to work is not going to be outside in. It's going to be inside out. It happens when we abide in Christ. It happens when we look at Christ. It happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to actually work within us. That's when we produce good fruit. The Bible says He is our Empowerer, our Comforter, our Helper, our Counselor. So the more we love Jesus, and the more we allow the Holy Spirit to come into us, the more new fruit comes. That's how it works.

John 14:15 says this, and we've read it before: "If you love me, keep my commands." And we've said this: your view of God determines how you read that. Because a lot of us read it like this: "If you love Me, you will do what I say. If you love Me, prove it. Show Me." That's not what it says. It says, "Just love Me. And if you love Me, you'll do what I command." If you just love Me, it's easy. If you just love Me, it'll happen. But so often we teach it the other way. "I'm going to scare you into heaven." And then we wonder why people don't want to be Christians. No, no, no. Just love Me, and you'll do what I call you to do.

It's almost like with Paige. Let's imagine I'm like, "I won't look at other girls." And I'm walking around going, "I will not look at other girls. I will not look at other girls." Or I can just love Paige. And the more in love I am with Paige, the less I care about everybody else. The more you're in love with Jesus, you don't have to try. I don't want to try to have love. I don't want to try to have joy. "Well, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, so get back in bed and get out on the other side." I don't want to do that. I just want to love Jesus. Because I become like that which I love. So if I love Him, I'm going to become like Him. And if I'm not becoming like Him, I question my love.

When I watch your fruit, your fruit tells me everything about your love for Jesus. If there's less fruit, something's wrong. You're not in the secret place with Him. You're not seeking His face. It's not about trying. Does that help? That's the difference between religion and relationship. Religion is a have-to: "I have to be faithful to Paige." Relationship is "I want to. That's what I want to do."

Parents, you know this. If you've ever told your kids, "Don't get drunk. Don't get drunk," and they're in high school and they don't get drunk, and then they go to college and all of a sudden they get drunk, what happened? You created a boundary and forced them to do something, and because they were in your house they were compliant for a time. But because it wasn't written on their hearts, there was no change. The Holy Spirit writes the law on our hearts. It's not outside in. It's inside out. We have to start with our love for Jesus.

That's why I wanted to take all this time to explain this, because if I just jumped into love, you'd miss the mechanism of how fruit is produced. The mechanism is always going to come out of your love for Jesus. "If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate." That word another means "of the same kind." Jesus is saying you're going to receive someone just like Me. He is the Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Counselor, Strengthener. He's the Holy Spirit, and He will "be with you forever." "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?

So we need to get more of the Holy Spirit. And the more of the Holy Spirit we get in our lives, the more we surrender, the more full of Him we become. Galatians 5:16 says this: "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Ephesians 5:18: "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled," say "filled," "with the Spirit."

That is not a one-time thing. There's the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that comes upon us when we're saved. But the Bible says be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. You know you can have more of the Holy Spirit in your life than you do right now. You can hear His voice in a greater way than you do right now. You can receive more of the Holy Spirit. That's what it's saying. It's a present imperative: be continually filled with the Spirit. The word is pleroo, which means to complete, to have to the full degree.

Only Jesus had the Holy Spirit without measure. The Bible says it in John 3:34: "For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit." That's why Jesus could do the things He did. He had the Holy Spirit without limit. Colossians 1:19: "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him." And the Holy Spirit has been poured out on us. The challenge is not that the Holy Spirit needs to be given more. It's that we need to give more of ourselves to Him.

It's like this. Take these two glasses. Here we have Jesus, and it says He received the Holy Spirit to the full. And then the Holy Spirit was poured out on us. But we're like, "Okay, Jesus, You can have some of it, but not all of it. I like that show. I like that thing. I like that habit." And the Holy Spirit is like, "I will fill you." Is that full? We often say to God, "You can have every part of me but that part, but my anger. You can have every part of me, but that manipulation shall continue." And we're like, "I just want more of the Holy Spirit in my life." And the Holy Spirit says, "Okay, will you give it to Me? Be continually filled. And now I can fill you more." Does that make sense?

The Holy Spirit wants to fill you. Is He in us? Yes. We know about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But we can't say we're all operating in 100% of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. And often it's because there are things in our lives we just aren't willing to give up. The Bible says we are to be full of the Spirit.

This is why I'm so excited for this series: God wants you to have all of this. Don't you want this? Who wants more love in their life? Who wants more joy in your life? Oh my gosh, who wants more peace in your life? Who wants more kindness in your life? And could it be that the secret isn't just trying to produce it? The secret is just falling in love with Jesus. Isn't that helpful? I can do that. I can fall in love with Jesus, and the fruit comes out.

What does Galatians 5 say about the fruit of the Spirit?

So we've talked about what tree you are and how we're continually filled with the Spirit. In the last 12 minutes, let me talk about love. Can I do that? This is the one so many of us understand. I thought it was more important this week to explain what I just explained than to preach an entire sermon on love, because I don't want you to walk out of here and love the wrong way. I want you to understand where it actually comes from.

We're going to read out of Galatians, which is where the fruit of the Spirit comes from, and then I'll talk about love. If you have your Bibles, turn to Galatians chapter 5. What's important to understand about Galatians is that Paul wrote it to the Galatian church, which was in modern-day Turkey. He went and told them the gospel and said, "You need to receive Jesus," and they received Jesus. And then some Jewish teachers came behind him and said, "You need to receive Jesus, but you also need to follow the law." In other words, you need to keep the festivals. You need to eat kosher. You can believe in Jesus, but you need to do all of those things, and specifically circumcision.

Thank God Paul wrote Galatians to correct that. Can you imagine? "Welcome to Spirit Church. You want to join? Sure. Go through Growth Track. First step..." Every guy's like, "Hey, babe, you join that church. I'll be in the car. I ain't going in there." Thank God for Paul writing Galatians. That's the context of this book. He's so mad, because he says, "Why are you turning to circumcision? Why are you turning to the law? The law didn't save you. You need to focus on Jesus."

Let me set it up. Galatians 1:6: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel." What's that gospel? One where I have to do a bunch of stuff to be saved. Some of you are still in this place, and you think you have to do stuff to earn your salvation. You can't earn your salvation. It is a what? Gift. You don't earn it. You just receive it. "Which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion," get cut, get circumcised, "and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." And what is that gospel? That we aren't saved by the things we do. We are saved by the grace of Christ. Our fruit doesn't earn salvation. Because we're saved, we produce fruit. It's not that we love more to be saved. It's that we are saved, so we love more. That's the sequence.

He goes on in Galatians 5:2: "Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all." If you try to get to Christ through all of your own things, then Christ is of no value. "Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law." In other words, if you try to do this the law's way, then you have to get it perfect. You'd better do it all. You'd better not make a mistake. "You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace."

Then it picks up with the famous verses so many of us know in Galatians 5: "So I say, walk by the Spirit," what does that mean? Under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit, "and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other."

If you're here and you've had conflict this week between the part of you that wants to obey God and the part of you that doesn't, then you understand this, and you are a regenerated person who is trying their best to follow Jesus. If you experience that battle, that doesn't make you a failure. It's actually a sign that you're following Jesus. So it's not condemnation. It's "Father, forgive me, and I'm going to keep following Jesus."

"So that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." In other words, if the Holy Spirit is in you, you don't have to do all of that stuff to be saved. "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality." The word there is porneia, where we get the word pornography, and it means any sexual sin outside of marriage, outside the covenant of a husband and a wife. Anything outside of that, the Bible calls porneia, sexual immorality.

"Impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft." Some versions say sorcery: spells, divination, astrology. "I'm an Aquarius." As if the position of the stars somehow determines what's going to happen to you this month. What? How did a Babylonian practice get into Christianity? Can I say that? "Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this," that's a present participle, those who continue to live like this, "will not inherit the kingdom of God." In other words, if we are unrepentant of that thing, it shows that a change hasn't actually happened. That's not a regenerated heart.

"But the fruit," say "fruit," singular, not multiple fruits. No, one fruit. Just like an apple is sweet and crisp and has skin and flesh and seeds, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

What does that mean? It means let's continue. It's marching orders. You're saying, "I'm perfectly in step with the Holy Spirit." That's what he's saying. Walk by the Spirit. In other words, everything the Holy Spirit tells us to do, let's do. You will know them by their fruit.

What is love, according to the Bible?

So let's get to love in my last five minutes. Say "love." We're actually going to talk about love most weeks, because love is the fruit that makes all the other fruit work. If you love, isn't it easier to have patience? If you love, isn't it easier to have kindness? If you love, isn't it easier to have joy? Love is the thing that determines all other things. It is the verb of the Bible. In fact, it's the way God is defined. 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Love is not what we think it is. It is what God says it is. And everything He tells us to do is because He loves us. "I don't like that. I don't want to do that. He's trying to restrict me." It's almost like if I'm with Saint and I say, "Saint, get out of the road." And he's like, "No, don't restrict me." "Get out of the street." "No, don't restrict me." I'm giving him a command because I what? Love him. The commands God gives us are life, not law. And so often we reject them. But God actually knows what's best for us.

1 Corinthians 13:13 says this: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is," say it with me, "love." 1 Corinthians 14:1: "Follow the way of love." John 13:34: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples." Galatians 5:14: "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command," that you what? "'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" We are the people of love.

What love is not

So what is love? Love is not blind acceptance. I have to say that in these days. Love is not blind acceptance. "It's my identity. I've always been this way. It's who I am. I've always been an alcoholic. I am an alcoholic. I will always be an alcoholic." If you identify with sin, if sin is your identity, then Christ can't be your identity. If you identify with sin, then you can't identify with Christ. 1 Corinthians 13:6: "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." Love is not blind acceptance.

Love is not zero boundaries. Even Jesus retreated when He was tired. And sometimes when we don't put up a boundary, we're enabling another person's behavior. Yes, we go the second mile. Yes, we turn the other cheek. But it doesn't mean you just throw away every boundary.

Love is also not silent on sin. Matthew 18:15: "If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over." And it says that if they don't listen to you, bring someone else along, so that they can repent.

What does 1 Corinthians 13 say love is?

So what is love? 1 Corinthians 13. It's so funny that it defines love with the fruit of the Spirit. Isn't that wild? "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others." Gossip, envy, harsh words, the silent treatment. The silent treatment says, "You are not worth my words or my attention." Let's not do that in our marriages. Let's not do that. "It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

And it's attached to the greatest commandment. "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" What it's saying is that you can't separate one from the other. Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. You can't love God and not love people. If you love me, you will love the things I love. If you love me, you'll love Saint. You'll love Sunday. You'll love Paige, because you love me. You can't love God and hate people. They asked, "What is the greatest commandment?" And Jesus is like, "I'll give you two, because they're connected."

Why is it so hard to love?

Why don't we love? It's because so often we don't recognize our own sin. I think that's the challenge. There's a scripture where Jesus is in a Pharisee's house, and a woman comes with an alabaster jar and breaks it and starts washing His feet. And the Pharisee is thinking, "If only He knew who she is, He would not let her do this." And Jesus says, "Simon, let me tell you a story," which just shows that Jesus knows your thoughts. He clocked him straight up.

"Two people have debts. One is greater, one is less. They both get forgiven. Who loves more?" Simon says, "The one who got forgiven more." And Jesus says, "You have judged correctly." He says, "I came in here and you didn't give Me water for My feet, but she washes My feet with her tears. You wouldn't give Me a kiss, but she kisses My feet. You wouldn't even put oil on My head, but she gives a year's wages for My feet." And He says this: "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."

If we're struggling with our love, it's not about how much sin you've done or haven't done. It's because you have forgotten that we were completely depraved. We were completely separated from God. And God loved us in our sin, in our mistakes. As a result, we can receive that love, and then we can love others.

So what do we have to do? We have to recognize that we are sinners, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We have to receive God's love, because He loved us while we were still sinners. Our capacity to love comes from receiving His love. Some of us are struggling with so much self-hatred that we can't love ourselves. No, no, no. God loved you the way you are, and you can receive His love, and in turn you can love, and then you can make a choice to love others.

Choices lead, feelings follow

Colossians 3:14 says this: "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." It's like putting on clothes in the morning. You chose to put on clothes this morning. Thank you. Let me just say thank you. You could have not. Would have been weird. You made a choice to put on clothes. You can make a choice to put on love.

People are like, "I fell out of love." Was love a ditch? "I just fell in love. Woo! Fell in love." Oh my gosh, I didn't realize it was a ditch my entire life. I thought it was a choice. Choices lead. Feelings follow. I choose to love, and then the feeling comes. Does that make sense?

So for this entire series, let's not try to produce these kinds of fruit through our own effort. We'll teach on them. It's going to be great. But let's focus on our love for Jesus, and as we do, the fruit will start to be produced. And if that's not happening, the question I want you to ask today is, where is my love for Jesus? Start there.

Can I pray for you? Father, I want to thank You for today. I thank You for every single person under the sound of my voice. I thank You, Father, that You didn't want to make this hard. Holy Spirit, You didn't want to make this hard. You just ask us to surrender and to abide in You, because apart from You we can do nothing. Your Word says that the one who abides in You will bear much fruit. So, Father, we abide in You, and Holy Spirit, we are led by You. I pray that throughout this series You'll give us what we need to love You more, so that we can look more like what You want us to look like. Lord, any part of us that doesn't look like You, Father, we repent. Father, I'm sorry. Forgive me. Any part of me that produces bad fruit, Lord, forgive me. Help me. Prune me. Correct me. Discipline me, so that I may look more like You.

With every head still bowed and eyes closed: there are people here who maybe haven't made the ultimate surrender, which is giving your life to Jesus. We talked about making Jesus your Lord and Savior. If you're here and you've never done that, today is your day, and we want to give you that opportunity. We're going to pray a prayer, and I'm going to ask everyone to pray it for the benefit of those praying it for the very first time. Just repeat after me: "Dear Jesus, I believe that You're the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe You came to this earth, You died on a cross, and You were raised so that I may have life. Right now, I make You my Lord. I make You my Savior. In Jesus' name."

With every head bowed and eyes closed, if you're here today and you just prayed that for the very first time, and you're saying, "I'm making Jesus my Lord. No longer I. I want to be the right kind of tree," I'm going to ask you to do something bold. On the count of three, I just want you to lift up your hand and say, "Brad, that was me." Here we go. One, two, three. If that's you, with every head bowed, no one's looking around, lift up your hand and say, "That's me." Awesome. Church, will you do me a favor? Will you put your hands together for everyone who just made that decision?