The journey has begun: The Fruit of the Spirit.  We began with PEACE last Sunday and this week, it’s PATIENCE!  So start praying now that God will give you patience (careful what you ask for!)  

Patience and Peace are closely related.  As with peace, patience springs from a deep well within our spirit and is found in the source of patience – God.  

Romans 8 describes an interesting dilemma we face daily, ‘we groan inwardly’ as we wait patiently for God’s work to be done in the world and in and through us.  This requires patience, as God’s timing doesn’t always seem to be in step with our desired and ‘needed’ timing.  

Our culture is increasingly undermining the fruit of patience.  Time seems tyrannous and constraining – not enough of it and its moving to fast.  Demands and expectations from outside bombard us, not to mention the internal demands and expectations we put on ourselves. 

What’s the cure?  What is the remedy?  We will get to that on Sunday.  First thing first, we need to understand who God is – his character and nature.  When it comes to patience, we have been created in God’s image and God is amazingly patient.  God does not view time as we view it – God is timeless and can operate just fine inside or outside of time.  A day is like a thousand years to God and a thousand years like a day.  

In preparation for Sunday’s message on Cultivating Patience in the Midst of Productivity, read Romans 8:22-25 and James 5:7-11.  We will touch on concepts of Sabbath practice, God’s sovereignty, and what it might look like to ‘slow down’ a bit in order to cultivate patience.  

See you Sunday,
Pastor Mark