Can People Still Be Counted On?

Trust is built over time.

So is faithfulness.

In Part 7 of the Life on the Vine series, Marcel Hall explores the fruit of the Spirit known as faithfulness and why it begins long before our actions. Drawing from Galatians 5, this message shows that true faithfulness flows from a transformed heart—a growing desire to do what is right because we are becoming more like the God who is always faithful.

Along the way, Marcel explores the connection between faith and faithfulness, the ongoing battle between the flesh and the Spirit, and how lasting character is formed as we stay connected to God. Rather than focusing on behavior alone, this message challenges us to cultivate the kind of heart that naturally produces loyalty, trustworthiness, and steadfast commitment.

Whether you're striving to be a better spouse, parent, friend, leader, coworker, or disciple, this message reminds us that faithfulness isn't something we manufacture—it is something God grows within us as we walk with Him.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and Introduction

00:56 Why Faithfulness Matters

02:26 Faith and Faithfulness

04:44 God Is Faithful

08:00 The Spirit Forms God's Character

11:39 The Heart of Faithfulness

14:35 The Battle Within

19:30 Transformation from the Inside Out

20:21 Cultivating Faithfulness

24:18 Faithful People Together

27:47 Faithful to God's Mission

30:00 Final Challenge

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OC Church of Christ

Amen.

2

Amen.

3

Good morning, brothers and sisters.

4

Good morning.

5

Amen.

6

God's gonna trouble the water.

7

All right, my name is Marcel Hall,

and, uh, with my wife Karina.

8

Uh, we've been married

now almost 21 years.

9

We're able and blessed to be

able to serve in a full-time

10

ministry, and grateful to speak.

11

Uh, I was told, "Marcel,

do not go long today."

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'Cause there is the World Cup,

and people have some watch

13

parties and stuff like that.

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Yeah.

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So I said, "Well, amen.

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I appreciate that."

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I see we already have

some people rocking…

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I saw Rocky rocking the

Argentina jersey right there.

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Any, uh, Argentinian fans today?

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Are there any fans going for Argentina?

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Okay.

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And so I take it the rest

of you are going for Spain?

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There you go.

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All right.

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All right.

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Sounds good.

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I know, I know Kathy Moretzky,

I know who she's going for.

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Uh, you have to ask her, 'cause

she has conviction about it.

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And, uh, so we're going to go

ahead and continue with a sermon

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series that we started several

weeks ago called Life on the Vine.

31

And so, uh, Jesus talked about the

importance of staying connected

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to the vine, and the Apostle Paul

tells the church that, you know,

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there's the fruit of the Spirit.

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There's this, uh, uh, uh, uh, if

we stay close to God, then God will

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produce some things in our lives.

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And so we're studying these things out,

and it's called The Fruit of the Spirit.

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And as was mentioned, and as you

have seen the theme for today, we

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will be talking and looking into

the idea and topic of faithfulness.

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Let's go ahead and let's

go to God in prayer.

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Father, thank you so much for this

opportunity to get into your Word.

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I know I've been excited about the

things you have been teaching me,

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reminding me, inspiring me with as

we look at this idea of faithfulness.

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And God, I pray that you will speak

today, that you will minister to every

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soul, that every soul will walk out

with the message that you have for them.

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We pray this in the name of Jesus.

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Amen.

47

Amen.

48

Let's go to our theme

passage here, Galatians 5:22.

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It reads, "But the fruit of the Spirit

is love, joy, peace, forbearance,

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kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness and self-control.

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Against such things there is no law."

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Again, we're talking about

this idea of faithfulness.

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And so the New Testament, what

we call the New Testament, was

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written primarily in Greek.

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And so this was actually, it's translated

to English, and so this word faithfulness

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comes from this Greek word pistis.

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And so pistis means, mostly it's

translated as faith, but it's als-

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also translated as faithfulness.

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And so it could be, uh, goodness, faith,

gentleness or self-control, but most

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scholars translate it faithfulness because

it fits the context of the character

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qualities that God is producing in us.

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But I don't think we really need to

worry too much about separating the

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concepts of faith and faithfulness,

because when you have a deepening

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faith, a trust in God that is growing,

it will produce a faithful life.

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And so we will look at

this some more today.

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And so this, again, this

idea of faithfulness.

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It's a quality of being loyal,

steadfast, reliable, responsible.

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Faithfulness means, especially

biblically, to have an unwavering

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loyalty, a steadfast reliability,

and an absolute trustworthiness.

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It's being dedicated to our

commitments, our commitments to God,

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our commitments in our relationships.

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It means to keep our promises,

keep our word, to stay true to our

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duties that we have, and stay true

to the standard by which we live.

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Now, I don't know about you.

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Now, I can assume, I'm gonna

assu- safely assume that we

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all want to be faithful people.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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Don't you wanna be described a

faithful woman or a faithful man?

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Yeah.

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Especially when it comes to your faith,

I wanna be known as a faithful man of

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God I also want to have faithful friends.

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Don't you want to have some

faithful friends around you?

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Yes.

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'Cause you don't want to be…

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I don't like those, I don't want to

hang out with those unfaithful people.

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'Cause you know, when we goin' to battle,

you know you can't depend on them.

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So we want to be surrounded

by faithful people.

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But again, this is a

fruit of the Holy Spirit.

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It comes from walking closely with God.

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And so the very first thing that

we need to remind ourselves, we

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need to be reminded of this truth.

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This is our theology here for the

moment, and this is that God is faithful.

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Yes.

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Amen.

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God is loyal.

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God is steadfast.

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God is reliable.

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God is trustworthy.

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Amen.

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And so if we can remember that, then that

will flow into everything we understand

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about this idea of the fruit of the Spirit

producing faithfulness in our lives.

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But let's look some more here, because

the Bible has throughout the, from the

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Old Testament to the New Testament,

so many times in which it describes

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and reveals that our God is faithful.

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And I want to look at

a couple passages here.

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In Deuteronomy 7:9, "Know therefore

that the Lord your God is God.

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He is the faithful God- Yes … keeping

his covenant of love to a thousand

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generations of those who love

him and keep his commandments.

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For the Word of the Lord is

right and true; he is faithful

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in all he does," Psalm 33:4.

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And I love this one.

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Check this one out.

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Paul says this to Timothy.

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He says, "If we are faithless, he remains

faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

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1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, "The one

who calls you," talking about God,

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"is faithful and he will do it."

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God is faithful.

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He is a faithful God.

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God is faithful to His covenant.

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He's faithful to His people.

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God is faithful to His promises.

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He's faithful to His Word.

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God is faithful because

that's His character.

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That's who He is.

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He cannot be anything but faithful

because that's who He is in His being.

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Yeah.

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God is faithful.

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Can anyone testify to God being faithful?

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Yes.

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Are there some people in here that

can testify and say, "You know what?

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I know those scriptures are true

because I've seen it be true in my

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own life and in those around me"?

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Are there any people in here that

can testify to God being faithful?

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Yes.

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Yes, there is.

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Yes, he is.

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I want you to think about

it just real quickly.

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Take 30 seconds.

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And it's okay, maybe you're visiting

here, you're like, "I don't know if God

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is faithful," but just bear with us here.

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I want you to take 30 seconds.

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Think of a time in which God

showed his faithfulness to you.

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If you want to write that down, let's go

ahead and write that down in your notes.

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But I want you to think about a time in

which God revealed his faithfulness to you

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I can think through my whole life,

even before I became a Christian,

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how faithful God has been to me.

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I look at my life and I go, "I should

not be here, but I stand as a testimony

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to God being faithful to this short

Black dude from Orange County."

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I stand as a witness and testimony

that there's a faithful God.

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And you all raised your hand

that you could testify that

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God is faithful as well.

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Yes.

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We need to remember this.

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We need to make sure that this

is rooted in our faith and in our

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everyday thinking- Yes … because it

influences our everyday decision-making.

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That's right.

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That's right.

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Now, follow the logic here.

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God is faithful.

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When we repent and get baptized, God gives

us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

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That's awesome, that's indescribable, but

that's the reality in which we live in.

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So now, this faithful God, now

His faithful spirit living in

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us, and what does it produce?

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It produces the traits of God.

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That's right.

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Yes.

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Every fruit of the Spirit is a

trait or characteristic of God.

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Right.

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And this is how it's produced in us.

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Love grows because what?

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God is love.

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Yeah.

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We … Peace grows because what?

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God is the God of peace.

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Faithfulness grows

because God is faithful.

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Right.

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So when the Spirit lives in us, He's

forming in us God's own character.

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Right.

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And so this is amazing.

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Again, this faithful God now dwells

in us, and a big component of the work

182

of the Holy Spirit is to now form us

and shape us in our character and our

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nature to resemble, look, and reflect

the faithful God who dwells within us.

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Yes.

185

Now, I want to remind us

of a couple of things.

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Church, are you still with me here?

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Yeah.

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Okay.

189

All right.

190

I want to remind us of

a couple things here.

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We remember that it is a

fruit of the Holy Spirit.

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That mean it, it's a byproduct,

a production of the Spirit

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working in our lives.

194

Now, we also can recall, remember, that

we're also called to a responsibility

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in this growth in our lives.

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And we talked about this a couple weeks.

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Again, this metaphor, this imagery

that's in the scripture is, again,

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of, of, you could say gardening.

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And so when you plant

something, you have to what?

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Set the conditions so that it can grow.

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Yeah.

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Right.

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I shared this a couple weeks ago, and I

shared with you, uh, my son's plant that

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he got from school right before school

ended, and that was it several weeks ago.

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And I showed you a picture.

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I said, "Dominic, what are you growing?"

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He said, "I don't know what I'm growing."

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I said, "Well, you probably should know

what you're supposed to be growing."

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And so he had this plant, and

that was several weeks ago.

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I wanted to give you a

update on how it looks today.

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Here's what it looked like the other day

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I told my son I was gonna share.

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I didn't say what I was gonna share with

him, so don't, you know what I'm saying?

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Don't say too much to him, okay?

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But I went out there, said,

"Dominic, where's the, where, where,

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what's going on with your plan?"

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He said, "I don't know."

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I said, "Uh-oh, we in trouble."

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I said, "Man, let me go find this."

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I went over there and took a

picture and I said, "Oh, Dominic,

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you haven't done a thing with it."

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And so here's what happens when

we do not cultivate the conditions

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for the Spirit to work in our lives

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We do not see the growth that it

was designed to be, not because

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God is incapable, but because we

didn't work in partnership with God.

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That's right.

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We have to cultivate the conditions

for the spirit to grow the fruit

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of the spirit in our lives.

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Do you understand what I'm saying?

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Yeah.

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And so we need to make

sure that we do our part.

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God's gonna do the work, but he

calls us to be in partnership

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and work with him so that he can

produce the fruits in our lives.

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You see, we become faithful by

being close to the faithful God.

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Amen.

236

We become faithful by being

close to the faithful God.

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And as I was thinking about this, it,

I was reminded of, to me, this is,

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this was, again, it wa- it was just

deep, mind-blowing and profound for me.

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Maybe it won't be for

you, maybe it will be.

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But I was thinking about

this, and I go let, let's get

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to the core of faithfulness.

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What's at the core of faithfulness?

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Yes, we know it's to be loyal,

it's to be steadfast, it's to be

244

reliable, or to be responsible.

245

What's at the core there?

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And start thinking of a peach.

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And you know how the peach, you have

the peach pit, and that's the little

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hard piece that's at the center.

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You guys know what I'm

talking about, right?

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All right.

251

And so if you get to the center

of faithfulness, I believe at the

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center of faithfulness is this: It's

a heart that desires what is right.

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It's a desire to do what is right.

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Think about it.

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Why is someone faithful employee?

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Because they feel that they want to

respond, they wanna do what's right

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by the company that employs them.

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Why is someone a faithful,

faithful to their spouse?

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Because they have a subtle desire

to do what is right by their spouse.

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Why is someone faithful to God?

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Because they desire to do what is right

by God, who has been faithful to them.

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What makes you want to be faithful?

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You want to do the right thing.

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Right.

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You want to be loyal.

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You want to be reliable.

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You want to be steadfast.

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You want to be responsible.

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See, at the center of faithfulness

is this desire to do what is right.

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And the opposite is true.

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Think about it.

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When you don't care about

doing right, what happens?

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You make different decisions, don't you?

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You have a different view and a different

approach to whatever it is, whether it's

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that relationship or that situation.

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You don't wanna be faithful and loyal

because you could care less about what?

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Doing what's right.

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You could care less about it.

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And so what?

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We might be tempted to take,

to steal, to be disloyal.

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Why?

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Because we don't desire

to do what is right.

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But when we desire to do what is

right, it leads, it propels us to what?

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Be faithful See, the problem though is we

don't always want to do the right thing.

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Am I the only one that's ever

tempted to do the wrong thing?

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No.

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Don't you lie.

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You're, you, you doing

the wrong thing right now.

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We're all familiar with this.

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My man, Kronk, from Emperor's New Groove.

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We're all familiar with

this concept, right?

292

You have the good angel and the bad angel.

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Man, I don't know about you, but

this could be my life at times.

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Certain situations, I have something

saying, "Marcel, here's the right thing

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to do," and then I have this evil side

saying, "No, you don't need to do that.

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In fact, here's what you need to do."

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Can you relate to this at all?

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Yes.

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You know, the Bible actually has a

passage that actually kind of really

300

kinda shares this reality, this truth.

301

You see, in Romans chapter 7, the Apostle

Paul, he goes and he's telling, you

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know, i- it's, it's in the middle of

a whole big argument there, but he, he

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goes and he says, "Hey, there's good

that I wanna do, but then I don't do it.

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And the bad that I don't

wanna do, I end up doing."

305

So then, and he goes on to this

back and forth, and you have to

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really follow it 'cause you're like,

"Where is he going with all this?"

307

But he says this in

Romans 7 in verse, uh, 21.

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Here's what he says here.

309

He says, "So I find this law at work.

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Although I want to do good,

evil is right there with me.

311

For in my inner being I delight in

God's law, but I see another law at

312

work in me, waging war against the law

of my mind and making me a prisoner

313

of the law of sin at work within me."

314

What's he saying?

315

Basically, I wanna do good,

but there's a part of me that

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also wants to do what is bad.

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Can you relate to that at all?

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Yeah.

319

I'm r- I'm faced with this all the

time, whether it's the flesh, giving

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into my emotions, thinking what I

want to do right now is superior

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than what I know God wants me to do.

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And so I'm tempted, and

it's this back and forth.

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And so sometimes internally, I can be

arguing with myself back and forth.

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Can you relate to that,

or is that just me?

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No.

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Maybe it's just me.

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That's okay.

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It's bad when you argue

with yourself out loud.

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Don't do that, okay?

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You know what I'm saying?

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Then people get worried.

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But we can, we can, we

can go back and forth.

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Man, here's what I want to do, but man,

here's what feels right at the moment.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I know it feels right at the moment, but

I know this is the right thing to do.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And so we face this battle.

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But here's what's so cool.

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I love God.

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This is where the Spirit of God helps.

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This is where walking in step

with the Spirit of God helps.

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You see, the Spirit of

God changes our desires.

345

You see, at the center of faithfulness

is the desire to do what's right, and

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the Spirit of God changes our desires.

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Let's go back here to Galatians chapter 5.

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Brothers and sisters, are

you still with me here?

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Yes.

350

Okay, Galatians chapter 5.

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So this is a little bit, uh, in front

of, before our, our theme verse at

352

22, and he's talking about the Spirit.

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He says, "So I say, walk by

the Spirit, and you will not

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gratify the desires of the flesh.

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For the flesh desires what is

contrary to the Spirit, and the

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Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.

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They are in conflict with each other, so

that you are not to do whatever you want."

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Did you catch that?

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The Spirit and the flesh

desire different things.

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They're not compatible.

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They don't work together.

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They actually conflict with each other.

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The Spirit desires what God desires

because the Spirit is of God.

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And so the Spirit desires

godly things, God's will.

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And when we walk in step with

the Spirit, what does it do?

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It increases our desires

to do the right thing.

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And this is why it's so important that

we stay in step with the Holy Spirit.

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Yes.

369

Because when we stay in step with the

Holy Spirit, what is the Spirit doing?

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He's reorienting us.

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He's developing, He's increasing

our desire to do what is right.

372

And so therefore, we remove ourselves

from the desire to do what is wrong.

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But not only does it increase

our desires, it also empowers

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us to be able to accomplish it.

375

Yeah.

376

It's one thing to desire

it, but it's another to be

377

enabled to actually achieve it.

378

Do you guys get what I'm saying here?

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Yes.

380

And that's what the Holy Spirit does.

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It increases our desires, but then it

empowers us to overcome the sinful desires

382

in our lives and to do the right thing.

383

You see, again, we become faithful

by being close to the faithful God.

384

When we're in step with Him, then again,

He's producing faithfulness in us.

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Our desires are growing, and

therefore, our actions follow.

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We overcome sin.

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And here's the thing.

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We become more like God- That's right

… in our character and in our nature.

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And we follow God not just

because that's the right thing,

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and I don't want to be judged.

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I don't want to be in trouble with God.

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I don't want to go to hell.

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No, those don't become

the reasons anymore.

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And it goes from, "Yes, I do this

because I love God," but, "Yes, I

395

do this because I think like God."

396

I desire what God desires.

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So why would I turn to the flesh?

398

Right.

399

You see, this is what the Spirit is

producing in us, and it doesn't just

400

start at the day of our baptism.

401

It's a lifelong transformation.

402

Amen.

403

The Spirit isn't trying to

produce behavior modification.

404

Right.

405

The Spirit is producing transformation

into the image of Jesus.

406

Amen.

407

And for that we can say hallelujah.

408

Hallelujah.

409

And this is why I believe the call for you

and I is what the scriptures call us to.

410

Again, we talked about this before.

411

It's to keep in step with the Spirit.

412

This theme is going to always be

throughout this series because we

413

have to stay close to God, and we

have to remain close to God, and

414

we see God's work in our lives.

415

Again, not for a momentary

success, but for it to be our

416

character, for it to be who we are.

417

Right.

418

And so we have to cultivate the conditions

where the Spirit will produce faithfulness

419

in our lives and in us as a church.

420

And so how can we do this?

421

I believe it's first through

God's character, remembering,

422

meditating on God's faithfulness.

423

How rich were the words were we singing

earlier today about the goodness of God.

424

You've been faithful to me.

425

About Christ being the firm

foundation, therefore, I will get

426

through whatever the circumstance is.

427

Why?

428

Because God is with me.

429

He's faithful, so therefore,

I can be faithful in return

430

We remember that's who God is.

431

I am a child of God.

432

That's who I am.

433

That's right.

434

I am faithful.

435

I am a faithful man of God.

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I am a faithful woman of God.

437

So therefore, I will

make the right choice.

438

We reflect on God's faithfulness,

and it's good to reflect on God's

439

faithfulness in our own lives.

440

Remember I asked you

earlier, write that down.

441

It does something when we remember

how God's been faithful to us.

442

Yes.

443

You don't come away two minutes later the

same after remembering God's faithfulness.

444

It generates something in us, whether

it's gratitude or grit and a conviction

445

that I am going to be faithful in return.

446

That's right.

447

We also can cultivate through God's word.

448

We can never escape growing

outside of God's word.

449

That's right.

450

Yeah.

451

Because it's God's truth that

reminds us of these realities,

452

but it's also God's truth that

shapes who we are and our desires.

453

When you get into the word,

it shapes you, it forms you.

454

Yeah.

455

Again, it reorients you.

456

It, it course corrects your life and your

decision-making and your perspective.

457

Yeah.

458

And so this is how we cultivate the

spirit to grow, by remembering and

459

reflecting upon God's character,

by having God's word, and also I

460

believe one more, God's people.

461

Yeah.

462

You know, faithfulness requires help

463

Faithfulness requires help.

464

God designed it so that you and

I wouldn't have to do this alone.

465

Hallelujah for that.

466

Amen.

467

Because sometimes a brother gets weak, and

I'm not talking Weak in the Knees, SWV.

468

Gina, I know you caught

that one right there.

469

If you didn't, okay, all

right, brother, there you go.

470

That's a song anyway.

471

Sorry.

472

It just comes out of me every now and then

473

There you go, Santa Anna in the house.

474

All right, so God's people

help us to remain faithful.

475

Yeah.

476

Why?

477

Because we encourage one another.

478

Yeah.

479

We strengthen one another.

480

That's right.

481

We challenge one another.

482

We assist one another.

483

We support one another.

484

Why?

485

Because we love one another.

486

That's right.

487

I believe Hebrews catches

this, captures everything here.

488

Let's read it.

489

Hebrews 10:23, "Let us

hold unswervingly…"

490

Did you catch that?

491

"Let us hold unswer-…

492

We're not all over the place in our faith.

493

That's right.

494

"Let us hold unswervingly

to the hope we profess.

495

For he who promises," what?

496

Faithful.

497

Faithful.

498

"And let us consider how we may spur one

another on toward love and good deeds, not

499

giving meeting up together- That's right

500

as some are in the habit of doing, but

encouraging one another, and all the

501

more as you see the day approaching."

502

Yeah.

503

The Hebrew writer captures it clearly.

504

Hey, this is how we cultivate the Spirit

producing faithfulness in our lives.

505

Yeah.

506

It's reflecting,

remember, God's character.

507

It, it, it's having God's Word

in our lives, and it's having

508

God's people in our lives.

509

And again, not just to receive, but so

that we can also be there for others.

510

Yeah.

511

So what can or what should this look like?

512

I believe God has a

bigger vision for this.

513

And again, this is written to the

church, and so it wasn't just to be,

514

s- supposed to be applied personally

or just individually, excuse me.

515

But it was supposed to

be applied corporately.

516

Yeah.

517

Collectively.

518

And so I believe that what it

will produce is a faithful people.

519

Not just faithful disciples, but

a faithful collection of people.

520

Yeah.

521

And that faithful people will be what?

522

We will be faithful to God,

faithful to God's people, and

523

faithful to God's mission.

524

Yeah.

525

Faithful to God.

526

We follow Jesus even when it is hard.

527

Yeah.

528

Even when we don't feel like it.

529

Yeah.

530

This is the faithfulness that God will

produce, that we will be people that

531

will say no to a culture that tells

us to be faithful to our feelings.

532

Come on.

533

Yeah.

534

We will say no to a culture that

tells us to be faithful to what

535

feels authentic in the moment,

because disciples of Jesus follow

536

God even when we don't feel like it.

537

That's right.

538

Because it's who he is,

and it's who we are.

539

We are.

540

We are faithful men and women of God.

541

That's right.

542

And so we don't give in to the moment

and say, "Well, that's just who I am.

543

That's not my authentic me."

544

No, I follow Jesus.

545

That's who I am.

546

That's my authentic me.

547

We remain loyal because what?

548

God has remained loyal to us

549

We're faithful to the church.

550

We're faithful to the body of Christ.

551

What does that mean?

552

It means we're faithful to each other.

553

Yeah, yeah.

554

Look to the person to your

right and to your left.

555

That's who you're suppo- you're

called to be faithful to.

556

We cherish the church like Jesus does.

557

Amen.

558

So what do we do?

559

We don't speak negative about the

church, but we honor the church even

560

with all its flaws and everything.

561

Yeah.

562

Come on.

563

I don't think Jesus looked down at you and

goes, "Man, oh, there's Johnny over there.

564

Man, he's rough, he's terrible.

565

Oh man, you should see

Johnny on Thursdays.

566

He's a mess, but I guess he's saved."

567

I think Jesus goes, "You know what?

568

I love Johnny."

569

Yeah.

570

"I'm working on Johnny."

571

Come on.

572

"Johnny, we're not done with Johnny."

573

Right.

574

"Where Johnny is today is not

where Johnny's gonna be next year."

575

Right.

576

"'Cause I'm faithful to Johnny."

577

Yeah.

578

"And Johnny's gonna become

faithful like me because that's

579

who I am and that's who he is."

580

That's right.

581

"Yeah, Johnny got some problems."

582

"But that's not who he is.

583

He's my disciple."

584

Yeah.

585

And so how should we

talk about the church?

586

"Man, can you believe all the trouble

and the drama and ooh, look at this."

587

That's not the way Jesus does it with you.

588

Don't do it with his bride.

589

Ooh.

590

We have to make sure, and I know

we got flaws, we got problems.

591

Why?

592

Because you have problems.

593

I got problems Yeah.

594

But we cherish the church.

595

We…

596

Relationships.

597

Trustworthy in our relationships.

598

Yes, we're gonna…

599

disagreements.

600

Yes, we're gonna have arguments, but

we're committed to through the bond

601

His convenience would suggest

just walking away o- from rela-

602

We're committed or we're faithful

603

Faithful.

604

What does that mean?

605

We're faithful to having

compassion for the world.

606

That's right.

607

Yeah.

608

You see, we can lose compassion.

609

We become numb, or we can become callous,

or we can even become judgmental- Right

610

… of those who aren't inside the church.

611

True.

612

That's not God's will, and

that's not God's character.

613

That's right.

614

You know, God's people

reflect God's character.

615

Yeah.

616

God's people do God's will.

617

Yes.

618

So what does that mean?

619

We keep going and sharing the gospel.

620

Why?

621

Because we have compassion upon

the world, because you and I

622

were once part of the world.

623

Right.

624

And God used somebody to

have compassion on us.

625

That's right.

626

And so we continue to

serve in our communities.

627

We continue to be involved.

628

Wherever we go, we're a blessing.

629

Why?

630

Because God is a blessing in our lives.

631

That's right.

632

And we reflect God, and we produce

what God produces in our lives, and

633

we continue doing the right thing.

634

We're faithful to God's mission.

635

Amen?

636

Amen.

637

Let's get real practical here.

638

Action steps here, all right?

639

You know I like having some

action steps here, all right?

640

Oh.

641

So go ahead, take out your, your, your

camera or your, if you're taking notes,

642

whatever it is you need to do here.

643

But just for this week, okay?

644

If we can all do this just for this

week, several hundred of us doing this

645

this week, I believe we're gonna see

some great things that God is gonna do.

646

Number one: reflect daily on one

way God has been faithful to you.

647

Oh, yeah.

648

Just reflect.

649

Whether it be at the end of the

day, you're reflecting on how God's

650

been faithful, or you start off the

morning thinking about how God's

651

been faithful to you yesterday.

652

Just be reflecting, reflective of

how God's been faithful to you.

653

You know, the more we recognize God's

faithfulness to us, the more the Spirit

654

shapes us into a faithful people.

655

And second, this week here, pray.

656

Pray daily that our church, for our

church to become a more faithful people.

657

Yeah.

658

Again, this application isn't

just for us individually.

659

It's for us collectively.

660

For us to be a faithful people,

showing our faithfulness to God, to

661

God's people, and to God's mission.

662

Imagine if all of us do that this week.

663

I believe we're gonna see some

testimony of how God's been faithful.

664

We're also gonna be able to

testify how we're seeing the Spirit

665

grow this faithfulness in us.

666

Yeah.

667

So as we conclude, the faithful God has

placed His faithful Spirit within us,

668

and as we stay and keep in step with

Him, He produces a faithful people.

669

Galatians 5:22, we'll close out here.

670

"But the fruit of the Spirit is

love, joy, peace, forbearance,

671

kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self-control.

672

Against such things there is no law.

673

Those who belong to Christ

Jesus have crucified the flesh

674

with its passions and desires.

675

Since we live by the Spirit, let

us keep in step with the Spirit."

676

May we become faithful from

living a life on the vine.

677

Amen.