GBC Community Update: What is the fruit of the spirit and how do I grow it?

​Good morning. I hope you’re having a great week!  Speaking of great, we had a great kickoff to Oasis@Midweek last night and to our Precept Bible Studies as well. Thanks for praying!  Good things are happening this fall!
  
Wish Peggy Ritchie happy birthday as she turns 100!
Peggy Ritchie is turning 100 on October 3!  Peggy has been a member of GBC for a long time and is currently a shut in.  Her birthday is coming up so if anyone would like to send her a greeting or birthday card please put it in the mailbox of Linda Fazekas who will ensure it gets delivered.
 
 ‘The Dawn of Redemption’ A series on the book of Luke. Join us Sunday
This Sunday we continue our fall series on the book of Luke. We are going to look carefully at this key book in the months to come as we examine Doctor Luke’s gospel so we may have certainty in what we believe.
This Sunday I will be looking at someone we don’t think a lot about other than at Christmas time- Mary. Join me as I explore this important figure from history and the impact it has on us.
If you want to prepare, please read Luke 1:26-38.
If you can’t make it, you can connect through our website:  
www.guelphbiblechapel.ca  our YouTube channel as well as Facebook LIVE
  
Thought for the Day:  What is the Fruit of the Spirit and How Do I Grow It?
Its fall and harvest time is coming. Patrick and Andrea have been picking their grapes as usual and have had another big yield of fruit which they were sharing recently.  I’ve been thinking about fruit lately more in the spiritual sense and will be talking about it here for the next few weeks.  If you’ve been around the church for a while you’ll likely have heard of the Fruit of the Spirit.  The Fruit of the Spirit is comprised of the following character traits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and we find it in Galatians 5.
But what is it?
It’s like a rubber band ball tightly woven together, each band interconnected.  The only way to produce the Fruit of the Spirit though is to have the Holy Spirit in you. This initial step happens when we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  If a person doesn’t have the Holy Spirit, they don’t belong to Jesus, it’s really that simple.  The key here, if this is the case, is it’s impossible to grow the fruit of the Spirit in one’s life if you don’t have that connection. We receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, when we make a conscious decision to follow Jesus and let Him be the Lord of our lives.  Then, through the Holy Spirit, you can begin to grow in the Fruit of the Spirit.  We’ll look more at this in the weeks ahead.
 
In His grip,
Pastor Chris