Sunday, June 12, 2016



Children’s Church
Dexter First Presbyterian Church
June 12, 2016

The Fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5: 22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Session Two
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Paul tells us what the fruits of the Spirit are in Galatians 5. The first result of the Holy Spirit is love. We will begin and end with this fruit of the Spirit. Last session we talked about our neighbor. We looked at who might be our neighbor and decided that even our enemy might be our neighbor.


Let’s open with our fruity song.
Papaya Song (I Like Bananas)
CHORUS:
I like bananas, I know that mangoes are sweet
I like papayas (PAPAYAS!), but nothing can beat
The sweet love of God

I was walking round in circles five miles an hour
Tryin' to find my way back to the Heavenly Father
The world tasted sweet, but soon it turned sour
And then I asked Him in and received His power (1,2,3!)
CHORUS
You can search for the tropics to find a fruit that's new
You can swim in the ocean, until your face turns blue
But look no further, I'll tell you what to do
Just open your bible to Galatians 5:22
CHORUS

The fruit of the spirit, from love to self-control
If you plant it in your heart it'll strengthen your soul
So guard your fruit for also we are told
That you fruit will rot if it's left out in the cold (1,2,3!)
CHORUS
So, God loves us very much. How does He show that love?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Let us turn to Psalm 8 prayer.
O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!


Jesus, speaking in Matthew 22:37-39 said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a
second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
John repeats Jesus’ words in First John 4:21, saying, “And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
How does God show His love?
He gave His Son. He forgives us. He give us peace. He shows mercy.
Can we do all of these things also?

The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we re born to eternal life.
We pray these things in Jesus’ name Who taught us to pray saying:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”

A Song about the Love of God
The love of God is greater far
  Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
  And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
  God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled
  And pardoned from his sin.
CHORUS
 O love of God, how rich and pure!
  How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
    The saints’ and angels’ song.

When hoary time shall pass away,
  And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall;
When men who here refuse to pray,
  On rocks and hills and mountains call;
God’s love, so sure, shall still endure,
  All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
  The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
  And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
  And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
  Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
  Though stretched from sky to sky.
Final prayer
Lord may we be Your children. May we love our neighbors. Thank you for our parents, teachers and care givers. Amen.

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