The Spirit's Fruit. David Moffett-Moore

      

      Praise for The Spirit’s Fruit: A Participatory Study Guide

      I am grateful for David Moffett-Moore’s latest contribution to spirituality and faith development. This down-to-earth resource is an attempt to connect faith to everyday life, using the Bible as a primary resource in that effort.

      This particular study guide, The Spirit’s Fruit, begins with an issue the author has faced in his own life: anger. It then uses the nine gifts of the Spirit to inform how each of those gifts might assist in coming to terms with that issue. One can easily make the jump from anger to some other issue and apply the lessons.

      Throughout the study guide, the author mixes in quotations from multiple sources, both academic and folksy. Those, along with his own insights, help to shape an easy-to-read means toward understanding the nine gifts, and seeing how they are present in the real world. Even as each gift is explored, there is an overall theme: Letting God inspire and lead us from the inside produces a focus away from self toward others. That shift will assist us in expressing the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control that we all want. The guide is not a guilt-trip book that sets us up for failure, but an encouragement toward a goal. None of us will have all nine gifts operating at the same time at the same level, but we are invited into seeing how we can take steps forward.

      Rev. David Hedlin, New Lenox, IL

      We don’t often take notice of it, but Paul wrote a lot about food. He writes about the Lord’s Supper. He writes about how the early Christians treated each other around food. There were arguments about what was right and not right to eat. The author invites us to the table – to share, in community – and to reflect together – on the fruits of the Spirit. He sits with us as we engage the scriptures and our own stories to create a recipe for one laughing, healthy body where we are in community!

      This fresh look at the fruits of the Spirit, from a pastor’s heart, will be nourishment for the soul and dessert for the mind. It is easy to imagine a congregation, gathered around a table covered with good fruit, asking each other the questions that arise from this study. Christ’s presence is known in sharing such a meal. Come to the table!

      Rev. Michael Mather, Indianapolis, IN

      I was pleasantly surprised when reviewing The Spirit’s Fruit: a Participatory Study Guide, I expected a rehash of studies I have led or sermons preached. What I found was a basic, balanced and biblical guide to refresh my spiritual growth.

      The Biblical teaching section was simple but not simplistic.

      Call to reflection with the challenging questions caused me to evaluate my Christian obedience and the depth of my dependance on the Spirit’s gifts.

      Call to Conversation questions instilled a desire to seek out others and engage in a transparent discussion.

      Call to Action was practical and achievable with God’s help in one’s daily experience.

      Prayer, a fitting close to each lesson, inspired me to add my own words.

      I believe this study guide will prove to be a great resource for Christian growth especially if incorporated with a sermon series followed by small group discussion.

      I recommend Dave’s Study Guide for students who are not afraid to encounter scripture, examine personal faith and enlist in practical service for Christ. This is an excellent resource to help a Christian “bear the fruit as he or she becomes the fruit” (page 4).

      Thanks Dave for your personal sharing sprinkled throughout the lessons. Your testimony kept the material applicable (especially to one who also had a violent temper) and my anticipation for in the next lesson.

      Rev. Ronald Devenport

      Pastor Mill Creek Baptist Church 39 years

      With the gracious good humor and willingness to be vulnerable that we’ve come to expect from him, the Rev. Dr. David Moffett-Moore encourages us to live a “fruit-filled life” with Jesus Christ – and with one another. Written for use by Sunday School classes, small groups, and individuals, The Spirit’s Fruit fulfills beautifully the grand goal set for this series by Energion Publications: “Scholarship in service.” Summary reflections, well-posed questions, and prayers mined from the treasury of church history conclude each chapter. Moffett-Moore deftly guides us as we ponder each “fruit of the Spirit” in turn, coaxing us to look at Jesus Christ, to look at ourselves, and to look at exemplars who have gone before us in faith. This is an eminently practical volume, yet one marked by solid study not only of the Letter to the Galatians but of the breadth of the Bible. Read this book – and bear the fruit of the Spirit!

      The Rev. Steven M. Mullin

      Honorably Retired, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

      The

      Spirit’s

      Fruit

      A Participatory Study Guide

      David Moffett-Moore

      Energion Publications

      Gonzalez, FL

      2014

      Copyright © 2014, David Moffett-Moore

      Scripture quotations are taken are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Cover Design: Henry Neufeld

      ISBN10: 1-938434-84-6

      ISBN13: 978-1-938434-84-6

      Library of Congress Control Number:

      Energion Publications

      P. O. Box 841

      Gonzalez, FL 32560

      Web: energion.com

      E-mail: [email protected]

      850-525-3916

      Acknowledgments

      Every book is always a group effort.

      This book exists because the church I serve, St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, granted me a sabbatical month during which I could focus on writing. It exists because St. Peter’s supports my ministry with them. A rough draft became the basis for our Bible study group; each member of the group contributed to the development and improvement of this text. I owe a debt of appreciation to David and Cathy Dutro, Ralph Eisenbrandt, Carol Gilday, Marilyn McManimen, Mary Rahm and Dick Trevarthian. Two colleagues read through the manuscript, helping to point out errors and weaknesses. I thank Rev. Susan Lynch and Rev. David Alfeld-Johnson for their kind and careful insights. My wife Becki also read it and offered her perspective. All of these people contributed to the improvement of the original manuscript and to them all I am grateful. As to what improvements yet need to be made, I will accept responsibility for them. I encourage the reader to mark and highlight and comment while reading the text, to help make it your own. Simply reading the book alone will not accomplish anything; it must transfer the hope and joy I have experienced while researching and writing, so that the fruit of the Holy Spirit may truly take root and grow in your life!

      Grace and Peace!

      The Participatory Study Series

      The Participatory Study Series from Energion Publications is designed around the motto “scholarship in service.” Each guide is written by someone with a strong background in the topic studied and designed for use by lay people in Sunday School classes and small groups, as well as for individual study.

      These guides are not all easy reading. Some of the topics covered require serious effort on the part of the student. But the guides do provide all the resources necessary for a fruitful study.

      The section “Using this Book” is designed for the series but adapted to the particular study guide. Each author is free to emphasize different resources in the study, and to follow his or her own plan in presenting the material.

      It is our prayer