Embracing Restoration: A Journey Through the Fruit of the Spirit

Dear First Pres SLO Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus the Messiah, who can heal and restore anything and everything. Thank God for that!

On Sunday we looked at the story of Nehemiah and the restoration of the Israelites after the Exile (Nehemiah 8:1-10). The people in the story stood from sunrise until noon as they listened to the Torah read and explained to them. You’ll remember that their reaction was to collapse into tears. But God gave them a word of grace that day, and it’s something that connects with our journey through the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians.

Here's the point: People whose lives are filled and driven by the Spirit of God know that they’re forgiven and released and renewed. People whose lives are filled and driven by the Spirit of God share that feeling with other people.

We want to be those people.

As we move through this season of growth, and as we learn to be more confident and effective in the ways we engage our culture in faith, my prayer for all of us is that we will know God’s restoration, and share that love with the world around us.

Make that your prayer, too.

Blessings,

Pastor John