9-week sermon series · King James Version

Fruit of the Spirit — 9-Week Sermon Series

Nine Sundays, one fruit each — Galatians 5:22-23 preached slowly enough to be examined rather than admired.

Whole-church series; strong summer or small-group series

The arc of the series

Love shapes the eight that follow. Weeks 1-3 concern God-ward disposition, weeks 4-6 concern others, weeks 7-9 concern the self.

Week 1: Love

Galatians 5:22; 1 Corinthians 13

Biblical love is a decision that behaves, not a feeling that speaks.

Love defined by action (1 Cor 13:4-7)
Love as the first fruit
Love toward the difficult

Charity suffereth long, and is kind.
1 Corinthians 13:4 (KJV)

Application: Who is hardest for you to love, and what would love actually do this week?

Week 2: Joy

Galatians 5:22; Philippians 4

Joy is not the absence of trouble but the presence of God in it.

Joy distinguished from happiness
Joy in tribulation
The joy of the Lord as strength

The joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10 (KJV)

Application: What have you made a condition of your joy?

Week 3: Peace

Galatians 5:22; John 14:27

Peace with God comes first; the peace of God follows.

Peace with God (Rom 5:1)
The peace of God (Phil 4:7)
Peace with one another (Rom 12:18)

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
John 14:27 (KJV)

Application: Where are you at war that you could make peace?

Week 4: Longsuffering

Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:12-13

Patience is love's endurance under provocation.

God's longsuffering toward us
Patience with people
Patience with process

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise... but is longsuffering to us-ward.
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)

Application: Who tests your patience most, and what does God's patience with you say about it?

Week 5: Gentleness

Galatians 5:22; 2 Timothy 2:24

Gentleness is strength deliberately restrained.

The gentleness of Christ
Gentle speech
Gentleness in correction

A soft answer turneth away wrath.
Proverbs 15:1 (KJV)

Application: Where have you used force because it was faster?

Week 6: Goodness

Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 2:10

Goodness is generosity in action, not merely the absence of wrong.

Good works prepared beforehand
Doing good to all men (Gal 6:10)
Goodness that costs

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men.
Galatians 6:10 (KJV)

Application: What good could you do this week that no one would ever repay?

Week 7: Faith

Galatians 5:22; Hebrews 11

Here the word means faithfulness — being someone whose word holds.

Faithful in little (Luke 16:10)
Faithfulness over brilliance
The faithfulness of God as the pattern

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.
Luke 16:10 (KJV)

Application: What commitment have you quietly let slide?

Week 8: Meekness

Galatians 5:23; Matthew 11:29

Meekness is not weakness; Moses and Christ are the Bible's two examples.

Meek and lowly in heart
Meekness in receiving correction (James 1:21)
The meek shall inherit the earth

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.
Matthew 11:29 (KJV)

Application: When were you last corrected, and how did you take it?

Week 9: Temperance

Galatians 5:23; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Self-control is the fruit that guards the other eight.

Bringing the body into subjection
Appetite, anger, and attention
The Spirit's work, not willpower alone

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Proverbs 25:28 (KJV)

Application: Which appetite currently rules you?

Planning notes

Nine weeks is long; a mid-series testimony Sunday keeps momentum.
Pair each week with a memory verse card for the congregation.
Consider ending with a communion service on temperance.