5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control...

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

1–2 12 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Take a moment to read through the passages slowly. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through them.

Is there a word or phrase that God is drawing to your attention? What is He saying to you through these passages?

1) What stood out to you from the Scripture passages and/or this week's message?

2) In what ways is God challenging you and/or encouraging you through the message?

3) Why do you think we are so prone to finding our identity in what we do, what we have, and what other people think of us? What is the impact of this?

4) How does it impact the way you live when you remember that you are a child of God? Do you find it easy or difficult to stay centred in that truth?

5) Paul describes the fruit of the spirit as: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Which of these character qualities comes most easily to you? Which one is the most challenging to live into? Why?

6) How do we cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives?

7) Do you think being part of a church is essential to being a Christian? Why or why not? What do you think the church looks like when it is at it's best?

8) Think about where you spend your time and the relationships that you have. Why do you think God has placed you there? How do you think he is calling you to reflect Him to the people around you within your context?