God Plays Golf! #2- Playing the Fairway
Galatians 5:22-26 - Victory Fellowship
August 25, 2024 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
Healing Service
I. Introduction:
a. The Christian Golfer (single player put with three others – “play that bad and not cuss you had to be a Christian”)
b. The difference between playing the Fairway and playing the Rough
i. Those of us who play usually enjoy the game a whole lot better when we are in the Fairway.
c. In our Christian walk, we should play in the fairway.
i. Spiritually speaking, that means living a “born again” life that is led by the Holy Spirit because of our faith in Jesus Christ.
II. Playing the Fairway – God’s Way (Exodus 20)
a. The Ten Commandments – like the law of Gravity -they are absolutes.
1. 1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
3. likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in
4. the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5. 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
6. 4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
7. 5. Honour thy father and thy mother:
8. 6. Thou shalt not kill.
9. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
10. 8. Thou shalt not steal.
11. 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
12. 10. Thou shalt not covet
III. Living in the Fairway (Galatians 5)
a. Let the Holy Spirit guide our lives
i. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these…anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
ii. Our sinful nature is like…A man and his friend meet at the club house and decide to play a round of golf together. The man has a little dog with him and on the first green, when the man holes out a 20 foot putt, the little dog starts to yip and stands up on its hind legs. The friend is quite amazed at this clever trick and says, "That dog is really talented! What does he do if you miss a putt?" "Somersaults," says the man.
"Somersaults?!" says the friend, "That's incredible. How many does he do?" "Hmmm," says the man. "That depends on how hard I kick him.
b. The Fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control…24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives
c. The Fruit of the Spirit are more like principles, not absolutes. We get better at them the more we practice (just like our golf game)
i. If we are led by the Spirit we should desire to get better at them – that’s living in the Fairway.
d. The world needs more people living by the Fruit of the Spirit – especially kindness and gentleness.
IV. Conclusion:
How we feel about God and the Christian life has a lot to do with whether we are in the fairway or in the rough. Play the Fairway.
PRAYER and ANOINTING
SONG: I Know a Ghost
Galatians 5:22-26 (NLT) 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. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.
