Rewind — the teaching platform built on your church’s own preaching

The big idea

The fruit of the Spirit is not a quest for perfection but a test of connection to Christ.

We were never meant to just be okay with God, but the answer isn't trying harder to check off a list of virtues. The fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control — grows naturally and inevitably when we stay connected to Jesus, the true vine, and it reveals whether that connection is real.

The fruit of the spirit is not a quest for perfection, but a test of connection

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 1 of 7

The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit, not nine separate goals to chase.

Pastor Bill points out that Galatians 5 says fruit, singular, not fruits. A fruit tree naturally produces one kind of fruit, and the nine attributes are just what that single fruit tastes like when the Spirit produces it in someone's life. This means it isn't a checklist to work through one at a time, it comes together as a whole.

Point 2 of 7

The nine attributes group into three connections: to God, to others, and to the mission.

Love, joy, and peace describe our connection to God Himself. Patience, kindness, and goodness describe our connection to the people around us. Faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control describe our connection to the mission of pointing people to Jesus, so missing any group signals a disconnect somewhere.

Point 3 of 7

You get to the fruit by connecting to Christ, not by staring at the goal.

Using a baseball illustration, Pastor Bill explains that you don't reach first base by staring at it or even by just keeping your eye on the ball, you have to actually connect the bat to the ball. In the same way, watching Jesus from a distance every week doesn't produce fruit, only real connection to Him does.

When you play baseball, you don't get to first base by staring at first base

— Pastor Bill Bush

I pursue connection, not perfection

— Pastor Bill Bush

Point 4 of 7

The fruit is singular, inevitable, gradual, and dependent on healthy roots.

Pastor Bill walks through four qualities of how the Spirit produces fruit: it's one fruit, it inevitably happens when you're connected, it grows gradually like real fruit rather than all at once, and it depends entirely on being rooted to a healthy source, which he then shows is Christ Himself in John 15.

Point 5 of 7

Jesus is the vine, and apart from Him we can do nothing, including some sobering warnings about pruning and being cut off.

Reading John 15, Pastor Bill shows Jesus repeating 'remain in me' because it matters, warning that branches disconnected from Him are thrown away and burned. He clarifies that pruning and cutting look similar, so painful seasons in a connected believer's life may be God pruning for more fruit, not punishment.

Point 6 of 7

Getting what you ask for in prayer isn't manipulation, it's wanting what God wants.

Pastor Bill contrasts prosperity gospel performance ('I do this, I get that') with the promise in John 15:7, telling a story about his dad in an Italian restaurant saying they could order anything as long as it was spaghetti. He explains that when you remain connected to Christ and His words remain in you, you end up wanting God's will.

You get whatever you asked for if you do what? Remain in me and I knew

— Pastor Bill Bush

Connection is different than performance

— Pastor Bill Bush

Illustration

A family lost in San Diego stops at an expensive Italian restaurant; the father tells his children they can order anything they want — as long as it is spaghetti — used to illustrate how remaining in God shapes what we desire

Point 7 of 7

Connection to Christ begins at the cross, the narrow gate, where we die to self.

Pastor Bill unpacks Matthew 7:13 through a drawing of the church's cross seen through the narrow gate, made by his friend Matt Hamilton shortly before Matt's death. He explains the narrow gate is narrow because Jesus is the gate, and that connecting to Christ starts with recognizing we are sinners who need to die to self and trust what Jesus did on the cross, not with trying to become a little bit better.

He wasn't so worried about why he died because he already had the answer to why he lived

— Pastor Bill Bush

A story from life

Story of Matt Hamilton, a friend and small group leader who gave the preacher a drawing of the cross through the narrow gate shortly before his death, whose funeral had just been held at the church

Take it into your week

Pursue connection, not perfection.

Application

Stop chasing the nine attributes as a checklist
Instead of grinding to force love, patience, or self-control on your own effort, let them be the natural evidence that you're actually connected to Christ.
Use the list as a test, not a to-do list
Check whether your connection to God, to others, and to the mission is showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and if not, look for the connection problem rather than trying harder.
Meet Jesus at the narrow gate
If you've never truly connected to Christ, stop trying to manage life your own way, confess you are a sinner, and turn to trust His death, burial, and resurrection for you.
Let God prune rather than assuming you're cut off
If you're connected to Christ but going through painful seasons, trust that God may be pruning you to produce more fruit rather than punishing or abandoning you.
Tell someone if you prayed to connect with Jesus
Pastor Bill asks anyone who prayed the prayer of salvation to go to rockpoint.io and click 'say yes to Jesus' so others can pray with and for them.

Keep going

Add Rewind to your Home Screen