S01E008, Plastic Bottles, Sheep and the Holy Spirit, Andy B 2 Minute Video

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Sheep produce wool, because they're sheep.

Just like us - when we walk with God the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the natural outpouring of that relationship.

Limping, old, tired, broken………..whatever negative condition we're in that we allow to define us, we can still produce wool - the fruit of the spirit

Sheep don't work at producing wool - it just happens when they trust the Shepherd.

People don't create the fruit of the Holy Spirit - it just happen when we trust the Shepherd.

Both production 'processes' happen when we trust the Shepherd to guide us to the better pastures.

You can hear the whole, awesome, sermon by my good friend Ben via the Therfield Chapel Website.

Just a thought...

Andy B

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Another Andy B 2 minute video. A really good friend of ours, Ben, was preaching this morning about sheep and how we're like them and why the Bible uses sheep as an analogy.

Talking about some really great experiences he's had and it got me thinking about sheep and us, and it struck me that we've just had some milkshake, so we've got some empty plastic bottles

And although I haven't got a sheepskin rug or whatever, or a fleece blanket, fleece jacket. And modern fleece jackets like this one quite often made from recycled plastic bottles. So, a little bit like a sheep thing. 

And it got me thinking about how things can be recycled and reused and all that kind of stuff.

But then I started thinking about are you, me, are we good Christians? Do we define ourselves as perhaps, being, I don't know, are are we the, as he put this morning, are you, are you the limpy sheep?

Maybe you're allowing yourself or me to define ourselves by a lack of money, or perhaps by the fact we don't feel good enough, we don't pray enough, and all these negative things can impact how we see how God see us.

But when we're walking with God, the Holy Spirit works in us as part of that, and the fruit of the spirit naturally occurs.

It spontaneously happens is how a study Bible puts that. And sheep, if we see ourselves as sheep again, well, sheep don't have to work hard themselves to create fleece. That's what they do.

They just munch grass and off they go and they they create a fleece. So sheep creating fleece and us with the Holy Spirit and the and the fruit of the spirit, that all kind of happens without our effort 'cause Jesus loves us.

So what struck me with the plastic bottles and the fleece jacket that I've got is how much it keeps us warm.

This plastic bottle is now rubbish. It's no good to us, but it probably may well and get recycled into this jacket. It's not it's not purposeless. Now it's still got value.

And perhaps like me, you're allowing bad stuff in your life to define how God sees you or how you think God sees you.

But God loves you and God loves me, and all we have to do is to follow the voice of the master shepherd, and trust that he will help us just by walking with him. Just like these plastic bottles aren't rubbish, you and I aren't rubbish and God can use us no matter who we are, no matter what we see ourselves as, God loves us and will use us just as we are when we come to Him and trust Him as the shepherd.