Bayside: The Fruit of the Spirit | Sermon by Henry Fuhrman

·39 min·3 clips

In 2015, families of the Charleston church shooting victims looked at the killer and said, 'I forgive you.'

This episode is a sermon by Pastor Henry Fuhrman from Shelter Rock Church, part of a six-week series on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The sermon is based on Galatians 5:22-25, which lists the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Fuhrman begins by reading the scripture and thanking the congregation and worship team. He contextualizes the sermon within the broader series, noting previous weeks covered the Spirit as a person and the Spirit's work in salvation and sanctification. A key early distinction is made between the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit; the fruit pertains to character transformation, while the gifts are for ministry. The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his daughter Gracie explaining that fruits flower first, unlike vegetables, to highlight the beauty God intends. The central illustrative example is the June 17, 2015, shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, where family members of the nine victims offered forgiveness to the perpetrator, Dylan Roof. Fuhrman frames this as evidence of the supernatural fruit of the Spirit. The sermon's structure is threefold: first, let the Spirit grow you, emphasizing that the fruit is singular and manifests in various virtues that God cultivates. Second, let the Spirit crush you, drawing on Paul's language of crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires, which involves daily dying to self. Third, let the Spirit lead you, interpreting 'keep in step with the Spirit' as following God's cadence like soldiers in a battalion. Throughout, Fuhrman offers exegesis of each fruit component, references theologians like Tim Keller and John Stott, and uses analogies such as two trees (apple and pear) that look identical until they bear fruit. He concludes with a pastoral prayer inviting the Spirit to grow, crush, and lead the congregation, tying it to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

As heard by us

A Galatians 5 sermon that makes patience concrete while tracing the Spirit's work in everyday formation.

Henry's sermon frames Galatians 5 as a study in spiritual formation, treating the fruit of the Spirit as evidence of a life steadily remade by God.

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Why you'd press play

You want Galatians 5 to meet you at a red light, with the horn already waiting.

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