Daily Family Devotional St. Stephen's Anglican Church www.ststephenschurch.net

Hi friends!

Since everyone is staying home and working together to help keep germs from spreading, we thought this would be a perfect time to go on a adventure and practice listening to God and following God’s ways. Each day, we’ll talk about a way we can live out God’s , and we’ll include fun activities, video clips and songs for you to explore a little more! The theme of our two weeks is The Fruit of the Spirit.

Paul wrote about the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to Galatia. Paul writes that followers of don’t have to do good things to earn God’s love or salvation, and we also don’t have to keep following sinful ways. We get to follow God’s ways because we have the living inside of them. When we stay connected to God, we’re like a branch on a tree that grows delicious fruit. I can’t wait to see what fruit we can grow everyday at home over the next two weeks!

Here’s what Paul says:

Galatians 5:22-25 (NIRV) But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and . It is being patient, kind and good. It is being faithful and gentle and having control of oneself. There is no law against things of that kind. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful desires to his cross. They don’t want these things anymore. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become proud. Let us not make each other angry. Let us not want what belongs to others.

Discussion Questions:

• How many things are listed as the Fruit of the Holy Spirit? • What does Paul say has happened to the sinful desires of Christians? • What are three things that we do not do if we’re following the Holy Spirit? I wonder… • How we stay connected to God by the Holy Spirit. • How it feels to grow fruit like love, , and gentleness. • If you’ve ever felt Jesus help you grow one of these fruits. • Who you see the fruit of the Holy Spirit growing in.

Family Activity:

When the Holy Spirit came at , the Bible says that it looked like a little flame of fire over people’s heads. Since then, people have used candles or pictures of a flame to remind us of God’s Spirit. When you eat dinner tonight, light a candle (or a candle for each person!) to remind you of God’s presence with us every single day!

Daily Challenge:

Can you memorize the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Use the songs, activities, and coloring pages linked on the next page to try to help them to stick in your brain.

Explore More

Learn about when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost! • Read about it in your Bible: Acts 2:2-6 • Watch a video that shares the story of Pentecost: Color a Pentecost Coloring Page:

Learn the Fruit of the Holy Spirit!

Coloring Ideas: • Preschool Page • Slightly more complicated page • Or make your own Fruit of the Spirit art! You could even draw it outside with sidewalk chalk!

Music: (add a little movement by dancing, adding motions, or jump-roping to these songs!) • Preschool Song (with motions) • This song is a classic (you’ve probably heard it before!)

Word-based Activities: • Fruit of the Spirit Word Search • Print out :22-23 big on a piece of paper and enjoy using some Bible Journaling techniques (look up Bible journaling on Pinterest or Youtube for ideas!)