7/5/26 - James 1: The Book of James - Robert Turnage

Thank you, everybody.

Good morning.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Robert.

I'm also one of the elders here.

You're gonna hear that a lot.

Hope y'all had a great fourth.

It was full of fireworks and air conditioning.

So if y'all were here in Sunday school, you uh probably got a pretty good um and a lot shorter summary of what the sermon's gonna be.

Um so please don't leave.

Just sit and smile through it.

Uh if you weren't here, I do encourage you to come at uh 9 a.m.

where we sit at the back tables, have a lot of uh good back and forth discussion.

Um it's a really good time.

Uh you get to get kind of know each other a little bit better.

Um so on to James.

So when we were kind of, I mean a lot of y'all know we were before Steve announced that he was leaving, we had intended um on doing a on him having a sabbatical for the summer.

And so we were sort of preparing for that sabbatical.

Um, early in the year, we were thinking about what we might preach through and um as an elder board.

And so thinking through the options, um, I had remembered at a men's group retreat that we had last year uh that Steve had delivered a keynote, and it centered really on what it means for us if we actually if if if we really believe what we say, how does that change our life and change the way we do life?

Um and you know, of course, true to his nature, Steve felt like he came off, came on a little too strong, came off a little too harsh.

Um everybody I thought I spoke to thought that he did a perfect job, that it was just what we needed to hear.

Um it was measured and just perfect.

Um, but that message really struck with a lot of us who were there.

And so when Steve announced his departure, we kind of felt like this was a good opportunity to remind ourselves, to remind all of us, um, what does it mean to live authentically as a Christian?

How does a Christian approach to life and community differ from the culture we find ourselves in?

And James speaks to that.

Um, and he often speaks to it very bluntly, so bluntly that any sermon series on the book of James could be heard as a rebuke.

And so I want to make it very clear.

I want to please hear me now, this is not a rebuke.

This is an encouragement.

Um, it's an encouragement to remember what we are called to and what each of us in Christ are uniquely gifted by God to live out.

Six years ago, we launched redemption with a vision of a church focused on knowing and being known by Christ and by one another.

A church dedicated to one anothering well, to lifting up and faithfully bearing the burdens and discipling others, to rebuking sin and love, to encouraging, to living in an authentic, transformed, kingdom-focused community, to serving instead of being served.

We felt that this time is it is essential that we reorient ourselves around that reality.

This was the time to remind ourselves what we believe and the practical outworking of those beliefs.

And James does that like nobody's business.

So I recommended James.

And I even volunteered to do the opening sermon.

Um, I really didn't think that through.

Um, I've been reading through the book of James for a month now, getting ready, and actually I uh got a group of guys that I text regularly.

We kind of encourage one another and uh motivate one another into scripture.

And I texted him, I said, I'm reading James again.

Man, it's hard.

He doesn't hold anything back, it really cuts deep.

So I would urge you to, as we're reading through James over the next several weeks, let it cut you, let it cut deep, be convicted, examine your heart, be joyful, praise God for his grace, and lean into what we are called to be.

So, the book of James is probably the oldest writing in the New Testament, some dated around 45 to 49 A.D.

So, for context, this is probably just before Paul visits Jerusalem over the circumcision controversy, where he and James and the council convene to figure out the issues.

Um, while it's disputed by a lot of secular scholars, most evangelicals agree that it was James, the half-brother Jesus, who was leader in the Jerusalem church, that wrote this letter.

Um, and he wrote this letter to Christians who were dispersed abroad.

He wrote to encourage them in very difficult times.

They were facing difficulties, they were making wrong choices, and their community was fracturing because of it.

The point of the letter is really centered on how a Christian community should properly function and our mutual responsibilities towards one another and towards God.

Today we're going to be looking at the uh at the opening.

Um, as Brad read earlier, one through eight, verses one through eighteen.

The opening consists of two sections.

Um there's very little consensus over how all of these things relate to one another.

Um, often the opening is broken up into three smaller points, um, and they can really almost appear unrelated when you study them independently.

Uh so you you see a lot of sermons around these subsections, section two through eight, pain and suffering, something about wealth and poverty in verses nine through eleven, and steadfastness in verses 12 through 18.

All of these are really good topics to look at individually and expound on, like that, and only focused on those one on those little areas, it can be difficult to see how they all do connect into an overarching point.

See, I think there's a connection that runs ver runs through these verses.

Um there's a thread, and it's really introduced in verse 8, and then uh really the overall theme of the whole letter is this topic.

It really gets stated plainly later in verses 16 through 18.

It's an idea of double-mindedness, of being of two minds, claiming devotion to God, and at the same time embracing and claiming love for the world.

We see it rear its head throughout the letter as James shows his readers these opposites in this discussion of wealth versus poverty, the source of true wisdom, hearers versus doers, two separate kinds of faith.

It goes on and on.

So, what he's doing in this opening out in this opening is outlining what his letter will cover, which is largely the ways that we are tempted to compromise with the world, and ultimately that we have a decision to make.

Difficulties will test us, wealth and influence, and distorted views of ourselves will tempt us.

Our own hearts will tempt us.

We must make a decision between two opposites the truth of God or the lies of our heart.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we come before you recognizing that we are undeserving, that we are sinners, and that we are we owe you everything.

That your grace and your mercy bring us life.

I pray, Father, that we never take that for granted.

I pray that you'll bless our time together, that your spirit will fill each and every one of us, that he will guide us, direct us, that he will soften our hearts to hear your word, that he will give us the wisdom to follow your word.

Ask all of this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Alright, so we have a purpose statement for these scriptures.

In whatever situation or circumstance we face, whether mundane or profound, Christians must intentionally choose to follow and honor God, trusting in his goodness.

So today we're looking at three things.

Point one, the response to discord.

Point two, the significance of status, the insignificance of status, sorry, and the important choice.

Point one, the response to discord.

So James, you know what, let's read this.

James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.

Greetings.

Consider it joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, because you know that testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all that they do.

So James addresses his letter to the twelve tribes of the dispersion or the diaspora.

Um he's distinctly using uh Jewish phrasing, writing to Christians who have been scattered by the persecutions that have broken out.

He's reminding them that they constitute the people of God through Christ.

James wants to affirm the closest connection between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

We are a kingdom people.

We are a community connected by Christ and to Christ.

And that has certain implications in the here and now.

These first eight verses are the first section of the introduction.

Um they're one long thought.

We know that because you can see how he strung together words to build a sustained argument that ultimately culminates in verse eight.

Um, so let's look at this slide, this next slide.

Um, yeah.

So you can see here highlighted how he's doing this.

Oh, side note, Morgan made a lot of fun of me this morning.

It's a three-point sermon, standard Baptist sermon, three points.

But there's six slides.

Y'all didn't know what you were gonna get into.

Um so anyway, back to this.

Greetings and joy.

They say this, they share the same root word in Greek, so essentially kind of the same thing.

Um but he says, greetings, consider pure joy.

You see perseverance, perseverance, lacking, lacks, ask, ask, doubt, and doubt.

So he's he's repeating these words in order to emphasize this argument.

And he's getting, as he builds this argument down in verse, and ultimately, I think in verse 7, um, we'll see where he gets to his point.

But he's making a plea to those people who are facing trials to understand what's at stake.

The natural response to difficulty is anger and disappointment.

The Christian response is joy.

This is not fake smiles and sunshine and rainbows.

It's pure joy.

How do we do that?

We consider it.

Consider uh, it's actually isn't a counting term.

It literally means count, like add things up.

Um, it's reflecting on the situation, contemplating and thinking about what we know.

This is us stepping outside the sorrow and the pain of the immediate situation and reflecting.

God is good.

He is at work.

We begin to understand if God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and if God is all good, then maybe he knows something I don't about what is happening.

Should I trust him in this?

Absolutely.

Because he loves us and he has shown it.

The author Anne Voskamp writes about losing her younger sister as a child.

She said, God gave us Jesus.

If God didn't withhold us, withhold from us his very own son, will God withhold anything we need?

If trust must be earned, hasn't God unequivocally earned our trust with the bark on raw wounds, the thorns pressed into his brow, your name on the cracked lips, how will he not also graciously give us all things he deems best and right?

He's already given us the incomprehensible.

So when we understand who God is, when we understand and consider his nature, we can begin to see trials for what they are: an opportunity.

Culture tells us that trials, difficulties, are hindrances or interruptions to our goals, to our satisfaction.

Scripture tells us that they are the way we discover where true satisfaction is really found.

The word translated testing is used in scripture to refer to the process of refining silver or gold.

It's purifying something precious by removing impurities, to make it pure and strong, to flex our faith as a muscle, to go stronger and to produce endurance.

This is something that if you exercise your athletes, they understand this.

It takes work.

You have to do this over and over again.

Even then, endurance is not the goal.

It's part of the process.

The goal is to be pure and complete, to be whole.

That is, to find our rest in Christ.

To look to God in good times and in the darkest depths of dismay, to reflect the character of Christ.

To reach the place where, no matter what circumstances we are, we can say, I trust God completely.

That is true wisdom.

Deuteronomy chapter 4, Matthew chapter 7 tell us that wisdom is knowing, understanding during a trial, but he will give us the wisdom for enduring it.

Deuteronomy 4 · chapter mention Matthew 7 · chapter mention

It's not something that comes naturally, and it is something that is very difficult.

It's something that is given, it's taught by the Spirit largely through difficulties and trials.

So James then is telling us to pray for understanding in this situation, to seek wisdom.

Proverbs 2.6 says, The Lord gives wisdom, and wisdom is important in Jewish thought.

Wisdom is the way in which godly can discern and do the will of God.

Jewish writings, including the book of Proverbs, personified wisdom, and they talk of wisdom as this person who plays an active role in the lives of God's people, training them in righteousness, teaching us to avoid immorality, and leading us to true life.

Wisdom is how we understand how to use these circumstances for our good and for God's glory.

The one who lacks this wisdom has to simply ask in faith.

But verses 6b through 8, we see the contrast that James is going to use throughout this letter: ask in faith and receive, not doubting God's character, that he might withhold what he has promised.

We ask with a single focus of trust, God will do what he has said.

The one who doubts is tossed around by the waves.

They should expect to receive nothing because they have not committed to the Lord.

God is right there.

But this double-minded person, we are looking everywhere for the latest fad as a safety net.

The thing that will help me receive attention, the thing that will provide my identity, my worth.

We refuse to put the full weight of the promise, our full weight on the promises of God.

We doubt.

This doubt is not about the existence of God.

The word for doubt here basically means we create distinctions or disputes with ourselves.

Basically, it's an inconsistency in the way we see God from moment to moment.

It's about the kind of God we serve.

We see that later explicitly in verse 14.

It's a matter of how do we understand God?

Is he good and just?

Or is he withholding something better from me?

The double-minded person doesn't know the God they serve, so they cannot possibly understand his wisdom.

He's invited us out of this unanchored boat and onto the dock.

Instead, we stand with one foot and all of our weight still in the boat and wonder why we rock back and forth, unsteady and unable to move.

A student camp up there one time.

It's been 15 years ago.

And one of the guys leading the trip, he was one of the people one of these guys that can do everything, right?

I mean, we were up there to help, it was off season, so we were up there to help uh do some repairs.

There was a lot of woodworking projects that needed to be done.

We had to build some campsites outside.

There was a lot of uh there was refrigerators that needed to be repaired, there was electricity that needed to be run.

And so, of course, he knew how to do all of this, and so he's leaving camp.

One of the things that had that we ended up, there was this big pond.

And there was, I can't remember exactly what it was, but there was something in the middle of the pond on a post that needed to be fixed.

And so, of course, he volunteered to get the boat and go out there to do that, and he couldn't quite reach it.

So he decided he's gonna stand up in the boat, and he has one foot on the side of the boat and one foot on the post as he's reaching, and of course, you can imagine he completely flipped and landed in the water.

And I couldn't help as I'm reading through this about this boat that's rocking back and forth, I couldn't help but think about Tim.

And I'm like, that was just awful.

And of course, we had video.

As soon as he stood up, we were like, oh, this is gonna be good.

Uh but anyway, sorry for the digression.

Um, God has invited us out of that unanchored boat.

Um so this first section, this introduction, it shows us the first way we might question whether or not we should compromise or if we should follow God.

It's a hard path.

We lose focus on what matters.

We second guess because we're scared.

In the short run, it is much easier to be friends with the world, to avoid difficulty by compromising our faith.

But James says doing that is to abandon hope in the long run.

When we're facing trials, our response matters.

Listen, God cares as much about our journey as he does about our destination.

We see that throughout Scripture, maybe most prominently in the temptations of Christ.

Satan offered him everything he would have anyway, but without any of the difficulties.

Just skip the hard parts.

No cross, but with that comes no salvation for mankind.

He'd end up on the throne, but we would end up without a savior.

That journey mattered as much as the destination.

We're not required to have perfect faith, but we are, however, when we ask for guidance, we will need to be willing to follow through in obedience, trusting his goodness however he responds.

We will either be hardened and calloused by trials, broken and fractured, disconnected from God, disconnected from others, further fracturing the community around us, or we will seek opportunity.

We will remember, we will consider, and we will seek God's wisdom through prayer.

Wisdom will not waste an opportunity to draw closer to God.

Wisdom will reach out to God, groaning with his spirit.

Wisdom will rest in our trust, knowing that Christ is there with us in the mess in the muck and in the mire of our pain.

This is where our character, our Christ-likeness, is formed.

This section introduces uh it uh this this section, it's really kind of like section 1B.

It almost seems out of place.

Um, because if you if you actually like skip this, it really kind of flows from from trials into temptations.

And this sort of seems out of place.

So there's a lot of questions about from theologians about you know what's the what's the relationship?

How does all this fit together?

Um, there's questions about is James talking about a poor Christian or a rich.

An a rich non-believer, or is the poor Christian, or are they both Christian, you know?

Um kind of evenly split over that.

Um, the way I read this is James is shifting focus right now, ever so slightly, from a very broad trial that causes you to take your eyes off of God into a second way where we tend to lose track.

Uh, wealth and comfort.

And he's pointing out the fact that trials afflict both of those people.

See, in ancient Judaism, the idea had grown that the lowly, the poor, those who the world culture consider insignificant were in fact near and dear to God's heart.

We see that in the Psalms, we see that in the minor prophets, we see it in Mary's Song of Praise, where she sings about a great reversal of fortunes.

It's throughout the gospel.

And James picks up that idea here.

There's a temptation for the poor to be jealous of the wealthy, to want to be exalted like they are, to see their comfort and their safety as something to be chased after, to place that as the central thing that would make their life better.

James says, no, the last will be first.

You shall be exalted by God because he holds you dear.

Boast in the love that God has for you and trust him, not the wealth and the comfort that these other people might have.

And likewise the rich can see their wealth as their savior.

It keeps them, it defines them, and it brings them the glory of man.

James says, no.

The rich Christian will take pride, the rich Christian will not take pride in his wealth.

He knows that it is of no eternal value and he will not cling to it.

He will love and serve like those around him.

There's this book.

There's a book called The Lost Letters of Pergamum.

It's a fiction.

It's written by two New Testament scholars.

It's a story.

The premise is archaeologists discover additional letters that Luke wrote.

And these letters Luke was writing to a new believer in Pergamum.

The point of the book is to sort of give an insider's look at what first century Christianity looked like in the early church and how it was different from the culture around it.

So in it, there's Antipas.

He's a wealthy, high society non-believer who's curious about Christianity, and he ends up visiting a local church that Luke recommends.

So at this church, his world is shaken because he can't really understand what's going on.

So instead of the wealthy benefactors using the meal to gain contacts for new contracts, new public works, instead of finding peers or gaining recognition or trying to move up the ladder, the wealthy are being seated there or being seated according to your class, your social class.

The wealthy owners of the home are serving while the slaves sat next to.

And worse, he discovers that the wealthy host had literally taken in a former slave to care for him.

The man was on the streets, and the owner says, No, come, stay with me.

I have an extra room.

Stay as long as you need.

And Antipas writes to Luke, he says, Antonius must certainly have compromised his public honor in this flagrant act of extending public honor to an expendable like Simon.

All my natural impulses are repulsed by the thought of Antonius' action.

My instincts label it impractical, irresponsible, and ultimately dishonorable action.

See, this illustrates James' point.

The rich will risk public humiliation and ridicule to live a life that glorifies God.

And he will boast in that humiliation.

Because he knows nothing this world offers is eternal.

James returns to trials in verse 12, which is, it sort of acts as a bridge between the first and the first section of the intro and the last.

This repetition of perseverance and trials wraps verses 1 to verses 12 into a single cohesive thought.

James is warning against trials, whatever their source.

And I don't think wealth or social status will save you from any trial.

Don't make idols or wealth or idols out of wealth or comfort.

Those cause dysfunction when they are not rightly ordered behind God.

The one who remains steadfast, committed to God, and God's ethics of righteousness will receive the crown of life.

Again, this introduction is an overview of themes that James is going to flesh out throughout the whole letter.

He's just giving us a quick punch to let us know what to expect.

James is not talking about earning salvation here.

We need to be clear about that.

James, salvation by works is not in view.

What James is talking about is the visible fruit of the Spirit.

Those who have been saved, those who possess the crown of life, will display the fruit of the Spirit, sometimes imperfectly, but they will seek to do the will of God and display his character in every facet of our life.

In the way that they compose themselves and in the way they engage in community.

The man that displays the character of God to everyone around him in the hardest, darkest of times shows just who he belongs to.

Finally, point three, the important choice.

Let me read this section again.

Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown, gives birth, give brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my dear beloved brothers.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Of his own will, he brought forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

So this second sec this is the second section of the introduction, and this is where James really wants to tie together his point.

We must decide how we're going to respond to difficulties.

Our response is a reflection of our spiritual state.

One response gives birth to sin and death, the other, the right response, brings forth or gives birth by the words of truth and results in eternal life.

The first fruits of a new creation.

So let's look at these verses a little bit deeper.

James is writing, he wants us to understand something about the nature of sin and of God here.

Understanding these things help us to respond properly.

One thing that's helpful to know the Greek word for tempted and tested is the exact same word.

It's one word, and the meaning of it changes depending on the context of which it's being used.

It can be good to test or prove something, to discipline and correct.

And by prove, I mean show its value and show its true mettle, its true worth.

Or it can be bad.

It can be meant to entice to do evil, or it can be used maliciously to encourage failure.

So James' argument is that temptation is an impulse to sin.

And since God is not susceptible to any such desire or impulse, he cannot desire for a man to experience it.

So the ESV translation here starts with, let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God.

But commenters, commentators suggest that it should actually, the first one should be actually be translated as tested.

So that would say, whenever one is tested, do not say, I am being tempted.

It seems like a minor detail, and really no theological items really hinge on it, but it's worth considering that based on the context of the introduction, it should be let no one know when he is being tested.

Because James knows that external trials, external testing can lead to internal trials, to internal testing.

Internal difficulties can lead to an internal conflict.

In other words, difficult circumstances can cause man, especially the unfaithful, double-minded man with one foot still in the boat, to distrust God and accuse him of tempting us to do evil.

In the midst of a painful trial, a testing or a purifying of our faith by God, the double-minded man can say, I am being tempted by God.

He wants me to sin.

And James is unequivocally saying, No.

Every testing will include temptation to sin, but not because of God, but because of who we are.

Scripture makes it clear that God will test and purify his people.

He tested Abraham, he tested the nation of Israel, he tested Israel's kings.

Not because he wants us to sin, but because he wants us to strengthen our faith by drawing close to him.

C.S.

Lewis famously says, we can ignore pleasure.

Pain insists upon being attended to.

It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

Trials lead us to God's glorification.

Temptation looks for self-gratification.

Again, trials lead us to God's glorification because we entrust ourselves to him.

We draw close knowing who he is.

Temptation looks for self-gratification.

Sin comes from with our own selves.

Notice James does not blame Satan for our sin.

The evil one may tempt us in our hour of trial.

He may whisper in our ears.

And that is the hardest thing to ignore when he tells you to second guess everything.

And if we're not prepared for it, we may fall for that trap.

If we do not keep our eyes on God and remember, if we do not consider who God is, Satan may whisper, he may entice, but the sin is ours.

We make that choice.

Look at the process James describes the progression in the life of sin.

First, we're drawn away and enticed by our own desires.

We have desires, wants.

Some desires are good, some are evil.

Evil is determined by whether desire is outside of God's character and will.

These desires draw us away, they entice us to go astray.

Drawn away carries this idea of being drawn into a trap and enticed in the.

I know.

In a lot of Greek, it was in the commentary.

I liked it.

Thought it was interesting.

In the original Greek, literally means to bait a hook.

Fishermen have used bait to attract and catch prey.

Have you ever tried fishing with a bear hook?

It's not very successful.

So we know what we do is we find the exact uh the bait that is that is most attractive to the fish we want to catch.

They can't resist it because that's all they want.

So, why is this a description, a good description of how sin works?

Because it's exactly how sin works.

Warren Wearsby gives an explanation in his commentary on James.

He says, when David looks on his neighbor's wife, he would never have committed adultery had he seen the tragic consequences.

The death of Bathsheba's son, the murder of a brave soldier, and the violation of a daughter.

The bait keeps us from seeing the consequences of our sin.

When you know Scripture and are walking close to God, you can detect the bait and deal with it decisively.

This is what Paul means to live by faith and not by sight.

To trust the end game we know but can't see versus the very enticing present thing that we do see.

Once we take the bait, notice the progression from temptation, lured to the trap by self-centered reliance through which sin is then birth.

I've got this.

I know better than God what I should do here.

That's how sin is born.

When we stop looking at God and start looking at the bait, instead of looking at our troubles, our triumphs, all of life for the gospel of Christ, we look at them through the gospel of self and we fall for the lie that sin is offering.

We bite down on the hook, and it is so hard to stop.

At that point, sin is born and it has a life of its own.

It grows and it grows and it spreads like kudzu and it suffocates the life from its host.

We never see it coming because all we want to do is look at the bait, and all it brings is death.

How can we possibly deal with something like that?

Something so deceptive and so tantalizing.

Shorter answer is we can't.

The longer answer is that there is a way.

And I think A.W.

Tozer answers it really well in his book, The Pursuit of God.

Because we have this real, well, we'll let Tozer say it.

How tragic that everything is made to center upon this initial act of accepting Christ, and we're expected thereafter not to crave any further revelation of God to our spirit.

We've been snared in the coils of a false logic that insists if we have found him, we need to no longer seek him.

In other words, we must constantly keep our eyes on Christ, constantly seek after him.

If David is an example of giving in to sin, Joseph is clearly an example of choosing faithfulness to God.

After all of the testing and tribulations he had faced, when Potiphar's wife made advances, he could have easily given in and said, Yes, I deserve this.

Instead, he looked to God and said, I can't sin against God.

James highlights this choice that we all have in the way he frames this entire opening.

He gives us once again opposites.

Sin, our will versus God's will.

Notice in verse what verse is that?

18 uh 16.

Then every good and perfect gift comes from God.

Notice the contrast where our will gives birth to sin and death.

And then you go further down, God's desire, his own will, he brought out for us, he brought forth for us a new birth by the gospel, the word of truth, whom the fruit of the Spirit are clearly seen.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

It's worth noting that all of these fruits, these fruit can only be seen in community.

They cannot exist in isolation.

They're most evident in times of testing, in times of uncertainty.

So, in conclusion, we're left with a choice.

We're in a difficult season.

We're as a church, but as individuals and families, there are things that are happening to each and every one of us.

We may feel overwhelmed by them.

They may threaten to break us.

What do we do?

What will we do as a congregation?

What would we do as individuals?

What do we do for ourselves, for our brothers and sisters in Christ?

How will we react to the difficult seasons?

Will we blame God and ignore our calling?

How will we react to the difficult seasons of others?

Will we blame them and ignore our calling?

Or will we lean into our calling in every situation?

Do we intentionally look to the choice before us and consider God?

Will we declare that we will not sin against God but draw near to Him?

Will we indeed live out the gospel in our lives?

Will we love one another?

Will we carry one another's burdens?

Spur one another on towards love and good deeds, meeting together, encouraging one another, continuing to seek Christ in all of our relationships?

Will we double down and lean in during this time, looking for ways to serve and love one another in the kingdom?

What does it look like for us, finally?

What does it look like for us for each one of us to do these things practically in our local congregation and in our community?

We're gonna take a few minutes to consider these questions, to consider what James has to tell us.

And then Miles and the team will come up.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift that you've given us.

The salvation that is only in the name of Christ.

And I pray, Father, that you will give us the wisdom to see the idols that we have built up around us, the things that we cling to unnecessarily.

I pray that you will give each of us the strength to set them aside.

That when we look at one another, we will see what you see.

Glorious people adopted into your family, brothers and sisters who are struggling, who need support, who need love.

And I pray that you will give us the strength to be what you have called us to be.