SIBLING TURNED SERVANT | PASTOR LUKE LEZON

[Music]

all right all right well welcome to life

Bridge Church everybody how's everyone

feeling we doing all

right it is great to see you and to be

here with you all this morning I am so

grateful that we are gathered together

in this house and I'm grateful because

we are kicking off a brand new

collection of conversations that we are

calling walk the walk walk the walk is a

collection and a discussion where we are

going to be living and lingering in the

Book of James for quite some time and

when I say quite sometime I mean like

three and a halfish months so if you've

been coming to this church for any

length of time uh then you know that if

you've been a part of this body that the

way that things tend to go is that uh we

will find ourselves discussing that's a

little bit more of a cultural context

what people that think that's sinful

call topical uh and then there's a a

thing that we'll do where we'll go

through a book of the Bible or we will

go through something uh that's like a

passage of scripture in particular like

we did with Romans 8 for quite some time

in the same way that we see that the

scripture has different genres that you

will read from that are all scripture

there are different ways of navigating

and applying the biblical text in our

life but one of the things that we do is

we will go through long form really

long- winded uh explanations a verse at

a time through the scripture here and

that's what we're fixing to do here with

James if you got any familiarity with

James you know that James is all about

making sure that you practice what you

preach that we are taking This Ti title

from a phrase that is very popular that

says don't just talk the talk but rather

walk the walk and what we see is that

James is going to make sure that we are

walking out our faith that we are a

people that understand what that walk

looks like that it is yes inward

transformation but it is also outward

application and so James is very well

aware of the fact that we find ourselves

in a broken and a fallen world that is

sick with sin that sin separates us from

a holy and a perfect God and so as a

result we see that Romans 6:23 would

Romans 6:23

inform us that the wages of sin is death

and that that would not just be a death

that we experience in the physical but

it would also be a spiritual death

Eternal separation from a holy and

perfect God unless there was some

radical rescuing and redeeming

intervening in our place and that's the

good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

that in Jesus we do see that there was a

radical intervening a rescuing and a

redeeming and so we are a people that

can gather here and we can worship for

this reason that Jesus Took on sin and

death and was victorious in our place

that he died so that we could live and

not only did he take on that penalty and

price himself as a sacrifice but he rose

again that we might have life in his

name yes that we are a people that can

say that we have repented of our sins

and put our faith in him and and his

work that he has accomplished on the

cross it's not something that we

achieved in and of our own selves you

cannot achieve salvation you receive

salvation as a free gift yes it's not a

trick question it is yes and amen there

is nothing that you can do you can be

the most not cussing not drinking this

only slept with one person person that

ever existed and you still are flawed

beyond belief and there's nothing that

you could do in order to earn salvation

though you still try to do it and that's

why we still show up here but we

obviously are a people that can say that

we have received this gift because there

is nothing that we could do to work our

way to God the gospel is that God came

down to us that he is the one that gets

the glory in all of it we did not earn

this ourselves and so what we know is

that we are a people that are not saved

by any works we could accomplish but

rather we are saved by his work that he

has accomplished on our behalf and still

what James is going to get at is that

when you have received the free gift of

Salvation the Holy Spirit seals you that

you are his that you are following Jesus

then you will still find yourself in a

place where yes you have a renewed and

regenerated heart but you will also have

an Engaged head and hands as well right

it's not just just inward transformation

it's outward application we are not

saved by our works but you will see that

there are works that will follow albeit

slowly sometimes the fact that we have

been saved does that make sense we all

in agreement here this morning all right

James chapter 1 if you want to know the

James 1 · chapter mention

speed at which we're going to move

through James get a low to this James 1

verse one let's turn there right now

that's where we're going to be James

James 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 beginning in verse vers one

everybody with me this morning it's

actually not morning it's actually 12:15

uh uh so everybody excited for the time

change that's happening next week our

service time changes like many of you

hands up if we're going to the 8:15 next

week come on now come on we got some

85ers all right let's pray

um James verse one says this James a

servant of God and of the Lord Jesus

Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes dispersed

abroad greetings let's pray

together uh Lord I'm so grateful to be

with uh my church uh and I don't mean uh

my church in the sense that I would

think that they are mine but uh this is

the church that I'm a part of and so

Lord I'm just grateful I'm grateful for

the opportunity to find oursel in your

word Lord and as we find our eles

navigating your word I think there is a

realization on the part of some of us

that we know that James is brutal kind

of James is hard uh that there there's a

lot of things that are going to be

uprooted in us things that need to be

planted in us and so Lord would we be a

people that are just open to the work

that you want to do here that we would

not be uh just kind of hoping that we

hear something that we're seminested in

and then leave this place and and kind

of do nothing about it but rather would

this just be uh another piece another

twig that's put upon the fire of faith

that we might see that it's continually

kindled that we would continue to offer

ourselves as a living sacrifice as a

result of following Jesus and so Lord we

believe that you will Lord we love you

we praise you and we thank you we ask

these things in Jesus name

amen well on February 4th

1906 a man named Dietrich bonhof was

born in rlaw it was previously bresa

Poland in an aristocratic family Dynamic

Dietrich Bon Hofer had a father named

Carl Bon Hofer who was actually a very

prominent neurologist and psychologist

at the University of Berlin and what we

see is that his mother Paula actually

was the daughter of the chaplain to

Kaiser wilham II this the very last

German emperor that there would ever be

and so because of his parents' status we

see that they were able to afford a

fairly comfor comtable and privileged

life on the outskirts of Berlin that was

great for the family and we saw that

actually because they had accumulated so

much status and wealth that they started

to be relatively nominal in their faith

and as a result of that it would shock

them when Bon Hofer would decide that he

actually wanted to pursue becoming a

pastor he decided that he wanted to be a

theologian and a pastor and that was

something that was particularly

ridiculed and confusing to his brothers

and to his father they didn't really

understand why you would trade the

prominence of an aristocratic family

Dynamic to become a pastor what a loser

right uh like why would you go and do

that and be a part of this unpopular

profession and so what we see is that he

would remain true to his convictions and

his declaration and when he turned 18

years old he ended up going to

University to study theological studies

he had a desire a passion to see

churches that changed communities he he

wanted to see faith in action that it

wouldn't just be something that people

were aware of but it would be something

that had action that was associated with

it and because he was so sensitive to

the cultural realizations of how Faith

should impact what is going on in our

culture in the world that is happening

around us in our relationships in the

very fabric of all that we hold dear he

was appalled whenever a man named Adolf

Hitler was rising to power a man that he

suspected was not only interested in

controlling the state but was actually

interested in controlling the church as

well it seems crazy to us now on this

side of history but there were even

pastors and people back then that were

backing Hitler in his election that we

see that there were some pastors that

even went as far as to say quote Christ

has come to us through Adolf

Hitler someone said oh uh yeah that

that's that is the that is the proper

response what are you are you serious

but that's how people were thinking and

feeling back then that there were some

though that started form a coalition of

resurgence where they were looking at

this dietr Bon Hofer in particular and

he didn't just have a private like

disgust over Hitler but rather he would

publicly denounce him upon his election

Bon Hofer would host a national

broadcast where he was denouncing Hitler

and that ended up being cut off mid

broadcast because censorship had started

to enter the state and so we see that

Bon Hofer would call for a believing

resistance a Christian resistance that

he was like Hey we got to get a group of

people together that oppos Hitler and

Jewish persecution and so he and a

couple Brave pastors and leaders signed

and put forth what would be called the

Brean doc documentary uh declaration it

it was a declaration that was

fascinating it actually was describing

how there was no possible way that any

human being could gather enough power to

where they could usurp Jesus Christ as

the head of the church isn't that good

news but in 1936 he ended up being

denounced as a pacifist and An Enemy of

the State and upon being denounced as An

Enemy of the State his teaching license

was revoked and actually any books that

he had been writing were banned and as a

result of that he ended up starting an

underground Seminary where he started to

take in any students that were really

serious about living out their faith

about radical discipleship to Jesus and

what we see is that it was during that

time that he would end up writing a book

that many of us probably know and many

of us maybe have at least heard of

called the cost of discipleship where he

talked about how radical the call was

from Jesus and how radical should be in

following him it would bring him to a

point of moral crisis in his own life he

had at that point been somewhat of a

pacifist but he decided at this point

that he needed to take further action

and see his faith actually impact the

way that he was living in a way that

would hopefully free his nation and so

what he decided to do was join up with

the ab which was a German intelligence

group that opposed Hitler and opposed

everything that he was doing we see that

he had a hand in operation Valkyrie

which ended up being a failed

assassination attempt on Hitler's life

and we saw that he would start to become

a double agent where he was helping the

Jewish people escape while also feeding

the Allies information and he would

figure out the cost of how radical he

was living because in 1943 he would be

arrested he was arrested because of his

involvement in the resistance he was

sent to flossenburg concentration camp

and we saw that there he would Minister

to the other people that were also at

that concentration camp Camp challenging

them in their faith encouraging them in

their faith and just two weeks before

the war actually ended he was executed

by direct orders under Hitler he was

executed by hanging and as he stepped up

to the Gallows he said this is the end

the beginning of life and I mentioned

that he wrote a book called the cost of

discipleship and there's an excert from

that book that's a little bit lengthy

but I wanted to read it to you so that

we get a sense of what it is that it's

not only what he said but it's kind of

where James is going and he says

this the essence of Grace we suppose is

that the account has been paid in

advance and because it's been paid

everything can be had for nothing since

the cost was infinite the possibilities

of using it and spending it are infinite

what would Grace be if it were not cheap

cheap Grace is the preaching of

forgiveness without requiring repentance

baptism without church discipline

communion without confession cheap

Graces Grace without discipleship Grace

without the cross Grace without Jesus

Christ Living and incarnate costly Grace

is the treasure hidden in the field for

the sake of it a man will go and sell

all that he has it is the pearl of great

price to buy that which the merchant

will sell all his Goods it's the kingly

rule of Christ for whose sake a man will

pluck out the eye which causes him to

stumble it's the call of Jesus Christ at

which the disciple leaves his Nets and

follows him costly Gra Grace is the

gospel which must be sought again and

again the gift which must be asked for

the door at which a man must knock such

Grace is costly because it calls us to

follow and it is Grace because it calls

us to follow Jesus Christ it is costly

because it costs a man his life and it

is Grace because it gives a man the only

true life it is costly because it

condemns sin and Grace because it

justifies The Sinner above all it is

costly because it costs God the life of

his son for you were bought at a price

and what has cost cost God much cannot

be cheap for us above all it is Grace

because God did not reckon his son to

Dear a price for our life but delivered

him up for

us and I say that to you because that's

where James is going James is going to

be this ju position of recognizing that

there is a cheap Grace and there is a

costly Grace there is a cheap Grace

where some of us would say hey I my

confidence is in Jesus and yet we're

living our life with absolutely no

obedience to Jesus but a costly Grace is

one that would say hey I have my

confidence in Jesus I'm living my life

with obedience to Jesus my life is a

Living Sacrifice because I'm following

Jesus James chap 1:22 would say Do not

just be a hearer of the word but be a

doer of the word that faith is not

merely intellectual exercise which is

what happens often people get saved it

happens particularly with young people

they get saved and it becomes all this

head knowledge and then they find like a

camp that they love theologically and

then they want to do everything that

camp does and the most mad person they

can find is the one that they think is

the most theologically sound and then

you find yourself at a place where

everything is Hebrew and Greek and this

is kind of what I believe and you're

steeped in a camp and you're not steeped

in Christ and so then you find yourself

in a place where it becomes this

theological intellectual exercise but

there ain't nothing in your life that

indicates that you actually believe any

of the junk that you're spitting out

that it's saying no no no no no like

like you you can tell me Hebrew and

Greek but you don't even know your

neighbor you you you telling me that you

you know exactly what this Camp believes

and that's exactly where you want to go

and you want to follow them and you can

tell me exactly what who said what in

this book that you hold more dear than

the

scriptures like like no no no no this is

not just merely intellectual exercise

this is actionable application you got a

transformed heart you better show me a

trained hand that will put your hand to

the plow of the work of ministry and

till the ground in all of the spheres of

influence that you have where I might be

able to say because that believer is

there the ground is different here

because that person is here there's

something different what James is going

to get at is that hey where there's new

Union there's new action when you have

been United with Jesus when you have

Union with Jesus

that will change you and it will change

your actions as well I can prove it to

you that this is true this is true in

other institutions that you will find

yourself engaging in this world and I

think marriage would be a good one where

there is new Union of you and this

person it will not only change you but

that Union will result in new action can

I get a witness can anybody

testify holy smokes can anybody anybody

married

here what what are we doing in here

y'all y'all got a different type of

marriage than I got like like I I mean

the funniest thing that people say to me

all the time

like I I just can't do this they want me

to change I'm like yeah we all do look

at you like please change like like

thank God my wife's not married to the

kid she dated 15 years ago are we

serious right now like don't look

anything alike like things are

completely different like and Union

changes action like you do different

things as a result of being united to

this person hello like you don't flirt

with other

people what is going on like can we need

to do a marriage

collection let me you shouldn't flirt

with other

people you

know you can't spend money that you

didn't talk about they do it anyway but

you're not supposed to

right you put the seat down like you

just do stuff you didn't have to worry

about

previously it's just what you do new

unions new action you see it all over

the place and is it just like

immediately like you just put a ring on

and you're just like see old self here I

am like no

no you you may be realize oh I I

can't I can't text this person

anymore I I can't engage in this

conversation in that way it might be

perceived as flirtatious I can't spend

the money on this I don't even know what

we have coming down the pike that I got

to pay for I can't do that necessarily I

I I I've got to behave

different and it's it's not anything

other than that this new Union is

creating a new me and new action the

only weird thing that you would say to

me if a year into marriage or more I

said hey what changed about you after

you got married the most bizarre answer

you could give me is nothing just the

same I'm like well that's got to be

miserable for the other person

so is it slow yes but it's certain it's

sure it's going to

happen and this action that follows

Union is what James is getting at and

James can feel like a contradiction

there are people that can read James and

it's just like I think Christianity is a

lie I think my faith is a shame am I

don't really know what to do now because

as you read James it feels at different

times like it's a contradiction to a lot

of the things that Paul writes uh even

the great Theologian and Legend Martin

Luther would end up saying that he feels

like James is the Epistle of straw which

is a way to back then say you don't like

something and so he struggled with this

right but it looks like James is a

contradiction to Paul's concentration on

justification that that Paul wants to

make sure that we are abundantly clear

and that's what I tried to do at the

very beginning of our time together you

need to understand you are not better

than even just anyone else in the room

but you don't have a prayer of finding

yourself working your way to God it's

not possible you cannot not do enough

things and do enough things and then

God's just like they're killing it let

them in like that's not the way it works

no no no it is a free gift that you

receive you can't work your way to it

and Paul is going to make that

abundantly clear to us that we are saved

by grace alone through faith alone

through the finished work of Jesus

Christ Alone that is clear but what we

see is that James is going to say yes

that's true and once you have been

United with him you will be changed and

you will see change he is not

contradicting he's

complimenting with new Union there is

new action and that is true for any

institution that you find yourself in

engaging and so what we see is that

James is going to make that clear to us

here you look at James chapter 1 and

James 1 · chapter mention

verse one and we have to do a little bit

of background work to get there but what

you'll notice is he says James a servant

of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ now

what's interesting about James is that

um there's a lot of them right I don't

know if you've noticed this as you're

reading scriptures as you're perusing in

your free time uh but there's a lot of

James's in the

Bible uh just from what we see in the

very beginning of the gospels I mean

you'll see that there

James the son of Zebedee a disciple

James the son of alfus a disciple James

the father of Judas not a scariot but

also a guy that would be a disciple and

you're just like man was that like a

preck you need to be James before you

were a disciple like there's a lot of

things going on here but then what you

see is that

James is mentioned elsewhere as well as

the brother the half brother of

Jesus and that's who we're talking about

here that James is actually one of at

least four half Brothers uh and two half

sisters of Jesus which depending upon

the denomination of faith that you come

out of that could be something that

feels not great to hear and yet at the

same time it's true and it's something

that's clearly outlined in scripture uh

you'll see in Mark 6: 1 through3 look at

what it says it says he meaning Jesus

left there meaning Capernaum and came to

his hometown of Nazareth and his

disciples followed him when the Sabbath

came he began to teach in the synagogue

and many who heard him were astonished

where did this man get these things they

said what is this wisdom that's been

given to him and how are these Miracles

performed by his hands and then listen

to this it says isn't this the

carpenter the son of Mary and the

brother of James Joseph Judas and Simon

aren't his sisters here with us so they

were offended by him what you'll see as

you continue reading in the gospel of

Mark and in other locations in the

gospel accounts is that you'll notice

that Jesus family is really struggling

with who Jesus is it goes on to say in

Mark 3: 20 and 21 Jesus entered a house

and the crowd gathered again so that

they were not even able to eat when his

family heard this they set out to

restrain him because they said he's out

of his

mind Jesus siblings have heard that he

is being identified as the Son of God

you see that in Mark 1:23 that a demon

Mark 1:23

will do that you'll see it again in Mark

Mark 3:1

3:1 you you'll see that they even are

struggling with that moment where Jesus

seems to make this very clear claim that

he's God in Mark chapter 2 verse 5

Mark 2:5

whenever you see that the four friends

lower their paralytic friend to the feet

of Jesus and Jesus says to this friend

hey son your sins are forgiven and that

throws everybody off because even the

scribes and the Pharisees that were in

the room that day said wait a minute

wait a minute who is who's this guy

think he is doesn't he know that only

God can forgive sin and Jesus is like oh

that's right why are you thinking these

things in your mind but since you might

know that the son of man has Authority

on Earth to forgive sin I'm going to

actually uh perform the visible Miracle

so that you know the invisible one is

true yes his sins are forgiven because

hey man get up and walk and he

does and they're still struggling with

this Jesus family you'll see in John

chapter 7:5 it will even say not even

his brothers believed in him Jesus

siblings are struggling with the my

brother's the Son of God

situation it says he's out of his mind

and not even his brothers believed in

him I I I think we noticed this like

just getting the family on board the hey

I'm the Son of God train it's been tough

for Jesus at this

point and what's interesting though is

you see that I just read to you clearly

scripture that says we think he's out of

his mind his brothers don't even believe

in him but then James says this how does

he open his letter James half brother of

Jesus king of glory bow down peasants he

doesn't do that he says James a servant

of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ uh

nobody um that it should be taken

seriously ever debates if Jesus was a

real person he absolutely was a real

person like nobody that is worth

anything intellectually debates that the

thing that's debated is was he the son

of God I'm here to tell you there's a

mountain of evidence that points to the

resurrection of Jesus Christ and so you

can go and look that up in your own time

there's a ton of historical evidence

that would point to that but I'm here to

tell you that the greatest indicator

that Jesus Christ is the Son of God to

me is that his brother finally comes

around to

it do you have

siblings has has that ever crossed your

mind listen my my

brother attends and is very active in

this

church none of

you even come close to being less

impressed than he is with anything that

I've ever he's seen too much he's not

even kind of wondered if there's

something special about me he knows that

there's not beyond a shadow of a doubt I

think that he is incredible and amazing

and sharp and awesome and all the things

and at no point have I

gone but is he God like that's never

happened mean you just think about like

famous people with famous

siblings and you think about how there's

always like one sibling or two siblings

that aren't

necessarily as noticed on this Earth as

one of their siblings are you think

about families I mean you think about

like the Manning family pton go vs let's

go come on today like one o' what are we

doing uh like goals man Payton

Manning he's the best in the family Eli

you know was Tom Brady's Kryptonite

which isn't bad but at the same time he

wasn't necessarily Payton but they've

got a brother named Cooper Manning who

you maybe haven't have heard of whose

kids probably going to be better than

all the other people's kids and so God

got him back it's all good but what we

see is like uh there there's someone

there that's not necessarily as known I

mean you you think about um like the

Hemsworth brothers if you haven't if

Chris Hemsworth don't look him up he

looks a lot like me uh but Chris is

uh someone thought that was too funny

like so like like Chris Hemsworth is

Thor right like you can see the

resemblance and um uh he's got a brother

Liam who you know has made questionable

dating choices but outside of that he's

had a pretty good career and a and so

you you see that there are these guys

that have done relatively well and

they've got a brother named Luke

Hemsworth who you maybe don't know as

well Michael Jordan has a brother named

Larry Jordan right like maybe some of

you know that maybe some of you don't

I'm just saying that so that you can

know if if I were a a sibling of

somebody that had that level of Fame and

notoriety I'm just here to tell you I

would play the brother card like you

would not

believe yeah we'll take a table Yeah

Yeah Mike MJ to you Mike to me uh we

want we actually want your table where

you're sitting right now yeah they'll

actually sit outside we want that table

like that's my brother like we're we're

we're in this together man I would be

using the brother card everywhere for

every single perk that I could get could

you imagine if you could say my

brother's the Son of

God wouldn't you use that everywhere I'm

sure it would like I'm sure it' be

annoying at times it's like Mom you

think Jesus is perfect it's like Well he

kind of is you know like I mean it'd be

annoying but you would say that

everywhere in all humor aside J James

doesn't say that that's weird that you

wouldn't say that if you are the half

brother of the king of

glory but he doesn't and you go well why

is that well you have to look at what it

even means and what is being said here

when it says James a servant of God and

of the Lord Jesus Christ that word

servant in the original language is

douas it means bonder servant

literally uh it it means ins servitude

by definition but it carries the idea of

a slave that is uh deeply in love with

and willing to follow their Master

anywhere now when I say that um when we

hear language like slave and master

there should be some like like visceral

almost

response to that because of our cultural

and historical understanding of those

terms in our own country it's the

biggest blot on the nation uh when you

hear slave and master that's not

something that I immediately am like yes

like that that's like ah like what and I

think it's important for us to make a

very very very very very strong

delineation between chatt slavery which

is evil and abhorent and sinful on an

egregious level with what is being

discussed here and the idea behind it

and so whenever we hear slave and master

we should

immediately think and I know that many

of us do we go hey that is a sin against

fellow image bearers that is treating

people as not only less than but as

Goods you're not even treating them like

people and that was a word and a phrase

and an understanding in our cultural

context where what you would think of is

people that don't have an option for

what it is that's going to happen in

their

future and that's not that's not what's

being discussed here in this scripture

to be 100% clear What's Happening Here

is that there's an understanding where

yes an individual feels

obligation to someone but it's also

paired with equal desire does that make

sense it's very important that we

understand this that this is not just

like oh those are the same they're not

even kind of the same uh that what you

see is that this is someone saying I am

a servant whose will is tied up in that

of my king does that make sense to us

all here great okay so what we see is

that James is saying hey that's what I

am

he's foregoing personal qualifications

here he he he's saying I'm that I'm a

servant I'm in servitude to him like

like he's not saying I'm the brother of

Jesus that is crazy he is wholly and

fully devoted and surrendered to his

brother not as a brother but as a

servant he says I'm I'm I'm not ating

myself as a sibling I'm equating myself

as a servant you and I are

less than that and struggle

more James relinquished that personal

qualification because he understood that

we have been bought at a price he

foregoes all of these things he is

devoted and surrendered to where he is

not living with self-reliance or

dependence but rather has entered in

subservience to who he was Born Into the

family as a brother but he says that's

my king that's my king and that's where

you start to find out where your true

Allegiance is by the way this is there's

all sorts of things out there about

what's the American gospel and and and

here here's here's the big struggle that

we have everyone's down for a

king everyone loves the idea of a king

that has come to rescue right like that

that's what had my interest peaked

immediately oh I've got a broken thing

in me and there's someone that's willing

to come and rescue me I'm all about that

the problem is that following that

you'll go from hey I need a king to

rescue me but I need a consultant

that'll do a rare check-in from there on

after I I don't really want to do

anything you tell me to do I just want

you to rescue me so that I get a get out

of jail free card like it's

Monopoly like I I'm down with a kingdom

a kingdom sounds incredible a king

sounds like an inconvenience I'm not

into that I want you to approve my

choice

I don't want you to ever ask me if I

will accept this cup I I want to be

someone who knows that I have

experienced salvation in Jesus but I

want to live my life with no submission

to

him then you don't know

him and you don't know

him and I said it with less hesitancy at

the last Gathering I'll maybe say it

with a little bit more at this

one but where we're going with

James is that we're a church committed

and on

Mission and it's spring break around

here so you maybe don't feel it as much

but I'm here to tell you we've got space

issues and if you're not serious about

it then give your seat

up because I want to be a part of a

church that's

just AB absolutely shaking the

foundations of a community to the point

where people

go if they were gone that would be a

huge problem because of the way that

they're impacting our community are

y'all are y'all with me on that like um

I I've got enough fire in my

bones to keep stoking that for a long

time and I know immediately some people

go man I don't there's just not enough

Grace here do not call Grace an excuse

for you to sin any longer

don't do

that there's 108 verses in James 54 are

imperatives which means he's telling you

what to do not a mathematician but I

think that's roughly

half are we willing to have our actions

and attitudes evaluated on a level to

where there's no possible way you'll be

able to sit under the weight of that

word and

go maybe later

says to the 12 tribes dispersed

abroad it's an expression for the Jewish

people in the

nation dispersed abroad means that there

are Jewish people that are living in a

gentile World largely because they have

been dragged from their Homeland by

Assyrian and Babylonian

Exiles and James is writing to them and

to the people that are there immediately

in Jerusalem he will go on to lead the

church CH of Jerusalem through famine

and persecution before he'll eventually

be murdered and he will find himself at

a place where he is summarizing Jesus

Sermon on the Mount and what you see a

lot in Proverbs To Go are we a people

that are actually living wise and in

pursuit of our great king Changed by him

does that Union create action in us to

where people go there's something

different about them there's something

different that's who we're striving to

be

and so today is an overview and a taste

of where James is going to go James

hurts James is just repeatedly going to

Pummel us a little bit but it's for the

sanctifying work of looking more like

him we willing to go there because James

just jumps in immediately we get into

verse two and he's talking about trials

that we

endure and so that's where we're

going and I hope that you'll meet me

there next week and take it as seriously

as we plan on taking it which is that

we're willing to lay on a table and have

the Lord do open heart surgery and open

the chest cavity of your spiritual life

and go that's got to go this has to be

planted get rid of this more of that

that we would walk out of here at the

end of our time in James and that we

would look a little bit different

because we're more committed to him does

that sound

good Lord thank you

that's who we want to be Lord I don't

want to be abrasive for the sake of just

sounding abrasive

um I just want to take this

serious and Lord would it start with me

uh would you just cut me open over the

next several

[Music]

weeks and do what you need to

do in

me father would that be true of

our entire church that we would move

move forward with a

willingness to look more like

you just to know things about you but to

actually Walk with

You Lord we love you we praise you and

we thank you we ask this in Jesus name

amen