Living Out Your Faith (James 1:1-8)

Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Children, we are ready for Children's Church at this time.

And thank you so much, praise team, for leading us so well in worship as we remember and we reflect on how good the Father's love is for us, what Jesus did on the cross.

What a great way to begin diving into God's Word.

And I just want to say again how amazing job Clay did last week bringing God's Word.

I'm thankful that he was able to do that.

And just what a great way to close out our summer in the Psalm series.

And many of you since then have come to me and said, well, we've heard Clay preach and sing.

We've heard Evan preach and sing.

When are we going to hear you sing?

And the answer is never, ever.

And that's why I stand right here on the front row because this speaker is blaring at me.

I can't even hear myself sing.

In fact, I had a, I think I told you this, Clay, I had a nightmare a few weeks ago that Clay came to me and he just said, my voice is gone.

I'm going to need you to lead in worship today.

This is a true story.

And I told him, I said, no.

I said, it's not going to happen.

We'll just not sing this way.

It's not going to happen.

But I am thankful for your heart and the way that you lead us each week, Clay, and leading us so well last week.

In fact, somebody came up, actually it was Isaac came up to me after the service.

And I took this as a compliment at the beginning.

He goes, you know, I could really tell that Clay has been taking notes from you.

And I said, really?

And he said, yeah.

He went five minutes over.

And I said, oh, you're funny, Isaac.

I thought that was going to be a compliment at first.

But no, today we are going to be starting a new series that I have been looking forward to for quite some time.

A series where we walk through the book of James.

And hopefully you had a chance to grab a journal on your way in.

If we ran out, that's okay.

We'll have more next week.

We've got a few more that will be coming in this week.

But hopefully you'll have an opportunity to grab a journal or at least take notes as we follow along going through this book over the next couple months or so.

But James is an interesting book of the Bible.

Throughout church history, many well-known theologians, including Martin Luther, took issue with some parts of James.

In fact, Martin Luther called it an epistle of straw.

He really didn't care for this book very much.

But it's been criticized for different reasons.

Some criticize its infrequent references to Jesus.

And it's true.

It only refers to Jesus by name two times in the book of James.

We'll get to one of those times today as he introduces the book.

And then the other time is in chapter 2, verse 1.

And so, yes, he only specifically refers to Jesus by name a couple of times.

But I would argue that Jesus is all throughout this book.

But others have mentioned that it doesn't flow very well.

It seems choppy.

It seems difficult to find the structure.

I mean, it seems like James is jumping around all over the place.

And then probably the biggest critique of all is when people say that James contradicts Paul.

You know, Paul talks about that we're saved by our faith.

And then James all of a sudden is talking about faith and works and how those things go together.

And at first reading, some say that they contradict each other.

Well, it's my hope and prayer that as we study this Bible, that first you'll understand why we study it.

Why we study it in the first place.

And I would argue that hopefully by the end of our series that you will argue this same thing as well.

That all of those things that we just talked about really are not points at all.

They really don't hold water.

These critiques are not valid.

In fact, James has long been one of my favorite books of the Bible.

I can remember in college I told a pastor of mine that was discipling me working through.

I said, you know what?

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to memorize the whole book of James because I like it so much.

He's like, well, let's set some better goals.

Okay, let's set some more realistic goals.

Needless to say, I did not memorize the whole book of James.

But it's been one of those books that has been so influential in my life that I've really looked forward to taking time and studying it, studying through with it as a church.

And if you're still looking for even more reasons to study this wonderful book, in preparing this week, David Platt gave two really great reasons to study this book.

He said to begin with, the first reason is to examine the relationship between faith and works.

When you look at this relatively short book of the Bible, what you'll notice is that James refers to faith 14 different times in these few chapters that we find in the book of James.

He refers to faith 14 different times specifically.

And again, I would argue that faith is an overarching theme throughout this entire book.

And then he also mentions the relationship that is here.

Out of the 108 verses the book of James has, there's 59 different commands that we find in these 108 verses.

You see, obedience is everywhere when you look at this book of the Bible.

Genuine faith acts.

Genuine faith works.

And we see that as we study this book.

But also in addition to seeing that relationship, another benefit of studying this is to explore the impact of our faith on life in our current context in this city.

But also how that faith plays out as we look at the context outside of this.

And as we look at the context outside of just our city here and thinking about how we interact with this world.

How we think about missions both here, right outside these doors, but also throughout the world.

This letter, James addresses many areas of life in which our faith should practically impact everything.

From trials, to poverty, to riches, to materialism, to favoritism, to social justice, the tongue, worldliness, boasting, making plans, praying, and what you do when you're sick among many other things.

You know, I mentioned earlier how some will argue that it feels like James is jumping around all over the place.

And it almost seems hard to follow the train of thought that goes throughout it.

But he returns repeatedly to how faith impacts not only the details of our lives, but also the lives of people around us.

Both locally and globally.

Platt notes, he says,

Faith moves Christians to lead Bible studies in workplaces and neighborhoods, help addicts in rehabilitation centers, serve food in homeless shelters, teach orphans in learning centers, care for widows in retirement homes, provide hospice care for the elderly, train men and women in job skills, tutor men and women in reading, rock sick babies in hospital, help patients in AIDS clinics, teach English to internationals, and the list goes on.

And on and on and on and on.

Faith moves Christians to take steps of radical obedience to make the gospel known all around the world.

So why study the book of James?

Because when we study and apply this book to our lives, we will be forced to think how we live our lives and what we're giving our lives to.

You can't read this book without reflecting on your own life and thinking about how this is challenging you in your walk with Christ.

So this is the wonderful reason that we study this book in a direct way without holding back any punches.

James will challenge us to live the lives Jesus has called us to live.

To be sure, the dominant theme of James as we work our way through it is a true faith in Christ is a faith that works.

Another way of saying it is living out your faith.

That's going to be the dominant theme that we work through as we walk through this book.

In other words, you can't call Jesus Lord of your life if you're not willing to let him be the one who is calling the shots.

This week, we're going to be looking at the first eight verses of James chapter one.

So if you have a copy of God's Word or if you're able to grab one of those journals on your way in,

I would encourage you to follow along as we read these first eight verses together.

It says this,

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God.

As I was preparing this week, at the beginning of the week,

I had every intention of working through 18 verses this week.

But as we began working our way through and as I began preparing this,

I got to thinking, you know, a more manageable number might be eight.

Because there's so many things that we can find in this that need more attention than just a passing thought

or a glance as we walk our way through it.

And so what we're going to be doing is over the next few months is trying to follow James' example of how he teaches through this.

He keeps it simple and he keeps it direct.

And it's my prayer that as we work through this book over the next couple months,

that this will be simple statements that are both direct and applicable to our lives.

This morning, I want us to see three things that believers are called to do.

To begin with, I want us to see that we are called to be a servant of God.

We are called to be a servant of God.

This is the example that James gives us right out of the gates.

He says,

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes in the dispersion.

Greetings.

You see, in this introduction, we are told a few things of significance.

To begin with, we're told who is writing this book.

It's James, the half-brother of Jesus.

And we're also told that he calls himself a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, understanding who is writing this allows us to go back to Scripture and get a better picture of who James is.

We're told in John chapter 7 that none of Jesus' brothers believed that he was the Son of God.

John 7 · chapter mention

We're told that none of his believers at the beginning of Jesus' ministry believed that he was the Son of God.

Now, this makes sense to us, right?

Who in here has an older sibling?

Okay, can you imagine that they came to you and said,

All right, listen, I just want to sit you down.

I want to tell you something really important.

I want to let you know that I'm God.

And my brother is sitting here on the second row, my older brother.

And if he ever told me that, I would probably say,

Look, I know that you believe that, but there's no way.

There's no way.

I've seen the way you smell when you wake up in the mornings, okay?

I've seen all of these things.

And I'm sure Jesus' brothers, when he was sharing these things with them,

nobody wanted to believe this because they're like,

Look, you're a carpenter.

You're just like our dad.

I saw you work in the shop.

You smell.

I saw the way that you looked when you woke up in the mornings.

It was a little scary.

There's no way.

And so I'm sure that you can understand that they wouldn't believe this,

that it would probably take something significant for James to believe that his brother Jesus is the Son of God.

It would probably take something like a resurrection.

It would probably take something pretty miraculous like that, which is exactly what happened.

In fact, when you look at 1 Corinthians 15,

it tells us that Jesus appeared to his brother after the resurrection.

And from then on, James went on to be a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, he's mentioned alongside Peter and John as pillars of the church.

He is presiding over the Jerusalem council that you read about in Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

One of the most significant events in the book of Acts, he is presiding over this council.

He not only becomes a follower of Jesus,

but he becomes one of the strongest leaders in the movement of God

that takes place immediately after Jesus' ascension.

Not only does he become a follower of Jesus,

but he becomes one of the strongest leaders in the church.

And as remarkable as these things are,

there's something else that stands out even more than these things.

And that's the nickname of James,

or at least what church history has referred to him as.

He was called Old Camel Knees.

Old Camel Knees.

And I could probably give you, unless you've heard this before,

I could probably give you a hundred guesses,

and you'd never guess why James was called Old Camel Knees.

I want to say this.

Next time you see a camel,

which I realize for many of you may be never in your life,

but if you ever do see a camel,

I want you to take a moment, look at its knees.

Maybe if you see a picture of it,

maybe if you can look one up,

take a picture of it,

and what you'll see is camels have the most calloused,

hard knees that you've ever seen.

Because if you see a camel get up and down,

you'll see that it gets up onto its knees to begin with,

and gets down onto its knees,

and that's how it gets up and down.

It uses those knees significantly,

and it has these big calluses that are on its knees.

And what I love about this is it reminds us

of why it is that James was given this name.

James was given this name

because of his constant kneeling in prayer.

James was known around,

everybody knew James as a man of constant prayer.

And so this, I guess,

joking way of calling him old camel knees

was a way of showing that he spent significant time

kneeling in prayer before God.

Even as one of the pillars of the early church,

one of the leaders in this remarkable movement of God,

James shows us where his strength comes from.

James shows us his dependence on God

with his devotion to prayer,

which is one of the things that prayer does.

Have you ever thought about that?

Why pray?

Well, one of the things that prayer does

is it shows in a very real and practical way

our dependence on God

in our most difficult situations of life.

prayer expresses our total desperation for God.

When do you pray most?

You pray most when you're most desperate.

Whether that's the loss of a job,

the loss of a loved one,

a difficult diagnosis,

in that desperation,

in those moments,

you become a prayer warrior

because you are desperate for God to work.

Prayer shows our dependence on God

in our life each and every day.

And I would argue that many times

prayer does not play a central role

in the life of the believer

or the church for that matter

because we aren't attempting anything

that requires prayer.

I would argue that we don't pray

because we're not trying to do anything

that requires prayer.

We're not attempting anything

where we're saying,

God, I need you to work

otherwise this is not going to work.

We're not doing anything

where we're saying,

God, I'm going to depend on you in this

because I know on my own strength

that I will never be able to do this.

And so we must live lives

that depend on prayer.

And I think that's what you begin seeing

in James' life.

He underwent much persecution.

He is able to see a lot of,

there's a lot of good things

and there was a lot of bad things

that was going on.

But in the midst of all of those things,

James was dependent on prayer.

He was dependent on his,

my hope and prayer

that we as a church

are so hungry to see God move

that we are so committed

to following God's call on our lives

to make his name known

that we must pray to God

in desperation

to help us to fulfill the call

to make his name known.

As the early church was growing,

as James was settling into his role

as the leader of the church

there in Jerusalem,

he remained on his knees in prayer

because he knew

where to go for strength.

Martin Luther is reported

to have said

that one time reflecting

on a very demanding day,

he was reflecting on

all the things

that he had to get accomplished

that day

and it was just

a very demanding day

and he was said to said this.

He says,

I have so much to do today

that I must spend

the first three hours in prayer.

Is that how we view prayer?

I've got so much going on

that I need to pray.

Or do we view prayer,

I've got so much going on

that I don't have time

for this right now.

I've got so much

that's going on,

I'm dealing with so many things

that I just,

I don't have time for that now

so I'm just going to push it off

to the side.

Or are we so dependent

on prayer

that we're saying,

God, I've got so much going on

that I must pray now.

I must come before you

because I need your help in this.

As we recognize

that we are called

to be servants of God,

let us do so

with a deep commitment to prayer.

I think we will realize

that this is essential

to our living out our faith.

But the next thing

that I want us to see

that we're called to do here

is that we are called

to be intentional

in how we view trials.

We're called to be intentional

in how we view the trials

that come in this life.

Verses 2 through 4

are some of the most well-known

in this book

and it says this,

it says,

count it all joy,

my brothers,

when you meet trials

of various kinds

for you know

that the testing of your faith

produces steadfastness

and let steadfastness

have its full effect

that you may be perfect

and complete,

lacking in nothing.

Most New Testament letters,

after the initial introduction,

they have a warm little greeting there.

After you realize

that Paul is writing this letter,

most of his letters start with,

I'm so thankful for you,

it lifts my spirit

when I think about you.

Now there's a few exceptions to that,

but most of these letters,

they follow this pattern

of like,

hey, this is Paul writing

and let me just welcome you

and I'm so grateful for you,

let me have a word of encouragement.

James is like,

alright, I'm James,

servant of God,

let's get right into it.

And he gets right into it

by diving into these trials.

He jumps right into exhortation.

Douglas Moo,

he notes,

he says,

by placing trials

in the position of prominence

in this letter,

James suggests

that the tough times

the believers were facing

were a key reason

for his writing to them.

By placing it right here

at the beginning,

he's saying that this is going

to be something important.

And we do this all the time today.

When we send text or emails,

if we're sending an email

to somebody

where there's something

really important

that we want them to know,

we're going to put it

at the beginning.

If it's going to be a long email,

but there's one thing

that we want to make sure

that they get,

we're going to put it

right at the beginning.

We're not going to try

to bury it in a long email,

but we're going to say it

right out of the gates.

And James,

right out of the gates,

is saying,

hey, these things

that you're going through,

remember,

let's put some perspective

on them.

Remember where you're looking

in them.

See these trials

as beneficial

to your walk with Christ.

Moon knows,

he says,

the purpose can be accomplished

only if they respond

in the right way

to their problems.

But what problems

is James referring to here?

What trials

are these people going through

that he's referring to here?

And as you look

at the letter,

you can see

any number of things.

Poverty is most likely

on the list

because of how often

it gets addressed

throughout this letter.

But by stressing

that these trials

were of various kinds,

of different kinds,

he cast an intentionally

wide net to say

that all of these things

that you're going through

can serve a purpose

in your walk

with Christ.

James intentionally

does this,

including the many kinds

of suffering

that Christians undergo

in this fallen world.

Sickness,

loneliness,

bereavement,

disappointment.

He says,

consider it all joy

when you go through

these things

because they have

the ability

to produce

something in you.

Now,

before we get too far

on this,

I want to make sure

that you understand

what this passage

is not saying.

It's not saying

that in the middle

of a trial

that joy

and excitement

are the only emotions

that we're going

to be feeling.

For example,

Jesus at Lazarus' tomb

didn't walk around

telling people

they just need

to feel better.

You just,

you know,

he saw everybody

crying there

at this tomb of Lazarus.

He didn't walk around

and say,

God,

stop.

Just consider this joy,

okay?

Stop with us.

Stop with all the crying.

Stop doing this.

Just consider it all joy,

okay?

He didn't do that.

What did Jesus do

at the tomb there?

He wept.

He cried with them.

As believers,

we experience many emotions

and sometimes sorrow

and joy go hand in hand.

So don't read this

and think,

well,

I'm really struggling

with this trial right now.

I'm really struggling

with what I'm going through,

so I must be some subpar Christian

because I can't consider it

pure joy right now.

No.

But also,

as you walk with people

who are going through

a difficult trial,

don't use this verse lightly.

Don't use this verse lightly.

the right thing

at the wrong time

can sometimes be harmful.

No one was better

at mourning with those

who mourn

and weeping with those

who weep

than Jesus.

So let me encourage you.

Be like Jesus.

And in the midst of trials,

help others

keep their eyes fixed

on Him.

Help others see Jesus

clearly through those.

But we do clearly see

from this passage

that trials

have the ability

to produce something

great in you.

If I were to say

who in here wants their life

to look more like Jesus,

I would hope

that all of us

would raise our hands

and say,

yes, I want my life

to look more like Jesus.

But then I said,

all right,

well come over here,

let's sign up

for more trials

in your life.

Let's sign up

for just as many trials

as you can possibly

get in your life.

I would hope

that not everybody

would just come right over here

and start signing up

and say,

yes, give me more trials.

Give me more hardships.

Give me more difficult things.

But those trials

in our life

can produce something in us

that God can use

in a great way.

The truth is

what we do with trials,

how we view them

is essential to them

producing this deeper faith in us.

You see,

trials don't automatically

produce steadfast faith in us.

It's not a nice,

clean equation

like in algebra

where you can plug in two things

and then you get a product.

It's not there

you can just say,

you know what,

give me more trials,

give me more trials,

give me more trials

and that's automatically

going to be

a deeper faith in Christ.

J.D. Greer,

I believe it was,

who was speaking

on this passage,

he says,

these trials are oftentimes

like a foot

that's poised in the air.

He says,

they can either help you

to step forward

in your faith

or they can lead you

to go further back in it.

But seeing these trials,

keeping our eyes

fixed on Jesus

in the midst of them

allows us to grow

in this walk with Christ.

But what do,

but what you do

with them matters

because your faith

is what is under attack.

Charles Spurgeon

beautifully reflects

on this passage

when he says,

note the essential point

that is assailed

by temptation.

Your faith

is the target

that all the arrows

are shot at.

Faith is vital

to salvation

as the heart is

to the body.

Therefore,

the javelins

of the enemy

are mainly aimed

at this essential grace.

Your faith

is peculiarly

obnoxious

to Satan

and the world.

If you had no faith,

they would not be

your enemies.

Faith is that

blessed grace

that is most

pleasing to God

and therefore

most displeasing

to the devil.

By faith,

God is greatly glorified

and by faith,

Satan is greatly annoyed.

He rages at faith

because he sees

in it

his own defeat

and the victory

of grace.

But when we remain

faithful,

when we keep

our eyes fixed

on Jesus

in the middle

of the storm,

it produces

something amazing

in us.

You see,

the byproduct

of believing

in the promise

of God

even when it's

difficult

is joy.

Joy is the byproduct

of believing

in the promises

of God

even when it is

difficult to do so.

Now,

I don't know

what each of you

are going through

right now,

but my guess

is that in the room

this size,

many of you

are dealing

with some very

difficult things.

Many of you

are maybe dealing

with things

that no one else

knows about,

but let me encourage

you to keep

your eyes on Jesus.

1 Peter 5,

6, and 7

says this,

Humble yourselves,

therefore under

the mighty hand of God,

so that at the

proper time

he may exalt you,

casting all of your

anxieties on you,

because he cares

for you.

Who cares for you?

Jesus cares for you.

The he in that

statement,

because he cares

for you,

is central to

understanding how

this provides

comfort to us.

You say,

I could get up here

and say,

cast all of your

anxieties on me

because I care for you,

and the truth is,

I do care very deeply

for each and every

one of you,

but you casting

your anxieties on me

is not going to

help you a whole lot

because there's not

a lot that I can do

about those things,

but Jesus is saying,

but Peter's saying here

that cast your anxieties

on him,

cast your anxieties

on Jesus

because he cares

for you.

The one who spoke

the world into existence,

the one who freely

laid down his life

to give you life,

he's the one

that cares for you,

and so keep your eyes

fixed on him

and let that produce

in you

this endurance

that nothing else can

in the midst

of those trials.

But the final thing

that I want us to see

this morning is this,

that we are called

to be consistent

in where we look

for wisdom.

We're called to be

consistent in where

we look for wisdom.

If any of you

lacks wisdom,

let him ask God

who gives generously

to all without reproach,

and it will be given

to him.

But let him ask

in faith.

With no doubting,

for the one who doubts

is like a wave

of the sea

that is driven

and tossed

by the wind.

For that person

must not suppose

that he will receive

anything from the Lord.

He is a double-minded man,

unstable in all his ways.

James went from saying

that you may lack nothing

to saying if you lack wisdom,

then ask God.

The implication is clear here.

Wisdom is something

that we are going to struggle

with in this life.

Wisdom is something

that we're going to need

constantly in our lives

to give our lives perspective,

to understand

what we're going through

in this life.

And James,

in his very direct

and clear way,

gives us an imperative

of what to do

when we realize

that we are lacking

in wisdom.

In those moments

where you feel like

you are lacking wisdom,

where you're lacking perspective,

James says,

do what I do.

Pray.

Get on your knees

and ask God

who gives generously,

who gives to us

what it is that we need.

He's a good father

that doesn't just give us

everything that we want.

He's not a genie in a bottle,

but he is a good father

that gives us what we need.

But he says,

he says,

ask in a way

that is in faith

without any doubting.

Now, this doesn't mean

that we're going to go

through this life

and just be able

to have no doubts

in anything

that we ask of God.

That's something

that I would struggle

with very much.

But he's saying

to be consistent

in your walk with God,

to be consistent

in how you ask

for these things.

Moo was, again,

very helpful here.

He says,

James is not claiming

that prayers

will never be answered

where any degree

of doubt exists.

For some degree

of doubt,

on at least

some occasions,

is probably inevitable

in our present state

of weakness.

Rather,

he wants us

to understand

that God responds

to us

only when our lives

reflect a basic consistency

of purpose and intent,

a spiritual integrity.

In other words,

our prayers are answered

when we consistently

and faithfully

look to God

for those answers.

We're not double-minded in it.

It says that we're not

looking in different places.

We're not coming

and saying,

God,

I want you to share

with me your wisdom.

I don't know what to do

in this situation,

so I'm asking you

what I should do.

And you do this on Sunday

and then on Monday

you go and you just,

you put it in a Google search.

What should I do

in this situation?

Or you ask your friends

who aren't believers,

who may not have

your best interest in mind.

And you're saying,

what should I do?

What does God say?

What does the world say?

We're going back and forth

and God,

and what James is saying

is here,

God wants us

to be single-minded

in our asking for wisdom.

Single-minded

in our devotion to Him.

Now,

this doesn't mean

that we don't read

good Christian books.

It doesn't mean

that we don't go

to our friends

who love Jesus

and have our best interest

in mind

and have what God says

in mind.

It doesn't mean

that we don't go

to counselors

who love Christ

and follow Him

in their lives,

but it does mean

that we're not looking

to this world

for wisdom.

We're single-minded

in our devotion

and focus on God.

And he says,

that person

is the one who asks

and it will be given

to them.

That's the one

who will be given

wisdom.

We must dig

our heels in

and say,

I am following God.

No more praying

for wisdom on Sunday

and looking to the world

for it on Monday.

I'm going to have

a spiritual integrity

that is consistently

looking to God

for strength

and purpose

in trials

and looks only

to Him

for wisdom

in this life.

You see,

much of this passage

today is wisdom

for the believer.

For those of us

who have given

our life to Jesus,

for us,

there is a hope

and a purpose

in these words.

For us,

there is a challenge

in this book

for wisdom

and to look to God

for hope

in the midst

of trials.

But I want each

of you to know

that this good news

that we're talking

about today

is available

to anyone.

It's available

for anyone

that sees Jesus

as their only hope

in life.

Not the one

that says,

I want to sprinkle

a little bit

of Jesus

on my life.

Not the one

that says,

yeah,

I'll take

a little bit

of that.

I want to continue

living my life

the way I am,

but yeah,

why not add

a little bit

of Jesus to it?

No,

not that person,

but the one

who says,

you know what,

Jesus is my only hope.

I'm giving my life

fully to Him.

I'm making Him

Lord of my life.

Everything,

my only hope

is in Him.

I have no hope

apart from Jesus.

And if you're here today

and you've never

placed your faith

and your trust

in Jesus

and asked Him

to be the Lord

of your life,

then let today

be the day

that you do that.

Let this message

of dependence,

hope,

and wisdom

be a message

that can apply

to you as well.

And so wherever

you find yourself today,

maybe it's a believer

who has been a believer

for many,

many years,

let this message,

let this passage

be a word

of encouragement

to you

to depend on God

for everything,

to go to Him

in prayer,

to live lives

where we are dependent

on Him to work

and to move,

a life where you

are constantly

looking to Him

in the midst

of those trials,

a life where you're

consistently going

to Him

to ask for wisdom.

If you've been

a follower

for your whole life

or just a little while,

let that apply to you.

But maybe you're here today

and this hope

that we see

in this passage

is not hope

for you yet.

Let today be the day

that you say,

Jesus,

I need you.

More than anything else,

I need you

to be the Lord

of my life.

And I want to follow you

from this day forward.

Father,

I thank you so very much

for your word.

I thank you

for the book of James,

the book

that bears

your half-brother's name.

Lord,

I thank you

for that relationship

that you had with Him

for many years

that has shaped

and molded Him

to be the one

to write this book

for us today.

And so,

Lord,

I pray that as we work

our way through

this great book

that it will not just

be words on a page,

but it will be wisdom

and guidance

and direction

that we apply

to our lives

that point us

to you

as our only source

of hope

in this life.

And so,

Lord,

I pray

that if there's

somebody here today

that's never placed

their faith

and their trust

in you

that today

would be the day

they go from death

to life.

Lord,

give them the boldness

and courage

to come find somebody.

To say,

I need Jesus.

I need you to tell me

how to have Him

in my life.

But,

Lord,

I also pray

that for all of us

that maybe have been

doing this

for a very long time,

that we wouldn't

just see this

as another punch

on the card,

another trip to church,

but that we would

see this

as a time

going deep

in Your Word

and that Your Word

applies to us today.

So,

Lord,

give us the strength

and boldness

to follow You

no matter what it is

that You're calling us to do.

We ask all these things

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

We're going to invite you

to stand.

We're going to sing

a song of invitation.

If God is speaking

to you this morning,

won't you respond

as we stand together

and sing?