Messages

One of the things that we often do whenever reading an account of the events in scripture is to imagine ourselves in the story. Looking for someone in the text that represents us, we can find someone that we can see ourselves in. However, if you are looking for yourself in the Easter story, you don’t have to look any further than Barabbas.

All of us wonder at times if our prayers do any good. James is convinced that the heart of God can be moved by the prayers of faithful people. Sick people can actually be made well, sinners can be forgiven, and prayer with confession can result in healing. The same God who answered Elijah’s prayer is eager to answer ours.

Life is hard, especially if you are trying to live for Jesus. Paul made it clear to the people he pastored, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” James calls us to be patient because the coming of the Lord is near. However, it's not just about being patient, it's about perseverance because there is no salvation without perseverance.

James has some very severe words of warning for wealthy people (like us). He is especially harsh with those who have wealth they have hoarded. The questions for us are: How do you know you have enough? When does wise saving become excessive? What should we do to ensure James's warnings don’t come to pass for us?

On your tombstone, there is a birth date and a death date and the rest of your life is a dash in between. James teaches us that the dash goes fast, our life is but a mist, and our time here is short. This means we don’t have time to waste, and why wasting any opportunity to do good is a sin. We are presuming we will have another chance to do good tomorrow when we already have the opportunity to do good today.

Jesus made a promise to his friends that just as the world hated him, the world would hate them too. Yet, for many who claim Christ, they have instead chosen friendship with the world, without knowing that means enmity with God. There are two powers at work around us, the power of God and the power of the Devil. And inevitably we will submit to one, and resist the other.

We have all said things that we instantly regret. Things we wish we could unsay. Our words have deceived people, hurt people, insulted people, and angered people. While we often blame it on the tongue, the tongue only expresses what is in our hearts. We have a heart problem, and while no man can tame the tongue, we worship a God who can transform our hearts.

It doesn’t matter what you believe if that belief doesn’t impact what you do. Biblical faith is not simply attesting to a set of doctrinal truths, it is living your life in the light of the doctrinal truths. True faith is always displayed through actions. And if you have no actions, then your faith is as good as dead.

We live in a world where prejudice is rampant. From the way one speaks to the color of one's hair, the neighborhood they live in to what job they work, the shape of one's body to the color of one's skin. However, it should not be that way among the people of God. We have been given a very specific command from God, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Your big neighbor, your black neighbor, your rich neighbor, your ugly neighbor, your Republican neighbor, your homeless neighbor, and even your pastor neighbor. In the end, we are not going to be the judge, we are going to be judged. The way we judge now will impact how we are judged then.

Most Christians thoroughly enjoy hearing good teaching. We are often wowed by truths that good teachers and preachers bring out of the text. The problem is, far too many of us don’t do anything with what we learn. In the words of James, we “deceive ourselves” by thinking that simply hearing the word does us any good. This week we are going to talk about actually doing what the Scriptures say.