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.
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.
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
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?