Last week we saw how two issues (“speaking evil” and “judging” – v.11) are to be dealt with by seeing God for who He is. How does this work? When we see God for who He is we remember our place in the lives of those around us. It is then that our view of the greatness of God will insulates us from speaking evil (judging the motives of others), and judging others (withholding hope) since we know our place – “who are you to judge” (v.12b). This week we will explore how our view of God will affect another key-result area of life (James 4:13-17). MP3 download.

 

 audio [46:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 Teaching Guide: Download

Read the full entry

Some people think that church is a place for “righteous” people. Some people think church is just filled with hypocrites who love to impose standards they can’t live out. Still there are others who would say that church is a place to receive unconditional love and acceptance because “God is love.” While perceptions of what “church” is are all over the map, there is one thing that is absolutely true about church – it is messy. It was no different in the days of James. The followers of Jesus, to whom James is writing, were caught in a place where reality and remedy needed to come together under the umbrella of the grace of God …

 

 audio [40:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 Teaching Guide: Download

Read the full entry

In life there are words that are meant to get your attention. In James 4:4-10 there is a word given which is meant to get our attention as strongly as any other word you can think of. It is the word “adultery.” God chooses to use this word; a word filled with emotional heartbreak, to describe His hurt when followers of Jesus choose to live like the world. Think about how powerful that is. Like the pain that screams from every fiber of a person’s being who has been betrayed by their lover, God hurts when His people think and act like the world. Today, we will talk about how the people James is writing to had …

 

 audio [44:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 Teaching Guide: Download
 Teaching Supplemental: Download

Read the full entry

War is an unfortunate way of life for this fallen world. The 20th Century was perhaps the bloodiest of all. But wars between nations are not the only types of conflicts we endure. The result is destroyed friendships, divided families, ruined businesses and even split churches. Today, we look at the root cause of wars, quarrels, and fights as is described in James 4:1-3. MP3 download.

 

 audio [47:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 Sermon Notes: Download
 Teaching Guide: Download

Read the full entry

The Doctrine of God: Week 14
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, by Wayne Grudem.
Chapter 1, The Character of God: “Communicable” Attributes (Part 2)

This week we start to examine the “communicable” attributes of God (those which He has shared in part with us) which are clasified as ‘attributes of purpose’.  We begin by discussing an often controversial topic – God’s Will.

 

 audio [52:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Read the full entry