Sermon Scripture: James 5 The book of James suggests that followers of Christ thrive through faithful devotion to God’s mercy and grace and a lived life of faith and works, reliance on wisdom to reorient the fickle motivations of our hearts, and to trust God with the providing, protecting, and ordering of our lives. But,
Sermon Scripture: James 4 James chapter 4 feels like a set of three disconnected warnings to the early followers of the way of Jesus, but if we take a step back, we can see a common thread running through each. In verses 1-10 James warns against envy and material greed, in verses 11-12 he warns
Sermon Scripture: James 3 James argues that any pretense of being a follower of Christ that doesn't result in a serious working-over of our speech habits is falling short. How we use language — what we say and how we say it — is a central and vital part of what it means to be
Sermon Scripture: James 2 In James chapter two we are reminded; that God doesn’t play favorites with who he welcomes into his family, therefore we shouldn’t either, we will be tempted to take our salvation into our own hands in an effort to buy it or manipulate it, when it remains a work of God
Sermon Scripture: James 1:17-27 This week we begin to study the book of James. James does not read like one of Paul's letters where he addresses specific problems in one local church, rather this book is a summary of James's sage wisdom for any and every follower of Christ. James's goal isn't to teach new
Sermon Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18 We all live at the mercy of certain forces out of our control, some of which leave us frustrated, damaged, or even completely defeated. Christians need to know that: (1) we are part of this struggle and must be able to recognize the forces against us; (2) we are called to
Sermon Scripture: Ephesians 4:25-5:2 This week, as we continue studying the book of Ephesians, we see what appears to be a list of dos and don’ts to guide and shape our behavior, but really what scripture is reminding us is that the whole range of human emotion and experience is God given, but it is
Sermon Scripture: Ephesians 2 We are all following a map, but is it the right one? Then, if we discover we are headed in the wrong direction we need help in changing course. By allowing God to reconstruct our journey, we might finally discover what we have been missing all along — a new way
Sermon Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14 As we begin a new four week series walking through the major themes of the book of Ephesians, we see God as the master architect of a beautiful plan bringing life to all humanity and all creation. God has a plan, this plan comes with promises, and engaging in them inspires
Sermon Scripture: Mark 3:31-35 There's an ancient proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” Throughout history, teachers of the way of Jesus have likened apprenticeship with him as a spiritual journey. This long winding journey of becoming a person of love in
