Sunday, February 20th….

 

There were no students on February 20th, therefore there was no class. We will pick up starting James Chapter 2 on February 27th.

Don’t forget the College & Career Conference is June 18th. Continue praying as preparations are being made. We are also looking for sponsors.

James 1:19-27...Sunday,February 14th, 2011...Part Two

We looked at Vv 19-25 in the first Part of our blog on the February 14th lesson. Now lets dive into Vv 26 & 27 and then do a wrap-up of James Chapter 1.

QUESTION: How does verse 26 say we can deceive our hearts?
ANSWER: Believing we are 'religious' but not bridling 'holding' our tongue.

Remember these people have been in on-going difficulty and James is instructing them in three specific ways:

1. It is not okay to let your tongue run wild while in difficulty
2. Visit orphans & widows
3. Stay unstained from the world

The Greek word for religious here is defined as an external religious worship, which consists of ceremonies and religious discipline. James is basically saying that it doesn't mean 'squat' what you do externally if when life hits you from all sides you don't bridle your tongue, take care of those who can't take care of themselves and keep yourself unstained from the world.

Question: What does unstained from the world mean? Does it mean never interacting with unbelievers?

JAMES CHAPTER 1 WRAP-UP:

James has shown throughout Chapter One that when exercising a TRUE RELATIONSHIPS with Jesus through difficulties which will come (not 'if' they come) we will choose:

• To live as the beloved sons & daughters of God that we are
• To believe and know that God is involved no matter what our circumstances may currently be
• To understand God is transforming us to be His mature children

I leave us with this final comment from Anita Carman: "Remember God transforms us through practicing and living His Word not just by reading and/or quoting it"

Now we head to Chapter 2. Have a blessed week. :^)

James 1:19-27...Sunday,February 14th, 2011...Part One

We had a wonderful Valentine's celebration in class this past Sunday. May God bless you this week.

Vv 19-20: James starts verse 19 in some translations with the words, "So then." Our question was "So then" what and why? We saw last week in Vv 17 & 18 that every every good and perfect gift comes from God. Also, that God not only created us because He wanted to but we are HIS CHOSEN POSSESSION.

With this in mind, James is now saying, "Be slow to speak and slow to wrath and swift to hear"

QUESTION: When is a time when we are most likely to be the exact opposite of verse 19...
            "Quick to speak, quick to anger & slow to hear"

ANSWER: During difficulty. See now why James has started verse 19 with "So then"

Vv 21-25: James is now expanding on hearing in these verses. The act of putting life to the Word.

***True hearing is putting action that is an appropriate response to what is heard***


QUESTION: Did you know that when you hear but do not live what you hear you are deceiving yourself?


We must understand that if we do NOT act on the Truth of God's Word...we deceive ourselves because the truth heard doesn't stays before us and we soon forget it (the truth). 


This person is a forgetful hearer. A forgetful hearer looks at Scripture (at church, in Bible Study, Sunday School, etc) but once leaving the setting forgets what God has said. The hearer's life is unaffected.

Here is a really TOUGH QUESTION: How often are we the forgetful hearer?


Here is an absurd example of a forgetful hearer & how they are living in deception: Imagine going to the Doctor to heard recommendations of how to get well but never following through with any of the Doctor's recommendations. The deception is we believe just hearing the Doctor's recommendation is enough to make us well. 


OK...I admit the example is absurd. However, we do this every time we go to church, bible study, Sunday School, etc and listen to God's recommendations for an abundant life but never follow through with any of God's recommendations.  


The good news is there is the opposite of the forgetful hearer. This is the one who walks away and not only looks and listens to God's Word but lives it and they become an effectual doer of God's Word.  Because this person doesn't forget what they have heard they have the ability to "be slow to speak, quick to hear and slow to anger" when life starts squeezing them from all sides. Another bonus is they remember who they belong to in all circumstances.

WATCH FOR PART TWO OF SUNDAY FEBRUARY 14TH'S LESSON....

Sunday, February 6th…

 

Rebekah, Daniel and I discussed and planned for the upcoming College & Career Conference. This conference will be held at RBBC on June 18th. Registration will be coming soon. The conference is for 18-30 year olds.

This coming Sunday we will be finishing James Chapter 1.

Have a blessed week.

You Are More - Tenth Avenue North - w/lyrics

Sunday, January 30th: James 1:16-18...

Here is an acrostic for TRIALS:

True
Revelation
In
A
Low
Situation

We started class with a reminder that James is writing to people who are struggling. These struggles have been on-going and some are wrestling with what it means to be believing people in the midst of difficulties...With this thought in mind we explored the following question:

What does it mean to be a 'believing' person in the midst of difficulties?

Here are some of the things we explored:

A believing person:

1. Trusts God is present during their difficulty
2. Knows God is loving no matter what difficulty we are walking through
3. Knows God is active during their difficulty even when this fact is not blatantly obvious
4. Must seek God's Wisdom during difficulty not man's wisdom

We then jumped right into Verse 16 and learned these following things about believing people in difficulty through James:

• Don't be deceived. It is easy to be deceived when in difficulty. We need people in our lives we can trust to help us stay focused on Jesus.

Vv 17 & 18:  What determines a good and perfect gift?

Verse 17 states good and perfect gifts are the ones from above...FROM GOD!! Who determines a gifts worth? Don't look for alternatives to receive good and perfect gifts. God is the only source of good and perfect gifts. 

Upon reading these verses, I was reminded of a saying, "There is NO SHADOW in the TRUE LIGHT OF JESUS!!!"

Sometimes when in a difficulty people may wonder why God even made them. We see the answer to this in our verses. 

1. God created us because he wanted to...He was under no obligation to create us. 
2. Not only did God create us because He wanted to but we according to verse 18 from two different translations are "A kind of first fruits of His Creatures" and "A Chosen Possession"

In the Old Testament, the first fruit was the best that was given to God. These verse is saying that WE (man & woman) are the best of His (God's) creatures. AMEN!!!

***I leave us with this thought...The fact of the matter is not only did God create us because He wanted to but we are the first fruits (chosen possession) BEST of HIS CREATURES***

This Sunday we are going to finish Chapter 1 of James. We are going to do our best to do vv 19-27. 

Mark Your Calendars...The Day is June 18th!

There has been many "Amen's" and "Hallejuah's" in the last 24 hours. I have been praying for God to show me what the date in June for the College & Career Conference. God has given us the date:

JUNE 18TH....JUNE 18TH...JUNE 18TH...JUNE 18TH...JUNE 18TH...JUNE 18TH...JUNE 18TH!!!

DID YOU CATCH THAT? The date of the College & Career Conference will be held on June 18th.

There will be upcoming registration and more information as God reveals it. God has provided one of the speakers already. We are praying for the second speaker and the worship band for the event.

JUST REMEMBER TO MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR JUNE 18TH AND PLAN TO ATTEND THE COLLEGE & CAREER CONFERENCE.