Christians believe that we have a hope because God has made Himself known to us through His word. What does it look like to work out our faith before this God? This is what James is showing us today.
After addressing favouritism within the church community, James continues to address his readers by speaking about relationships with others.
In this section, we will see James’ command to not show partiality in church.
But how does James go from suffering, trials and tribulation to partiality?
James has been dealing with trials and sufferings in the Christian’s life. Here, he continues to lay out a lifestyle and a people that deals with trials and sufferings in a way that’s different from the world.
James gives us practical handles for godliness. Last week, we saw that the Christian will face trials of various kinds, and the call to turn to God and ask Him for wisdom.
In every trial, everyone is twice tested. Firstly, in the trial itself. Secondly, in the inward trial. There is a temptation to self-pity.
As we read in the previous study, James is writing to the 12 tribes in the Dispersion in this epistle (Jas 1:1). In this study, we continue to see what James wanted to exhort the Christians to cling on to and pursue.
We begin a new study in the book of James, In this study, we will take a look at the opening verse to understand who is wrote the book, and the centrality of the gospel through the chapters.
Thus far, we have seen how Scripture is sufficient for salvation, clear for us to understand, and authoritative. In this study, we will see how it is necessary. God has chosen to reveal to us His mystery of salvation, and His revelation is out of His love for us.
We are saying something profound about Scripture when we say that it is authoritative. We confess that Scripture trumps all other sources when it comes to being the source of spiritual truth and revelation. There is nothing above the Scripture that can explain it, or tell us definitively why we exist, or why life has meaning. In this view, yes (gasp) even modern science is subject to the Scripture. This is why some people think Christianity can be dangerous —we seem to reject modern scienceor what some consider to be healthy societal norms. The authority of Scripture means that the Bible is our final rule for faith and practice.
And the God who has spoken demands that we submit to the authority of His Word.
God’s word is clear and understandable. This does not mean that no effort is required, and not that it’ss all easy to understand, but that the plan of salvation in Christ revealed in Scripture can be understood plainly without additional intervention or interpretation.
What good is Scripture? What good is the Old Testament for us today? Does it help us with important life decisions?
This is the first of our new series on the Doctrine of Scripture. Through this series, we hope to see Scripture says about itself, that God’s Word is sufficient, clear, authoritative and necessary.
The final section of Isaiah speaks a lot about the New Heavens and New Earth, the home of all righteousness as mentioned in 2 Peter 3:13. This is a state of perfection, free from sin and corruption. Romans 8 also talk about how it is not just Christians who are groaning. All creation is groaning as it waits for the liberation from bondage to decay. Everything from our climate crisis, to our struggle to live with nature is groaning because all is not well on this earth.
And in Isaiah 66, we see our final destiny being described here, and God is absolutely committed to bring forth Zion (and His plans).
Isaiah 66 gives us one of the great hopes that God has laid out for His people — He is making all things new. And at the centre of it all, are His people.
In Isaiah 64, we saw the prayer of Israel that knew the strong hand of God’s judgement upon them. They know what it means to have been in sin and see brokenness all around. In some measure, they also know what it feels like when God seems silent. How do you think God will respond to a prayer like this? How do you think God will respond to your prayer today? God has a word for us today!
In this passage, we will see how the wait for our Redeemer Jesus was the wait that did not disappoint. We look at Jesus’ childhood. and also how those around boy Jesus responded to him. It is our hope that we can see Jesus for who He is, and in this season of advent, that we respond appropriately as we consider Christ.
What is filling your heart and mind this Christmas? What would you say the message of Christmas has been for you?
This text shows us the message of Christmas and also helps us to appreciate the messengers of Christmas. The Lord’s messengers are both surprising and also who we expect them to be.
This is the first of our Advent series. Advent is about waiting and preparing our hearts for Christmas. While we may enjoy Christmas, for some of us, this text can feel familiar. As we read these verses, it is also good for us to ask God to give us a fresh understanding.
In this passage, we will consider the mystery and unexpected majesty of Christ’s birth. He came to a world with no peace, a city with no king, and an inn with no room.
How do you pray? What does your prayer life look like? What are your habits, instinct and priorities in prayer? How would you describe your prayer life? What are some agenda that always shows up?
We can use Isaiah’s prayer as an example of how we can pray. Isaiah gives us at least 3 things to think about prayer.
What does it means to preach the gospel to yourself daily?
Jerry Bridges puts it well, “To preach the gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. It means that you appropriate, again by faith, the fact that Jesus fully satisfied the law of God, that He is your propitiation, and that God’s holy wrath is no longer directed toward you.”
In this study, we will see how Isaiah teaches us to preach the gospel to ourselves. After all, there is no more important truth to know and trust in than the Gospel - and we must preach it to ourselves everyday.
We don’t usually like talking about war. We live in a post World War era, and the world has known global peace in the past few decades. Peace is good for business, and this results in prosperity and comfort. Therefore, war disrupts these comforts.
But as we approach this text, we need to know God as He revealed Himself, and not based on our modern sensibilities. As we look at this text, let’s consider what is being conveyed.