James: Doers > Hearers
Doing Life Together
January 13, 2019 • Pastor Ben Cross
This Sunday, we completed our series on the book of James. In this last message from the book of James, we looked at the power of community for growing in our faith and we'll examine the four necessary ingredients of biblical community. We also learned about the power of prayer, and how radical confession and accountability in community can help us live in freedom.
Wealthy & Wise
January 6, 2019 • Pastor Ben Cross
We continued in James this Sunday, and we explored a topic that quickly reveals our focus, priorities, and http://values...money. Money can be a sensitive topic, and James pulls no punches as he describes the consequences of misusing and mishandling wealth as well as how to honor God with money. The start of the new year is a perfect time to look at how we deal with money, and James has timeless wisdom that will help you handle your finances in a way that honors God in 2019.
For the Joy Set Before Us
December 30, 2018 • Pastor Sandy Park
This Sunday, we continued in the book of James, and this passage is all about how to live with patience in the middle of suffering. James writes to a people where the idea of suffering wasn't just theological or theoretical, it was their life. As we'll learn in this message, James teaches about how to live in the face of suffering with a confidence and centeredness that only comes from knowing God.
Playing God
December 16, 2018 • Pastor Ben Cross
This Sunday, we continued in the book of James and looked at three ways we can start to play God... sometimes without even realizing it. In just two short verses, James uses the word "judge" six times as he confronts the way we typically judge others. James pulls off the mask of superiority and religiosity and goes right to the heart in a convicting and compelling way. We’ll also look at the intersection between pride and planning. We’ll learn how to plan in life in a way that honors God and lives with humility before him.
Tale of Two Wisdoms
November 25, 2018 • Pastor Ben Cross
In this message we will learn about how to grow in our faith and become spiritually mature. Earlier in our study in James, we learned about asking for God’s wisdom, in this sermon, we'll learn more about how God’s wisdom causes us to be rooted in Christ. We’ll look at the role that Biblical wisdom plays in our spiritual development and how to put God’s wisdom into action in everyday life situations.
Dangerous as Hell
November 18, 2018 • Pastor Ben Cross
We've probably all experienced the power that words can carry to affect us, either for better or for worse. While it may sound tough when it's yelled across the playground, the sing-song rhyme of sticks and stones doesn't hold up to the reality of life. Words do affect us. And this Sunday, our study of James confronted us with reality checks about the power of our words. Destructive words were a problem in Jame's day, and as we look at our world today not much has changed. As we'll see in this message, the Bible has timeless truths that speak honestly and directly in ways that impact our own lives today.
Called to a Living Faith
November 11, 2018 • Pastor Ben Cross
This Sunday, we explored the theology of faith and works. James responds to the hypothetical example of someone who claims to know Jesus, doesn't live out their beliefs. He unpacks the disconnect that can so often happen between our faith and our actions. We unpacked this Sunday, how the Gospel impacts the way we live, and how we can actively live out our faith as we grow to be more like Jesus.
Hear and Live
October 28, 2018 • Pastor Dan Collins
Last Sunday we saw how our sin leads to death and this week we saw how God’s word leads to life. The book of James continues to confront and challenge us, and there’s this great line in Sunday’s passage which says that our anger doesn’t lead to the kind of right living that God desires. Instead, we saw how God’s word has the power to bring life. We looked at how this applies to everyday life and how to live as both hearers and doers of God's word.
Kill or Be Killed
October 21, 2018 • Jacob Jacobson
A few weeks ago, we started a new sermon series on the book of James. We'll be in this series through Christmas, and so far we've learned about how facing suffering and trial in a way that grows our faith. This Sunday's passage builds on that theme and focuses on how to deal (and how not to deal!) with temptation. It's a challenging passage that confronts us with the reality of who we are and shows us the grace that God gives to people in the struggle. We explored how to face temptation well this Sunday, with an even better view of our of our consistent and unchanging God.
Called to Ultimate Wealth
October 14, 2018 • Pastor Ben Cross
This Sunday, we continued in James Chapter 1, which goes right into a very personal subject…money. In the early church there was a mix of rich and poor, and James addresses them both. To the rich, he explains that wealth does not bring the impenetrable security we tend to believe. Our trials become necessary to reveal this and keep our eyes fixed on God. To the poor, James explains that our significance, our strength comes not from status or bank account, but from our place of eternal security in God’s kingdom. Whether rich or poor, we are in desperate need of God. That’s why James goes right to a key source we tend to lean on for identity–our finances–to show us that God is the one who brings the ultimate strength and significance to life.
Called to Ultimate Joy
October 7, 2018 • Pastor Ben Cross
The book of James is all about how to walk with God in turbulent times. As you'll discover, it's timeless and applicable for life today as Christians. You'll get to hear the backstory this Sunday of the book of James, and we're going to get right after it and teach through the first eight verses. This new series will run all the way until Christmas.