OPENING SONG AND PRAYER
We started our time together by singing hymn #113 "Join All The Glorious Names."
REVIEW & DISCUSSION
James 1
- Be a doer of the word and not mere hearers. Keep the Word of Christ in obedience. We should not only receive the words, but put them into effective practice. We must work out these commands and flesh them out in our lives.
- Deal with sins, and put aside all filthiness and wickedness.
- Care for the poor and distressed with compassionate mercy, without showing partiality.
- If we genuinely seek for wisdom and pray to God for it, God will always grant it.
James 2:1-4
- We can exhibit a natural tendency toward those that our culture deems respectable, and so we might be tempted to give disproportionate attention toward those people. Likewise, we might tend to treat those who are not commonly respected with a lack of attention or love. James tells us that we must not discriminate.
- Christians must not make sinful distinctions amongst men. Christians must emphasize Christ and our identity in Him, and so we must not discriminate based on any human standing, such as social status or race. Our preferences must not supersede the Word of Christ. We must not emphasize any sort of tribalism in our church as if it gives our church its unique identity.
James 2:5-7
- James tell us that the poor are the ones who receive the gospel and are saved (Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 1), while the rich are the ones who persecute the Church. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25). We ought to emulate our Lord, who gave special attention and love toward those who were ostracized and rejected by the world.