Sunday, November 1
James closes his letter with pastoral words for four kinds of people among God's people: those who are suffering, those who are satisfied, those who are sick, and those who have wandered. In each case the answer is prayer and humble dependence on God, who gives every good thing and answers in his own way and time.
Sunday, October 25
Reformation Day is a call to ask who holds ultimate authority in our lives. Jesus exposes the Pharisees for letting man-made tradition eclipse God's word, and the sermon traces that same problem from the first century to the Reformation to our own hearts, where we are all tempted to make ourselves the final authority.
Sunday, October 18
James tells suffering Christians that Jesus is coming back to make all things right, which is bad news for those who hoard and exploit and good news for those who wait patiently.
Sunday, October 11
The Bible contains everything a person needs for salvation and for living a godly life, and it is the final authority for faith and practice, so nothing may be added to it or taken from it. Peter grounds that sufficiency in the righteousness of Christ and the divine power that gives believers all things for life and godliness.
Sunday, October 4
Because every word of Scripture is breathed out by God, the Bible is not the words of men but God's own voice speaking to his people, and that changes how we listen to it, preach from it, and love it.
Sunday, September 27
God speaks to everyone through the world he made, and he speaks precisely and savingly through his Word and personally through his Son, so that we can know who he is and be brought to life.
Sunday, September 20
James says faith without works is dead, and a faith that is only words is no faith at all. Genuine faith shows itself in the costly, practical care of the people in front of us.
Sunday, September 13
James says favoritism and genuine faith cannot live in the same church, because the same gospel that welcomed us in our spiritual poverty should change who we welcome in the room.
Sunday, September 6
James says that hearing God's word and being shaped by it are two different things, and the difference shows up in ordinary life: in how we speak, how we receive correction, and how we care for the vulnerable. Faith that has actually taken root does something.
Sunday, August 30
John says that walking with God happens in the open: we live honestly before him, we let other believers actually know us, and we keep coming back to the blood of Jesus that cleanses us every time we confess.