Summer vacations and activities and therefore a double sermon post, James 4.1-6 & 4.7-12

 

For my friends in Maine they will recognize the water bottle I grabbed for this bicycle ride.  Summer-time brings opportunities for activities like these and I find myself in the land of bike trails.  I bought this bike for the flat lands of Zephyrhills and therefore it is a single speed but I have been standing on the pedals to get up some of the Ohio hills!


This ride took me along this beautiful river flowing toward Lake Erie.  It is a little odd riding on a trail through the woods but at times hearing the cars above you traveling over the interstate bridges.  In places like these, the green spaces provided for us are so precious.  It helps me to reset my mind.  A couple miles from the church is a 3 mile hiking trail that has been my "go to" to spend some time to think and pray.  It reminds me of my 2 mile walks from the accommodations provided by the church in Maine to the church building which was used to speak to God vertically while taking in His creation horizontally.  


This summer has also been an opportunity to take in some time together around music.  If it is jazz in the Medina downtown square, a Sunday evening service at Parkside Church (where Pastor Alister Begg serves) or this evening to hear the Cleveland Orchestra and a Beatles band, we have had some "shoulder to shoulder" time.  This was a tremendous gift of a member of the congregation and a great way to end the day.  (Well, not quite the end of the day because it took an hour and a half to get home only 13 miles away!)

My masters class is done!  Two years of my life in study that I am so glad I did after 35 years from being in the classroom.  It was completely done online with zoom and video lectures.  I am hoping to attend the graduation in December in Jackson, Mississippi.  I do have some extra time now but I am going to pick up some books that have been piling up, dive deeper into the transitional process here at WCC, and focus more on this blog that has dwindled to one post a week with my latest sermon.  I would like to use it more to communicate our other personal and ministry activities and fade away from other forms of social media.  I think I will be more productive if I do so.

I am still walking through the book of James.  My "tech guy" just posted the last two sermons and so I am sharing them with you.  I am thankful that church families are able to take advantage of vacation time together this summer.  So a little wait for these was no problem on this end. 

This first sermon (8/1/21) covers chapter 4.1-6 and we hear from James who is in (p)rophet mode.  He calls his audience, the dispersed 1st century mostly Jewish Christians, "adulterous people" who are siding with the ways of the world rather than the ways of God.  The big point being the external quarrels among them was because there was an internal battle within them.  The way of the world is pride and the way of God is humility.  James 4.6b states, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."


The second sermon (8/8/21) covers chapter 4.7-12 and we hear from James who is in pastor mode.  What do we do if we find ourselves slipping into the ways of the world?  James gives us a bunch of bullet points to take note of.
  • Submit to God.
  • Resist the Devil.
  • Draw near to God.
  • Cleanse your hands. (outside)
  • Purify your hearts. (inside)
  • Be wretched, mourn, and weep over sin.
  • Humble yourself before the One you belong to.
  • Don't speak evil about your brother. (to defame, to criminalize)
  • Don't judge your brother. (to be superior to)
  • Don't act like you are God.
What will they do with this information?  This Sunday and in two weeks, James brings up a couple of ways we try to deal with our sin still siding or being "best man" with the world.  


My goal is to keep up with adding a stand alone sermon between the chapters of James.  I will post this Sunday's sermon next week but I will be working on a sermon to speak about true Christian fellowship for the following Sunday.  

If you are not subscribed to this blog, please feel free to do so and get the email notifications.  Thankful for each of you who have been a part of our lives.

Adam




A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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