The Sermon on the Move
There are storms and trials that we will face in our lives, but how we...
He is Risen! If that’s not a true statement, 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that our faith is in vain, and we’re to be pitied among all men. But since Christ has risen indeed, his resurrection changes everything. The story of his resurrection reveals the truth of his identity, and the transformation that happens in the lives of those who see and believe in him. Will you see and believe in Jesus, and respond to go and tell the world as he commands?
Salvation is a free gift of grace through Jesus Christ, not a result of works we do. With that salvation comes a lifelong transformation as Christ works in our lives to make us more like Him. The works he gives us to do are a response to that good gift of grace, and those works also serve as a witness to the world around us to the power of Jesus to transform lives. Without these works of faith, we can miss out on both the joy that comes from serving the Lord as well as the encouragement we can be to the world around us.
A genuine faith in Jesus should affect how we live our lives and interact with others. Salvation is a free gift of grace through Jesus Christ and not a result of works, but the transformed life we receive comes with a call to love and serve others as a response to that gift. James warns that a life that shows no evidence of transformation should be a cause to look inward and consider Jesus’ call to surrender every aspect of our lives to him.
Partiality and favoritism show up in many ways in our world, but Jesus calls his followers to the opposite. Our job is to show love, honor and respect to every person God puts in front of us - no matter their status or ability to show us those things in return - so that we might point people to the radical, unconditional love of God who sent His Son to save us, even while we were still sinners. The people who have been dismissed or pushed to the margins are the very ones we’re called to seek out and encourage, pointing always to the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
Some sins the Bible warns against are actually seen as virtues in our world. Our media-saturated culture wants us to believe that showing partiality to rich, famous or influential people will help us get ahead in life. But James 2 asks us to have the opposite perspective - to love and serve everyone around us, no matter their social status, seeing them as an image-bearer of God, and one for whom Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice.
Faith in Jesus that’s lived out in real life is noticeable. True faith reveals itself in the ways we speak about others, the way we serve others, and even in the types of content we consume. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, he’ll begin to conform us to his image little by little as we let go of our own agenda and pursue Jesus instead. Are you ready to examine your words and actions through a biblical lens?
It’s important to know God’s Word, but if we don’t allow it to transform the way we live, then we’re missing the whole point. The Christian life is one of both knowledge and obedience - taking in a steady diet of biblical truth, then living that truth out in the way we love and care for the people God puts around us each day.
When we face trials and conflict, anger is often our first instinct. But God’s Word gives us a completely different model: James encourages us to listen first and be slow to speak in response. As we encounter a world that’s full of offense, opinions, politics and fighting, God calls us to be rooted first and foremost in His Word, remembering His love and care for us that goes far beyond any outside circumstance that comes our way. Through His power, we’re called away from anger and toward love instead.
It’s easy to be deceived by the self-focused nature of our culture that tries to convince us that our ambition is most important. But James reminds us that every good and perfect gift in our life is from God who created us, loves us, and gave His Son Jesus for the salvation of our souls. When we recognize who God is and our need for Him, we grow in humility and perspective, resting on God’s strength and purpose for our lives as we put Him first and show His love to others.
Temptation is an inevitable part of the human experience as we all, in our brokenness, wrestle with sinful desires within our own hearts. The good news of the gospel is that because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, we can be forgiven when we fall into temptation. And through our relationship with Christ, God also promises to provide the strength needed to overcome those temptations as the Holy Spirit works in us to make us more and more like Jesus. Can you recognize the seeds of temptation when they rise up in your life?
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Sermons by: Live Different The Sermon On The Mount
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