The Ideal Team
The mission of sharing the Gospel is a team sport. The church is a team...
Conflict is inevitable in our broken world, but where does conflict come from? The book of James reveals that conflict isn’t about what happens around us, it’s about what’s happening inside us. When we put our own wants and desires ahead of our relationship with God, we’ll soon find ourselves living a life of conflict as our desires go unmet. But when we humble ourselves and submit to God, He brings peace to our conflict inside and empowers us to live a life of purpose and eternal perspective.
Living out our faith should allow others to see a difference in our conduct when compared with the rest of the world. The world encourages selfish ambition: do everything you can to get ahead, no matter the cost to others. But Jesus gives us a completely different goal: put the needs of others before our own. When we interact with others in a gentle, peace-filled and sincere way, it becomes a powerful witness to the love of Christ working in us and through us.
Our words carry more weight than we realize. When we use our words in anger or to criticise or tear others down, we can cause huge amounts of relational damage. Jesus reminds us that our words reflect the nature of our heart, and James compares the power of the tongue to a fire - even a small spark left uncontrolled is capable of catastrophic damage. So how do we tame our tongue and discipline ourselves to use our words carefully?
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.
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Sermons by: The Ideal A Study In Colossians
The Ideal Evangelist
We live in a broken world full of people looking for answers. Our...
The Ideal Work
We might see the goal of work being a paycheck, but the Bible tells us...
The Ideal Family
When our marriages and families take the place of God in our lives...
The Ideal Self
God calls us to stop chasing money, comparison with others, sexual...
The Ideal Security
Our news feeds, screens and social media are filled with voices of...
The Ideal Christian
Christianity isn't a religion, it’s a relationship. While some would...
The Ideal Truth
Our days are filled with loud voices and media telling us what to...
The Ideal Unity
Our culture wants to call into question who Jesus is and make him into...