Anderson Sermons

We have a problem. A big problem. Our problem is ourselves! Our hearts are divided and our affections are disordered. We want to love God and others, but we also want to pursue our own insatiable self-interest. The result is conflict in our relationships and distance from our God. But God has a bigger solution – His grace, His favor which empowers us to love Him with an undivided heart and love others more than ourselves. And He offers His grace freely to us when we turn from our pride and humble ourselves before Him.

Words are powerful and dangerous. We will one day answer to God for the words we speak. After all, words can destroy people's lives or heal their hearts. And not only are words powerful, they also reflect what's in our hearts. For that reason, the only way we can control our speech is to ask God to change our character. We need His wisdom and His grace to speak and act in ways that build up rather than tear down. When we live according to God's wisdom, our lives and our words will reflect His peace and His righteousness.

Eternal life is a free gift received by faith. Eternal life isn't earned and it cannot be lost. However, God's intention for our lives is not merely to give us eternal life, but to transform our lives so that we reflect His character. And this is James' concern as well – maturity. Mature faith expresses itself outwardly in good works that glorify God. Immature faith, or as James describes it, “faith without works,” is useless and cannot save a Christian from a worthless life and a poor evaluation at the judgment seat of Christ. So, James exhorts us express our faith through our good works and not miss out on all that God intends for our good.

If we turn quickly to anger in the midst of our trials, if we fail to listen attentively to God's voice, if we become distracted by other voices around us, or if we simply choose to ignore His voice, will destroy our intimacy with Him and undermine our journey toward maturity. On the other hand, when we listen attentively, and say “yes” to all that He has for us, our lives will be blessed. Our circumstances won't necessarily turn out pleasant all of the time, but our lives will fulfill God's purposes for us and bring pleasure to His heart.

When life gets hard, we are often tempted to doubt God's goodness, or even to blame Him for the consequences of our own sinful choices. But sin comes from within our own hearts. So James urges us to resist sin's lies, and instead to trust in the goodness of God. God never leads us toward evil and death, but instead He sent His Son to save us from our sins and to lead us into life. God is always good, and always generous, and James calls us to remember this fundamental truth at all times and especially when life gets hard.

It has been observed that suffering will either make us better or bitter. The outcome depends entirely on our response. We can't control when trials come, how frequently they will appear in our lives, or how intense they will be. But we can choose our response. When we embrace the truth that God is able to use our sufferings to deepen and mature our faith, and when we seek His guidance through our pain with an undivided heart, He transforms us. He causes our faith to reflect the character of His Son, Jesus, who embraced much greater suffering so that we could have eternal life.