Building on the Cornerstone

How is faith realized? Is it just through words or is it through actions? And as followers of Christ, we must be REAL. We demonstrate our faith through our actions. Words are not enough. Jesus calls us to put our faith into action; to do what we say we believe. Faith gets involved in people’s lives. REAL faith requires more than saying “God, be with you”. As the people of God, we are to go and be with them. REAL faith leads to REAL action.

James 2:14-26

If you have it completely together, you can skip this message. However if you’re honest for a moment, you likely fall short of perfect on a regular basis. As followers of Christ, we must be REAL about our struggles; we must be honest about our imperfection. In doing so we are able to have real conversations about our temptations and our salvation. By being genuinely honest we can share Christ with others.

Early on James points out that we are not to blame God for the messes in our lives (James 1:12-18). God does not tempt us with desires. It is our own desires that lead to temptation and giving into them leads to our daily struggles. Real honesty means we don’t blame others or make excuses for our mess. It means we own it and we ask forgiveness. That is the REAL honesty we are called into through Christ.

What does it mean to be a genuine Christian? Just how does an authentic Christian live in the world? In a new series, we will explore the book of James and consider what it means to be a REAL Christian today. Each week will explore a new topic in being REAL – Honesty, Faith, Control, Wisdom, Heart, Prayer and Concern.

James opens his letter  simply and immediately recognizes that life is full of trials. How are we to approach the trials we face as we face them? With perseverance through faith in Jesus. When you do this you grow, you mature, your faith deepens and you start being REAL.

If we are to love as God loves, we must see as God sees. But what does that look like? Ezra had the gracious hand of God upon him because he spent time studying the Word, putting it into practice and teaching it to others (Ezra 7:10). This series explores these three ideas and provides tools to put them into practice.

Today, Christians need to be the light and the love that Jesus showed to the world. We must follow the word and share it. Paul provides some examples to the young Timothy on how to best teach God’s word. He says to teach by example. Be an example in your speech, in your life, in your love, in your faith and in your purity (1 Timothy 4:12). If you are ever short on words to teach and share God’s love, let your life be the example. For they will know we are Christians by our love.

If we are to love as God loves, we must see as God sees. But what does that look like? Ezra had the gracious hand of God upon him because he spent time studying the Word, putting it into practice and teaching it to others (Ezra 7:10). This series explores these three ideas and provides tools to put them into practice.

The first step is time studying and understanding the Bible. Simple enough, after all how difficult can it be to read through this two thousand year old text. Reading this text is not as straight forward as sounds, and often how we think of or approach the Bible can impact our openness to God’s word. But in order to see as God sees, we must hear and take in His word. And from this we can walk in His light.