Ethos Church

You may not realize this, but God desires to speak directly to you, and He wants to be in constant and continual conversation with us. We must let the simple understanding that God wants real communication with us, sink in and grab hold of our hearts. Once we do that, understanding and recognizing His voice becomes natural and easy. And we begin to see that communication with God is just as much of us recognizing and hearing His voice as much as it is God desperately wanting to talk to us. That is healthy communication. Think about what that means in your life to have constant communication with God. He wants to be with us and help us in every aspect; from relationships, to work, to finances, to your family. Hear God’s voice and watch how it transforms your life.

“But Jesus told him, “No! The scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Archbishop William Temple was famously quoted as saying, “When I pray, coincidences happen, when I stop praying, the coincidences stop happening.” When we reflect on our lives and the times when we have prayed or neglected prayer, many of us would say the same thing. Prayer means many things to many people, but at its simplest and most immediate, it means asking God for help. In fact, God not only permits us to ask for His help, but He also encourages us to do so. As our heavenly Father, He loves to show off His love and power by responding to our prayers that are according to His will.

“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Have you ever felt like prayer is for everyone, except for you, a normal person? Often when we pray, we expect God’s voice to boom like thunder...but mostly, He whispers. We expect Him to wear tap dancing shoes that we can hear coming down the hall, but He tiptoes and hides from the crowd. We expect Him to be strange, but He comes to us disguised as our life. Prayer is far more normal than we realize. But the best way to start praying is to stop praying. To pause. To be still. To breathe easy and remember that God is God and we are not.

“Some boast in chariots and some in horse, but we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Prayer is a vast subject, of which there are no experts (besides Jesus, of course). As a community, we are spending the next four weeks on prayer while recognizing that we could easily spend forty weeks on this subject. Therefore, we want to narrow this down a bit. This series is aimed at new Christians and ordinary followers of Jesus who may not have studied theology and do not consider themselves Jedi prayer warriors but would like to still grow and go a bit deeper in their relationship with God. In the words of Abraham Heschel, “Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living.” Our English term for prayer comes from the Latin word; precarious. We pray because life is precarious. So, the question is not so much why we pray, but rather how and to whom. Let’s begin there.

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

“but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” - Acts 1:8 NASB

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

When thinking on purpose in life, we tend to immediately think on, “my purpose.” When truly, pursuing purpose in life is all in pursuing God’s purpose for our lives, not our own. We tend to want to know the big grandiose picture of what our purpose is supposed to be while we are here on this earth. And all God asks of us is to say yes to His daily instructions and to trust Him, and He will be faithful to reveal His purpose to us in His timing. All the while understanding that whatever His purpose for us each individually is, it all comes back to one central point; bringing glory to God while we are here on this earth.

“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

As James wraps up his letter, he emphasizes the importance of prayer and faith. Throughout the Book of James series, we have received practical teaching and instruction to help us grow and live purpose-filled lives for God’s glory, but we cannot walk it out in our own strength. We need the power and presence of God, so we must pray! And we need faith in order to break through the natural into the supernatural. If we press into prayer and build our faith, we will see God do great things in our lives and the world around us.

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

In the church at Jerusalem who James was writing to, there was some major fighting, problems, conflict, and drama. Unfortunately, not unlike what churches across the world still experience today. This is why a lot of people never give church a chance. Many people are open to God, they’re just turned off by His church. Not only do we fight with people within the church – we fight with people outside the church. People who don’t believe what I believe, behave how I behave, value what I value, support what I support, vote how I vote. We spend so much time fighting unnecessary wars that only divides us further. But why are we at war with one another? We belong to the same family, we trust the same Savior, we are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit and yet we fight one another. James chapter four lays out how we can become spiritually mature by becoming peacemakers not troublemakers.

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness”

-James 3:17-18-

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org

In James 3, James teaches us how powerful our tongues are. Like a rudder that steers a large ship, or a spark that turns into a forest fire, our tongues have the power to impact lives around us. Not only are they powerful, but they are also difficult to control. We’ve seen how destructive words can be, but the power of our tongues can also be used to give life and build people up. However, we know that behavior modification does not work or help us long term. Jesus says, from our heart the mouth speaks, revealing what’s inside of us. In order for us to use the gift and the power that God has given us, we must allow God’s love to transform our hearts. In doing so, we become mature followers of Jesus; gracious in speech, positively impacting people around us, the future, and ourselves.

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.”

-James 1:26 (NLT)-

Ethos is a life-giving community committed to keeping Jesus at its Center. We are on a mission to love all people in Jesus' name so that we may all Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, & Make a Difference.

EthosOH.com

Small Groups: EthosOH.com/Community

ServeColumbus.org