Ethos Church

James 2 says we must not show favoritism, but, instead, love our neighbor as ourselves. We cater to certain groups of people in hopes of getting something from them - Jesus served all people to give something to them. The enemy wants to divide the Church, and we need to be intentional and diligent to preserve our unity. We have to fight together against division. James examines five basic Christian doctrines in the light of the way we treat other people in order to learn how to love well, how to practice the, “Royal Law.”

“Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So, if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.”

-James 2:8-11-

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

The Book of James was written to a church that was scattered and couldn’t meet all together due to circumstances beyond their control. We’re still experiencing a similar separation as a church today. In difficult times like these, trials and temptations are inevitable, but God will empower us to persevere as we live out our faith and grow spiritually mature. This is what the book of James is all about, growing spiritually mature and the first mark of maturity that James identifies is learning to become “patient in testing”. Easier said than done but that’s where God comes in …

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”

-Romans 5:3-4 (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

If you grew up in church, you’ve probably heard that, in the “end times”, the earth and everything in it is going to be destroyed. If you believe that the whole world is just going to burn up in the end, all this talk about work and rest really won’t make a ton of sense. However, this view of ultimate world destruction doesn’t seem to be consistent with the rest of scripture, nor does it seem to fit into the first-century Jewish perspective on the afterlife that Jesus Himself upheld. How we view the end affects the way we live our lives now. Following Jesus is about partnering with the Holy Spirit in seeing heaven invade earth through us. Our work is not just a means to an end. It is an end in and of itself.

“But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells”

-2 Peter 3:13 (ESV)-

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

Workaholism is one of the ten commandments we brag about breaking. We work more than ever before. We have more than ever before. And yet, we are more miserable than ever before. Michael Zigaralle, from Charleston University School of Business, surveyed more than twenty thousand Christians in North America and found that busyness is the number one major distraction to Christian’s lives with God. There is a rhythm to the world, and God is inviting us to join Him in this rhythm. When we don’t accept His invitation, we reap the consequences; fatigue, burnout, anxiety, depression, busyness, starved relationships, worn down immune systems, low energy levels, anger, and emptiness. But when we do accept His invitation, we encounter the “Rest of Jesus."

“On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.”

-Genesis 2:2-3-

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

Over the past few weeks, we have been unpacking God’s vision for your work. However, we need to address the danger to this vision of work because if you embrace the vision of God for work, odds are, you will make money. And when we make money, when we receive a paycheck, it’s really easy to get sucked into this cycle: Work more, buy more, repeat. But the end result is a stressed out, anxiety laden, overly busy, greedy society. According to the American Psychological Association, money is the number 1 stressor in our country. So, how do we keep from getting sucked into the vortex of work more, buy more, repeat? Through simplicity and generosity.

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

Many of us constantly battle with trying to live up to the expectations of others or trying to live up to my own unrealistic expectations. For others, we find ourselves wrestling with the lie of the expectations we think God has for us. If you battle with the pursuit of perfectionism you may even find yourself “almost” lying in order to show an image of yourself that’s not real. Or maybe you avoid something that you’d like to do because you’re afraid you won’t hit the standard, so you’ll avoid it altogether. Or you obsess over something to get it just right without realizing that perfectionism will hinder progress while telling yourself “this is the price I pay to be successful.” So how do we avoid the burden of perfection? Jesus tells us; “become like little children.”

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God,

and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”  -2 Corinthians 10:5

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

For so many of us, work is a means to an end. Maybe that end is significance, power and authority, notoriety, money, opportunity, the weekend or vacation, rest, or play and leisure. Work can so easily become the thing we do to get what we really want. Work was never intended to be a means to an end, in fact, work is a part of the “end” in and of itself. Think about this; If Jesus came today, He could have had your job. In fact, following Jesus is about one simple question; “If Jesus were me, if He lived where I live, had my job, my education, made my salary, had my family, how would He live?” Following Jesus is the process of answering that.

“Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”

-Mark 1:38-

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

There are over 7.9 billion people on earth. Which is a number that most of us have a hard time wrapping our heads around but one of the striking things about humanity is how different we all are. Everyone is unique and diverse and yet, we are all called to rule, subdue, work, and take care of the earth but we each do that in a unique way. The term “vocation” comes from the Latin word, “vocatio”, which essentially means “calling”. Your vocation is your calling in life.

We believe God calls pastors and missionaries AND we believe He calls bankers, musicians, stay at home moms & dads, artists, accountants, and baristas among so many other vocations. Your vocation, your calling, or whatever you want to call it, isn’t limited to “spiritual” type jobs and careers. In this teaching, we are going to discuss how you should choose your vocation wisely and how you should use your vocation wisely.

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

-1 Thessalonians 1:3-

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

It seems that we often have to remind ourselves that the purpose of working is not about serving ourselves but rather serving God and others. There is a higher purpose to our labor, and that is to make Jesus known and reflect His character in all the work that we do. God created man with the ability and purpose to work. And when we view work through the lens of a gift from God; we will start to see the fulfillment and provision working brings us. We would become faithful in our jobs and work to please God, not man. And our work would resemble God’s true character. How we view our work makes all the difference in how we represent God and how we draw others into Him.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

-Genesis 2:15 (ESV)-

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

What’s the first question we usually ask somebody when we meet them? “So, what do you do?” Which is essentially the same question as, “What are you giving your life to?” and “Do you like it?” The vast majority of our lives is spent working. The next largest slice of the pie is spent resting – the stuff we look forward to and savor. In church, we often spend most of our time teaching people how to live the minority of their lives, but we need to talk about ALL of life. What it means to be a follower of Jesus at church AND at school, at the gym, at our coffee shop, on a date night, and of course at work. To understand this better, we have to go to the beginning.

“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

-Genesis 1:26-27-

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