For this week, we are taking a break from James to look at Ecclesiastes 3 and see how everything has a season, each a gift. If you are interested in this topic, I would recommend the book, Everything is Never Enough by Bobby Jamieson. It is one of the better books I've read so far this year.  

Is the Christian life something that happens to you or is it something that you are actively involved in? This isn't a trick question, but is meant to make you think. The answer of course is yes. Jesus comes and sovereignly resurrects your soul. He takes out your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh. You are then given the Holy Spirit to empower you for good works. As Voddie Bauchum once put it, "The gospel does not require obedience, it produces it.” After Paul tells us that we are saved by grace through faith (Eph.2:8-9), the very next verse tells us that we are saved for good works (v. 10). We are not floating through the Christian life but are actively involved in making decisions that reflect our new standing.

Our passage in James here is even more direct. Verse 22 tells us very plainly, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Good works here are not a suggestion. Without good works, our faith is self-deception. What sort of works is he talking about?

James offers to us a couple of areas to look at in our lives. They aren't exhaustive, but they are foundational. After covering our endurance under trial, James moves to the more everyday sort of concerns in the Christian life. The Christian life isn't just lived when the diagnosis of cancer comes in. It is lived in the moment right after someone says something stupid to you. And you'd like to finally give them what's been coming for years.

Let's get practical.

Today, we look at the Chalcedonian Definition, where the Church Fathers wrestled through the two natures and one person of Christ.  

If God is the one who strengthens us through our trials, then does God bring us temptations to sin as well? Does God tempt? Today we look at James to see that God is not the bringer of temptation but life.

One of the amazing things about the up to the second news cycle today is how we can be aware of the wall to wall suffering in the world and yet still be surprised by our own. We are surprised by the big things, the diagnoses, the divorces, the deaths and the little things, insomnia, dead spark plugs, and that one red light that you always seem to catch. You would think given our constant stream of bad news we would know how to respond to hardship or at least expect it. Yet suffering always seem to catch us unexpectedly, flat-footed, and unprepared. Much of the time all we can do is sputter questions like "Why this, why now" and "What in the world am I supposed to do next?"

Maybe the reason why we are so surprised by our own suffering is we spend too much time on the other side of the internet, the social side, because we find the exact opposite of suffering: seeming endless highlight reals of other people's lives. Where that guy seemed like a real solid guy in real life, and then he got that car and became insufferable. Then when good things happen to us, we just as quickly run to the socials to perform the same insufferable brag. Trials come in many forms, and we could sure use some wisdom in how to deal with them.

Enter James chapter 1. James begins his letter with realistic expectations for life. He doesn't sit on the fence with "if you find yourself in trials," like he is unsure if you will ever experience this. He tells us what to do when we find ourselves in trials of various kinds. And it is exactly what we need.

Today we begin our brand new series on the book of James! 

Today, as every Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ! 

Today we contemplate the sufferings of Christ

Today we look at Jesus announcing the new covenant! 

Today, we begin our look at the most important week of history since Genesis. This is the week that Christ was born to live through, die at the end of, and rise at the beginning of the next. There are many complexities in the Christian life. There is a lot of theology that we need to wrestle through, personal ethics that we need to consider (especially as we begin James in a couple week), matters of wisdom to think through, but we must never forget the center: the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Jesus is not the founder of Christianity; He is the object of its worship. 

The entire Bible has been building up to and looking back at this moment. So we do well to sit up, consider this moment afresh, especially if your walk with Christ has been wobbly lately. Consider this your opportunity to be reawakened to what is really important in life, what our main goal is. 

Today we are going to see Jesus do two things: Jesus produces the hope of the Old Testament and Jesus previews the hope of the New Testament.