This week we begin our study through the book of James.James 1:1Reminder of the Bond Servant:

1. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN WILLINGLY PAYING THE COST OF BEING A SERVANT OF GOD; AND GOING THROUGH UNFORESEEN DIFFICULTIES. IF LIFE IS DIFFICULT IT DOESN'T MEAN WE FORGET AND THEN WALK AWAY FROM THE COMMITMENT WE MADE, RATHER WE MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER THE COMMITMENT HE MADE TO US. WE PIN OUR EARS TO THE DOOR, HE PINNED HIS LIFE TO THE CROSS.

1. IS BEING A SLAVE OF GOD MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE FREEDOM OF MAN? You cannot be both the owner and the bond servant. Don’t get mad at God if he tries to remind you through difficult circumstances who is the master and who is the servant. In your pursuit of freedom from all constraints don’t be surprised at some point if you're eating an apple that has larger consequences than you ever imagined. COMMITTED SERVICE IS GREATER THAN INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS.

1. THERE IS POWER IN THE PICTURE. OUTSIDE OF THE MASTER WE HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR, OUTSIDE OF THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM WE HAVE NO OTHER EXISTENCE, OUTSIDE OF THE WORK OF GOD WE HAVE NO OTHER REASON OF BEING, AND THAT FROM THIS PLACE WE LIVE. A PINNED EAR IS A PRUNED HEART. WE ARE CALLED TO A LIFE OF A SERVANT, ON BEHALF OF OUR MESSIAH, JESUS. YOUR SERVICE SHOULD HAVE SOME SCARS, HIS DID.

1. DEPTH IS DAILY. IT IS TRAINING TO SENSE THE SPIRIT, AND BE ROOTED IN THE SCRIPTURES. THIS IS A DAY TO DAY CHOICE WE MUST MAKE; TIME IN THE WORD OF GOD, TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
2. DISCIPLINES PRIORITIZE THE RHYTHMIC PRACTICE OF BEING PRESENT IN THE SANCTUARY; AND A LIFE OF COMMUNITY WHICH ENGAGES AND INVITES OTHER BELIEVERS IN FOR THE JOURNEY WE ARE ALL ON. WE MUST MAKE DIRECT CHOICES TO CONFRONT OUR LIFE AND CHANGE IT IF A LACK OF DISCIPLINE AND COMMITMENT ARE LABELS WE HAVE ATTACHED TO OUR WALK WITH GOD.
3. SACRIFICE IS HOW YOU SERVE OTHERS AND PRACTICE GENEROSITY. THESE ARE BOTH IN THE CHURCH CONSTRUCT BUT ALSO IN YOUR DAY TO DAY WORLD AND LIFE. THESE COST THE MOST TO OUR COMFORT, SO THEREFORE THEY ARE EMBRACED THE LEAST IN OUR CULTURE.
4. SUSTAINABILITY IS WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN PROVED FAITHFUL IN THE LITTLE, AND START TO EXPERIENCE THE MUCH OF GOD. THE “MUCH” TO ME ARE THE SACRED PRACTICES WE DO NOT TALK ENOUGH ABOUT BUT ARE DIRECTLY TIED TO HOW SUSTAINABLE OUR WALK WITH CHRIST BECOMES. THE BIG THREE SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES FOR ME ARE SABBATH, SOLITUDE, AND FASTING PRAYER.

1. THE MOST INOPPORTUNE TIMES, PLACES, AND SEASONS IS WHEN GOD TYPICALLY TESTS LORDSHIP. GOD USES INTERRUPTIONS AND REROUTING AS A TOOL OF REFOCUS. YOU’RE CALLED TO “GO” AND THAT “GO” TYPICALLY IS GOING TO LOOK RADICALLY DIFFERENT THAN YOU THINK IT DOES. BE OPEN MINDED.
2. THE MAIN CAUSE OF BOREDOM IN FAITH IS INACTIVITY, AND THE MAIN INGREDIENT TO INACTIVITY IS INDIFFERENCE. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IT IS YOU WHO MUST DECIDE IF YOU WILL ACTUALLY BECOME AND PRIORITIZE BEING ACTIVE IN YOUR FAITH OR NOT. IT IS THAT SIMPLE.
3. There will always be someone who does it better than you or is more talented. I truly believe in this day and age we need less qualified and less polished people who admit they don’t have the answers, and people who embrace the gift of unconditional love and relational commitment. People cannot embrace faith as real, unless the person speaking about it is. Your present and real self is enough to make a difference.

1. MAKING DISCIPLES IS THE START, BUT WE MUST BE A DISCIPLE TO MAKE DISCIPLES. The pursuit of making disciples should be pushing your boundaries, comfort zone, ability to sacrifice, and self discipline. You cannot help make someone something you are not. Being a true disciple will not allow you to live a lifestyle in which you don’t attract and disciple others. As you gain and grow, you MUST give and pour out.
2. The presence and nearness of the Holy Spirit is thee secret ingredient of the mystery, power, and joy of life in christ. We cannot preach the gospel without prioritizing the presence. Christianity is not self-help; it is the metamorphosis of scripture, Spirit, and sanctification. I’d rather live by the Spirit and be weird for it, than die in a lifeless religion that never knew a fully surrendered reality of faith.
3. DON’T GET SO BUSYING DOING, YOU FORGET ABOUT YOUR BEING. “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” is your painkiller when it feels like we have been fractured by failure, hopelessness, and the futility of trying to be light in the darkness. He died to destroy the lie that the enemy tells you that you're alone, and no one sees you or loves you. He truly is with you always.

1. Being present in someone's need, pain, story, struggle, or trauma as someone who “keeps watch” through prayer is love on display. The playbook of missional prayer for others is just sitting, being awake and aware of the needs they have, and giving them to God repeatedly and rigidly for as long as they need us to. Your presentness is your gift.
2. SOMETIMES PRAYER IS ALL WE CAN DO, SHOULD DO, ARE ABLE TO DO, BARELY WANT TO DO, AND FEEL WE ARE EVEN KINDA QUALIFIED TO DO. STILL MAKE IT A HABIT TO DO IT. Bearing one another's burdens sounds like a lot, until you're the one who needs to be carried. Practice carrying. For one day we will all need to be carried.
3. ‘Can I pray for you’ is not a one time commitment. It's a spiritual investment into someone until the need is met or the answer is made. People with little faith learn a lot from people with a lot of faith who choose to not back down from darkness, fear and doubt. To pray without ceasing is just a saint who won’t stop believing that they will see the goodness of God, in the land of the living.

Matthew 9:9-13

How to have Compassion on the Entirety of the Mission

1. COMPASSION IS ABOUT CONNECTION, IF YOU WANT TO CARE YOU MUST DEEPLY FORM RELATIONSHIPS THAT DON’T FIT INTO TIME LIMITS OR SOCIAL NORMS. WE NEED TO WALK ALONGSIDE PEOPLE, NOT BE TOO BUSY OR HEADY FOR THEM TO GET CLOSE.
2. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS AND HAVING THE RIGHT MOTIVE. YOUR MOTIVES DETERMINE YOUR LIFE'S MOTION. WE CANNOT BE SO FOCUSED ON THE “SACRIFICE” AND “RIGHTEOUSNESS” THAT WE FORGET TO SHOW MERCY TO THE SINNERS.
3. OUR COMPASSIONS MISSION IS TO RECLAIM AND RENAME. WE DON'T SEE SOMEONE AS FALLEN WE SEE THEM AS NOT RESURRECTED YET. WE DON'T SEE SINNERS WE SEE PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T MET JESUS YET. OUR MISSION ON EARTH IS TO RECLAIM WHAT HAS BEEN LOST, AND RENAME IT ONCE FOUND.

1. Whatever you have labeled you hate is what God will challenge you to love. If your love has limits so too will your depth of knowing Jesus. He loves “them” just as much as He loves you.
2. You might be surprised the response you get from “crumbs” moments when you see people rightly. The people who are too far gone in your mind might be the ones who respond to faith the fastest if you give them a chance. “Risks” that pay off equal faith that blows up.
3. If your seeing is believing then your doing must be activated. So many profess to wanting to see God do things yet want to do nothing. Your enjoyment of a seat at the table is multiplied when you start making room for more seats. It’s not about your place, but rather the places you make for the “dogs” of this world.

1 John 5:13-21What we should know but maybe need reminded.

1. If we are born of God then we should not be actively, deliberately sinning, as we live under his rule and reign. Idolatry in this form is knowing what God had said but choosing to worship a false god by practicing an action that is disobedient to the life that’s been purchased for you. Idols are not just carved images, they are conflicted hearts, torn between two realities. Lordship is shown not by what you know, but rather what you won’t allow yourself to do anymore after you have encountered Christ’s love.

2. The enemy wants to get you so mad at the world that you forget you’re called to change it. Being mad at a fallen world for being fallen is just us becoming more aware that we Christian’s haven’t taken the great commission serious enough. I challenge you today to not get mad at a fallen world, but to be challenged to be the light in the darkness that we have been too busy being opposed to, rather than fighting for.

3. Idolatry all comes down to truth. Do you believe biblical truth, the truth of the gospel, the truth and the conviction of the spirits leading in your heart, the truth you’re a child of God…the list is endless. Or have we believed half truths….that influences the full truth of the gospel…and has stripped a submitted life in Christ of its power and instead started a new battle ground of logic and reason, you must know God’s truth as your truth, so your truth doesn’t rewrite Gods truth.