Part of being human means that we will be hurt. Sin has caused disfunction in our relationships that can only be mended by the grace of God and the proper application of forgiveness. In this message, we will look at a biblical narrative of two family members being reconciled in Genesis 33 and unpack biblical forgiveness and how we can model it in our own lives.

Bringing back Christians who have wandered far from Christ is one of the most neglected responsibilities of the church today. James challenges Christians to spend energy, prayer, and resources to bring those who have wandered from the truth back to Him. In doing so, we are able to see God’s forgiveness played out in our everyday life.

The gospel reminds us that prayer is an honor and privilege. It is a gift from God. In prayer, we do not earn or keep God’s love. It’s simply our way to communicate with God. In doing so, we maintain our relationship with God, and because God hears our prayers and answers them, we are able to ask things of God. In this message we find what it means to be persistent in prayer but trust God with the outcome.

One of the great mysteries of the Christian life is that we are able to talk to a God we cannot see and who does not audibly speak back to us. Yet, the Bible, both Old and New Testament make it clear that we can and should talk to God in order to praise Him, thank Him and ask Him to interact with us. In this message we will look at 4 defining elements of prayer as laid out in James 5;13-16.

Today, there is a baseline cultural narrative that says telling the truth and doing what you promised is par for the course. But not always. Sometimes it’s okay to break promises when it suits you. Sometimes promises are made with extra hype—“on the lives of my children!” And still, when it suits one, promises can be broken. Christianity believes in letting every yes be yes and every no be no. No extra hype is needed, required, or allowed.

People suffer. It is part of life. Yet, we long to know that there is greater purpose behind our pain. Jesus showed us that God is for us, even when it feels like He is not. We must have trusting patience to wait on the Lord, knowing that He is working in our hearts through our circumstances.

So often we trust the things we own or can see more than the God who is unseen. We trust in our material belonging and our monetary gain for a sense of security. James tells us to not forget the one who was abundantly generous with us and gave his life for us, Jesus Christ. The generosity of God toward us should propel our generosity toward others.

So often we depend more on our plans than the sovereign involvement of God in our lives. We rest hard on what we can see, write, calendar or list out, and struggle to put our trust in the invisible God. Our hearts should be to trust God and have His involvement in all of our planning, never resting on our own plans or skills more than God’s work in and around us.