20 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / James 1:12-18—Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

20 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / James 1:12-18—Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

20 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / James 1:12-18—Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

13 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / James 1:1-11—James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

13 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / James 1:1-11—James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

13 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / James 1:1-11—James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

6 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / Jonah 1:17-2:10—And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,     and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried,     and you heard my voice. 3  For you cast me into the deep,     into the heart of the seas,     and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows     passed over me. 4  Then I said, ‘I am driven away     from your sight; yet I shall again look     upon your holy temple.’ 5  The waters closed in over me to take my life;     the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6      at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land     whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit,     O Lord my God. 7  When my life was fainting away,     I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you,     into your holy temple. 8  Those who pay regard to vain idols     forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9  But I with the voice of thanksgiving     will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.     Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

6 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / Jonah 1:17-2:10—And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,     and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried,     and you heard my voice. 3  For you cast me into the deep,     into the heart of the seas,     and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows     passed over me. 4  Then I said, ‘I am driven away     from your sight; yet I shall again look     upon your holy temple.’ 5  The waters closed in over me to take my life;     the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6      at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land     whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit,     O Lord my God. 7  When my life was fainting away,     I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you,     into your holy temple. 8  Those who pay regard to vain idols     forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9  But I with the voice of thanksgiving     will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.     Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

6 September 2015 / Scott Crosby / Jonah 1:17-2:10—And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,     and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried,     and you heard my voice. 3  For you cast me into the deep,     into the heart of the seas,     and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows     passed over me. 4  Then I said, ‘I am driven away     from your sight; yet I shall again look     upon your holy temple.’ 5  The waters closed in over me to take my life;     the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6      at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land     whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit,     O Lord my God. 7  When my life was fainting away,     I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you,     into your holy temple. 8  Those who pay regard to vain idols     forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9  But I with the voice of thanksgiving     will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.     Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

30 August 2015 / Jacob Kim / Job 19:13-27—“He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. 14 My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. 15 The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes. 16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy. 17 My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother. 18 Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me. 19 All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. 20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. 21 Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! 22 Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? 23 “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! 24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!