James concludes his letter by calling the church to become a community of people shaped by prayer, whether in trouble or joy, in sickness or sin, in wandering or returning to God. However, prayer is less a task and more a way of being, where God’s nearness shapes our hearts to resemble that of Jesus.

Through honest, consistent, and confessional prayer, we learn to see as God sees, love as He loves, and be strengthened in our communion with Him. Prayer unclogs the soul and deepens relationships. It brings restoration and healing. A hope-filled life, and a church characterized by hope, rests on a continual, shared life of prayer in God’s presence.

Pastor Bo explores James’s challenge to love without favoritism, especially when the money, power, and status of others promise us worldly benefits. James 2 exposes how easily we honor the influential while overlooking the poor, revealing a contradiction within our hearts. Jesus' “Royal Law,” that is, loving one’s neighbor — expressed through generosity, hospitality, and mercy — is the “good soil” of God’s house. Favoritism of the “shiny people” is not a minor violation of the law but a fracture of covenant love. The church is called to be a community of new creation where worth is measured by grace, not appearance, and where that oft-invisible value becomes apparent through godly, mutual love.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, writes to a scattered, suffering church facing persecution and poverty. He urges believers to gain wisdom and hold onto a genuine faith. His pastoral letter calls the community to live out their beliefs through humble service, steadfast patience, and compassionate action. Faith is proven not by words alone but by perseverance, especially through trials and successes. Both of these test our trust in God’s reality, goodness, and necessity. James reminds believers that God uses hardship to form Christlike maturity. So, a fruitful, hope-filled church grows by hearing and doing God’s Word, embodying Jesus’ way in everyday life with faith, wisdom, and love.

Scripture begins with creation and ends with grace, a divine arc revealing God’s power and purpose. The end of that story isn’t destruction but renewal. Heaven and earth reunited, God dwelling with His people, worship roaring, and all things made right. Jesus teaches us to pray, “...on earth as it is in Heaven,” because His resurrection began that process. Heaven isn’t clouds and harps but a real, vibrant place filled with life, beauty, and belonging. It’s defined by God’s presence, populated by every tribe and tongue, and shaped by perfect love and justice. That beauty, Heaven, begins to break out now when we live the way of Jesus, practicing peace, welcoming others, and embodying the life of Heaven. The end of God’s story is actually our eternal beginning.

The orthodox tenets of our faith form a sturdy and beautiful foundation. They are embedded in a story breathed by God, stretching from the original creation to the new creation. This is the truest story ever told, with Jesus at its center. We find it recorded in Scripture, our plumb line. It is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reliable through centuries of transmission, and revealing Jesus as the heart of God’s redemptive plan. The Bible is not a rulebook but a living library that calls us back to truth, shapes our understanding of what is most real and beautiful. It also anchors us in God’s authority. Though the Scriptures are complex, they remain miraculous, enduring time, culture, and doubt to keep whispering the story of redemption.

The early Church demonstrated embodied faith, lived out through devotion, community, and shared practice.

That’s important because Jesus’ disciples are spiritually formed by much more than simply believing the right things. Each of us needs to invite the life of Jesus to “hit our body.” That’s crucial for discipleship. And, like almost anything else, we learn by doing, which requires imitation and practice. The Church’s practices, such as teaching, prayer, generosity, worship, shared meals, and deep friendships, help us express the deep, heart-changing work of the Spirit. The rhythms of these practices are not meant to feel like endless religious chores. They are beautiful spaces where God meets us. At the table, in community, and in daily imitation, as we embrace the life of a devoted disciple, we reveal the one who loves us and gave Himself for us.

Sanctification is the ongoing story of God’s Spirit at work in His people. This process is not about earning salvation but about participating with the Spirit in becoming who we were made to be: holy, whole, and fully alive. Like transforming a fixer-upper into a beautiful home, the Spirit renovates our hearts and minds, reshapes our desires, and produces fruit such as love, joy, and peace. We learn obedience, grow in purity, think truthfully, love deeply, endure hardship, and hunger more for Jesus. This isn’t passive faith. It’s an active partnership. Throughout the journey, our lives become more truly living temples, offering visible evidence that the Spirit of God dwells among us and is building His Church from the inside out.

This week’s message reminds us that the story of God is not about us as the heroes. It is about Him. From creation onward, God has always been both author and main character. We are the beloved objects of His affection. Yet like Adam and Eve, we often lose the plot, turning inward in fear, shame, or self-reliance instead of living within God’s loving gaze. Into this brokenness, God sent His Son, not to condemn but to rescue us. Jesus, who is fully God and fully human, entered our story, lived among us, revealed the Father, and ultimately died on the cross, bearing our sin and defeating death. His resurrection secures our own and offers us real, abundant life.

The gospel is not a checklist of beliefs but an invitation to step into God’s story through Christ, the true hero. The question now is whether we will lay down our own scripts and trust His.

God designed creation as a mirror of His love, one that is balanced, harmonious, and beautiful. Like a child finding identity in a parent’s gaze, humanity was meant to be captivated by and reflect God’s love. But sin shattered that. Instead of keeping their eyes on the loving God with them, Adam and Eve’s gaze turned inward. Their desire to be like God overcame their delight in God’s design, breaking shalom and alienating their relationships with God, self, others, and creation.

Yet God did not look away from them. Even in judgment, He covered their shame and promised a Savior who would crush evil. Though the mirror of God’s image in us is fractured, God still calls creation beautiful, choosing to restore and redeem what is broken through Jesus Christ, including you and me.

In Isaiah 43, the prophet reminds God's people of their greatest deliverance, the miraculous Exodus. Nothing else defined their national identity like this miracle, which they were commanded to celebrate each year at Passover. Even so, the prophet writes in 43:19 that God will do a new thing, make a new way, something even better. That way is Jesus. He's always the better way, the best way.

We must remember this truth when we suffer through a week like this last one: where a husband and father is gunned down on a college campus; where we are repeatedly served video of a young Ukrainian woman's brutal murder; and where we see once again students running for their lives from an active shooter in Evergreen, Colorado. The evil we see in today's world seeks to infect us with hate, but Jesus offers a better way. He gives His Spirit, Who pours God's love—love for our enemies, no less—into our hearts. And, we no longer need to conform to the pattern of this world.