We begin the very practical book of James. The blessing of persevering under trial.
James 1: Greeting
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
Testing of Your Faith
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.
12 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.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Things to think about…
1. Initially James was not a believer in his brother Yeshua (Jesus). But after the resurrection he was with his mother Mary with the 120 in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit to fall, Acts 1:14, 15. James became the chief elder at Jerusalem within the early church. He was the one who led and spoke in favour of the letter at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 which was to be sent to all the Gentile churches. James very much remained a minister to the Jews and here we see he is writing to the 12 tribes of the Dispersion 1:1. This is referring to the Jews who lived outside of Israel who were living in other parts of 1st Century Roman and Greek culture. James wants to strengthen these Jewish Christians especially as they were suffering for their faith. The Jews were persecuted anyway, but these folk were both Jews and Christians. Either way they were a marked group in 1st Century Roman culture.
2. Joy in suffering is a mark of grace and James says that suffering makes us perfect whereby we lack no good thing, Jam1:2-4. James also says that we are not to lack wisdom and as such should pray to the Lord to receive wisdom. Working for the Lord is a great blessing, but working without wisdom is futile. All our endeavours should be open to receive counsel from others in Christ so that we may move forward with the Lord’s guidance and blessing. As the Proverbs say, “get wisdom, get insight”, Prov 4:5.
3. There would be very few disagreements in church and the community if we all took James’ advice in Jam 1:19, 20 and be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” Pray that we all have this disposition in our communication.
4. May none of us look to ourselves Jam 1:24 and forget who we truly are but the law of liberty and freedom, vs 25. This of course means that the way we speak must edify others and glorify Christ, by looking after the poor, vs 26 and desiring to be holy, vs 27.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Life groups Wednesdays. 6:30pm every Wednesday. 5:30pm prayer.
Prayer Points centre
1. Pray for Ric as he begins this next phase of ministry and healing.
2. Pray for Phil and Anna Kennedy that healing, comfort, peace and rest may be their portion
3. Pray for the work we have going on with site development and TMR and the development of a project team.
4. Keep praying for PlayPatch on Fridays, pray for more families to be reached.
5. Pray for Chaplaincy and Kids Hope at Karalee State School.
6. Pray for peace over the US elections
7. The ongoing conflicts in Israel and Ukraine.
8. Church finances to continue to grow and expenses to be more than met.
9. Pray for Kids@Church, Life groups. Young Adults.
10. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Wednesday afternoons, 5:30pm at church. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
11. Pray about the possibility and planning of a Farmers Market at Chuwar Baptist Church once a month on Saturdays. Anastasia taking the lead on this. Pray for us as we plan
12. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
13. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for and the men of CBC. Great Celebrations on Sunday.
2. Praise God for our kids who spoke about their dads.
3. The ministry of the word on Sunday and the kids ministry.
4. Praise God for Zac and Suzy and Bec, Dan and technical team.
5. PlayPatch had a new mum join us this week.
6. Sally continues to amaze us with her interaction with everyone.
7. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Baptisms 15th September morning service. Let Pr Jay know if you want to be baptised.
2. Men’s event. Conquering the Mount. Men’s racing. Fri 11th Oct@Church from 5:30pm. 16+. $10 each. Dress in team colours Red – Holden, Blue – Ford, Gold – Chevrolet. See Tim Freeman for more details.
3. Prayer meeting 5:30pm and Life Group Wednesday 6:30pm at church.
4. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
5. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for September...
Q. 24. What was the sin of our first parents? A. Eating the forbidden fruit.
Bible References – Gen.2:16&17; Gen3:6.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
