As we come to James 2:14-26, I acknowledge that we sometimes have a contention built up in our minds between the teaching of James here and the teaching of Paul in Romans 3 and other places in the NT concerning the place of works, or good deeds, in our lives.

We may contend, but you will not find James in any way contradicting or contending with Paul. James does contend but certainly not with Paul.

James has a bone to pick with those who believe that you can just say you have faith and that means you have saving faith. Read the words. James is flabbergasted at the foolishness of these people thinking that they can separate faith and works.

In the previous section he introduced the Royal Law–“loving your neighbor as yourself.” James is not speaking of works that we do to gain or keep our salvation. James is speaking of the love and obedience that we will have if we possess genuine faith. And he gives examples.

If a person has faith, as opposed to just saying he has faith, then love and obedience and loyalty to God and his cause will happen.

James tells these people who think that they can separate faith and works that their faith is on par with the faith of demons.

• (James 2:19 ESV) You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

And now it gets really interesting because of the phrase that James uses–“You believe that God is one.” This is the first part of the Jewish Shema.

• (Deuteronomy 6:4–5 ESV) Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Do you see what James is bringing to our attention? These people say that they believe in the same God that we believe in. But that is not what is happening here. They do believe some things about God, even that the Lord is one. But there they stop.

But God doesn’t stop there. He continues, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” And loving God means obeying God.

Jesus repeats the Shema in Mark.

• (Mark 12:28–31 ESV) 28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Merely “believing in God” is the gateway to the wide road and the way to destruction. And many do take that easier way. But we are speaking here of life and death.

God will not say, “Good try. I appreciate the effort.”

No, Jesus will say, “Depart from me. I never knew you workers of lawlessness.”

Now is the time to let James show us if our faith is sound, saving faith, or if our idea of faith is only rooted in the rebellion and stubbornness of our mind.

Message Title: Faith that Saves!

Message Text: James 2:14-26

• PDF LESSON 6 : Faith Without Works : James 2-14-26 : ffc : dave scott : 110815 STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF LESSON 6 : Faith Without Works : James 2-14-26 : ffc : dave scott : 110815 STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello All,

Here is this week’s bulletin.

Dave

• PDF Bulletin FFC November 8 2015

Our strings group accompanied the morning service. And Mary Dixon accompanied the evening service on the piano. A great day! Thanks, Mary.

Thanks to Donna Lantz for guitar and vocals, Stan Dixon for guitar, Tip Kamm for harmonica and Chuck Butterfield for guitar, vocals and solo on Precious Lord.

SUNDAY AM

Message Title: Mercy Wins!

Message Text: James 2:1-13

MP3: LESSON 5 : Mercy Wins : James 2-1-13 : ffc : dave scott : 110115 WITH STRINGS

WMA: LESSON 5 : Mercy Wins : James 2-1-13 : ffc : dave scott : 110115

SUNDAY PM

Message Title: Blows That Hurt!

Message Text: Proverbs 20:30 & Selected

MP3: Blows That Hurt : Proverbs 20-30 selected : ffc : dave scott : 110115 PM MARY DIXON PIANO

WMA: Blows That Hurt : Proverbs 20-30 selected : ffc : dave scott : 110115 PM MARY DIXON PIANO

Headline: Mercy wins.

The Bible is so complete, so solid. Rock solid in fact. And God is so thorough and convincing in his word. And God tells us that mercy wins. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Don’t let go of that very clear truth. Mercy wins. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

I am emphatic here because it seems that many believers struggle with this concept. I don’t think it is overstatement in fact to say that many are fearful of this very biblical idea. And this fear is a stain of the world. A human rationalizing God’s truth and not hearing God.

But James is not writing here of lives without guidance from God’s moral code. Quite the opposite. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are no longer “under the law,” but we are to “so speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.”

So what does that mean? What is the law of liberty? The law of liberty is just what it says–the moral instruction of God that frees us to righteous living. God’s instruction that frees our stained minds from the world’s way of thinking. As we live under the law of liberty, we learn God’s righteousness and we “unlearn” our righteousness.

Last week’s text ended with “and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Showing partiality, or favoritism, is a damaging stain of this world. James addresses this stain in three ways in this week’s text.

• Stain in regard to our acceptance of people from differing socio-economic levels.
• Stain in regard to our rationalized view God’s command to love.
• Stain in regard to our view of morality and justice.

Message Title: Mercy Wins!

Message Text: James 2:1-13

• PDF LESSON 5 : Mercy Wins : James 2-1-13 : ffc : dave scott : 110115 STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF LESSON 5 : Mercy Wins : James 2-1-13 : ffc : dave scott : 110115 STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello All,

Winter is about upon us, and God is good. The world we live in. Amen. 🙂

• PDF Bulletin FFC November 1 2015

Being religious is not enough … 

Contrary to popular opinion all religions are not the same. Not even within Christianity. Or within protestantism. Not even within the ranks of those who profess a strong belief in the Bible. No. Being religious is not enough.

Some of what I am about to say this morning will sound harsh.  

And that would be because it is.

• Investing your entire life in a religion that brings nothing but the condemnation of God is harsh. Finding yourself before the great white throne of God because you bought into the lie that any old religion would do is harsh. Pleading your cause to Christ at the end of your life, reciting all of your religious good works only to hear  him say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you worker of lawlessness” is harsh. Finding yourself in the judgment fires of hell instead of the bliss of heaven is harsh.

The good news is that not unlike the experience of Ebenezer Scrooge, you can throw open the window this morning, and see that you are still alive. There is yet time to find out before it is forever too late.

MP3: LESSON 4 : Pure Religion! : James 1-19-27 : ffc : dave scott : 102515

WMA: LESSON 4 : Pure Religion! : James 1-19-27 : ffc : dave scott : 102515

Your 🙂 for the day!

The graveside service just barely finished, when there was a massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning, accompanied by even more thunder rumbling in the distance. The little old man looked at the preacher and calmly said, “Well … She’s there.”

TIME CHANGE THIS SUNDAY, November 1, 2015

Set our clocks back one hour Saturday night. Or you can set your alarm for 2 am Sunday and change then. 😀

Hello All,

Another “wow” study in James. Can’t wait for Sunday.

Dave

As happens so often (all the time) when I study/preach through a book of the Bible, I got blasted away this week with the word of God’s truth–the Bible. The B-I-B–L-E is the “book” for me.

So often when we come to this place in James we immediately go to our comparison between only hearing the word and hearing and doing the word. However … in this we assume way too much.

Our faulty assumption, our miscue, is assuming that we are in fact hearing God. Follow me? We typically begin our discussion in verse 22–“be doers of the word.” But we cannot obey the words of God if we have not first heard him, or received his words. We sometimes mistake Bible study for hearing the voice of God or receiving his words. That may or may not be the case.

Look at James 1:19-21. We are given a method in our approach to the word of truth–quick to listen, slow to speak (voicing opinion), slow to anger. And James then outlines the necessity of dealing with our sin before receiving the word of truth–moral filth and rampant wickedness.

If we are not letting God clean the inside of the vessel, then we will not be able to receive his truth. Not someone else’s filth and evil, but ours.

So before we ever get to the issue of being a hearer and a doer, we need to make sure that we are first a hearer.

And then there’s the little matter of the tongue … Oh, boy! 🙂

Message Title: Pure Religion!

Message Text: James 1:19-27

• PDF LESSON 4 : Pure Religion : James 1-19-27 : ffc : dave scott : 102515 STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF LESSON 4 : Pure Religion : James 1-19-27 : ffc : dave scott : 102515 STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello to All,

Rainy Friday.

Here is our bulletin for Sunday, October 25, 2015.

• PDF Bulletin FFC October 25 2015