Remember, we will be looking at James 4:1-12 this week, which was actually suppose to be last week, but God lead me to call an audible and preach part 5 in place of part 3. SO, this week part 3 will actually be part 4… now that you are completely confused, just check this out…

The essentials about Motives

Essentials part 4

James 4:1-12 – What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ²You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. ⁴You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? ⁶But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.¹¹Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹²There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? [ESV]

We all have motives for doing what we do, lets be honest, we do what we want to do, because we want to do it, it serves self! James is writing to the church about more than their behavior, he is writing to them about their motives behind why they are doing what they do. He is, here, calling them to stop fighting for a moment, and take a look at their motives, even to ask what their motivation is, in being a part of the church! – Of course they are not acting like the church, here, and it seems their motives for fighting would be for position in the church. SO, Sunday, WE are going to take a look into this passage and write down some essentials for having pure motives.

SEE YOU SUNDAY @ 9:29 or 11:09

James 5 tells us about some rich people who would not pay the poor people they owed money to, instead they hoarded their money to themselves. This showed the great value, trust and security they place in money. James lets them know that they will be given justice by God and that their money and possessions will rust away one day. So here is what Jesus said about possessions and money…

Luke 12:15 – And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” [ESV]

We need to be the church and act like the church and that means we view our money/possessions for what it is…

1^st: It’s a temporal thing, that will pass away. Just like if I become a drinking glass collector, those glasses will break and pass away one day. I could display them for all to see, but they will still break one day. Remember this is not our home!

2^nd: It’s a tool, not a collectors item to be hoarded, and that is it… like a drinking glass, I could collect glasses all day long, but it is still a glass, and a glass is a tool to use to drink, this could shatter and one day will. If I place all my trust and faith in this glass then I will shatter when this glass shatters. Remember, we become like what we worship!

3^rd: It’s a thing to be use for good, like this glass, I could fill it with this water and even give it to someone, or I could let it set, admire it, take a drink for myself sometimes and just enjoy it for myself. BUT that is not what the church is called to do or be and honestly, that is not the CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO here is the essential about money…

Our view of money, which is temporal,

can make or break us forever

Yesterday was rough, here is the deal:

1st: Tim [kid and youth pastor] out sick with flu, Brian [worship pastor] sick, no voice, and Charlie [facility and everything else] out with the flu!!!

2nd: Jesus still showed up, we gathered 288 people, in spite of there being about 30 people out sick… John lead us to shout the name of Jesus and Jesus showed up!!!

3rd: We had around 30 people stay for Image University, I loved teaching 101, a lot of new people excited about getting on mission at Image! I loved hearing the stories of how they met Jesus!

4th: Knapp taught 201, and people were there truly soaking in solid doctrine… love it that we actually teach what we believe and why we believe it!!!

5th: Essentials is really stretching us, but thats what happens when you get into the WORD and when we Preach the WORD and the WORD alone!!!

6th: Thanks to Chad and Beth for stepping it up and stepping in where needed yesterday… they do whatever it takes the make it work!!!

7th: Pray for our Facility Expansion Team as the send off our proposal this week of what we want to do with the warehouse space we will be acquiring soon!

That’s it, keep reflecting Jesus!!!

On Wednesday, during my prayer time, Jesus called an audible on the sermon, so I called an audible with our Sunday morning team… here’s what’s coming this Sunday, you really should be there…

Was going to preach this – The essentials about Motives, essentials part 3, James 4:1-12

Now preaching this… The essentials about Money

essentials part 5

James 5:1-6

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. ²Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. ⁴Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. [ESV]

We will come back to part 3 the following Sunday.

Also don’t forget we have Image University directly after the 11:09 gathering, we will be offering 2 classes:

Image 101 – Church Membership [taught by Chris Rhodenhizer]

Image 201 – Centered in Worship [taught by Brian Knapp... this teaches our doctrine]

See you Sunday at Image Church warehouse!!!

The essentials about Wisdom

essentials part 2

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. [ESV]

Three views of worldly wisdom:

James 3:14-16 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. ¹⁵This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. [ESV]

1^st: a temporal worldview – we make short term decisions without thinking of the long term results

– remember this is earthly, it’s rooted in bitter jealousy… it will lead you to making decisions based on your envy

2^nd: a humanistic worldview – we make decisions based on what we want

– this leads you to making decisions based on serving self

3^rd: a deceptive worldview – we make decisions based on how we feel

– this leads us to ultimately trust our hearts for decisions… our hearts are desperately evil!

Result of worldly wisdom: leads to a life of confusion

Our essentials for Godly wisdom:

James 3:17-18 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. [ESV]

We strive to always take the path of purity

– Godly wisdom always leads us to make the pure decision

We maintain a peaceful spirit even when dealing with difficulties

– we can make peaceful decisions even in the midst of a tough situation

We are gentle with those who treat us unfairly

– the cross was unfair… but in God’s wisdom

We attain a teachable attitude

– always humble enough to learn, wisdom does not place us above

We are merciful towards all

– wise people forgive quickly, God forgave quickly

We are impartial towards the Word of God

– the Word of God is always obeyed, if it says it, that is the wise decision to make…

– remember if we consider putting something above gathering with the church on Sunday’s, the wise decision has already been made in Hebrews… “Don’t forsake the gathering together of believers”

Result of Godly wisdom: leads to a life of Righteousness and Peace

The essential to gaining wisdom…

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5-6 [NLT]



Here we go:

1st: We continued our series through the book of James, and I can see Gods Word truly changing the hearts of our congregation! Let’s put what we read and heard into action this week…. Seek Godly Wisdom from His Word and apply it to life!

2nd: It was great to see a bunch of visitors from the previous week back again… I saw some of them signing up for our membership class… that’s called plugging in!

3rd: There was a huge chunk of our leadership missing due to flu, yesterday, yet the people that stepped up, just plain got it done!

4th: We had our lowest attendance day since July, yet it didn’t seem that way by the time 11:09 rolled around. We gathered 271 people and we worshiped like there was a 1,000!

5th: The facility expansion plan continues to move forward, and funds continue to come in. I am not sure of exact numbers, but we are in the $60,000 – $70,000 range!!!

That’s it, Keep reflecting Jesus!

The essentials about Wisdom

Essentials part 2

James 3:13

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. [ESV]

What do you do first when faced with a decision?

How do you re-act to the decision? Do you re-act based on what your heart is feeling? Do you begin to think through how the decision effects your life? Do you evaluate how the decision will make you look? Do you base your decision making process on whether or not this will profit you and you alone?

How do we become wise and understanding???

See you Sunday at 9:29 or 11:09… in the big brown warehouse in Dumfries!!!

Thought this one was worth a re-cap…

The essentials about Speech

essentials part 1 [James 3:1-12]

James 3:1-8 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

James 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. [ESV]

James 3:9-12 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. [ESV]

 

The tongue is essential because…

1^st: The tongue has the power to control life – James 3:2

2^nd: The tongue has the power to destroy life – James 3:7-8

3^rd: The tongue has the power to proclaim life – James 3:9-12

Our speech is essential because…

It proclaims who we truly are, and can be used by God, to proclaim the truth about who He truly is!!!

We had a very energetic day, here it is:

1st: Critter Country, our pre-school age I-KIDS, came into the gathering and helped lead worship and sung some songs! They did an amazing job and had tons of energy!!!

2nd: Image Band did an incredible job leading us today! Loved hearing everyone shouting “WE WON’T BE QUIET”

3rd: I met several new families today… again we keep growing!

4th: We gathered 295 people today, and saw another $2700 come in for the warehouse space… we are getting close!

5th: It was the first Sunday of the month, which is always great, because we get to celebrate the Lords death, burial, resurrection and coming again through communion. Always love partaking in communion.

6th: James 3 is always a passage that needs to be read, preached and applied… Don’t forget what the WORD said today!

Keep reflecting Jesus!!!

We get back into the book of James, this Sunday, with a new series…

 

Some things just aren’t important…

James chapters 3 – 5 reveals the deep truth about certain things, in this life,

that we need to view as not just important, but essentials!

11.01.09 – the essentials about SPEECH [James 3:1-12]

11.08.09 – the essentials about WISDOM [James 3:13-18]

11.15.09 – the essentials about MOTIVES [James 4:1-12]

11.22.09 – the essentials about FUTURE [James 4:13-17]

11.29.09. – the essentials about MONEY [James 5:1-6]

12.06.09 – the essentials about PATIENCE & PRAYER [James 5:7-20]