James

James: Wisdom for when it’s the Lord’s will

James 4:13-17

  • Our will for our lives
    • 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.
  • The Lord’s will
    • 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 
  • The Lord’s will for our lives
    • 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

James: Wisdom for Waiting

  • Wisdom for Waiting (Part 1)
  • Introduction to Reading James
    • Who wrote James?
    • Who is James writing to?
    • What does he write about?
    • What kind of writing or genre is James?
  • Things to consider while listening to James
    • When he returns to a topic
    • When he shifts from topics to more general observation
    • Why is a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ so important
  • Wisdom for Waiting (Part 2)
  • Until the Lord Returns
    • What context do the readers of James, and us, share?
  • Wisdom from God
    • What do we need so we can avoid doing nothing with, or wandering from, our faith, but instead persevere to the end?
  • Wisdom for each other
    • Why does saying a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ matter so much