Podcasts about biblical themes

Join Summit Church and Pastor Wayne Hanson today as we continue our Corinthians Series with a message titled: "A Firm Foundation." There's no OTHER foundation than Christ. In 1st Corinthians Chapter 3 the Apostle Paul makes it clear that we are supposed to be mature in our faith and growing in our knowledge and love of the LORD. Join us IN-Person or ONLINE for this ENCOURAGING message and bring a friend along with you! You can also find out more about Summit Church by visiting: www.MySummitChurch.com Join us for IN-Person Worship, 10:30am Sundays at 4240 N Perry Park Road, Sedalia, CO 80135 Or across our many Social Media Streams. #Church #DrWayneHanson #BibleTeaching #SummitChurch #Jesus #Praise&Worship #WayneHanson #Culture #Politics #Celebrity #Humility #Recovery #ARCchurch #Priorities 3 Ways to Give There are 3 ways to give at Summit Church today. You can give by envelope, give online at www.MySummitChurch.com and hit the DONATE button or TEXT your gift to 303-625-9434, follow the prompts on your smartphone (this method is FREE and there is no carrier charge to give by phone)! Mail Your Donation to Summit Church 200 S Wilcox St #243 Castle Rock, CO 80104 https://www.facebook.com/summitchurch... Want to Learn How to Start a Relationship with God? visit: www.29Minutes.org CCLI License - Summit Church CCLI Streaming Plus License #20939176 CCLI Church Copyright License #11543919 Join Pastor Wayne and Summit Church for this week's teaching in the "God Songs Series" with a Message called, "From the Inside Out." In a time when many of our musical and cultural heroes are failing us, there is ONE who never FAILS. That One is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What should a Christian do about an artist or worship leader that has failed? What about "Cancel Culture?" Pastor Wayne will discuss these difficult questions as we look at the song and the BIBLICAL THEMES of GRACE in this weeks' message. You'll be challenged and encouraged today! Join us IN-Person or ONLINE for this ENCOURAGING message and bring a friend along with you! You can also find out more about Summit Church by visiting: www.MySummitChurch.com Join us for IN-Person Worship, 10:30am Sundays at 4240 N Perry Park Road, Sedalia, CO 80135 Or across our many Social Media Streams. #Church #DrWayneHanson #BibleTeaching #SummitChurch #Jesus #Praise&Worship #WayneHanson #Culture #Politics #Celebrity #Humility #Recovery #ARCchurch #Priorities 3 Ways to Give There are 3 ways to give at Summit Church today. You can give by envelope, give online at www.MySummitChurch.com and hit the DONATE button or TEXT your gift to 303-625-9434, follow the prompts on your smartphone (this method is FREE and there is no carrier charge to give by phone)! Mail Your Donation to Summit Church 200 S Wilcox St #243 Castle Rock, CO 80104 https://www.facebook.com/summitchurch... Want to Learn How to Start a Relationship with God? visit: www.29Minutes.org CCLI License - Summit Church CCLI Streaming Plus License #20939176 CCLI Church Copyright License #11543919 To Grab Tickets for The JESUS TAXI Gran Prix Event on Oct 6th at K1 Speedway visit TicketBud: https://ticketbud.com/.../4e00e602-5d38-11f0-b58e...

Send us a textIf you would prefer to watch the video version on Youtibe, with loads of original stills from the film, just follow the ling below.https://youtu.be/EeOPcd26lgcI shall be posting several bonus episodes over the next week or so whilst I work on our next season together, in which I return to the New Testament and begin our study through Paul's 2nd letter to the church at Corinth. This episode was originally posted Patreon on 18th January 2025The Balance of GrayFaith That Challenges. Conversations that Matter. Laughs included. Subscribe Now!Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showTo listen to my monthly church history podcast, subscribe at; https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com For an ad-free version of my podcasts plus the opportunity to enjoy hours of exclusive content and two bonus episodes a month whilst also helping keep the Bible Project Daily Podcast free for listeners everywhere support me at;|PatreonSupport me to continue making great content for listeners everywhere.https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

Join Summit Church and Pastor Wayne Hanson as we launch into a NEW SERIES today on 1st CORINTHIANS. Pastor Wayne will be giving an overview of Paul's letter to the church at CORINTH and sharing a study called: "God's PLAN." Many times we MAKE OUR OWN PLANS but it is GOD's PLAN that will prevail. You'll be challenged and encouraged today! Join us IN-Person or ONLINE for this ENCOURAGING message and bring a friend along with you! You can also find out more about Summit Church by visiting: www.MySummitChurch.com Join us for IN-Person Worship, 10:30am Sundays at 4240 N Perry Park Road, Sedalia, CO 80135 Or across our many Social Media Streams. #Church #DrWayneHanson #BibleTeaching #SummitChurch #Jesus #Praise&Worship #WayneHanson #Culture #Politics #Celebrity #Humility #Recovery #ARCchurch #Priorities 3 Ways to Give There are 3 ways to give at Summit Church today. You can give by envelope, give online at www.MySummitChurch.com and hit the DONATE button or TEXT your gift to 303-625-9434, follow the prompts on your smartphone (this method is FREE and there is no carrier charge to give by phone)! Mail Your Donation to Summit Church 200 S Wilcox St #243 Castle Rock, CO 80104 https://www.facebook.com/summitchurch... Want to Learn How to Start a Relationship with God? visit: www.29Minutes.org CCLI License - Summit Church CCLI Streaming Plus License #20939176 CCLI Church Copyright License #11543919 Join Pastor Wayne and Summit Church for this week's teaching in the "God Songs Series" with a Message called, "From the Inside Out." In a time when many of our musical and cultural heroes are failing us, there is ONE who never FAILS. That One is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What should a Christian do about an artist or worship leader that has failed? What about "Cancel Culture?" Pastor Wayne will discuss these difficult questions as we look at the song and the BIBLICAL THEMES of GRACE in this weeks' message. You'll be challenged and encouraged today! Join us IN-Person or ONLINE for this ENCOURAGING message and bring a friend along with you! You can also find out more about Summit Church by visiting: www.MySummitChurch.com Join us for IN-Person Worship, 10:30am Sundays at 4240 N Perry Park Road, Sedalia, CO 80135 Or across our many Social Media Streams. #Church #DrWayneHanson #BibleTeaching #SummitChurch #Jesus #Praise&Worship #WayneHanson #Culture #Politics #Celebrity #Humility #Recovery #ARCchurch #Priorities 3 Ways to Give There are 3 ways to give at Summit Church today. You can give by envelope, give online at www.MySummitChurch.com and hit the DONATE button or TEXT your gift to 303-625-9434, follow the prompts on your smartphone (this method is FREE and there is no carrier charge to give by phone)! Mail Your Donation to Summit Church 200 S Wilcox St #243 Castle Rock, CO 80104 https://www.facebook.com/summitchurch... Want to Learn How to Start a Relationship with God? visit: www.29Minutes.org CCLI License - Summit Church CCLI Streaming Plus License #20939176 CCLI Church Copyright License #11543919 To Grab Tickets for The JESUS TAXI Gran Prix Event on Oct 6th at K1 Speedway visit TicketBud: https://ticketbud.com/.../4e00e602-5d38-11f0-b58e...

Join Summit Church and Pastor Wayne Hanson as we launch into a NEW SERIES today on 1st CORINTHIANS. Pastor Wayne will be giving an overview of Paul's letter to the church at CORINTH and sharing a study called: "God's PLAN." Many times we MAKE OUR OWN PLANS but it is GOD's PLAN that will prevail. You'll be challenged and encouraged today! Join us IN-Person or ONLINE for this ENCOURAGING message and bring a friend along with you! You can also find out more about Summit Church by visiting: www.MySummitChurch.com Join us for IN-Person Worship, 10:30am Sundays at 4240 N Perry Park Road, Sedalia, CO 80135 Or across our many Social Media Streams. #Church #DrWayneHanson #BibleTeaching #SummitChurch #Jesus #Praise&Worship #WayneHanson #Culture #Politics #Celebrity #Humility #Recovery #ARCchurch #Priorities 3 Ways to Give There are 3 ways to give at Summit Church today. You can give by envelope, give online at www.MySummitChurch.com and hit the DONATE button or TEXT your gift to 303-625-9434, follow the prompts on your smartphone (this method is FREE and there is no carrier charge to give by phone)! Mail Your Donation to Summit Church 200 S Wilcox St #243 Castle Rock, CO 80104 https://www.facebook.com/summitchurch... Want to Learn How to Start a Relationship with God? visit: www.29Minutes.org CCLI License - Summit Church CCLI Streaming Plus License #20939176 CCLI Church Copyright License #11543919 Join Pastor Wayne and Summit Church for this week's teaching in the "God Songs Series" with a Message called, "From the Inside Out." In a time when many of our musical and cultural heroes are failing us, there is ONE who never FAILS. That One is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What should a Christian do about an artist or worship leader that has failed? What about "Cancel Culture?" Pastor Wayne will discuss these difficult questions as we look at the song and the BIBLICAL THEMES of GRACE in this weeks' message. You'll be challenged and encouraged today! Join us IN-Person or ONLINE for this ENCOURAGING message and bring a friend along with you! You can also find out more about Summit Church by visiting: www.MySummitChurch.com Join us for IN-Person Worship, 10:30am Sundays at 4240 N Perry Park Road, Sedalia, CO 80135 Or across our many Social Media Streams. #Church #DrWayneHanson #BibleTeaching #SummitChurch #Jesus #Praise&Worship #WayneHanson #Culture #Politics #Celebrity #Humility #Recovery #ARCchurch #Priorities 3 Ways to Give There are 3 ways to give at Summit Church today. You can give by envelope, give online at www.MySummitChurch.com and hit the DONATE button or TEXT your gift to 303-625-9434, follow the prompts on your smartphone (this method is FREE and there is no carrier charge to give by phone)! Mail Your Donation to Summit Church 200 S Wilcox St #243 Castle Rock, CO 80104 https://www.facebook.com/summitchurch... Want to Learn How to Start a Relationship with God? visit: www.29Minutes.org CCLI License - Summit Church CCLI Streaming Plus License #20939176 CCLI Church Copyright License #11543919 To Grab Tickets for The JESUS TAXI Gran Prix Event on Oct 6th at K1 Speedway visit TicketBud: https://ticketbud.com/.../4e00e602-5d38-11f0-b58e...

Join Pastor Wayne and Summit Church for this week's teaching in the "God Songs Series" with a Message called, "From the Inside Out." In a time when many of our musical and cultural heroes are failing us, there is ONE who never FAILS. That One is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What should a Christian do about an artist or worship leader that has failed? What about "Cancel Culture?" Pastor Wayne will discuss these difficult questions as we look at the song and the BIBLICAL THEMES of GRACE in this weeks' message. You'll be challenged and encouraged today! Join us IN-Person or ONLINE for this ENCOURAGING message and bring a friend along with you! You can also find out more about Summit Church by visiting: www.MySummitChurch.com Join us for IN-Person Worship, 10:30am Sundays at 4240 N Perry Park Road, Sedalia, CO 80135 Or across our many Social Media Streams. #Church #DrWayneHanson #BibleTeaching #SummitChurch #Jesus #Praise&Worship #WayneHanson #Culture #Politics #Celebrity #Humility #Recovery #ARCchurch #Priorities 3 Ways to Give There are 3 ways to give at Summit Church today. You can give by envelope, give online at www.MySummitChurch.com and hit the DONATE button or TEXT your gift to 303-625-9434, follow the prompts on your smartphone (this method is FREE and there is no carrier charge to give by phone)! Mail Your Donation to Summit Church 200 S Wilcox St #243 Castle Rock, CO 80104 https://www.facebook.com/summitchurch... Want to Learn How to Start a Relationship with God? visit: www.29Minutes.org CCLI License - Summit Church CCLI Streaming Plus License #20939176 CCLI Church Copyright License #11543919

In this episode, there are different lessons of how we have to be fixed to see Jesus first, and let God come to satisfy your new self in Heaven

Discover how understanding historical context and background transforms Bible reading into deep spiritual nourishment, with help from Christian author Betty Johansen and her contextual guidebook, "The Bible In Brief." Visit https://bettyjohansen.com/ for details. Wordsmith World City: Big Spring Address: Texas Website: https://bettyjohansen.com/

The boys jump on the hype train with a Sinners Spoiler Free Review! What did they think of the highest reviewed film of the year so far?Jamie goes on an epic rant about the cinema experience....02:27 Discussion on Recent Films Watched05:23 Exploring the Film 'Real Pain'08:25 The Importance of Going in Cold to Films11:30 Buffy and Angel: A Nostalgic Dive14:23 Transition to 'Sinners' Review17:34 Overview of 'Sinners' and Its Themes27:27 The Struggle for Respect and Freedom. 28:29 Choices and Predestination in Life30:46 The Cultural Significance of Blues Music35:33 Exploring Identity and Heritage37:38 The Role of Music in the Narrative43:23 Visual Storytelling and Cinematic Techniques51:42 The Vampire Metaphor and Societal Commentary57:17 Biblical Themes and Character Names59:04 The Moral Implications of the Story01:00:16 Character Development and Redemption01:02:08 Genre Blending: Horror and Drama01:04:12 Sequel Speculations and Future Directions01:07:23 Cinema Experience: The Good and the Bad01:11:51 Audience Etiquette and Cinema CultureSearch Moviesinapodshell all one word to find us on all of your podcasting services!https://twitter.com/inapodshellThe Instagram- @MoviesinapodshellJon's Instagram- @jcb.videoYoutube - https://www.youtube.com/@MoviesinaPODshell/videosOur merch shop is now OPEN! You can buy a t-shirt from the link below.https://moviesinapodshell.sumupstore.com/

Series :: Exodus - Part 3: Show Me Your GloryExodus 34:29-35 :: Andrew Rutten03–09–25 :: Sunday Gatheringprovidenceomaha.orgFacebook InstagramYouTube

For Lincoln's birthday month this year, we unpack Biblical themes in a crucial speech he gave at the end of his life where he interprets the Civil War entirely in Biblical terms. The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly understanding the Bible and Politics podcast. Therefore, welcome our first Republican president to the podcast, Abraham Lincoln. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.

The Book of PsalmsSermon Preached by Steve DuBransky on February 2, 2025 Foothill Church exists to glorify God by living as disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus. https://foothill.church Learn about our For the Sake of His Name 2-Year Discipleship Journey: https://foothill.church/FTSOHN→ Check out more sermons

Join us for our continuing visit with the talented artist and sculpturist Deborah Samia! With a God-given gift for art, she's been creating since she was a child. We've been talking with her about her exploring how to combine her art and her faith, "but communicating in a language that is not just for people who know the stories of the Bible!” 

Join us as we dig through some of the more recent Godzilla and King Kong movies to see the Biblical themes that Hollywood is using. Is it a subconscious indoctrination or innocent use of a Biblical narrative for entertainment? You may be surprised!

Join us as we dig through some of the more recent Godzilla and King Kong movies to see the Biblical themes that Hollywood is using. Is it a subconscious indoctrination or innocent use of a Biblical narrative for entertainment? You may be surprised!

In this episode, we dive into Gary Schnittjer's insightful and engaging book, Torah Story: An Apprenticeship on the Pentateuch. If you've ever felt that the first five books of the Bible are daunting, this book (and our review!) might be just what you need. Schnittjer offers a fresh way of approaching Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with clarity, curiosity, and a pastoral heart. We'll unpack his key ideas, explore how he makes the Torah feel relevant for today, and share why this resource is a must-have for students, pastors, and curious readers alike. Plus, you can win a copy for your very own!!!Featured Resources:Gary Schnittjer - Torah Story: An Apprenticeship on the PentateuchBig thanks to Tim Whittle for editing and extra production on this podcast. Get more info at Riverlife Church, and find us on Facebook and Instagram.Subscribe to Bible Streams on Apple, Spotify, Google, and Amazon. 

Join Pastor Josh Slautterback and Pastor Craig Stephens as they dive into the heart of the Christmas season in this new three-part podcast series. In the first episode, they'll explore the themes of Christmas through the lens of Scripture, uncovering how the story of Jesus' birth not only shapes our celebrations but also reveals the ultimate hope and joy found in our Savior. As we reflect on these themes, they'll share practical ways to weave them into meaningful discussions with loved ones during the holidays. These conversations can spark opportunities to share the love and message of Jesus, making this season even more impactful. Whether you're decking the halls or reflecting on the wonder of the season, this episode will inspire you to celebrate the true reason for Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ.

162 - Join us here - https://locals.com/member/LoriandMichelle And READ through the WHOLE bible with us - starting Dec 1. Here are some ideas of Biblical themes to track: light dark water covenant righteousness sin 3rd day seeing We list more inside our locals community page. Also check out the Bible Project for ideas. When we 1st read through the Bible - https://youtu.be/722MCGT9moE Mistakes and regrets with writing in our Bibles - https://youtu.be/jfbyEBgWBPg The Bible translations we use to read the Bible - https://youtu.be/h6MT4SfRPGM Podcast episode Michelle mentioned - A Word Fitly Spoken podcast - God doesn't whisper with Jim Osman ♡ If you enjoy our content, please consider helping support our channel - here are 2 ways: ♡ https://loriandmichelle.locals.com (Locals allows you to join our community for a small donation where you'll receive access to bonus material and exclusive content.) ♡ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/loriandmichelle We appreciate any and all support as it helps keeps us going and able to produce content for you. Thank you. ♡ Give this video a like, comment, share the video and subscribe to our channel. //MORE VIDEOS// Our testimony back to Jesus from LOA| new age- https://youtu.be/znjZd94XMRA #biblestudy #bibletalk #newagetojesus #homeschool KEEP UP WITH US: ♡ Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@loriandmichelle ♡ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loriandmichelle ♡ Rumble: Lori and Michelle ♡ Our Podcast: Lori and Michelle Podcast Spotify -https://open.spotify.com/show/2vywzqtDiLhPEudJBMSsy1  Bible study with us: ♡ Our Podcast: Sister and the Bible Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2h6KoMUBT8RELAWqpBPGjl ♡ Rumble: sisters and the Bible ♡ CHECK OUT OUR AMAZON storefront https://www.amazon.com/shop/loriandmichelle (if you use our link we may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support of our channel.) Songs from Epidemic Sound. We appreciate any and all support as it helps keeps us going and able to produce content for you. Thank you. Disclaimer: Please remember this is our first time reading and studying the Bible, so we don't know everything and we will continue to learn and grow. We do our best to speak God's truth. Here to encourage you to read and study God's word. Purelytwins, Lori and Michelle, will not be responsible or liable for any injury or harm you sustain as a result of our videos and information. This video is for informational purposes only and the author does not accept any responsibility for any liabilities. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transcribed, , in any form, without the written permission and signature of the author. We are not Bible scholars, pastors, or teachers. We are sharing what learn from reading and studying the Bible for the first time. Thanks for your understanding and for your support. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lm-podcast/support

In this episode of I Love to Tell the Story, the hosts explore the transition from Exodus to Samuel, focusing on the story of Hannah. They discuss themes of God's promises, the important role of women in biblical narratives, and the theological significance of Hannah's prayer and song, which sets the stage for the anointing of kings and the unfolding of God's plan through the prophets. Commentary on 1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10 by Jacqueline E. Lapsley: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/god-answers-hannah-2/commentary-on-1-samuel-19-11-19-20-21-10-3. Overview to Year 3 of the Narrative Lectionary: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/introduction-to-year-3-2/47470. Watch the Full Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eTyB_53F12I.

In this episode, Jenai Auman covers her personal experience of feeling othered within the church, and how that led her to write the book "Othered". She discusses the biblical themes of othering and marginalization, and how God pursues and cares for the marginalized. Jenai also shares insights on building healthy communities that welcome and embrace those who are different, centered on the "hesed" or steadfast love of God. We talk about the importance of self-compassion, forgiveness, and creating space for people to be in process as they journey together. Whether you've been othered or are learning how to see the marginalized, this is the episode for you.Jenai Auman is a Filipina American writer and artist. She draws from her years in church leadership as well as her trauma-informed training to write on healing, hope, and the way forward. She is passionate about providing language so readers can find a faith that frees. She received her bachelor's degree in behavioral health science and is currently pursuing a master's in spiritual formation at Northeastern Seminary. Jenai lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Tyler, and their sons, Quinn and Graham. Jenai's Book:OtheredJenai's Recommendation:The Lord of the Rings as read by Andy SerkisJoin Our Patreon for Early Access and More: PatreonConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.youtube.com/@shiftingculturepodcastConsider Giving to the podcast and to the ministry that my wife and I do around the world. Just click on the support the show link belowSupport the Show.

The intersection of many Biblical themes. Celebrating the eternity of a great city after a tremendous victory... yet sowing the seeds for future calamity. Text here: www.sefaria.org/Psalms.48

Making sense of judgment and de-creation in the Bible isn't easy. Oftentimes, it can cause us to question God's character or simply leave us confused. In this episode, we unpack the theme of judgment in the Bible, asking questions like:Is judgment good?What would be true about God if he didn't judge?How do we escape this judgment?Links- Sunday Exodus Sermons

Why is circumcision such a big deal in the Old Testament? In Exodus 4, it seems as if God is going to take Moses' life because of a failure to circumcise his son. Join us as we discuss why circumcision is so important for God's people and what implications does it have for us today.Links- Sunday Exodus SermonsBible Reading Tip- Write down different passages and / or questions as you are reading scripture. What comes to mind? How could that be connected?- Is the idea of circumcision used one or two times? No, it is used a lot. So, let's look at the stories that mention circumcision and see how, overtime, this idea is explained to us.

In this episode we seek to trace the theme of trusting God's means of salvation by looking at the ark in the stories of Noah and Moses. Links- Sunday Exodus SermonsBible Reading Tip- Ask yourself, "Have I seen something like this before?" When you recognize a theme or similar story in the Bible. Then, rest in it. Meditate on it and what God could be saying to you.

In this episode we seek to trace the theme of choosing/fearing God, or choosing evil. From Eve in the garden, to the midwives, to prophets, to Jesus, we see choices for good or evil throughout the Scriptures. And we too have a choice - trust God or trust the snake's deception.Links- Sunday Exodus SermonsBible Reading Tip- Ask yourself, have I seen something like this before? When you recognize a theme or a strange story in the Bible.If someone is struggling in their awe and reverence for the Lord and choosing to please man, where should you start?Pray that the spirit would convict you of sin and reveal Jesus to youJust do the hard thingRead some helpful books on God's natureKnowing God by JI PackerGive yourself some time to build the muscles of choosing God. You have to start to consistently do it.

*****LINKS AND INFO IN THE DESCRIPTION BELOW***** What is the most trusted source for us to use when trying to find the meanings of Hebrew idioms or phrases? #biblicalthemes #scripture #interpretation Contact Ken Email: askbible4family@gmail.com Phone: 401-47-BIBLE https://www.bible4.family *****Support This Channel*****Paypal: https://paypal.me/jimivision?locale.x=en_USMonthly Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JimivisionCash App: https://cash.app/$JimivisionVenmo: https://venmo.com/Jimmy-Cooper-17 Mail To:Jimmy CooperJimivision MediaP.O. Box 654Hixson, TN 37343

Is the sun going to be darkened, the moon stop giving her light, and the stars fall from the heavens in the last days? What is meant by this in Matthew 24:29? #Matthew24 #biblicalthemes #Jesus Contact Ken Email: askbible4family@gmail.com Phone: 401-47-BIBLE https://www.bible4.family *****Support This Channel*****Paypal: https://paypal.me/jimivision?locale.x=en_USMonthly Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JimivisionCash App: https://cash.app/$JimivisionVenmo: https://venmo.com/Jimmy-Cooper-17 Mail To:Jimmy CooperJimivision MediaP.O. Box 654Hixson, TN 37343

Welcome to part 4 in our theme study. In this episode we will be talking about water, and specifically how we see water used scripturally within the context of judgement and also within the context of salvation, which we call the water of life. Both reflections of this one thematic image pervade all scripture from beginning to end, and like every good theme culminates in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Join us as we dive into the scriptures and learn about how God uses water to tell the story of the gospel. Grab a drink and enjoy. 

Welcome to part 3 in our themes study. In this episode we discuss the theme of trees  in the Bible. When trees appear in scripture, we're tempted to just see them as mere details in the story. Our argument, however, is that is most certainly not the case. Trees play important roles in the story of the Bible and play a significant role in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Join us as we dive into the Old and New Testaments and discuss the theology behind the imagery of trees. Grab a drink and enjoy. 

This is the second part, but third episode, in our new themes study. In this episode we discuss the theme of wilderness in scripture. Throughout the Bible there are multiple stories where the author wants to depict spaces where human life does not flourish. These are the chaos spaces or "wilderness" places, which are adverse to the ordered world humanity needs in order to live. The great surprise of the theme is that in God's loving kindness He chooses to enter those spaces to rescue His people. During these moments in the stories we see the workings of the Gospel message being worked out before Jesus arrives on the scene to perform His grand Exodus as our new Moses.Grab a drink and enjoy. 

In this episode we trace the theme of fire throughout scripture. Fire is an important image that appears in the early parts of scripture and get's developed throughout the Bible. We see it in Eden, in the priestly duties, in judgement moments, and even in the spiritual beings. The theme culminates in the person and work of Jesus. Join us as we discuss how the fiery moments of scripture help to inform the Gospel message. Grab a drink and enjoy!

The Bible is made up of 66 books, but each book fits seamlessly into the Great Story of the Scriptures. In her latest Bible studies, Kat Armstrong invites us to step back and look at the big picture by tracing themes. You'll never look at sticks, stones, mountains, or valleys the same way again!Find Kat Armstrong at https://www.katarmstrong.com/.Order Kat's Bible Studies: https://www.katarmstrong.com/the-storyline-projectFollow Kat on the socials: @katarmstrong1If you enjoy the show, would you please consider rating and reviewing Honestly, Though? Those reviews help others find us in the PodUniverse, and we deeply appreciate the love! Also, you can reach out to us personally to join the conversation on the following platforms:Rebecca Carrell: https://www.rebeccacarrell.com/ ; IG - @RebeccaCarrell ; Twitter: @RebeccaACarrell ; FB - Rebecca Ashbrook CarrellLiz Rodriguez: IG: @lizannrodriguez ; FB - Liz Rodriguez - https://www.facebook.com/liz.rodriguez.92775Nika Spaulding: stjudeoakcliff.org ; IG - @NikaAdidas ; Twitter - @NikaAdidasWe have the world's best producer! Are you interested in podcasting? Do you know someone who is? Taylor Standridge can help with audio engineering, production, editing, show mapping, and coaching. Connect with Taylor at taylorstandridge1@gmail.com or on Twitter: @TBStandridge

Mark continued BBS Better Better Study focused on the theme of sacrifice. The Bible was built over time, and associations are built into it. Mark defined sacrifice as the destruction or surrender for the sake of something else. Marks presents this lesson with two points: 1. Lessons on sacrifices from more obvious passages like with how Moses explained how sacrifice association are built into the Passover regarding unintentional sin. 2. Lessons on sacrifices from less obvious places noting that defiant nor intentional sins were covered by sacrifices. Points for home: Jesus was always Plan A. Let's live like we were Plan A Let's worship like we were always Plan A Homework.  What do you find as biblical themes of the Messiah? Listen to Mark teach the biblical theme of association with sacrifice and how Jesus fulfilled all the criteria for sin with His ultimate sacrifice for all time, past, present, and future. The blood of Jesus takes the abnormal and makes it normal. Join us Sundays at 9:30am CST! Links below: YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCfocCxLc8BFCta-NO4JkTcA?view_as=subscriber CFBC Website: championforest.org/worship/watch/biblit.php

5 Biblical Themes from VBS

Phil Soussan is a bass player, songwriter and music producer.  He has worked with some absolute legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Jimmy Page and Billy Idol. His latest project, Last in Line has a new album out on March 31st titled “Jericho.” We discuss the new album, songwriting process, satanic themes in music, working with Jani Lane & Vince Neil and more! 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - Technical Difficulties 01:38 - New Last in Line Album 03:50 - Progression of the Band 05:18 - The Evolution of the Songs 07:58 - Songwriting Process 11:35 - Biblical Themes & Positive Message 14:28 - Satanic Imagery in Music & Ultimate Sin Cover 16:35 - Music Bringing People Together & Challenges 18:20 - Work with Jani Lane 19:20 - Common Thread Among Superstar Frontmen 20:40 - Phil's Continued Success & Taking a Break 24:25 - Phil's Work with Vince Neil 26:05 - MusiCares & Randy Castillo 27:38 - Paralyzed Veterans of America 28:40 - Outro Phil Soussan website:https://philsoussan.com/Last in Line website:https://www.lastinlineofficial.com/MusiCares website:https://www.musicares.org/Paralyzed Veterans of America website:https://secure.pva.org/Chuck Shute website:https://chuckshute.com/Support the showThanks for Listening & Shute for the Moon!

C. S. Lewis wove dozens of Biblical themes into his Narnia Chronicles. But some of them may escape our notice. Christin Ditchfield has written a helpful guide so we don’t miss them - and can teach them to our children and grandchildren in delightful ways. Recommended Resources: Christin's Website A Family Guide to Narnia by Christin Ditchfield Biblical Truths in Narnia

In this episode, we continue our mini series on Biblical themes and discuss the "King and Kingdom" theme we see throughout the Old Testament. We'll chat about what this theme looks like, how to recognize it, and how to apply it to what you're reading.

God's promise to be with us... doesn't that sound nice? But when you think about the Bible, where is this promise apparent? In this episode, we discuss covenants, how they are God's promises to us, and how they can give us security in knowing fundamental truths about Him.

The more we read our Bibles, the more layers we start to uncover. If this hasn't happened for you, or you find yourself thinking that you've already learned everything there is to know about a passage, let me encourage you to start thinking about biblical themes. The themes in the Bible connect the dots in amazing ways. Not only do they cross over from the Old to New Testament- but they also cross over between different biblical genres. Today we'll look at a theme in the Bible that crosses between Genesis, Proverbs, and Revelation. Two different testaments and three different genres. Let's connect the dots and enhance our Bible reading!Support the show

This is the beginning of our mini series, exploring different biblical themes that help us understand the story of God. In Genesis 3-11, we see the world's conflict in God's story. People are sinful, broken, and need restoration. Genesis 12 is God beginning the restoration work on humanity through a promise to Abraham. God's promise is centered around 3 areas: people, place, and presence. God promises Abrahamto build a new community of peopleto give them a place to dwell inthat  His presence will be with themThis is the ultimate work of God in redemption: creating a people in a place with His presence. In this episode, we look at that promise, how it plays out in the gospel, and why that matters to us today.

In this opening sermon of our series on the Book of Acts, Pastor Josh explains the importance of authorial intent when interpreting God's Word, what the Book of Acts is not, and the 4 main themes of this second book written by Luke.

The Old Testament is often thought of as confusing, hard to understand, and difficult to follow. Sadly, that can be all but true if we don't know the full story. Thankfully, earlier this week, we realized that there is a cheat sheet to remember the stories leading to Jesus. This cheat sheet lies in the place many of us tend to skip—a genealogy.In this episode, we look at Matthew 1; Just as a movie trilogy has three parts, so too, does Matthew organize the Old Testament story into three parts that lead us to Jesus. By understanding this trilogy of sorts, it will allow us to better understand the Old Testament in deeper ways.

There are so many epic story themes in the movie Top Gun: Maverick - from love, to honor, courage and bravery, even sacrifice. Truth is, nothing moves the human spirit like the stories we see on our screens! But is there a spiritual point to the movies and shows we watch? In part 1 of Liquid Church's annual At The Movies series, Pastor Tim Lucas explores the Biblical themes and lessons behind the movie Top Gun: Maverick. There are actually 3 spiritual lessons we can observe from Top Gun: Maverick to become a relationship ace: Agape love for your enemies, Commit to pray for your enemies, and Extend forgiveness to those who hurt or disappoint you. "This message features short clips from the critically acclaimed film Top Gun:Maverick which was produced by Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media. No copyright is claimed for Top Gun: Maverick and we assert that use of the short clips within this sermon is permissible under fair use principles in U.S. copyright law.” At The Movies Series | Pastor Tim Lucas| Liquid Church #TopGun #Maverick #Spiritual #Bible #Movie #Gospel #God #AtTheMovies #LiquidChurch #TimLucas #Christianity #ChristianChurch

Forefront podcasters Rich, Cody, and Heather, plus returning guest Dan Becker, discuss all things Stranger Things. Note: the first 20 minutes are spoiler-free, but spoilers abound after that. 02:19 - When Did You Start Watching Stranger Things? 05:59 - What Made Stranger Things Successful? 20:08 - Spoilers Begin / What Did You Think of Season 4? 28:14 - Should Everyone Watch Stranger Things? 34:56 - Biblical Themes in Stranger Things 01:02:09 - Favorite Character / Which Song Would You Play?

In this episode, we take a deeper look at our Hymn of the Month, reviewing its doctrinal themes and intriguing hymn background. We also look at another hymn that teaches many of the same biblical truths. Enjoy! - KristenLinks & Resources:Learn how to share a hymn testimonial on the podcast here.Go to our HOM resource page here.Start your Hymns Illustrated membership here.Get your free devotional guide for the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation."Support the show

The final installment of our series on Biblical Themes! We wrap up by exploring the theme of the Messiah.

Join us for week 4 of our sermon series on Biblical Themes as Pastor Adam teaches on the theme of Holiness in the Scriptures!

Introduction Directions Back to the Lord Almighty Turn in your Bibles to James 4. We're looking this morning at this incredible passage in the Book of James. Last summer, I had the joy of going on a graduation trip with my son, Calvin. And the day that we were to leave was complicated for me because I was speaking at a conference in the New Jersey area, and I had to fly back to Raleigh, Durham and I was going to meet him and we were going to drive back up the Eastern Seaboard. Kind of inefficient, but it was exciting. We were looking forward to that. However, my flight was delayed, and then delayed, and then delayed some more so we got quite a late start. And as we drove that late afternoon and on into the evening, we were to have stayed at a hotel outside Philadelphia, but we were supposed to get there around 11 o'clock in the evening and it was actually two in the morning. And when we arrived at the location, there was no hotel or a motel or anything like it in that place. And so, there we were in the dark, outside Philadelphia. And thankfully I had my smartphone with me and there was an amazing device on there called the GPS navigational system, which many of us did not grow up with. We had to stop at gas stations and get maps. Some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about. The maps that would fold out. But now all you have to do is type in a location for the nearest motel where we could stay. And though we did not know anything about where we were, though it was dark, we didn't know the road we were on, we knew nothing, the device was able to navigate us from that situation to a safe destination. Relatively safe. I won't tell you about the motel; it was an interesting place. But we spent the night and we're fine. Got started early the next morning. For us, in the Christian life, the Christian life is a journey, and we are in the process of being sanctified. We're on a spiritual journey, and it is very likely that at some point we are going to stray from God. We're going to stray from Christ. You think about the hymn, “Come Thou Fount,” and I wrote at the lyrics while I was sitting in my seat and I remember them. So powerful. "Oh to grace, how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." How many of us who have been walking with the Lord a long time can say, “amen” to that line, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it." But when we wander, we're going to find ourselves, sometimes, in a place that's unfamiliar. And we're going to wonder, how will we get back? Is there a GPS navigation system? Is there a way whereby we can get out of that mess that we've sinned our way into, and find our way back? In Pilgrim's Progress Christian and Hopeful got off the path because they found, they thought, a better path alongside the way. And one of the basic rules of the road in Pilgrim's Progress is: Never leave the path. Every time they did, they got in trouble. And they ended up in the land of a giant called Despair, and they didn't know where they were and it was rainy, and it was windy, and it was dark, and as they tried to get back some other individual that was a minor part of the story, they didn't even know him, was ahead and he fell into a pit and died. And so they decided just hunker down, and they ended up having the worst trial they ever had. And what about you? If you can say, “amen” to that statement about your soul, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it," and you will sin your way into some great difficulty, how will you get back? And I want to commend to you the text that we're looking at today, as a way to get back to God. There are going to be specific steps James is going to tell you to take. And we are going to look at those steps today so that you can find your way back, through the grace of God, to a healthy walk with Christ. That may be your situation today. You may be saying, "Pastor, I feel like you've written this sermon exactly for me. I am in a bad place spiritually. I'm in a bad place. It's my own fault, but I'm in a difficult way. How do I get back to a healthy, joyful walk with God, where the fruit of God is at work in my life?" This text is for you. The Journey of the Christian Faith Now as I think about the Christian life, I think, as I said, about the journey of the Christian faith. I think about the Gospel and how privileged we are to understand the Gospel rightly, to have the Word of God unfolded for us. And for me, as a church historian, I know that a key moment in redemptive history was the moment that Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation and nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle, and that was the beginning of the Protestant reformation that reclaimed, that found again the Gospel, justification by faith alone apart from works of the law, which had gotten covered over by all kinds of false teachings and idolatries and superstitions. And just through the word of God. Now, the first of those 95 theses that Luther wrote, 95 theses were just concepts for debates that he wanted, and he put it up there on the door. That was a place like a public community bulletin board. And the first of the 95 theses reads this: "When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ said ‘repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” You don't just repent at the beginning of your Christian life, you repent and repent some more, and then you repent even more, and you keep repenting. Your whole life is a life of repentance. Now, justification is the beginning of the Christian life, the way by which a sinner is made right with almighty God, the way by which we are forgiven of our sins. And the Gospel is clear on this, we maintain, Romans 3:28, that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Not by works but by faith, we are forgiven, we are made right with God, always. But what kind of faith justifies? What Kind of Faith Justifies There are lots of different kinds of faith, and the Book of James is written, uniquely, to answer that question. As we saw in the second half of James 2. It's not dead faith, or useless faith, or fruitless faith, or demon faith that justifies. But there's a genuine faith worked in us by the Spirit of God that inevitably produces works in keeping with repentance. The fruit of good works that keeps with repentance. Now, I've said many times before, I find this to be a helpful statement: "Faith is the eyesight of the soul by which we see invisible spiritual realities, past, present, and future." Ephesians 1:18 mentions the “eyes of the heart.” "May the eyes of your heart be enlightened... " I think the eyes of the heart refers the ability of the heart to see spiritual things, that is faith. And saving faith, as I've studied it, has two sides to it. There is an attractive, beautiful side to what we see. The attractional side of faith. And there is a repulsive side to faith, and both are necessary for salvation. So, attractionally, we see the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God. We see in the face of Christ, the glory of God shining. We see his radiant beauty in his virtues and the attractions of his person. We see his love, his power, the perfection of his work and his death on the cross, we see to be glorious and beautiful and radiant. And we see his mighty resurrection from the dead. We see him, the author of Hebrews said, by faith we see him seated at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven. All of that's beautiful and attractive. Not only that, but we see Heaven, we see the glories of Heaven, we say how beautiful it will be. That's the attractional side of faith. But there's also a repulsive side to faith as well. And in that, we see ourselves. When we're justified, we see ourselves rightly for the first time. You see who you really are and it's repulsive. It's wretched. Like “Amazing Grace” said, "That saved a wretch like me." We see ourselves as genuinely, to the core, polluted by sin and depraved and sinful. And in that we see that we deserve to die for our sins, and that Christ's bloody death on the cross under the wrath of God was as a substitute for us. We deserved to die that death. We see that. So, that's what saving faith is. We see both sides of that. It's the eyesight of the soul. And as we go on in the Christian life, we see both of those things. If we're healthy in the Lord, and we're taking in the Word of God, we see both of them more and more and more clearly. So what's going to happen is, as you go on in a Christian life, you're going to see Jesus more and more beautiful, and more and more attractive. And you're going to see the holiness of the Christian life more and more attractive. You're going to see the beauty of Heaven more and more beautiful and attractive. But the flip side is you're going to see your own sin and you're going to hate it more and more. And you're going to say like with the Apostle Paul, after years of walking with Christ, "I am the chief of all sinners." I. The Need for Continual Repentance The Reality of Indwelling Sin So that's what's going on, and that's what I think James 4:1-12 is all about. We have the need for continual repentance displayed for us here. Now, not just Martin Luther in the 95 Theses, far more important is the Lord Jesus when he began his public ministry. And when he did, in Mark 1:15, he said, "The time has come, the Kingdom of God is near, repent, and believe the good news." So there's the negative and the positive side. Repent of your sins and believe the good news of forgiveness. Now that just begins at the moment of justification. The moment you're born again, that starts and then it continues. And why is that? Because of the reality of indwelling sin. The reality of indwelling sin. We have battling within us both beautiful good desires and corrupt evil desires. We have that indwelling sin. Paul said it most clearly at the end of Romans 7, and there Paul said, "I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is," listen to this, "sin living in me that does it." That is nasty. That's disgusting. Some time ago, I read an article on the body's immune system. They had remarkable scanning electron microscope pictures of viruses, and bacteria and other pathogens, the parasite that causes the disease malaria. And you could actually see it and it was disgusting. Imagine if you were shown all of the pathogens there were in your body right now, how much that would freak you out? Isn't it better not to know? As I've said to my wife before, as she talks to me about my diet sometimes, I said, "you gotta die of something." So that's not very satisfying to her, but I don't want to know. But here, Paul says, "sin living in me." And so we have these evil desires. Look at verses 1 through 4. This is a diagnosis. On the GPS journey, you have to begin by knowing where you are. Where are you spiritually? What's going on? The Effects: Fights, Quarrels, Worldliness Look what he says, "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something, but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. And when you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God. Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." So that's verse 1 through 4. And so James is writing to these local churches, and this is going on. Fights and quarrels among you. And then again at the end of the passage, verses 11-12, "Brothers do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him, speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you're not keeping it, but you're sitting in judgment on it. There is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able both to save and to destroy. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor?" So this is the kind of corruption that's going on in the hearts and minds of the people and in the church. And it comes in families, it comes between husbands and wives, between parents and children, between neighbors, between co-workers, between leaders in the church, pastors and elders and the people in the church. This is just going on, these battles, this corruption. And the root cause of all of this is what he says in verse 1, "your desires that wage war within you." We have conflicting desires. And we've already seen this in James. The reason for all temptation and then of sin, is lust, evil desires. James 1:14-15, "Each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. And then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death." So, it was Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount, that zeros in on the heart. What's going on in the heart? So he says, "you have heard that it was said, 'you shall not murder, and anyone murders is subject to judgment,' but anyone who is angry with his brother will be in danger of the fire of Hell.” So the root of murder, that James mentions here, is anger. A heart condition of anger. Jesus said the same thing about adultery, the root of adultery is lust, it's the internal desire of the heart. And so James says, "you kill and covet." So you're desiring, you're coveting, you're looking on your neighbor's life. Looking on your neighbor's wife, his house, possessions, his privileges, all of those things that he has, and you covet it and you want it. That's where the desire comes from. And he says, "you quarrel and fight." The bickering, the arguing, the brokenness in human relationships. It's amazing. If you look at the acts of the flesh in Galatians 5, which is right before the famous fruit of the Spirit, so many of those things are just person-to-person bickering. “Factions and divisions and dissensions and fits of rage.” There's all this relational brokenness. Prayerlessness James also zeros in on prayerlessness. Look at verse 2, he says, "you do not have, because you do not ask God." That's such a great verse, isn't it? It's like prayerlessness. Prayerlessness is a tremendous diagnostic. What things do we not commit to God in prayer? In those areas, we are self-reliant. We're not inviting God's wisdom in, we're not inviting God's power in. We're on our own, we're fine. For me, a matter of sanctification is to become prayerlessness in less and less areas of my life. I don't want to be prayerless when I drive, I don't want to be prayerless when I come to work, when I go home, when I sit, when I rise. I want to bring God into everything and lose this, this self-reliance, this arrogant self-reliance. And so, James says, "you do not have because you do not ask God." And then he says, even when you do pray, you don't receive. Look what he says in verse 3, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." So if I can just summarize verse 1 through three, James are saying, "you folks are seriously messed up." And we all are like this, we can't read that and say, "Well I'm glad that's not happening in our Church. I'm glad that's not happening in our family. Nothing like it. We are not like this at all." It just isn't so. We've got this sin problem. II. The Spirit’s Deep Longing for Our Repentance Our Worldliness is Spiritual Adultery Now we see the Spirit's deep longing for our repentance in all of this. The force taking hold of us and causing us to take that spiritual GPS journey back to righteousness is the Holy Spirit. Now, our worldliness, the Spirit is saying, is spiritual adultery. Look at verse 4, "you adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." So when we talk about being a friend of the world, that's not planet Earth with its populations of human beings, that's not what the world is. God loves the world and sent his only begotten Son, John 3:16. “The World” No, no. He's talking about the world system, the evil, corrupt, satanic, demonic system that pulls us away from God. The reason that our hearts are prone to wander, is because of the magnetic attraction that comes to us through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the boastful pride of life. That's 1 John 2, that's what the world is. And James calls it spiritual adultery. He calls them adulterous people. They're hankering after the world, they're claiming to be part of the Bride of Christ, but instead they're wandering in their minds after the world. They're a spiritually adulterous people. And he says, "you're aligning yourself with the enemies of God, those that are deeply hostile to his person.” They are setting themselves up to be God's enemies. You don't want God to be your enemy, but the people of the world think like enemies of God. “The mind of the flesh is hostile to God, that sinful mind, it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot,” Romans 8:7. So you're lining yourself up with that. The enemies of God. Now, Jesus one day will crush all those enemies. As the Father said to the Son, "Sit at my right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." You don't want to be Christ's enemy and God's enemies. At one time, we were his enemies, but we were rescued from the dominion of darkness and we have become like Abraham, God's friend, James 2:23. Well, how then can we now join in with Christ's enemies? How can we through worldliness become an enemy of Christ? Peter’s Betrayal Do you remember the night that Jesus was arrested? Do remember how, earlier that evening, Peter said, "I am, of all of your followers, I am the most loyal." he didn't say those words, but effectively, he did. “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” Remember? Remember the boasts he made? And Jesus said, "This very night before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he swore up and down that it would never happen. We remember what happened. Jesus orchestrated the escape of all of his apostles, that they should run away, John 18, he orchestrates that they should go away. "If you're looking for Me, then let these go." he wants them to go, because they're not ready to be arrested, not part of God's plan yet, and they all run away except one person, Peter. Follows at a distance because of all of his arrogant boasts. He tries to go into the courtyard where all of Jesus's enemies are, and there is a servant girl there at the door, remember? "You're not one of his disciples, are you?" "No, I'm not," there's his first one. And once you tell one lie, you're going to double down with another lie, and there he is standing with Jesus's enemies by a fire warming his hands. Even though Jesus had orchestrated his safe escape that very night, there he was standing with Jesus enemies and it gets worse and worse to the point where finally he calls down curses on himself if he even knows Jesus. I remember one preacher was talking about Peter that night, and he said he had warm hands and a cold heart. Standing with the enemies of Christ. We don't want to be like that, we don't want to be spiritual adulteresses. Hosea’s Unfaithful Wife Remember that tragic story of Hosea the prophet in the Old Testament? Remember that? Where God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute, a woman named Gomer, to model the agony that Almighty God was feeling over the nation of Israel's spiritual adultery, going after the Baals and the Ashtoreth. And so Hosea marries Gomer, and at one point God commands Hosea to go buy his wife back, to buy time with his wife, the prostitute. Hosea 3, it says, "The Lord said to me, go, show your love to your wife again even though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes. So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and a homer and lethek of barley." It's one of the most tragic verses in the Bible. “I had to go buy her.” "And then I told her, you are to live with me for many days. You must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man and I will live with you." So as I was memorizing Hosea, going through all that, I was like, "Lord, what are you saying to me? Who am I? Do you have to buy my affection with stuff or I will not follow you? Do I really love you, Jesus, the way I should, or am I wandering?" The Spirit Deeply Longs for Our Hearts And look at verse 5, this lines up exactly with what we're talking about from Hosea. "Do you think the scripture says without reason that the Spirit," I think we should capitalize that, like the Holy Spirit, "the Spirit that he caused to live in us envies intensely, or is jealous over us." He has a strong desire over us. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity who lives within us, deeply yearns over our hearts to love him. Remember how it said of God, in Exodus 34:14, "Do not worship any god, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God." he actually says, "One of my names is Jealous." One of my names is jealous. And so the spirit, if you're a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives within you, and if you wander into spiritual adultery, into worldliness, you wander into that, he yearns for you and is jealous over you and wants you back. He knows your heart, he knows your mind, he knows what you are made for. And you were made to worship God in your intellect and in your mind, to understand the story of God and to see the evidence of God, and to know and to have your heart go after him so that he would be uppermost in your affections. There would be nothing you love more than God, the triune God. That's what he yearns for. The Spirit Works in Our Hearts But we are by corrupted nature, idolatrous, and so we reverse the order. God is not uppermost in our affections anymore, some created thing, some creature, is. And that's the essence of idolatry, worshipping and serving the created thing rather than the Creator. And so he wants us, he yearns over us, that our hearts would be on fire for him, that we would love him and go after him, but the world creeps in and pulls us away. And so the Spirit works within our hearts. He works genuine fiery repentance and jealous love, and he will orchestrate, if you're one of the elect, and your straying, he will come get you and he will do things in your life. Hosea 2, Hosea, speaking about his wife, but then by way of allegory or analogy to Israel, "Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived her children in disgrace. She said, I will go after my lovers who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink. Therefore I will block her path with thorn bushes, I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers, but not catch them. She will look for them but not find them. And then she will say, I will go back to my husband, as at first, for then I was better off than now." Blocked in, walled in, still corrupted in the mind, and then she has no choice but to turn in a certain direction. Is that you? Does God have to buy your affections? Does your heart continually wander after the “lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life?” Do you act like an enemy of God? The text stands over all of us, when we sing, "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it," this is what the text is saying. Do we hate that? Do we say, "I don't want to live my life like that"? Is the Spirit filling your heart with a longing after God? So God, in his mercy, gives us the gift of continual grace for repentance. III. God’s Gift of Continual Grace for Repentance Look at verse 6, "He gives us more grace." Hallelujah. He gives us more grace. That is why scripture says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." To save us, God must give us more grace, and then more grace, and then after that, even more grace, and more grace, and more grace. And so we need a steady stream of that. And you need to say that in your mind, say, "Oh God, give me more grace. Fill me with grace." May there be grace to you through the ministry of the word of God. You need a steady stream of grace. Not like grace, born again, forgiven and done with grace. Not at all. You need a steady stream of God's sovereign grace every moment. Bunyan’s “Fire Against the Wall” In Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan's classic about the Christian life, there is this powerful image in Interpreter's house. He goes to Interpreter, and he gives him a bunch of allegories and stories that give aspects of the Christian life, and they're acted out, and you can learn things. Bunyan thought in pictures. And so there is this one allegory of the fire burning against the wall, and he said, "I saw in my dream that Interpreter took Christian by the hand and led him into a place where there was a fire burning against a wall." So, picture like a marble wall, and a marble hearth and a fire in it. It's burning. "And one was standing by it, always casting much water upon it to quench it. Yet did the fire burn higher and hotter." So picture this fire in a hearth and there's someone just pouring water on it, but the fire's not going out. Then said Christian, "What means this?" What does this mean? The interpreter answered, “'The fire is the work of grace that is wrought in the heart, and he the casts water upon it to extinguish it, and put it out, is the devil. But then that thou seest the fire not withstanding, burn higher and hotter, thou shalt see also the reason of that. So he had him around to the back side of the wall where he saw another man with a vessel of oil in his hand of the which he did also continually cast, but secretly, into the fire.’ Then said Christian, 'What means this?' The interpreter answered, ‘This is Christ, who continually, with the oil of his grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart by the means of which, not withstanding what the devil can do, the souls of his people prove more gracious still. And then that thou sawest that the man that stood behind the wall to maintain the fire, that is to teach thee that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of grace is actually being maintained in their souls.’" God Opposes the Proud but Gives Grace to the Humble So that's such a powerful picture. If you're born again, God lights a fire within you, a work of grace. And that fire is going to keep burning and there's nothing the world, the flesh and the devil can do to put it out, praise God. But the only way it doesn't get extinguished is more grace, and that's why James 4:6 says, "He gives us more grace." But he gives it to the humble. "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." I remember when I was teaching this verse to my kids and we used to do much more physical things that we do now. We used to play wrestling games until I broke a rib and then I retired. My kids were getting bigger and bigger and they just consistently won. The game was to get me off the couch within five minutes. That's all they had to do, just get me off the couch. It got pretty violent. Lamps were getting knocked over. It was not good. But I wanted to teach them God opposes the proud. So I stood in the way and I told them to go through a door, and I opposed them, and I was much bigger than they were at that point. They're much bigger than me now. But at that point. So you don't want God, Almighty God, opposing you. You don't want God, the omnipotent God, fighting you. But he gives grace to who? The humble. And so, the grace of God comes and makes you a spiritual beggar, makes you, like the beatitudes say, it makes you mourn over your sins, it makes you hunger and thirst for righteousness, it makes you humble. And so you are humbled by your sin, you're humbled by your condition, and you go toward Christ, you go toward God and you say, "Give me more grace," and he will. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And here we see the nature and fruits of true repentance. IV. The Nature and Fruits of True Repentance Nature and Fruit Intertwined: What God Commands He Works in Us When he's doing that, what does he do? He grants repentance, and he works in us repentance. God gives us what he commands. He commands us to repent, and then he works repentance in us. Now the commands given here could be given both to unsaved and saved people alike. If you're here today, and you are as yet not a Christian, these words can stand to you. And they say, "Submit yourself to God, take Jesus's yoke upon you and learn from him. Submit to his kingly reign, stop fighting him. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands in the blood of Christ, trust in him and you'll be forgiven." This is the Gospel invitation to anybody to believe in Christ. And so if that's you here today, then God brought you here by his grace to hear, for this moment, that all your sins can be forgiven. All you have to do is trust in him, apart from works, just by trusting in Jesus, all your sins will be forgiven. But these words are written to Christians and so we need to hear this too. And so, maybe you see worldliness creeping in. Maybe you've defiled yourself through some pattern of sin this week. Maybe you're locked in some addictive pattern. Perhaps you're a married couple constantly fighting and quarreling. Maybe you're a teenager, and you're rebelling or fighting against parental authority. Maybe you see an overall pattern of worldliness in your life where you're living for the things of this world and not for the things of God. And you say, "What do I do now, how do I get home?" James 4:7-10 tells you how, tells you what to do. Submit Yourselves Then to God First of all, submit to God. “Submit yourselves then to God.” Kneel before God as the king of your life. Kneel before him right now, in your hearts. Kneel before King Jesus. Take his yoke, his kingly yoke upon you, and stop fighting it. Maybe when you get home physically, literally kneel before him. Paul did. In Ephesians 3 he said, "For this reason I kneel before the Father." Sometimes we just, with our bodies, we want to say, "You are my King and I yield to you." So submit yourself to God. All salvation is of, in essence, bringing us into the kingdom of God and yielding to his kingly reign. Resist the Devil and He Will Flee From You Secondly, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Say no to what the devil is tempting you to do. Say no to the devil's schemes of temptation. Ephesians 6, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand in the day of testing." In the day of temptation you've got your armor on, you're going to say no to sin. Resist the devil. And then amazingly, he will flee from you, as though he's afraid of you. Friend, he's not afraid of you. He's not afraid of you at all. He is so much more powerful and experienced than you are. Is he afraid of something? Yes, he's afraid of Jesus. He's afraid of Jesus. We're going through men's Bible study on Thursdays. We just got to the account, you remember where Jesus drives out Legion, the legion of demons from the demoniac of the Gadarenes, remember that? And there's this demoniac breaking chains, literal chains that could not hold him. Naked, cutting himself with stones, howling at the moon, no one would go near him. He's terrifying, absolutely terrifying. And then he is terrified of Jesus. Begging Jesus, "Please don't torment us before the appointed time. If you drive us out, please send us into the herd of pigs." And Jesus just says, "Go," and they go. They are terrified of Jesus. So what ends up happening? You're resisting the devil, the devil's tempting you, the demons are assaulting you, you're being tempted and you say, "No. No, by God's grace, no." And then the Spirit of God gets around you and puts the devil to flight. I love the image and the promises in the Old Testament about Israel's armies. They will come at you in one direction and flee from you in seven. Isn’t that a great picture? And so putting the devil to flight, all you have to do is just put on the spiritual armor, and stay and stand firm in holiness, and say no, and he will put the devil to flight. "Come Near to God and He Will Come Near to You" And then, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." Our sins have made a separation. That's the distance. That's where the GPS comes in. We need to get back to God. We feel distant from him, and that distance is a spiritual reality. It says in Isaiah 59:1-2, "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear, but your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear." And so we feel distant from God. Well, then come near to him. Like one of the minor prophets said, "Take words with you." I love that. So what words? Psalms. "Well Pastor, do you have a Psalm in mind?" I actually do. Can I recommend Psalm 63:1-3? "O God, you are my God. Earnestly, I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld Your power and Your glory, because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." Say those things to God. "I feel so distant from you. Other things have crept in, and I've loved them. Now I want them out and I want the love of God in me. Your love is better than life, it's better than any created thing. I want to be close to you, oh Lord." Say that to him. Draw near to God. As it says beautifully in Jeremiah 29:13. "You will seek me and you will find me if you seek for me with all your heart." So I just commend Psalm 63:1-3 or some other passage like it, and just say that to God. And let your heart be heated up and you will find that he will draw near to you. "Wash Your Hands, You Sinners" And then he says, "Wash your hands, you sinners." We come to Christ's cleansing blood. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” So we get spiritually cleaned. But the hands are practical, they do things. The hands are attached to the heart and so we need clean hands and a pure heart, and so we purify our heart by the Word of God. But then, what about your habits? What about your behaviors? What about what you're doing? Wash. And you do that by holy resolutions and by living up to those holy resolutions. "Lord, I've been doing this, I'm not going to do this anymore. I'm going to fight that sin pattern. I'm going to wash my hands. I'm going to bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance. I'm going to put this sin out of my life. If my right hand is causing me to sin, I'm going to cut it off and throw it away. If my right eyes is causing me to sin I'm going to gouge it out and throw it away. Jesus told me to deal seriously with sin. I am going to wash my hands by the grace of God. I'm going to change the way I'm living." "Purify Your Hearts, You Double-Minded" And he says, "Purify your hearts, you double-minded." It ultimately comes to that. As I've already mentioned, the bottom line is, what are you doing? Double-mindedness is like, "I'm going after the world, I don't want to do that." So, what are you feeding in your mind? So feed on God's Word, meditate on scripture. Stop thinking those worldly thoughts. "Purify your hearts," he said, "you double-minded". And then, “Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” Long ago I stopped asking for a show of hands and sermons. I don't do that anymore, but if I were to ask for a show of hands, how many of you would say this is your favorite verse in the Bible? How many hands do you think? Well, this is my favorite: “Grieve, mourn and wail, change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom." It's nobody's favorite. Let me tell you something, it's part of the journey back. Grieve, Mourn, Wail We American evangelicals, we like a kind of Christianity lite. With chipper sermons designed to make you laugh and feel good about yourselves. John Piper is speaking of churches that try to create an atmosphere of bouncy Chipper, frisky, lighthearted playful worship. Well, that's not what James is talking about here. Not at all. Now, obviously we don't want a Christianity that would be characterized by these words. Morose, gloomy, sullen, dark, heavy, solemn. Jesus did come to bring us joy unspeakable and full of glory. And we're going to a place where there will be for all eternity no death, mourning, crying or pain. We will not spend a moment in Heaven grieving, mourning and wailing over sin. None. But we're not there yet, dear friends. We're not in Heaven yet. And sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is to join the Holy Spirit in grieving over your sin. Join the Holy Spirit in grieving over your sin. Do you realize the third person of the Trinity grieves over sin? It says in Ephesians "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God with whom you're sealed for the day of redemption." It says in Isaiah 63:10, concerning Israel, "They rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit." And so what happens is, we're going along, we get tempted and we have the temporary pleasure and joy of sin, but the Holy Spirit is immediately, instantaneously grieved. So we're up here in terms of the happiness thing, and he's down here and grieving over us. Then by the power, the sovereign power he exerts over the redeemed, he pulls you down to his level of happiness, which is grief, and then together, you go back up to the joy of the Lord. "Restore to me the joy of my salvation," David said. And so he does that. But there's a process. “Grieve, mourn, wail. Change your laughter to mourning and joy to gloom.” Don't go too quickly to feeling good again after you've sinned. Take the time to go and think and pray, and say, "God, would you please show me what you felt about my sins? Show it to me. And I will join you and grieving over it." Do you remember when the Lord was working with Peter that very night? Do you remember? And after he had disowned him for the third time, the rooster crowed and the light went on, remember? And at that exact moment, in Luke's Gospel, Jesus was being moved from one place to another on his night of trials, and he had the opportunity, sovereignly ordained by God, to look right at Peter, right as a rooster was crowing. What do you think that did to Peter? It must have been like a javelin thrown through his heart. And you know what he did, we know what he did. He went outside and wept bitterly. And after the resurrection of Jesus, he pulled Peter aside and asked him, "Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me?" And it says in the text, Peter was hurt because he asked him a third time. "Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you." he said, "Then, feed my sheep." Was he intending to hurt him? In one sense, yes, but not as an ultimate end. But to cause him to repent and to turn away, because someday he would be martyred for Jesus and he had to lose that fear of death and fear of man and preach boldly and he had to be healed from his sin. And so, humble yourself before the Lord. Humble yourself, like the tax collector. Stand off at a distance, beat your breast and say, "Be merciful to me, oh God, a sinner." And you will go home justified. You'll be forgiven, you'll be restored. And then it says plainly, "He will lift you up." Humble yourself before the Lord and he'll lift you up, he'll fill you with joy, he'll give you the peace of justification, he'll give you the joy of your salvation again. Prayer Close with me in prayer. Father, you have taught us here in these verses, you've taught us the way back. And there are some of us here today that know immediately, they know directly what you're talking about. They feel it in their hearts, they know that they're sinning. They know that there's a pattern of sin that's corrupting them. And you are working by grace that the fire of grace would not go out in their hearts, that Satan's pouring water on it, but you will not let it go out. Father, I pray that if there's a brother or sister here that needs to just take these verses and go quietly into a room somewhere and kneel down and pray, step-by-step, until they have been restored to you, Oh God, give them strength to do it. Thank you for the Word. Thank you for its truth. In Jesus's name, Amen.

Introduction Jesus’ Parable of the Hidden Treasure My sermon title is, “Joyful Perseverance in Trials Produces Spiritual Maturity.” Jesus told a parable saying, that, “the kingdom of Heaven is likened to treasure hidden in a field. And when a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy, sold everything he had and bought that field.” There is no more precious commodity in this world than salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the most precious thing that there is, and it is real. We, who are Christians, we know that that salvation is real because God is real. Though we cannot see Him, we know that He created the universe and by faith we understand that, and by faith we know that Heaven is real, and that salvation is real. But what if our claim to that treasure, what if our claim is counterfeit? That man went out and sold everything he had and bought that field, but imagine he bought it from a fraudulent salesman and that the title deed he had to that field was fraudulent. What if it was a fake? Speaking more directly, how can we know that our faith in Christ is genuine? How can we know that we have the kind of faith that will save our souls? There are frauds. Fraudulent Faith There are counterfeits in everything. You can think of fake rolexes. You can think of even fake hiking and mountaineering equipment. I saw in Nepal, there were name brands, and the name was spelled slightly differently than I'd seen before. They have WcDonalds in China where the M is upside down. And so there are fraudulent things. Probably the most lucrative fraudulent businesses is in art. I was reading recently of a painting that was sold supposedly from the 16th century, a painting of Saint Jerome, and it was so realistic looking at had actual cracks of age that followed a certain pattern that was characteristic of the 16th century, it was that accurate. But the painting sold for almost a million dollars contained some pigments, some chemicals that were impossible to be from the 16th century. In the end it was exposed as a fraud. Now, the art collector that bought that was out $860,000. We're talking about something infinitely more valuable than that. We're talking about your eternal soul. We're talking about, whether you'll spend eternity in Heaven or in Hell. And therefore it is vital for us to know whether our claim to Christ is fake or genuine. Some have told me before, and we're going through the Sermon on the Mount, in men's Bible study on Thursday. And one of the scariest passages in the Bible, is in Matthew 7 where Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But only those who do the will of my Father, who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles.' And then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evil doers.'" People tell me that's a scary verse for them because they are aware of the possibility of being self-deceived, they're aware of the possibility of a fraudulent faith, and I think that's a good thing. Be Willing to Evaluate Yourself The New Testament encourages us to evaluate ourselves to test ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless, of course, you fail the test." So we are told by 2 Corinthians 13, and many other passages to evaluate our faith, to test ourselves, to not make assumptions. Now, the consistent answer the New Testament gives to the question, “How can I know if my faith is genuine?”, is the issue of fruit, or works. There's different ways of saying it, but it's the same answer. If there is fruit, genuine fruit, then there is genuine life. If there is not genuine fruit, there is not genuine life. Then you may wonder "Well, what fruit, should I be looking for? What is the fruit that God wants to see in my life?" Again, the Lord has not left us as orphans on that question, He has told us what He wants us to be and do. The New Testament defines the healthy Christian life. But one book in particular, zeroes in on good works as proof positive of the kind of faith that saves and that is the book we're about to study the Book of James. The Practicality of James Now James is a book that's hard to synthesize into one overarching theme. It actually reads somewhat like a Christian book of Proverbs, taking on various topics and sometimes even it seems changing the subject, and now we're on to another topic and it's hard always to connect the dots. It's a very practical book. However, one could argue that the theological center of the book is in James 2. A James 2:14 says this, "What good is it my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds, can such a faith save him?" It's an interesting phraseology in that translation, "Can such faith save him?" That kind of faith. “Can that faith save him?” So, what that raises is the question of, “What kind of faith is genuine, what kind of faith saves souls?” And James says there in that chapter, the faith that produces good works will save your soul, but the faith that does not produce good works is not a genuine faith. It is a dead faith, it's a demon faith, it's worthless. And he'll go through all that in Chapter 2. So it is a diabolical thing to be deceived by Satan, for Satan to lie to us about our true spiritual condition. But to some degree, it's even more diabolical when he enlists us in that process where we deceive ourselves, where we lie to ourselves about what's really going on. And so, the whole Book of James is written, I think to help us not do that, to expose fraudulent faith while there's still time to do something about it, to show us what the kind of faith that saves our souls really looks like, and this first sermon will fit right into that as we look at joyful perseverance, in trials, and how that will prove faith to be genuine. I. An Introduction to James: The Man and His Letter (vs. 1) Who is this James? So let's begin with an introduction to James both the man and his letter. That would be the first heading in my outline and look at verse 1, "James a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations. Greetings". So who is this James? Well, there are four James’ mentioned in the New Testament. Two of them we can remove right away, that leaves James, one of the 12 Apostles, the brother of John one of the three inner circle with Jesus. The problem is that he was the first martyred among the apostles. And so, would have died too, soon, I think, to write this letter. Most scholars zero in on James, the half-brother of Jesus. Now Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born, but she did not remain so. She and Joseph had a normal healthy married life, and so she gave birth to other children. And at one point, Jesus's enemies in Nazareth say of Jesus, "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't His mother's name Mary? And aren't his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us?” So, there's clear textual proof that Mary had other children. Now they would have been half-brothers and sisters of Jesus because only Jesus had God as His true father while they all had Joseph as their father but the same mother. James’ Journey of Faith Now this man, James, had a journey of faith. It's very plain in John Chapter 7, and 5 that Jesus brothers did not believe in Him while He was ministering, they did not believe in Him, John 7:5. However, after the resurrection of Jesus, James is there with his brothers, and Mary in the upper room, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. So what happened? What changed? Well, I believe 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 7 makes it plain, that Jesus, as Paul's going through the evidence of the resurrection on how Jesus appeared to Peter and then to the 12, and then to 500 people. It says after that, He appeared to James. So think about that, a private appearance by the Lord of the universe, to you. And at that point there's no doubt in James’ mind who Jesus was. And his role as biological brother Jesus just disappears is not important. It was a historical note of some interest, but what really mattered is that Jesus was James' savior, and James believed in Him, became a genuine follower of Christ, and became a leader in the church in Jerusalem, became what Paul calls in Galatians chapter 2, a pillar of that church, in Acts 15, he led the Jerusalem Council as they discussed the role of circumcision for the Gentile converts. James was a leader, a pillar of the church in Jerusalem. So that I believe is the author of this book, the half-brother of Jesus. Who is He Writing To? Now, who is he writing to? Well, he's the leader of the Jewish church in Jerusalem. These were Jews who had come to a genuine faith in Christ, but he writes, he says to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations. Now the Jews were very aware of the scattering that went on after the exiles. They were the exiles by the Assyrians and the Babylonians, and they were scattered throughout the Gentile world. So that would have been the Roman, the Greco-Roman world, and they could have just been in the diaspora, the scattering at that point, or there might have been a specific scattering that happened with Jewish Christians. As we learn in John Chapter 9, that the Jewish authorities had already decided while Jesus was still ministering that if you believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised by God, you would be kicked out of the synagogue as the blind man that was healed was. Kicked out of the synagogue, by believing in Jesus. And so what that would mean for you economically as you couldn't carry on a business if you're a tradesman or craftsman or a merchant. No one would buy your wares. They wouldn't sell to you, you'd be ostracized financially, and so you would become poor, poverty-stricken, and you might have had to flee from Palestine, from Jerusalem just for economic reasons. So we don't know for certain why they were scattered, but it might have been those reasons as well. II. Joyful Perseverance in All Trials (vs. 2-4) The Suffering of Trials Now, in verses 2-4, we get to the first urging the James gives. Joyful perseverance, in all trials, that's my heading of the second part. Joyful perseverance in all trials, verses 2-4. Look at the verses, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, Perseverance must finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." So we come to the issue of the suffering of trials of afflictions. And so, the first test of the Christian faith is how you respond to trials. Remember the parable of the seed in soils and only the genuinely rooted, grounded in the true soil of a noble and right heart endures and perseveres and bears fruit. But there is that rocky soil that as soon as any trouble comes because of the Word they quickly fall away. So, falling away is a clear evidence that the faith is not genuine. So how do you behave in trials? Now James does not specify what sorts of trials he's talking about, he just says trials of any kind. Anything you find difficult anything that afflicts you, that crosses you, that you find challenging, we could, as Christians, put those into two categories. Those afflictions and trials that are common to the human race that we share with all human beings, and then those things that are specifically focused on our Christian testimony. So the first would be sickness, injury, pain, accidents, the death of loved ones, poverty, financial challenges, economic issues, natural disasters, troubles in the family, difficulties in the family, or conflicts at the workplace, or in the neighborhood where you live, these are common to all people. They just have to do with us living in a sin-cursed world. Everybody has to face those. And the world needs us Christians to be evidently, clearly filled with hope at times like that. When we get that diagnosis of cancer that we would have a radiant hope that we're going to live forever. And it's a hope that the other people with the exact same malady, the same diagnosis but not the same faith, not the same Lord have to go through alone stripped of any hope that they would see in you, a hope that they have no earthly answer for, they have no understanding of why, what's the root system of that hope. And they might ask you to give a reason for the hope that you have as 1 Peter 3:15, says. They need you to be evidently filled with joy and hope. But then there are also trials that come because of our Christian testimony as well. Afflictions and persecutions that come some more in other parts of the world than in this one, where there's religious freedom. Persecution, economic isolation as I mentioned already with the Jews there in Palestine, a boycotting confiscation of property, loss of personal freedom, incarceration, and perhaps even martyrdom in very rare cases. Jesus said these trials, must come really of both categories. They must come. John 16:33, Jesus said, "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world." Trials Will Come So it's a new year, 2020. Doesn't feel like a year name to me, I'm still not used to that, but it's a new year. And who knows what will come, but I can tell you this, congregation of 500 plus people, there's going to be a lot of suffering in this community over the next 12 months, but we don't know what it's going to be, but isn't it a beautiful thing to not have to go through that alone, to not have to go through that alone. The more faithful we are in our Christian witness, the bolder we are in our Christian testimony, the more trouble we're going to have in this world. It says in 2 Timothy 3:12, "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." And so the bolder we are in testimony, the more persecution. That's in our context. In other contexts, like in North Korea, just to be a Christian, just to assemble together, you have to be watching at all times, for the governmental police, the authorities to come in, or in the controlling government of China, same kind of thing, where brothers and sisters are arrested frequently, or in the fundamentalist Islamic states like Iran and Saudi Arabia where our brothers and sisters live under the constant fear of persecution from Muslim family and friends and neighbors and the authorities, or the fiercely nationalistic situation among Hindus in India, persecution comes much more vigorously in those places. Well, James is not specific about the trials. He speaks of trials of various kinds. Whatever they are, expect them, they will come. And he actually uses this language, "Whenever you fall into trials of various kinds." Sometimes it feels that way, doesn't it? You're just moving along in your life and then suddenly you're in a dark pit, metaphorically, you're in a dark pit. And how did I get here? And the light seems so distant, and you're injured by the fall, and you're there wondering, what to do, how to get out of it, what to do next, when ever you fall into trials of various kinds that are going to come. Now, we should understand that our heavenly Father's quick carefully orchestrating all of these things, isn’t that encouraging? You don't fall into anything. It's not an accident, it's not like you're going to God in prayer, and He's saying, "Wow that happened to you. Wow, I wasn't watching at the time." God actually carefully orchestrates our trials and temptations “lest we be tempted beyond what we can bear” as we've already learned, in 1 Corinthians 10. But God is orchestrating these things. Our Response to the Trial is Everything The thing is you can't control it. You can't control your life's circumstances, the only thing you can control is your response, your attitude, your demeanor, and what James says is that you are to, “consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Literally, “all joy.” Consider it all joy, or joy through and through, joy straight through. Now, we should not think that James is saying that we should minimize it like it's not happening. That would be weird, it would not be a good witness. It's like, "Do you not understand what's happening to your loved one, what the diagnosis is?" “Well, no. Now I am happy all the day!” No, it's a real rooted, grounded awareness like in Romans 4. Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about a 100 years old and that Sarah's womb was also dead. They did not waver through unbelief. So you know what's going on, you're aware of it. And you take I think the eternal perspective. I think exactly like the attitude that Jesus had about the cross in Hebrews 12:2, "We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfect or of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God." What was the joy that was set before Him? I'll tell you what it was. It was us, a multitude of the redeemed from every tribe and language and people and nation, won by His suffering, won by His blood to eternal joy and bliss in His presence. That was the joy that was set before Him. The cross was still physical and spiritual agony. But there was a joy beyond it. I think we're supposed to see it the same way. These trials that are coming are working in us and for us, “an eternal glory that far outweighs them all,” Paul tells us in Corinthians, that's the joy. So we have joyful faithful submission then to the trial. What Joyful, Faith-filled Submission to Trials Produces What does that produce? Well everything starts with knowledge. Look at verse 3, "Knowing that the testing of your faith develops perseverance", or endurance. The testing of your faith, that's the testing, the trying, the assaying of it to separate out the true gold from the fool's gold. So there's assaying, but there's also a purifying of our faith. Now, the trial reveals our faith to be the true thing if we stand firm through it and are not cast away. So, if we stand firm. More than that, however, the actual process of the suffering of the trial produces a stronger faith. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen,” so what happens is we become more reliant on the invisible God, more aware of the presence of the invisible Christ, more mindful of the invisible death of Jesus centuries ago on the cross for us, more mindful of the invisible New Heaven and New Earth that are coming, more mindful of the glory that we will have in our resurrection bodies. All of these invisible realities become much more intense, stronger, if we walk well through the trial and the affliction. That's its purpose. Just like some of you have begun a time in the health center and the weight rooms, because it's January, after all. And so you're on the treadmill and you're working the weights, and you're working off whatever it is you may have eaten in the last part of last year. And you're working the muscles, and the weights oppose the motion, and cause the muscles to get stronger, and so these circumstances cross you and oppose you, and cause your faith to get stronger. Now, what is the end of a Christian endurance? It says in verse 4, "Let endurance have its full effect so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." So as we stay steady, under God's working, steady under His hand. He will work on your souls. There's a clear grammatical insight here that some translations omit. “Let endurance have its full effect.” You're being told to allow endurance to work in you or even better, “Let God do His work in you.” Stay calm and steady under His surgical touch. Imagine a situation where someone has a serious gash somewhere in their body and they're away from medical treatment, but there happens to be a doctor, a skilled doctor there with the necessary tools to disinfect the cut and to sew it up. But imagine the person is skittish and flinches and twitches and yells at the doctor and pushes the doctor away. The doctor is like, looking around saying, "Someone strap him down. You got to hold your hand steady, so I can help you." And so, if we're like that spiritually, and you're going through the trial, it will not have the right effect in your soul. “Let God do His work in you.” That's what it's saying in Verse 4. And what does perseverance produce? Well, one translation says that you'll be “perfect.” I think a better translation is “mature.” We're not going to be perfect in this life, but the word is more Christ-like. That these trials will produce Christian virtues in you, the fruit of the Spirit, love. You'll be more loving if the trial does its work in you. More patient, more joyful, more hopeful, bolder, more compassionate to others that suffer like you are. It just makes you more like Christ. It conforms you, and these things do not happen automatically. They happen because God is working, and what happens is there's a feedback loop here, where you start to realize "I'm not going to fall away. I love Jesus more now than I did six months ago, I'm real, I'm a real Christian. And that proven character, Romans 5 says is the ground of my hope. I know I'm going to Heaven when I die, because of how I reacted how I responded. I'm actually more in love with Jesus, more strong in Him that I was before the trial. Praise God, I'm real, I'm genuine, I'm going to Heaven." And so, that's what happens with endurance, and you'll see it says “mature and complete, not lacking anything.” So my geeky engineering mind at one point turned that whole thing around. Well, I guess what that means is, without the trials we'll be immature, incomplete, and lack things. Exactly! And that's how we start in the Christian life. We're immature, we're incomplete, we lack some things that we need. Justified, yes, forgiven adopted. But you need to grow up. And the only way that's going to happen is with trials. III. Seeking Wisdom from a Generously Wise God (vs. 5-8) Now in Verses 5 through 8, he turns to the topic of wisdom. Look at those verses, it says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That man shall not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He's a double-minded man unstable in all he does." So my third heading is, “Seeking Wisdom from a Generously Wise God.” A Timeless and Universal Promise Now I think these verses, verses 5-8 give a timeless universal principle, that you can use at all times, whether you're suffering or not. But I also think it's helpful to see them in context too. So I think we'll do both. First, you just need to ask God for wisdom more than you do. You should not say, "Well, some days I like wisdom, but other days I'm perfectly fine when it comes to wisdom." You can imagine your Heavenly Father saying, "Are you sure there's nothing you might, no insights you might need from Me?" But that would just pose Him as a counselor, He's more than that. He's your king, and you're not your own you're bought at a price, and so you should, in your daily morning quiet time, be asking your king what He wants you to do today? You should go to Him for wisdom. God, what should I do today? What should I do next? You should have this incredible humility about you saying, "I lack wisdom, I lack wisdom, I lack wisdom and you're just going in God, the Ancient of Days, who knows you from your mother's womb, who knows everything that's going on, He will give you wisdom about anything. And so, we always need wisdom. But then there are those big moments in life. Should I marry this person? Should I take this job? Should we move to this city? Should I go on this mission trip? Should I contribute to this or that or the other Christian ministry, and how much? There's so many things. What are my spiritual gifts? What ministry should I do with my spiritual gift? There's a lot of those big moments. The Purpose of Wisdom in a Trial But we also, I think, should see these verses in context. James said that, "If you stand firm and are steady you will be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Next verse, "If anyone lacks wisdom." So there seems to be a link between verse 4 and 5. So verses 2-4 is all about afflictions. I think that fits very, very well in terms of the afflictions. One of the number one questions that comes up when we're in afflictions, is, "Why is this happening to me?" Whenever you're facing pain and suffering, "I don't understand God why you're doing this to me?" "Why is God not hearing our prayer for the healing of our little girl? Why not?" Or even "Why did you take her from me,” if in the end she dies? "Why is this chronic ailment in my life not responding with the treatment when usually it responds well in other cases?" Or in persecuted countries, “Why do the wicked prosper? Why are the wicked in charge? And then our Godly pastor got arrested last month, and he's being tortured and we have to hide from the authorities. Why is this happening?" Or, "Why in a natural disaster did you allow our home to be destroyed and then those homes were spared?" It doesn't seem to make any sense. And so, if you are in affliction and trials of various kinds, you should bring your questions to God, you should ask Him for wisdom and He will give it to you. He'll tell you why you're going through this trial. Very clear example of this is Paul's thorn in the flesh. Remember in 2 Corinthians 12? Paul talks about some incredible vision he had, where he was caught up to the third heaven and he saw indescribable things. He saw heaven, he saw God on His throne. But then the next thing he says, "To keep me from being conceded because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I sought the Lord that it be removed from me, and He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness', therefore I will boast in my weaknesses." You see what's happened there? He didn't know why this thorn in the flesh, this messenger of Satan had come to him. He was told, "It's to keep you from being arrogant Paul, it's to keep you humble, to keep your feet nailed to the ground after you ascended to heaven and saw heavenly the things you're not allowed to talk about.” And you're like, "Wow would Paul ever become prideful arrogant?" All of us are prideful. We all, we all could be conceded and Paul needed that help, he needed the pain, the suffering, that God did not heal. So, he's healing other people but he's not healing himself, but he had understanding. "Alright, I get it. My strength is made perfect in weakness. I'll keep praying I'll keep trusting, I'll walk in agony and in pain until God chooses to heal it, or until I die." But he got the insight, he got the wisdom of what the reason for it was. And God doesn't tell everything in this world, but He gives you enough wisdom. Seeking Guidance for Your Lives Now you need to seek guidance in your life more than you do. I do too. We are so independent aren't we? We're like, "I know what to do, I got this one, God. I know exactly what to do." If any of you lacks wisdom, it's like, "Well that's not me, I'm on it, I know what I'm doing." But when big decisions come along many decisions we need some guidance don't we? Now, I could give you the guidance of the famous philosopher, Yogi Berra, the catcher for the Yankees. He said, "Whenever you come to a fork in the road, take it." I don't find that incredibly helpful. I guess, at least I know I'm not turning back, so at least that. But I don't know, right or left, but God wants us to express our dependence on Him. He has searched us to know us. He knows all the days ordained for us, He knows exactly what way we should take and He wants us to ask Him. And then we hear in Isaiah 30, in verse 21, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” Don't you see the gift that is from God? You won't have no idea what to do in life. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God. But when you ask, you should believe and not doubt. You should believe that God will give you the wisdom. He'll tell you what to do, He will guide you.” So you're asking has to be in faith, because if not, then James says, you're a double-minded person, you're going back and forth. You believe, you don't believe. You believe, you don't believe. You're acting like a believer, then you're acting like God doesn't exist. James also, later in chapter 4, uses double-minded people to speak of those that are worldly. They're after the world's golds, the world's applause, the world's power and position. And so you're not getting wisdom because in James 4, "You're asking, but you're not receiving because you're asking wrongly. You're asking like a double-minded person." And so you have to go as a faith-filled disciple of Christ and He will give you the wisdom that you need. Seeking Wisdom by Faith Now how does He do that? Well, He gives it through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God's direct minister to you, to guide you in your life. Now the Spirit speaks primarily through the scripture. The more you study the word of God, the more you memorize Scripture, the more tools the Holy Spirit will have to get specific in your life and guide you and you'll know what to do. You'll know the big picture of what God is doing in the world and you'll know details about spiritual gifts, or various ministries. You'll just know what to do more and more. Even then there's some things that are pertinent to you, and the Holy Spirit will guide you by counsel from friends, disciplers, men and women that speak wisdom into your lives, and you also have internal impressions. Be careful about those internal impressions. I've studied them for my entire Christian life. When I got down on my knees and asked the Lord in my PhD office at Southern Seminary, "Should I come to Durham as pastor, senior pastor of this church?" I felt that I needed an answer. I felt that the search committee needed an answer. It was only polite to give them an answer. “God I met the fork in the road, what do you want me to do?" And I had a strong impression to come here. Now, here's the thing about impressions. They're from one of three sources. They're from God through the Holy Spirit, they are from the devil as he deceives us and they're from you as you talk to yourself. And some of the wisdom you give yourself is pretty good. And some of it isn't. I remember once seeing a man wearing this t-shirt saying, "I do whatever the voices in my head tell me to do." That's not the way to go. But we need to believe that God is able to guide us in those key moments well, without becoming erratic and strange following voices in our heads. IV. Temporary Wealth vs. Eternal Wealth (vs. 9-11) Verses 9-11 in Connection with the Rest of the Chapter Now in verses 9-11, James addresses temporary versus eternal wealth. To some degree, you could almost see a seam here, is there's a whole, new topic. James is like that. Sometimes we don't know, are we getting to a whole new issue now that he brings up? But I think it's possible even here to see some points of connection. Look at Verses 9-11, "The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position." By the way, that's not talking about Andy Winn preaching on the third floor. I told him that this morning. He said, "It's right in the text." I said, "Bad exegesis." So he's in the high position. We're in the low position. Tell him what I said about that whenever you see him. "The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position because he will pass away like a wild flower, for the sun rises with scorching heat, and whithers the plant its blossom falls, its beauty is destroyed in the same way the rich man will fade away, even while he goes about his business." So what is the connection? It could be that the connection is just economic suffering that the Jewish Christians are doing, that they're poor. They're poor. They can't make a living they've had to flee their homes in Palestine, and they're in new cities and people even then aren't really buying their wares and they're suffering, they're struggling, they're poor. And as with the advice he's going to give, I think this section is best to read it as rich and poor Christians except toward the end. Whereas in James Chapter 5, the rich are clearly oppressors who are murdering people, that's a different matter. So I think it's best to read this as rich Christians, and poor Christians except at the end, he changes just a little bit. Eternal vs. Temporal Wealth In any case, we should all have an eternal perspective on physical, material wealth. Its advantages yes, but it's limitations. And so both poor and rich, Christians need to be very clear on the limitations of earthly wealth. Poor Christians need to realize that the money and the possessions that they lack in this life are actually a very limited value. The poor can be led by their circumstances, into bitter coveting, bitterness against God, tempted even toward crime, they can become materialistic, and this will only make their trial in poverty much worse. James says that poor Christians should focus on their exalted position as adopted sons and daughters of the living God and heirs of Heaven. That's their true wealth. They're storing up there in Heaven, every day by their faithful service. Set their minds on things above and things to come, not on earthly wealth, because it's not going to help their lives as much as they think it is. They should boast. "Let the wise man, not boast in his wisdom, or the rich man boast in his wealth or the strong man boast in his strength, but let him who boast, boast in this, that He knows me." Jeremiah 9. And so, boast in God, boast in Christ, boast not in your material situation because it's nothing. It's dust in the wind. That's what he's saying. Conversely then, rich Christians should focus on their humiliation as Christians in this life. They serve a Lord who was rejected by society, who was cast out from Jewish society, who was crucified outside the city gates. And the author to Hebrews there invites us to stand under the bloody cross and join with Him in suffering the reproach of the name of Christ. So you can see how rich Christians, might have business connections which would be jeopardized if they're very honest about their Christian confession. Rich Unbelievers Fade Away in the Midst of Business Don't do that. Don't do that. Be humble in this world as a Christian. Be willing to be named by the name Christian, and take whatever comes. Now rich unbelievers, I think he shifts a little bit there. He says, "The rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business." It's like Isaiah 40 says, "All flesh is like grass and all their glory is like the flower of the field, the grass withers, and the flowers fall, when the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are like grass. “The grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” And so, those rich people we know we hear stories, they're going about their business. They're just moving along and then suddenly they grab their chest and fall dead. Or suddenly there's a car accident, or suddenly some other malady, a sudden fever, something comes and then they're gone, even while they're going about their business, they're dead. Proverbs 11:4, says, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, the righteousness delivers from judgment." So wealth isn't going to help you spiritually, in this world and it's certainly not going to help you on Judgment Day because the Judge of all the earth cannot be bribed. He judges justly. He judges to the glory of God. Well, verse 12 wraps up this whole first section, "Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because when he is to the test, he will see the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." So that goes back to the issue of perseverance under trial. Sums up this whole section. Speaks of blessing of eternity on you. If you persevere, look what you're going to get. You're going to get a crown of life, that God's going to hand you and that really is just eternal life, just being alive forever and ever, but also the rewards of your faithful labor. He will give it to you, if you love Him. And you love His appearing. Application Get Prepared for Your Last Day on Earth So, applications. First and foremost, just all I can say to you is come to Christ, come to Christ. This week some of you know my mother died. Don't have any clear assurance that she was a Christian. Had the opportunity, the responsibility of preaching the Gospel to my unsaved family. Many of you prayed for me in that regard. About two months ago, my mother asked me, "How can I prepare to die." Coming from a mother that had never made a testimony of faith in Christ, I looked on that as a golden opportunity. Probably the 100th time I could have shared the Gospel with her, but it was a gift to me, and I said, "Mom I want you to think about the thief on the cross, when Jesus died, he didn't die alone, but two other thieves were crucified with Him. And they began insulting and reviling Jesus, but at one point, one of them realized what was happening, and he stopped and he said, 'Don't you fear God?' He said that to his other thieves, 'Seeing we are into the same judgment. And we're only getting what we deserve, but this man here, Jesus has done nothing wrong.' And then he turned to Jesus and said, 'Remember me when you come in your kingdom.' To be able to see, in a crucified dying man, a coming King is a gift of faith. He already had faith. He hadn't done any good works. He couldn't. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. But by simple faith in Jesus, he was able to be saved to have all of his sins forgiven, and to spend eternity with God in paradise.” I said, "Mom. That's how you get ready to die." I said those exact same words at the grave site on Monday. Do Not Assume Your Soul is Secure My desire is that any of you that came in here today, unsaved that you will hear the wise words that James is giving and understand what God is doing, and the ultimate gift of salvation, and trust in Christ. For those of you that are already Christians, just test your faith to see if it's genuine. Don't assume. Just say, "Lord, what is the fruit of my life? What's happening in my life. Is there fruit? Are there good works? Do I see that in my life?" Don't just assume. And especially zero on how you respond to trials and afflictions. Many of you have expressed a desire to be more evangelistic. It could be that God will make you more evangelistic by putting you into suffering on a platform of suffering, so that other people who have the exact same diagnosis as you can see how you behave and will ask you to give a reason for the hope that you have. Suffer Well Suffer well. Suffer well to the glory of God. And just generally, if I can urge you, in the year 2020, seek wisdom from God more than you've ever done it before. I would just say every day in your quiet time, just get up and say, "You're my King. I'm not my own, I'm bought at a price. What do you want me to do today?" And then listen, and let Him guide you by His Scripture, and by His word. And finally, to wealthy Christians, which is all of us who are Christians. We are amazingly wealthy. Let's realize the limits of our material wealth. Let's be generous, let's give to the needy. Let's give more than we've ever given before realizing our true wealth is Heaven. It is a benefit for us to have material blessings, but let's be generous and faith-filled with it and realize, either way, we're going to fade away, or pass away when the Lord says. Let's be ready for that by faith in Christ. Prayer Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for the time we've had to be here. I thank you for all of the gifts of the spiritual gifts of this church. I thank you for the love that me and my family received from this church. I thank you for the gifts of those that like Wes and his team are so excellent leading worship, I thank you for those who are so good at logistics to be able to plan this whole double worship service with such skill. Lord, I pray that in 2020, we would more than ever before walk in wisdom asking you what to do and seeking Your guidance. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.