Scripture: James

We can grow so used to the gifts of God that we forget their wonder. In Nazareth, the people hear Jesus teach with wisdom and know of his mighty works. Yet they see only the carpenter whose family lives nearby. They take offense at the very one who…

As we come to communion, we see our sins and feel how far we fall short. Yet we need not stay lost in thoughts of our own weakness. We turn our eyes to Jesus, who dies for our sins and rises again. Our hope rests in his victory,…

The Bible uses the word “world” in more than one way, and understanding the difference helps us understand what God is asking of us. Sometimes the world means God’s creation and the people He loves. Other times it means the systems, values, and ways of thinking that stand…

There is a war going on, and James tells us plainly where it starts. It does not begin on battlefields or in courtrooms. It begins in our own hearts, in the quiet place where we decide what we love most. When strife and fighting break out among us,…

David is called a man after God’s own heart, and today we are asking how that came to be. It did not happen all at once. It was forged through years of running, hiding, and learning to trust God when there was nothing else left to hold onto.…

Nehemiah is a man worth studying, and today we finish his story with a sense of wonder. He had a vision from God to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and he held onto it through threats, lies, and exhaustion. When his enemies tried to lure him away with…

James 3 gives us a map this morning, and we do well to study it carefully. True wisdom is not loud or proud. It shows itself in how we treat the people around us, even the ones who are hard to love. We fear God, we trust Him,…

The tongue is one of the smallest parts of us, yet it holds the power to build up or burn down everything we love. Just as a tiny bit guides a great horse, and a small rudder steers a mighty ship, so our words direct the whole course…

There is a question that cuts deeper than most of us like to admit: do we really believe? Not believe in the way we might believe the sun will rise, with a distant and comfortable certainty, but believe the way a man stepping off a mossy rock into…

There is a verse we know so well that we may have stopped truly seeing it. Mary brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger. A manger. We must let that sink in. This was no cozy scene with golden…