Hope Alliance Bethlehem

James calls out the wealthy who are hoarding, withholding, living in self-indulgence and even stealing life from those of lesser means.  Wealth is not evil, but when we find our security and significance in it,  we can do unthinkable things.  The gospel shows us an altogether different way to live.

When we make plans, we should never do so presumptively.  Rather, we should submit them to God's will, being careful to evaluate our plans so that they enable us to trust and glorify God as well as love our neighbor.   In so doing, we are embracing God's ultimate plan of restoration and redemption.

Slander damages the identity and value of another person while trying to defend or regain identity and value for ourself.  And when we act in this way, we are positioning ourselves not only as a judge of that person, but also over the law of God and God himself.   As we are transformed by the gospel our tendency toward slander becomes a tendency toward love.

As James turns to address the hearts of his readers, he does so with a piercing accusation of spiritual adultery.  They, like us, have hearts that share their affection with other gods.  The result is we look just like the world around us and actually work against God.  God's response to our idolatry is more grace.  And the way we embrace that grace is through humble repentance.

Human wisdom leads to envy and selfish ambition.  But wisdom from above is pure and promotes peace in ourselves and our relationships.

The small, the tongue has great power for good or for evil.  So how do we grow in using it for good?  You can't tame it.  James reminds us it's never been done.  Instead he calls us to look deeper into the source from which the tongue draws, namely the heart.  And to engage in the battle to draw not from our broken human heart, but from the new creation heart God has given us.

Is there a such thing as false faith?  With Jesus as his teacher, James reminds his readers the answer is a resounding "yes."  Justification comes by grace through faith, but genuine faith always produces works of the kingdom.   Faith that only hears and depends upon creeds and cultures, but fails to produce works ought to make us shutter.

Why do people tend to be partial against those with less means?  Largely because we are looking for our own glory.  But the glory of God is on display in Jesus, who was rich but became poor that we might be welcomed into God's family.  When we embrace this gospel we realize that we are poor and yet rich and we start to do the work of loving our neighbor to display God's glory rather than...

If we are going to grow and mature in our faith, then the gospel must be central.  And we must not only hear it, but we also have to do it - live by faith on the basis of it.  But James understands there is an often overlooked reality that makes this possible.  We must embrace the gospel - literally welcome it in.  Pulling on Jesus' parable of the sower, James calls us to do the hard work of...

While life is certainly filled with external trials, it is even more full of internal trials.   James calls these temptations and warns us that they only lead to death.  Our only hope in the face of this death is the good gift of new birth that God offers through the gospel.   It is the joy of this salvation that sustains us when we meet trials (external and internal) of various kinds.

The reality of trials and struggle in life is a "when" not "if" reality.  And James tells us that only way to sustain ourselves in them is to fight for a stabilizing joy that comes from our hope in the gospel.  Single-minded maturity is the product of seeking and acting on God's wisdom.   And in this race of life, single-minded means to fix our eyes on Jesus the author and...

James is a prominent leader in the church at Jerusalem writing to a scattered group of believers on the heels of great persecution.  In this difficult season, he is calling them away from arrogant self-dependence and to single-minded maturity that comes from a dependence on God and his wisdom.

At Christmas we celebrate that Jesus Brings God; Emmanuel, God with us...in our flesh and in our struggles.  Jesus is full life and brings light into our lives.  When we make room in our hearts, he and the Father come and make their home in us, giving us light and life now and forever.

Sometimes the idyllic nature of the Christmas story, distracts us from seeing what is actually happening.  A king is arriving to inaugurate his kingdom and that is a threat to many.  When we see Jesus for who he really is, we are left with two choices: either we kill him or we crown him.  Herod shows us what those gripping to power are inclined to do, but the magi show us the right way to receive...

To a people who were looking for a shepherd of peace to rescue them from a scattered identity, Jesus arrived ending God's silence.  And in him, God graciously gave peace to the world.  Reversing the results of sin and death, Jesus brings peace with God, peace with each other and peace with ourselves.

Scripture tells us over 200 times that God cares for the poor and marginalized.  Because his throne is founded upon justice and righteousness, he does justice and calls his people to do the same through living out Christ's kingdom on earth.

When Jesus concludes his paradigm for prayer, he is showing us our desperate need to pray for heart direction.  In this wilderness journey called life, just like our forefathers, we all have God's direction, but we have hearts that embrace unforgiveness, wander into temptation and are gripped by evil.  Prayer and the intimacy with God it facilitates is a means or not only asking for a  transf...

When Jesus tells his disciples to pray for daily bread, he is invoking the great Exodus story of their past.  In so doing, he calls them to pray for provision and contentment.  And as they will go on to see, he is ultimately telling them to pray for more of him.  It's in Jesus that we realized the ultimate Exodus,  meet God's provision and find true contentment.

The context of prayer is a holy God who comes down the mountain to engage with us - how miraculous!  Our prayer then is in many ways a divine negotiation.  We make our requests known while seeking God's kingdom and will.  Likewise prayer prepares us to act.  God's will and kingdom advance on earth as his people embody them in the particularities of their daily lives.  

Prayer is not a means of coercing God.  Instead, prayer is a posture of sincerity that comes to God in the context of a relationship with real desire and real needs.  And our Father already knows what we need and stands ready to meet us with his covenant faithfulness and love.

Prayer is not a performance and God is not an audience.  He is a loving Father who desires an intimate relationship with us.  Prayer is the means by which we engage our Father and cultivate this relationship.  And when we do, we gain the true reward of prayer - the very presence of God with us.

Our world and our flesh are constantly telling us that we need to prove ourselves.  But just like the rich young ruler who met Jesus, the questions "what do I have to do" and "what do I lack" typically leave us exhausted.  True life comes when we believe that God is good, so I don't have to prove myself.  When we tase the grace of God and come to him like a child, we find...

God is good so I don't have to look elsewhere for satisfaction.   The story of the woman at the well and her interaction with Jesus demonstrates God goodness in his pursuit of people, his restoring power, his offer of full life and even his willingness to expose our brokenness.  It in those moments of seeing our brokenness that we realize we haven't believe God is good and have looked el...

The Bible warns us that the fear of man is a snare aiming to catch and devour us.  We fear others when we revere them to the point of granting them control over us.  In a word, we worship them.  But the good news of the gospel is that we don't have to fear others because God is glorious.  It is when we live deeply into this truth that we find real peace.

God is great, so I don't have to be in control.  When we embrace the gospel of the reign and rule of Jesus, we are invited to a different perspective on life as the resurrected Jesus brings true peace to even the stormiest moments of life.