First Congregational of Hamilton

In this message, we consider the vanity of people pleasing. What’s the difference between vanity and pride? How do we live to serve others without making their approval an idol in our lives? In this message, Jesus comes to our rescue and teaches us how to properly channel our universal need to be noticed.

In this series, we diagnose the first of three overlooked vices. If we aren’t careful, each of these vices can quickly become the “sanctified sins of any church.” They can become issues in our hearts or communities that we allow to go unchecked. This week, we’ll be unpacking the danger of complaining. What is the difference between complaining and lamenting? Why is complaining such a big deal in t...

Worship is not limited to what we do on a Sunday morning. Worship, which means serving God, is dedication to God, commitment to the will of God, and the experience of the presence of God in everyday living. We worship the one true God as he transforms our way of thinking with the result that we no longer live according to the values of secular society but according to his good and perfect will.

The gospel of grace is meant to radically transform the community of God. Grace messes with us in the best possible way. But how so? In this message, we conclude our study of James by looking at three ways that God’s grace personally changes us and then transforms the culture of any church

Suffering raises questions. Difficulties in life always raise difficult questions in our hearts and minds that can challenge our faith in God. In the midst of so many unanswered questions, how can we remain steadfast and endure? How can we develop hearts that are patient under trials? In this message, we continue our study of James and discover the nature and source of Christian patience.

We've been hearing week by week in our study of James that he wants to show Christians how the gospel is meant to shape our everyday lives. Following James' warning against striving for control through our planning, now in James 5:1-6 he issues a similar warning against trusting in wealth. If we fear this word from James about our finances, we can take heart in the Good News of God's grace for us...

How should our view of God and life affect the way that we make our choices and plans? Is it possible to know God’s will for our lives? In this message we rediscover how we should relate all our decisions and plans to the providence and direction of God.

If the church is a garden of grace, what are the weeds that will keep our garden from blooming as it should? In this message we learn of two weeds that must be continually pulled for our garden to grow healthy and be a blessing to others. What are the weeds, and why should we do everything we can to remove them?

When someone becomes a Christian, they experience a new longing to join together with other Christians in a particular church. But what are we joining when we join the church? There are many critical questions being asked today about the nature and role of the church in the world. What is the church’s relationship to the people in the world and the pattern of the world? In this message we rediscov...

When someone becomes a Christian, they experience a new longing to join together with other Christians in a particular church. But what are we joining when we join the church? There are many critical questions being asked today about the nature and role of the church in the world. What is the church’s relationship to the people in the world and the pattern of the world? We continue in our study of...

Prayer is hard. In fact, prayer is so hard, that many of us only pray when there’s a significant problem we’re facing in our lives. What are some of the key things that makes prayer so hard and how do we overcome them? How do we discover the freedom and joy of an intimate prayer life with God? We continue our study of James and learn how to understand and overcome the two main pitfalls when it com...

Conflict is inevitable. Quarrels and fights amongst one another are the result of the Fall, but what causes these conflicts to spring up and persist in the first place? As we continue in our study of James, we discover the causes and cures for the conflicts in our lives.

Our world is in desperate need of wisdom. But what is true wisdom and how do we determine if someone is really wise? As we continue our study of James, we examine the marks of true and false wisdom and learn how to develop true wisdom in our lives.

In this message we take a closer look at the way we speak and the words we use. This has great application today, because our words can be amplified and have long lasting effects through video and social media posts. As you can imagine there is a lot that can be said about our speech and how we use it, but in preparation for Sunday consider this one question for your life, "How does living out the...

In this message we will be considering one of the problems that is plaguing the church today: empty professions of faith—individuals claiming to believe in Jesus but denying that claim by their lives. As someone put it, “This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” So, what does genuine saving faith look like? How can we tell if we have saving faith in Jesus or not? What’s the pro...

In this message we explore the challenging question of the relationship between judgment and mercy. In a confrontation between the two, who wins? James 2:8-13 will give us some surprising answers.

As we live in the world but not of the world, what are some of the unhealthy cultural norms that we need to be careful to avoid? Partiality hits the top of James’ list. In this message we learn what it looks like to build a healthy community by avoiding the pitfall of favoritism and partiality.

What does it practically look like to be a doer of the word? How do we break free of just “going through the motions” of religion and start living a life that's on fire for Christ? In other words, what does it look like when your religion becomes real? In this message we continue our study in James and discover the three keys areas of life where Jesus always brings about a profound change.

How can you tell if you’re personally receiving the Word or not? In this message we’ll be continuing our study of James and looking at James 1:22-25. We’ll be considering the most fundamental test of Word reception—our actions. Who are we? Are we hearers who forget? Or hearers who act? Listen as we learn about the importance and blessing of putting God’s Word into practice.

In this message we will be looking at James 1:21 in more depth. We’ll be considering the second key attitude in approaching God’s Word—expectancy. Are we coming to the Bible with a spirit of expectancy? And if so, what are we expecting it to do? What should we expect? Listen as we rediscover the power of God’s Word in our lives.

In this message we turn our attention to the subject of God’s Word. Just as James taught us how to appropriately approach the trials of life, now he’ll teach us how to appropriately approach the Word of life. How do we make the most of our engagement with God’s Word? How do we approach the Bible in a way that transforms our lives?

All too often, Christians imagine that the book of James is just an endless series of do’s and don’ts. In this message we will take a deep dive into James 1:18 and see that James’ emphasis on obedience flows from an even greater emphasis on the transforming grace and love of the good and giving God.

Temptation is a deceptive trap that is difficult to overcome, but it can be overcome! Through the mind-renewing truth of God’s Word and the new I AM power that resides in each believer, we can learn to overcome the power of temptation. In this message we discover some key principles in the fight against temptation.

Temptation is common to all of us. Because of our fallen humanity, each of us experience temptations from within and temptations from without. And understanding the deceptive dynamics of temptation is part of growing in spiritual maturity. In this message, we continue our study of James and learn some key truths about how temptation works.

James revisits the theme of how we face trials in James 1:12. Doesn’t that seem appropriate in our experience? We continue to face trials of “various kinds”, so we probably need to think about it more. In this short passage, we are taught that going through trials is a true struggle, but not without purpose and even blessing. How can this be and how do we know it to be true?