Penhold Church of Hope

James connects faith with works and we need to keep them together. Works done without faith is work done by and for ourself. We must also remember that we work for a big God. Do we have a faith big enough to do the big works our God may ask of us?

James provides clarity on a important idea: faith and works are inseparable. While works do not create salvation, our works do reveal true faith.

James continues his instruction against favoritism and judgment by appearance. As a people who have experienced the mercy and love of God, and not his judgment, we ought to be people of mercy and love to all.

James warns against claiming allegiance to Christ while evaluating people according to worldly standards. Judging this way undermines the Gospel message itself of a Saviour who did not come in majesty or beauty, offering salvation through grace to all of us sinners.

Having pointed to ways we deceive ourselves about the state of our spirituality, James reveals three signs of true religion: our speech, our compassion, and our holiness.

Knowing and understanding God's Word is good but not good enough. It must transform how we live. We must be doers of the Word.

In this message, we unpack James 1:19–21 to see how a heart transformed by God's Word fundamentally changes the way we listen, the way we speak, and how we handle our anger. We learn how trading instant reactions for self-controlled humility reflects the character of Christ and allows the truth to take deep root in our lives.

All good gifts come from God because that is his character. His qualities like mercy, grace, and goodness do not fluctuate based on our actions, perceptions or circumstances. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the one to whom we can anchor our lives.

Trials come from without and refine our faith. Temptations come from within and entice our sinful desires. Every temptation asks the same fundamental question: “Will you trust God - or yourself?” One way leads to life; the other to sin and death.

In this world, we all live in different levels of societal and economic positions. But our earthly status and possessions are temporary. In James 1:9-11, he reminds us have an eternal perspective and not find our security in things that will fade away.

James instructs his readers to ask God for wisdom, who promises to give it generously. But such a promise comes with a condition: such wisdom is for those who ask from a heart solely committed to God.

James reframes the "various trials" we will all face from times of random suffering into tools used by God to "perfect and complete" us as we mature into the character of Christ. With that perspective, we can "count it all joy".

James opens his book, not by identifying himself as Jesus's brother, but as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, an identity that should direct the actions of every believer.

As we make Easter plans, we cannot forget the reason we celebrate: the life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Saviour.

Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday reveals a great deal about who He was. Likewise, the manner in which He was received reveals much about the heart of man.

Nearly every Christian feels nervous at just the thought of sharing their faith. However, as Paul instructs the believers in Rome, we have no reason to fear or be ashamed, for we have been given the gospel message that "is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes".

With the definition, structure, and authority of the family having been under attack for some time now, it is critical we remain true to how God ordered the family to operate.

The final chapters of Nehemiah present tale of two cities. In chapter 12, we find a city praising God whose joy echoed far beyond the wall of Jerusalem. But upon his return away from the city, Nehemiah is forced to display his passion in another way as he confronts the people for how they have begun to stumble back into the sins of the past.

In Nehemiah 11, the Israelites cast lots to see who would be required to move into the holy city of Jerusalem but also mentions the "people blessed all the men who willingly offered to live in Jerusalem". Even more today through Christ, that blessing still exists for those that draw near to God.

We are born with wicked and deceitful hearts, but we do not need to stay there. Transformed by Christ, we are given a new heart, one that should move us to follow Him no matter what.

Amid an evil, corrupt world, Noah lived righteously and through his obedience, God used him to save the world. Still today, we are called to live like Noah, a righteous people obedient to Christ shining our light into the world.

Grace is not earned. But having been shown grace, the Israelites respond in Nehemiah 10, with obedience, signing their names and pledging themselves to a renewal of their covenant with God.

Confronted by God's Word, the Israelites in Nehemiah 9 are moved to confession but they do not remain there. As they recount their history, the grace, mercy, and steadfast love of God has been greater than their sin every time prompting them to renew their covenant with God.

As the word of God is read to the people in Jerusalem in Nehemiah 8, their understandably grieve seeing how far they had fallen from God's standard. But they did not remain in their sin and grief, and neither do we as word of God also reveals his grace and mercy, ultimately displayed in the Jesus who is the Word who dwelt among us.

Having completed the construction of the wall, he find Nehemiah's faithfulness continue in the more mundane act of setting up the administration of the city and the people's faithfulness demonstrated in their generosity toward the temple.