Westside Bible Studies

Prayer works. So does working to bring people back to the Lord. But it does make for an interesting ending to the Letter of James. The Letter of James | James 5:13-20 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with olive oil in the n...

How does James encourage Christians to exhibit patience? And what's all this about oaths and swearing? We consider what James has to say in James 5:7-12. The Letter of James | James 5:7-12 So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s return. Think of how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the ground and is patient for it until it receives the early and late rains. You also be...

James has words for the wealthy they won't want to hear. Many of us should also find them uncomfortable as well. The Letter of James | James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud over the miseries that are coming on you. Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your fle...

James has warnings for Christians who judge one another and merchants who focus on profit. Join us as we explore what we can gain from these warnings and exhortations. The Letter of James | James 4:11-17 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. He who speaks against a fellow believer or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you...

James has concerns about the mentality and behavior of the Jewish Christians of the Diaspora. Join us as we consider his critique and the way forward he provided in James 4:1-10. The Letter of James | James 4:1-10 Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy...

Is "worldly wisdom" really wise? Why would James want to make contrasts between the wisdom from below and the wisdom from above? Join us as we consider James' meditations on wisdom in James 3:13-18. The Letter of James | James 3:13-18 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. But if you have bitter...

Why should not many be teachers? What do we do with that instruction? Why is James so negative about our speech? The Letter of James | James 3:1-12 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly. For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire...

Faith without works is dead. Christians are justified by faith working through love. There's a lot of doctrinal drama at stake with James 2:14-26. But we should not neglect James' concern to provide for the poor. James 2:14-26 | The Letter of James What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith save him? If a brother or sis...

Showing partiality means a lot more to God than we would care to admit. We need to remember how Jesus will be judging us - and He is paying attention to how we judge others. The Letter of James | James 2:8-13 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are conv...

Join us as we discuss what James has to say for Jewish Christians, and for all of us, in terms of showing prejudice and resisting God's preferential concern for the poor in James 2:1-9! My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filt...

Join us as we explore what James has to say in James 1:19-27! Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. But be sure you live out the message and d...

Join us as we explore James 1:12-18! Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when de...

Join Ethan as he explores James 1:1-11! From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings! My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not defici...

From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings! ( James 1:1 ). Who is James? Why did he write a letter, and to whom? Join us as we consider the context and purpose of the Letter of James.

What can we gain from our study of the churches of the New Testament? Can we speak of a "New Testament" church, and how? Churches of the New Testament | The New Testament Church

What did God condemn in the churches of the New Testament? How should Christians today address matters of sin and abused liberties? Churches of the New Testament | What God Condemns

What conclusions can we draw from these pictures of the churches of the New Testament? What did God commend, and how did they operate? Churches of the New Testament | What God Approves

What did Jesus in the Spirit say to the churches of Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea? What can we gain from their examples? Churches of the New Testament | Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea

What can we know about the churches in Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira? Churches of the New Testament | Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira

What can be known about Colossae and the church there? What tragedy would befall them? Churches of the New Testament | Colossae

How did the church in Rome endure the persecutions of Nero? What would come of the church in Rome? Join Ethan as we conclude what we can know about the churches in Rome. Churches of the New Testament | Rome (Part 2)

When did the Gospel get to Rome? What can we learn from Paul about the churches in Rome? Churches of the New Testament | Rome

What would happen to the church in Ephesus in its second and/or third generations? Join Ethan as we consider more regarding the church in Ephesus. Churches of the New Testament | Ephesus

How did the Gospel spread in the heart of Asia? Join Ethan as we begin discussing what can be known about the church in Ephesus. Churches of the New Testament | Ephesus

How was the church in Corinth a hot mess? Yet what did Jesus still see and have in the church in Corinth? Join Ethan as he discusses the challenges, and the promise, of the church in Corinth. Churches of the New Testament | Corinth (Part 2)