Just finished James. We themed our study as “A Goldmine of Wisdom For Real Life.” I debated doing the theme of Faith & Works since every other cool church and Pastor used that theme, but then I realized that I would have to funnel the entire book through chapter 2 (the part that is about faith & works). Rather, I chose “Goldmine of Wisdom For Real Life” because what I saw as I studied James was that he was with Jesus alot (as his brother) and he is the Solomon-wisdom-giver of the New Testament. Love it. You can listen here. Here is the outline.
| Text | Title | Sermon Points / Outline | Key word / phrase | |
| 1 | 1:1 | Do You Agree with James ? | 1. Open the letter of James
2. Encounter the life of James 3. Revel in the message of James |
Slave of God
the Lord Jesus |
| 2 | 1:2-8 | Wisdom when facing hardships | 1. Fight for joy, stay the course, and see God’s bigger purpose for my trials (2-4)
2. Whole-heartedly seek God and His wisdom in the midst of my trials (5-8) |
all joy
trials of various kinds steadfastness wisdom ask in faith with no doubting a double minded man |
| 3 | 1:9-12 | Speaking the truth in trials | 1. Speak up with Gospel based gratitude in the hard times (9)
2. Speak up with Gospel based humility in the good times (10-11) 3. Speak up with Gods unbreakable promises to fuel my faith (12) |
“the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits”
the crown of life
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| 4 | 1:13-18 | The truth about temptation | 1. I must silence the lie about temptation and about God (13)
2. I must live by the truth about temptation and about God (14-18)
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Ways we wrongly blame God for our temptation:
a) he ordained this circumstance b) he gave me this orientation
“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth”
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| 5 | 1:19-25 | Responding to the Word of God | 1. Stop hanging on to sinful habits and receive the Word (19-21)
2. Remember and continuously act on the word (22-25) |
“be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”
“receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save”
“be doers of the word, not hearers only” |
| 6 | 1:26-27 | Two Kinds of Religion | 1. The picture of worthless religion: self-deceived hypocrisy (26)
2. The picture of genuine religion: Christ-like compassion and holiness (27) |
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father, is this… |
| 7 | 2:1-13 | Faith Without Favoritism | 1. See the ugly reality of favoritism (1-4)
2. Understand the ungodliness of favoritism (5-11) 3. Recall the personal mercy of God that leads me to love differently (12-13) |
“has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?”
“whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it”
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| 8 | 2:14-19 | Faith That Works | 5 Characteristics of faith that works:
1. Saving faith (14) 2. Practical faith (15-16) 3. Living faith (17) 4. Visible faith (18) 5. Obedient faith (19) |
What good is it my brothers?
“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead”
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| 9 | 2:20-26 | A Patriarch, a Prostitute, and True Faith | 1. I must consider and understand the argument: “faith apart from works is useless and dead” (20, 26)
2. I must examine the witnesses: A- Abraham’s sacrificial faith (21-24) B- Rahab’s risk-taking faith (25) |
“faith apart from works is dead”
Abraham and Rahab both were justified by faith that was evident in their works |
| 10 | 3:1-5 | Wisdom for My Words (part 1) | 1. The accountability for my words: I need a new expectation (1)
2. The power of my words: I need a new priority (2-5) |
“not many of you should become teachers”
“will be judged with greater strictness”
the tongue is like a horse bit or ship rudder. It is small but steers our life! |
| 11 | 3:6-12 | Wisdom for My Words (part 2) | 3. The depravity of my words: I need a new tongue (6)
4. The untamability of my words: I need a new power (7-8) 5. The inconsistency of my words: I need a new song (9-12) |
“the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness”
“no human being can tame the tongue” |
| 12 | 3:15 | Wisdom and the Holy Spirit | 1) Wisdom & The Holy Spirit in the Bible
2) Who is the Holy Spirit * the Holy Spirit is God * the Holy Spirit is a Person 3) What does the Holy Spirit do? 4) How do i engage with the Holy Spirit? *from orphan to child (indwelling) *from defeated to filled (confession and faith) *from distracted to listening (prayer) |
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| 13 | 3:13-18 | A Call to Live with True Wisdom | 1) True wisdom is Practical & Humble (13)
2) Discern & Resist false wisdom (14-16) 3) Know & Pursue the marks of true wisdom from the Holy Spirit (17-18) |
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| 14 | 4:1-12 | The Journey of Selfish Desires
(Tommy Mcclusky) |
1. I must recognize the effects of unmet desires in my life (1-3).
2. The consequences of my misplaced affections (4-6). 3. Humbly submit to God and repent for my selfish desires (7-12) |
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| 15 | 4:13-17 | Wisdom for our Pursuits
(Emmanuel Holder) |
1) Pursue humility by the truth of life and Gods Word
2) Pursue obedience by the knowledge we have obtained |
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| 16 | 5:1-6 | Justice Will Be Served | This passage is a strong condemnation to the wealthy wicked. This truth that justice will be served serves as a hopeful reminder and warning to God’s people in any day and time.
4 Ares of Condemnation to the wealthy wicked: 1. Hoarding Possessions (1-3) 2. Dishonest Business (4) 3. Luxurious Living (5) 4. Endorsed Injustice (6) |
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| 17 | 5:7-12 | Wisdom When You’ve Been Done Wrong | With the help of the Holy Spirit…
1. Be PATIENT (7-8a) 2. Establish YOUR HEART (8b) 3. Don’t COMPLAIN (9) 4. Look to GREAT EXAMPLES (10-11) 5. Don’t SWEAR (12) |
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| 18 | 5:13-18 | Wisdom When Life Happens |
1. When my life is full of trials, go to God in prayer (13a) 2. When my life is full of happiness, sing praise to God (13b) 3. When I am very sick, call the Elders for prayer (14-15) 4. When I sin agains someone, adopt the healthy practice of confession and prayer (16a) 5. When I lose confidence in prayer, look t great examples of effective prayer (16b-18) |
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| 19 | 5:19-20 | I Am My Brothers Keeper | 1. Church members are my brothers and sisters in Christ (19)
2. Any brother or sister can and will wander from the truth (19) 3. I can and should seek to rescue my wandering brother or sister in Christ (20) 4. We should remind one another of the eternal significance of the hard work in restoring a brother or sister in Christ (20)
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Pastor Matt Schoolfield 
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