Thanks for taking the time to read the sermon this week. I am sorry to be so late in the day posting this, but I just got off work. It has been a long day. Today's message is in some ways an introduction to our new sermon series that will begin in earnest starting next week.
Over the course of my life and ministry, I have encountered three different strains and schools of thought concerning what is the appropriate message for the church to preach. In the churches of my youth, the belief was that the church should only preach about salvation and living a holy life without sin. These churches believed that it was wrong to preach about social justice and the church's role in helping to end opression and social ills.
In some other churches that I am familiar with, the preaching is almost entirely centered around making sure you don't sin too much and lose your salvation.
A third strain of preaching that you will encounter is all about the social gospel. I went to a church like this for a time. In the year that I went to this church with some family members, I never once heard a sermon about receiving Jesus as Savior and making Him the Lord of one's life.
So, what is right? I believe that it is right to preach the whole counsel of God found in the Scriptures. In the Bible, we see that humans have fallen into sin, and God provided a way of salvation through the death and resurrection of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible also shows us how to live a life of holiness that is pleasing to God. Jesus is our example. He lived without sin. If we look at what He did and follow His teachings and commandments, we will know how to live in this world as ambassadors of Christ.
God is concerned with people. He is on the side of the opressed not on the side of the powerful. The prophetic tradition of Scripture, the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 25 demonstrate that Christians are to work for peace and justice. We are to do as much good as we can to help others and to help make this world a better place.
One short book of the New Testament clearly contains all three of the types of preaching that I have discussed. Over the course of the coming weeks, I hope that you will join me in studying through the book of James and seeing what the Lord would have us learn from this epistle. Amen
Prayer Requests
Please pray for the USA and its leaders. This is an unsettled time.
Pray for an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Pray that the vaccines will rapidly reach many people. Pray that those who are sick will speedily recover.
Continue to pray for peace. Pray for peace in America. Pray for peace in Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria.
For our prayer focus countries this week let us pray for Indonesia and Djibouti. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will begin our series on James. I will post the verses on Monday and something on Wednesday. May God bless you all.
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