Weekend Sermon -- James 2:10-13

 Thank God for the opportunity to post another sermon this week. I hope everyone is happy and doing well.

Today, we continue in James chapter 2. Last week, we learned that treating people differently based on race, socio-economic condition or ethnic group is a violation of the law of God. As followers of Jesus, we are called upon to do unto others as we would have done to us. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves.

In today's passage, we see that James takes the idea of breaking the law of God to a whole other level. He tells us that if a person breaks one law, that person is guilty of breaking every law. What is James attempting to teach us? 

James is telling us what the Bible clearly tells us in many places. Everyone who has ever lived except for Jesus has sinned and violated the holy laws of God. We are told in Romans 3:23 that, " all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." John tells us in his first epistle that if we claim to be without sin, the truth is not within us.

Because we have all sinned, we deserve to receive the punishment for sin, and that is death and eternal serparation from God. However, God is merciful and He  loves us. Jesus came and lived a sinless life. He bore our sins in His body on the cross. He then rose bodily from the grave conquering death and hell. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord will receive eternal life and forgiveness of sins.

Now, since God has been merciful to us, we are to be merciful to others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us not to judge lest we be judged. Jesus also told us that if we are not willing to forgive, our sins will not be forgiven.

Christians are getting the reputation of being too judgmental and not acting like Jesus. We all need to remember that without the grace of God, we would be in a mess. No one is perfect. We can't see what is in someone's heart. Jesus can. That is why He is the ultimate judge. I think that the best thing that we can do is to spread the love of Jesus as much as we can, and we can leave the judgment to the Lord. Amen

Prayer Requests

I asked you to pray about the flooding in my area. Everything was Ok. Thank you for your prayers.

Please remember to pray for those hurt by the storms in the southern part of the United States. 

Continue to pray for peace in the world. Let us concentrate on praying for Yemen this week.

For our prayer focus countries, let us pray for those in Kosovo and Egypt.

Next week, we will have a sermon for Palm Sunday. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will try to post something midweek. May God bless you all.