Faith Bible Church

James 5:16-18 (NASB) 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. Theme: Since the prayer of the righteous is very powerful, we as Christians should be motivated to pray. 1) A Motivation to pray (5:16b) 2) An Illustration of the power of prayer (5:17-18)

James 4:4-6 (NASB) 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose, “He jealously desires the Spirit whom He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” God calls us to be faithful to follow Him and His Word above the ways of the world. 1) The Rebuke of Worldliness (4:4) 2) The Reference to the Word (4:5) 3) The Reminder of the Way Forward (4:6)

James 3:13-18 (NASB) 13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. To foster harmonious relationships in life, put on true godly wisdom and put off false earthly wisdom. 1) You must behave with godly wisdom for peaceful relationships (3:13, 17) 2) If you act with worldly “wisdom”, conflict will be the result (3:14-16) 3) Peaceful relationships require hard/heart work (3:18)

James 3:1-12 (NASB) 1 Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to rein in the whole body as well. 3 Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their whole body as well. 4 Look at the ships too: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are nevertheless directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot determines. 5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, the very world of unrighteousness; the tongue is set among our body’s parts as that which defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. 8 But no one among mankind can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people, who have been made in the likeness of God; 10 from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. 11 Does a spring send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? 12 Can a figure tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figures? Nor cans salt water produce fresh. Four Helps in controlling our tongues to honor Christ 1) Realize that God holds you accountable for your tongue (3:1-2) 2) Recognize the potentially destructive power of your tongue (3:3-5) 3) Acknowledge that your tongue is (humanly) untamable (3:6-8) 4) Know the source of your tongue’s inconsistencies (3:9-12)

James 2:20-26 (NASB) 20 But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was Rahab the prostitute not justified by works also when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. The genuineness of your faith in Jesus Christ is proven by your works. 1) It is foolish to believe that a faith without works is saving faith (2:20-25) Real Faith Example #1 – Abraham Real Faith Example #2 – Rahab 2) Faith without works is dead faith (2:26)

Psalm 127: 3-4 (NASB) 3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,The fruit of the womb is a reward.4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,So are the children of one’s youth.

guest speaker: Cyril Florita Romans 1:16–17 (NASB)16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyonewho believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of Godis revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” We must grasp two (2) life-changing truths about the gospel so that we would faithfullyembrace it for ourselves and boldly proclaim it to others. 2 Reasons to Embrace and Proclaim the Gospel: 1) It Is God’s Power to Save (v.16) 2) It Is God’s Righteousness Revealed (v.17) Explanation:Paul’s epistle to the Romans served as an introduction to his apostleship and as ademonstration of his gospel-ministry (1:1–6). Paul wanted to forge a relationship withthem by edifying them and strengthening their faith so they would partner with him in hismissionary plans for Spain (1:8–13; 15:28). Because of his God-given call and obligationto preach Christ to all people, he expressed how he was eager to preach the gospel tothem (1:14–15).And so, with our passage, at the beginning of verse 16, Paul uses the conjunction “for” togive a reason as to why he was so eager to preach—he was not ashamed of the gospel andhad complete confidence in it. Then, for the rest of verses 16 and 17, he again uses theconjunction “for” twice to further explain why he had such confidence in the gospel. Forreason #1, he presents how the gospel is the very power of God to save everyone whobelieves. And for reason #2, he presents how the gospel reveals the righteousness of God,which is received through faith, from beginning to end.