James, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

This morning we’re picking up where we left off in the letter of James, 3:13-18. As we’ve seen, James’ major concern for us is that we are growing in a whole-hearted relationship with Jesus. It is easy to think that God is merely after our morality, attendance, niceness or ritual. But, He’s not. He wants us. He wants our hearts. So, James wrote this letter urging us to move beyond lip-service, box-checking and pretense to the real deal. His entire letter is filled with examples of what a true, living faith looks like in the every day. Today we reach the all-important, yet often neglected, topic of wisdom. We all need it, but where do we find it?

James, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

This morning we are jumping back into the letter of James after taking a six week break to walk through our Disciple: Living for Jesus series. We will be picking up where we left off in James 3:1-12. As we’ve seen, James is primarily concerned that we are growing in whole-hearted, full-throttled, sincere relationship with Jesus- not merely playing religious pat-a-cake or pretend Christianity. Today, he turns his attention to our tongues and the importance of our words.

Disciple: Living For Jesus, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

The first sermon of the series, we begin with what it means to be “in Christ” – also known as our union with Christ. This union is the beginning, middle, and end of all our discipleship. To be in Christ is an invitation to evaluate our identity in a new way. Our identity in Christ is the heart of what it means to be Christian. In Christ we are a new creation, and experience a dynamic, relational oneness with Christ. As we focus on four different aspects of this union, we see that we are represented by Jesus, that He becomes the foundation of our life, that we are loved with the same love the Father has for the Son, and that we now live before the face of God. Our greatest treasure is being in Christ.

James, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

In James 2:14-28, James asks us to evaluate our faith versus our works, the heart of which is evaluating true faith versus false faith. Faith that does not work is dead. A faith that does not serve to create real, genuine changes in our lives and form the people we are becoming is not a true faith. True faith is a living trust and personal embracing with the person and work of Jesus. It goes beyond mere ascent to the truth and creates tangible spiritual fruit evident in our daily lives. While this fruit is not itself what makes us right with God, it is the inevitable result of a heart that trusts and depends on our Savior.

James, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

We are now moving into the second chapter of the letter of James. Today, in James 2:1-13, we reach the topic of partiality, or favoritism. We will see how the sin of partiality can be active in our lives and will discuss how we should respond with gospel-mindedness to one and other amidst our differences.

James, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

The letter of James is filled with pastoral exhortations and urgings to “doers of the word and not hearers only” (James 1:22). Contrary to popular thought, Jesus is not merely after our niceness, our morality, our ritual, or our attendance. He wants our hearts, and our deepest joy, and that should have some practical implications in our daily lives. Today, in James 1:18-27, James explains that one of those implications is how we approach and respond to God's Word, the Bible.

James, Media, Sermons | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Jesus is not after our niceness, our morality, our ritual or our attendance. He wants our hearts, and our deepest joy, and that should have some very practical implications in our daily lives. Today's section, James 1:16-18, will help us do that, in particular, when it comes to how we view and relate to all that is good in our lives and our world.