12 But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.
- Oct 2, 2022James: Keeping Your Word (No audio, only video and note sheet)Oct 2, 2022James: Keeping Your Word (No audio, only video and note sheet)By: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 5:12 New American Standard Bible
12 But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.
- Sep 25, 2022James: Facing the Trials of Life PatientlySep 25, 2022James: Facing the Trials of Life PatientlyBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 5:7-11 New American Standard Bible
7 Therefore be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not complain, brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10 As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
- Sep 18, 2022James: A Biblical Perspective on WealthSep 18, 2022James: A Biblical Perspective on WealthBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 5:1-6 New American Standard Bible5 Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are
coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have
become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their
corrosion will serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh
like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your
treasure! 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your
fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the
outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of
armies. 5 You have lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you
have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned
and put to death the righteous person; he offers you no resistance.
- Sep 4, 2022James: How to Plan for the FutureSep 4, 2022James: How to Plan for the FutureBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 4:13-17 New American Standard Bible13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17 So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.
- Aug 28, 2022James: A Warning Against Slandering OthersAug 28, 2022James: A Warning Against Slandering OthersBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 4:11-12 New American Standard Bible
11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you, judging your neighbor?
- Aug 21, 2022James: Drawing Near to GodAug 21, 2022James: Drawing Near to GodBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 4:6-10 New American Standard Bible
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
- Aug 14, 2022James: How to Handle ConflictAug 14, 2022James: How to Handle ConflictBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 4:1-6 New American Standard Bible
4 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is the source not your pleasures that wage war in your body’s parts? 2 You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures. 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.”
- Aug 7, 2022James: Two Kinds of WisdomAug 7, 2022James: Two Kinds of WisdomBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 3:13-18 New American Standard Bible13 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.
- Jul 31, 2022James: The Power of the TonqueJul 31, 2022James: The Power of the TonqueBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 3:1-12 New American Standard Bible
3 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 fig tree, my brothers and sisters, bear olives, or a vine bear figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.
- Jul 24, 2022James: Faith That WorksJul 24, 2022James: Faith That WorksBy: Chris BrownSeries: Sunday WorshipJames 2:14-26 New American Standard Bible
14 What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 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.