Today we're going to be in James chapter 1.
We're actually going to finish chapter 1 today we're going to
start reading in 2nd Corinthians 517 as a just kind of a start
out place. And we're then we're going to
recap the entire first chapter because I needed to get I needed
to finish strong with it. Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ starting in sorry, starting in verse 17 of chapter
5. Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation. Old has passed away.
Behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who
through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation. That is in Christ God was
reconciled. I'm sorry, was reconciling the
world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting us the to the message of reconciliation.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal
through us. We implore you on behalf of
Christ, be reconciled to God for for our sake he made to be sin
him or sorry for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no
sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God
and Lord. I do I just lift up everybody
here. I lift up this time and I thank
you that we get to come together and just be refreshed and
encouraged by not only worship and hearing from you, Lord, but
being able to talk to one another and just pray with each
other and just a time of fellowship.
And but I thank you for this body.
I thank you for the heart that you've given them for one
another and the heart that you're giving us for the whole
community, Lord, that we would be able to go out and and love
on all those, all those that need love.
And I pray this all in Jesus name, Amen.
So we are going to be recapping James, but I promise it will go.
The recap will be I'd like to say quick, but I think you guys
have learned I'm not real quick. So the, the mess, the the title
of the message today that is I got to come up with a corny dot
corny title and a good message is my goal is be a doctor, not a
lawyer and one of our elders is a lawyer.
So it's kind of the fun of poking at him and and on that
he's actually going to be teaching next week.
I'll be here, but I think I have to work Friday and Saturday next
week in the tri-cities and then we're moving our trailer.
So just time wise, I, I don't have time to, to do a good, good
prep. So Mark's going to Mark's going
to take off in James Chapter 2. But a recap of James Chapter 1.
You know, like my, it was here a minute ago.
Where'd it go? Kelly, does that remind you of a
doctor and a lawyer right there? Like, like beating somebody over
the head with the law? Do we are we ever guilty of
that? And, and The thing is with James
that over the, over the, the decades and the centuries, there
have been guys that really pictured James as the lawyer
that was beating people with the law.
Get to work, right? And James isn't that James does
give a lot of action steps. He does he does give us a list
that we can get distracted by and think it's it's go to work,
follow this list, do these things.
But but James isn't saying that in any he's going to conclude
chapter one with that statement. But he has he has in in chapter
1, he is outlined distinctive characteristic character traits
that we'll have as Christians, right, But only if we're in
Christ, right? It's not anything Nick's going
to do. So 2 through 4 he says count it
all. Joy, my brothers, when you meet
trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your
face produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full
effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing,
so considered an opportunity for great joy when trials come.
So James is pointing them at Jesus in all moments we can, we
can rest in him and, and in that resting as we go through trials,
practice makes perfect, right? If if life is sunshine and
rainbows and then hard times come, we stumble.
But if we have those hard times and we build into them, they
they are, they build us, right? We talked about the tools that
God uses and how he makes us and it it creates A steadfast joy
inside of us that grows as we keep our eyes on Jesus.
We will grow in strength and our ability to stand in joy.
Peace will grow and peace will grow as as you recognize what
Jesus does in your life. As you recognize.
I tell people when I look back on my life and I see Jesus all
over it and I see God's hand doing things and working things
for good. When I look, when I look in
front of me, even if I don't see him, even if I am like, how can
he do anything with this train wreck behind me?
And I see all that he did with the train wreck when I look in
front of me, I can trust he's there.
But that that takes us that building right of counting it
all joy when we fall into trials.
And then you go on to verse 5 through 8.
It says, if any lack any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God who
gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given
him. But let him ask in faith with no
doubting. For the one who doubts is like a
wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything
from the Lord. He is a double minded man,
unstable in all his ways. So we're to ask God for wisdom
and he'll give it. But be sure that we are asking
in faith that he he can give it right that that I don't think
that when I ask God for wisdom, I'm asking So what do you think
I should do Lord, because I know I got some options over here and
I was wondering, you know, what's your take?
And I'll decide which one I'm going to do that is that double
minded man is do I trust that the Lord has a plan for me?
And when I ask him for direction, do I think that I
have a choice when he gives it? Do I do I have a choice that
that whole picture of Peter on the roof praying and God lowers
down a whole whole blanket of unclean animals and says kill
and eat and Peter thinks he has a choice.
Not so Lord and you know he does this three times and and the
Lord just says don't call unclean.
What I said is clean, right? Do what I said.
And that isn't something that a guy up here says do what I say.
That's something that God speaks to my heart and says, do what I
said when, when I got when I got the marching orders from the
Lord to come here, I wasn't asking for and we've talked
about that I wasn't asking for. So Lord, can you give me some
options? You know, what's the what, what
are my options in this? I was asking him for direction.
Do I go left or do I go right? And if he said go left and I'm
like, well, I really want to go right.
How do you think that would have worked out?
And that's that being willing to do what he says.
And part of that is understanding and knowing that
he is completely able to do more than we asked or think.
Me and Mark were talking before service and, and Jesus has a
plan, but for some reason he doesn't doesn't share the whole
plan with us. And we joked and said that's
because we'd mess it up right If he told me.
I mean, good example of so Nick, you're going to build a water
line across Africa. OK, so the first step was to get
a, to get a passport. So I started going through the
steps. But if he had told me the whole
story so well, you're going to end up pastoring a church in
Sandpoint. Well, I'd have skipped past
Africa and move to Sandpoint, right?
Because that's God tells you what you need to know, gives you
the wisdom for the moment. He doesn't have to give you the
whole story. He gives you what you need to
move to the next step. He may give you a big picture.
You know, I build a water line across Africa and people ask me,
well, how's that work? I have no idea.
And but I do know there are steps and I just continue to
walk through the doors. And I know that as a as a
believer, that my job is to share Jesus with people, with
the gifts that he gives us, and to just follow him, but to be
willing to trust him in all things, right?
And that is what are we supposed to do to do this stuff?
We're supposed to be in him following what he says.
It's about following Jesus, right?
Our shepherd. So verses 9 to 11 says, let the
lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his
humiliation, because like a flower of the grass, he will
pass away. For the sun rises with its
scorching heat and Withers the grass, its flowers fall, and its
beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade
away in the midst of his pursuits.
So believers who are poor have something to boast about in
Christ, right? Because, because when I have
nothing, I have everything in Christ.
You know, I go back to when I was going through my divorce and
I had nothing, you know, I was, I was empty, but I had all I
need in him, right? And and there's a process, but
that goes for everything across the board.
When you recognize that he is enough, then nothing you add to
him adds anything to that, right?
Your joy is not in any of the riches, any of that stuff.
So but those who are rich boast that God has humbled them in
Christ, that I don't have to worry about my stuff.
I don't have to. You know, when, if you find
when, when you have many things, there can be a lot of worry in
that because you have many things to hold on to.
And when you, when you're in Christ and you're trusting him,
there's a there's a humbleness that look, I didn't what does
Job say? I came into the world naked and
I leave naked. And there's a humbleness in that
of, of knowing Lord, it's all yours.
And there's a peace that comes with that humbleness is, Lord,
I'm going to do what you asked me to do.
And and if that if that means I'm wealthy, then I'm wealthy.
And if that means I'm poor, I'm poor.
I'm going to ask and I'm going to do what you asked me to do
when I'm going to move forward the way you want me to move
forward. And when we rest in that,
because his goal in his story that is as many as can be saved
will be saved. And whatever position any of us
need to be in that are believers need to be in, in order for the
most to be saved, that's the position he's going to put us
in. And, and it's trusting that then
12 through 15, blessed is the man who remains steadfast under
trial, for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown
of life which God has promised to those who love him.
Let no one say when he is tempted.
I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and
he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when
he is lured and enticed by his own desires.
Then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin,
and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.
So when we patiently endure testing and temptation, we grow.
But when we when we say, when we blame others for our testing,
right? The thing is, is that like with
Job, so did God allow it? Yes.
Did Satan attack him? Yes.
For what purpose? Right there is God had a plan in
the whole thing. And it doesn't mean Job's life
was easy. He did lose his children and he
got more at the end than he had at the beginning.
But they're children, so it wasn't like it didn't hurt Joe
to go through that, right? But God's story, that was what
was best to move God's story forward.
Do we trust him in that or do we blame him?
And that's the difference, right, Is, you know, Adam and
Eve, the woman whom you gave me or the serpent to see if we we
take ownership and when we take ownership, then we say, Lord, I
can't, I need you to. That's it's kind of that is that
ownership. It's like, Lord, I own that I am
sinful and the only way for me to walk through this life is if
you come in and do it for me. And that's the deal he makes.
Because when we don't do that desire gives birth to sin and
sin when it is full grown, creates death, right?
And it is, it is a scary place. I, I tell people when you, you
know, nobody once saved, always saved all the different
doctrines. Bottom line, when you're in sin,
when you're in willful sin, I'm not going to tell you whether
you're going to burn in a hell for eternity at that moment, but
you're at risk and you're at risk at walking away.
Was talking to a guy last last week and he, he honestly truly
believes he got saved in college.
He says I was, I was going for it.
I was on fire for the Lord and he now loves the Lord, but he
said there was 20 years in there that I didn't do anything for
him. So in that span of time, and
this is you guys got to hear the whole story.
In that span of time, he was a believer.
How do I know that? Because he's now a believer, but
he had no in that span of time because God knew the inequity of
what if he died then, but he didn't die then he's here now,
right? Does that make sense?
You don't have any. He has no confidence in, in this
saving grace of God while he's out drinking, sleeping around,
being being a heathen, right? He has no confidence in, in that
because he's not in Christ. He's not he's not walking with
him now. This was real because 20 years
later he's walking with the Lord loves him with all his heart.
That makes sense. I mean, that's so, but he has no
confidence in that middle time. So that's where that once saved,
always saved. It's like guys, that is it's not
what the Bible teaches. The Jesus is a gentleman and
he's not going to hog tie you and force you right.
You have choices to make and and being in him is something we get
to make that choice. It's not he isn't going to kick
us out, but we can walk away. Sorry, that was a rabbit trail.
So what does, what does it look like to be protected and stand
steadfast in faith in Christ, in the we, we now live in Sandpoint
most of the time. So I'm going to use, we'll use a
ski lodge as an example. If I'm in Schweitzer ski Lodge
and drinking a cup of coffee sitting next to the fire and
there is 100 year Blizzard outside, am I stressed out?
Am I cold? Am I worried?
Probably not any of those things because I'm sitting in a ski
lodge waiting for the snow to stop so I can go ski right?
And in Christ, that's what the storms of this world can do to
us. Absolutely nothing, right?
Just like a, a Blizzard has no effect in a ski lodge.
The the storms of this life have no effect in, in someone in
Christ. And that's because we trust him
and, and we rely on his ability to do the work he wants done,
not in his ability to keep me cozy in a ski lodge, but in or,
but to to use this life that he's giving me for his work.
Right. But ours is 100% of the time to
stay in him. Verses 16 through 20.
Do not be deceived, my brother, my my beloved brothers, every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of Light, with whom there is no variation or shadow
due to change of His own will, He brought us forth by the word
of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His
creation. Knowing this, my beloved
brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak,
and slow to get angry, for the anger of man does not produce
the righteousness of God. So, Mestab, don't be misled.
Be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to get angry.
Jesus has sorry, that's slow to get angry.
Now it's OK to have righteous anger.
Jesus gets angry, right? There's a point where he flips
tables. There's a point where he scolds
the Pharisees. But Jesus, Jesus's anger is used
for correction. You know, it says in the by, I
can't remember where it's at in Psalms.
It says be angry and do not sin. And think of think of
disciplining our children. Or if you're, if you're
children, think of being disciplined.
There are two different ways to spank your children.
One is to beat them out of anger and one is to spank them for
correction, right? And the the correction is what
is done as a loving cure. And that's that that's the
doctor idea here is doctors, do doctors share truth with their
patients? Absolutely.
Do they share heart hard truths with their patients?
Absolutely. But why do they share it?
Because what are doctor, what are doctors known for?
Are they known because they share hard truth by doctor
shares hard truth? Or are they known because people
are cured in their presence and not not I mean they have
knowledge and wisdom and and tools and techniques and and
drugs and medications. But doctors are known to be
those that cure right And. Once again, picking on Mark just
because well, it's fun to pick on lawyers, but lawyers lawyers
can be that right. Lawyers can can be advocates for
those in need. But lawyers, the reason they get
a bad rap is lawyers are really good at what the law and we
don't want to be lawyers. We don't want to be good at the
law. We want to be good at the cure
right now, that doesn't mean as a doctor that you don't know
what the law of the body is, right?
That I mean, doctors know a lot, you know, and they know how to
apply that and how to cure, right?
It's we have, you have. And just like anything, there
are different doctors that to do different things, right?
But as believers, we need to we need to be willing to share the
truth Jesus has given us with the heart to cure those that are
lost and dying. And how do how do we do this?
And we we to James 2125, he starts like I said, this.
This sounds like he's telling us to do all these things, and
therefore put away all filthiness and rampant
wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word
which is able to save your soul. But be doers of the word and not
hearers, only deceiving yourself.
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like
a man who looks intently at at his natural face in a mirror,
for he looks at himself and goes away, and at once forgets what
he was like. But the one who looks into the
perfect law, the law of liberty and preserves or sorry and
perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he
will be blessed in his doing. So James is telling us here to
get rid of the filth and the evil in our lives, to humbly
accept the word of God, that the word of God that he plants in
our hearts to not just be listeners of the word, but to be
doers. And if we're and if we're not
doing, then we're, then we're just fooling ourselves.
And then to look at the law and because it'll set us free.
But when we do that, we because guys, if you guys are anything
like me, I'm just looking at me when I got saved, I'm just
looking for a checklist and, and James is really good at getting
this one. I, I've actually got in my
notes, I got 26 go do this out of chapter 1.
And I think in James, as we go through the next 4 chapters,
there's probably another 100. Go do this, go do this, you will
do this. Have you figured out you're not
capable of doing any of it? Try to be nice to people.
They will start and try to be nice to people out of your
heart. That won't last a long time,
right? The only way we do any of it is
if he's doing it through us. So we'll get into verse 26.
And this all comes down to this, this line here, and James
touches it on some stuff. But if anyone among you thinks
he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives
his own heart, this one's religion is useless.
And so like in Uganda, I have a had a meeting and it was the
conversation and I've told you guys, this is how do I know if
God's saying it? Because it's usually something I
don't want to say because it's uncomfortable, it's
confrontational, but I'm not, it's like, Lord, do I have to
say that? I don't want to say that I it's
going to make it's going to be uncomfortable.
Then there are the other conversations that are Lord, I'm
going to go tell that guy what he's, he needs to.
So, so which one of those do you think is from the Lord?
The one I'm begging him not to have to do or the one that I
really want to go do. So it I mean, a lot of times
it's that simple to know what I'm supposed to keep quiet about
when I'm all welled up inside and I really want to just tell
that guy off. I probably need to be quiet when
I'm all welled up inside because this is going to be a really
hard conversation. I probably need to speak right?
I need to, but I need to be talking to the Lord about that.
And because remember Matthew 1511 and I've talked about this
not, it's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but
what comes out of his mouth that this defiles a man.
And, and I would tell you that in, in our current world, not
only the things that come out of our mouth, but the thing that
come out of our social media feeds and that goes across the
board. We need to control ourselves and
when you're when you're scrolling social media, do you
share things because they're funny?
Do you share things because they are?
That's kind of a good dig that that really got that point
across right? Do you share that stuff?
Good example of let's see way back so we aren't offending
anybody. Does everybody remember when
Obama was in office when he first, when he was first, I
think he was, I think he had just got elected or he was still
running and the, the story was out there that he was, he got
sworn in as a senator on a Quran.
So he's a Muslim. He got sworn in on Quran secret.
And, and this was, this was being shared on social media by
many people. So my, my high school group came
over and we were doing a thing and they were that.
Well, you know, he's a, he's a Muslim and all this stuff.
And I'm like, all right, so where do you get that?
I'm like, well, it's on this Facebook in the snow.
All right. So we went, we got online with
them there, got online, looked up the day on I think it was on
on AP, but we looked up the day. They don't.
Obama got inaugurate or got whatever sworn in as a senator
and he was a nobody senator at that time.
So he got sworn in. Well, there's just a, there's
just a recorder there that's just recording things right now.
Obama did get sworn in his own personal Bible and the senator
right after him got sworn in on a Quran.
And that's just that was just somebody writing it down.
So that's what happened, right? But I've got I've got Bible
believing Christian sharing that he's sworn in on a Quran.
Why? Because they saw it and it sat
and it fit their narrative. And what is that?
That that's a lie, right? And you just posted it, which
then makes you accountable for it.
And that that just if you're going to post stuff, recognize
that you need to check the sources is what that that whole
thing is. But be, you know, I mean,
especially as, as I've done it for four years because of the
role I'm in, but even more so, like I don't post things on
social media that are because I'm judged by that right?
And not not in a good or a bad way, but it's people would if I
posted something, there's a there's a bent to that that I
look, the Bible's plenty offensive enough, right?
I can offend the world with the word of God.
It is not a problem. I I don't need to come up with
zingers that will do it right. It's so you'll find if when
we're friends on Facebook or Instagram or wherever that
you'll if I'm posting something, it's it's Bible based and I can
Anna or I have vetted it completely because if I haven't,
then I'm risking lying because I liked what the guy said and I
don't want to be that. Sorry.
Another rabbit trail. 26 or so verses 2 through 26 leads me to
a simple question that if you guys are honest with yourself,
you should be asking yourself the same question.
How do I control my flesh? Because James is giving us a
list and if if the plan is is for me to follow this, I gave my
life to the Lord and now I have to do these things.
How do I do these things? Galatians 522 through 23 it
says, but the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace,
long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such there is no law.
So besides all the other ones who gives us self-control?
It's a fruit of the spirit, right?
I don't have it in me. I I love all of the fruits of
the spirit because you can't you can't produce love, right?
I can't just. But well, I can.
I can love people OK Try to produce joy.
Try to be joyful and pretend to be joyful.
Try to pretend to have peace. These are things that come from
the Spirit and knowing who he is.
So I shared this the other day and kind of dug into a little
bit more. A lot of times as Christians we
are really good to get the cart for the horse.
I, I'm a Christian, therefore I act like this.
I go to a church, therefore I act like this.
Now imagine if I am in a marriage, I am in the
institution of marriage. You know, we're in the religion
of Christianity. I am in the institution of
marriage and as such, I am to act a certain way, right?
So if I went at it like this and I said I'm going to act a
certain way. And I fun thing is, is that I
know how I'm supposed to act because a pastor told me and I
made vows for it, right? That I promise to love you,
Faye, as Christ loved the church, his his precious bride.
Therefore I will be patient and kind.
I will be humble and courteous to Faye.
I will not keep a record of her wrongs.
I will put Faye's needs before my own, but rejoice whenever
truth prevails. So I'm just going to do that.
How about everybody here? Everybody here, just just do
that, right? Just that's, that's how your
that's how your marriage works. I'm in the institution of
marriage. That's what I do.
Or I'm in a relationship with my wife who I love dearly.
And the closer we grow to Christ, the closer closer we
grow together and the closer we grow to Christ.
The closer I go to Christ, the better Christ, the better I am
at at meeting those vows. But the moment I get my eyes on
the vows and say I'm going to act like this, I'm going to fail
miserably. And so our our job as believers
is to focus on the Lord, right? And as a byproduct, he is going
to do verses 22 through 26 in me right through him, through the
work he's done in my life. He does things with this body
submitted to him, because in my flesh, right, there is no good
thing. And Paul says that in Romans 718
For I know that in me that in my flesh nothing good dwells for to
will is present within me. But how to perform what is good
I do not find. So if you think you've arrived
and I'm a I'm a believer and now I can just do what God tells me
to do and I don't have to worry about it.
You're you're missing the whole point of it is he's going to
come in and do this work right. As we go through James and you
guys, I'd love to say he gets easier to follow as we go on,
but he just gets more and more. He just tightens up the noose on
the fact that either you're doing it in Christ or you're not
able to perform this. So when I give my life to
Christ, he come, the Holy Spirit comes inside me and starts
cleaning house, right? He starts cleaning my heart and
my mind and gives me a desire to to do what he wants me to do,
but he gives me that from the inside out, not from the outside
in. It isn't it isn't.
Now I have Jesus now I'm going to set him down.
I'm going to go to work. How did how did Peter walk on
water by keeping his eyes on the Lord.
As soon as he looked away from the Lord, what happened right he
he began to sink and cried out for help. 27 And that's what the
reason we reviewed the whole thing is 4 verse 27 and so that
we don't get confused because this is the whole point of his
because this is technically James's introduction to his
letter was the 1st 26 verses and then verse 27.
It says pure and undefiled religion before God and the
Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and
to keep your keep oneself unspotted from the world.
So we're supposed to care for orphans, widow orphans and
widows, which in that time that just means caring for, caring
for those in need. And that's who was in need then,
right? We're orphans and widows, but
now we are supposed to be caring for those around us that are in
need and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
All right, So these are not new things that James just came up
with. Micah says it.
He says he has shown you, oh man, what is good and what does
the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and
walk humbly with your God. So we're supposed to do justly
and we're supposed to walk humbly and with those two
things. That's that's the doctor and the
lawyer. But or sorry, we're supposed to
do justly and love mercy, but walking humbly with God is
understanding that Lord, I can't you have to I don't have what it
takes to do what you're asking me to do.
It requires you doing it through me and and Jesus, you got to
understand Jesus could have done any of this.
I tell people tell people very often to understand the God we
serve is so much bigger than we give him credit for.
He is completely able to have done it all just by going.
I tell people it's like so Nick, that Jesus would look down and
go, Nick, you're going to hell, Jansen, you're going to heaven.
But but he goes, no, I saw it. It's done because he's already
got it. It's already been done, right?
This is finished. He knows the end from the
beginning. Do we believe in him?
Do we believe that bigness of our God that that he knows he
just the the blessing that he lets us live it out?
So when we look at this, it's joy comes from him,
steadfastness comes from him, wisdom comes from him, faith
comes from him, humility comes from him.
The word comes from him, the power to do it comes from him.
How to be not corrupted by the world can only be done in Him.
Imagine an ambassador in the Cold War.
And that's the first, first set of verses we read in Second
Corinthians about being that ambassador first.
They loved their country. It was their home.
Heaven is our home. We are ambassadors.
Do I love being in Christ? Do I love, do I love being in
Him as our home, as, as my comfortable place?
Or do I want to do I want to go out and see what the world has
to offer and think about it, thinking in Bath, think about an
ambassador in the Cold War and a Russian in America and wanting,
you know, how did they stay focused on their mission?
You know, because I would tell you, a Russian comes to America,
he's going to get corrupted instantly because he's got all
this stuff. But somehow they had ambassadors
that stayed for their country and that's because they loved
their country. They, they stay at submission to
their leaders. Do we submit to Jesus and his
plan in our life? Do we understand the mission?
You know, and that was The thing is that the, that, that whether
you were on the, in, in the Russian ambassador or the United
States ambassador who understood the mission and the mission was
to avoid World War three, that was going to wipe out the world.
And they didn't get distracted, right?
They, they, they stayed focused. Do we stay focused on our
mission? And our mission is to share
Jesus with as many people as can be saved.
That's our mission. And we do that with all kinds in
all kinds of ways, right? We do that like doctors.
We do that with with sharing their need right.
A doctor needs to tell it before I'm going to let a doctor cut me
open. A doctor is not going to walk
into the office. I need to I need to operate what
what on Well, I just need to cut you open right.
You can't just you can't just start with you need Jesus.
They may not know they're sick right.
So sharing truth with them is is important, but sharing it in
that love that a doctor would have that at the end of the day,
he wants to cure me, right? He wants to he wants to help.
And John 317, which is one of the verses God gave me when we
got here is for God did not send his son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be
saved. And guys, we're his body and he
could do it, as I said, any way he wants to.
And how he's chose to do it is through his body of believers on
this planet. And, and there are many bodies
around the around the world, but one big body, one big church.
And, and we're supposed to be in the communities always.
Me and Faye walked around here and see the saddest thing about
Sandpoint to me, I mean the truly saddest thing and, and is
that we and I, I'm, I'm a, I'm a transplant, right?
Not my home, not where I came from, but we as North Idaho
people have given up on a beautiful piece of property
because they, they took it over while they're just, well, they
don't get it right. They don't, they don't get to
take it over. This is our town and with love
and with care we get to go into our town and love on people and
show them their need for what he can do in their lives and and
that is that love and care for the community, right That is in
in showing them Second Corinthians 517 through 21 and
that is therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
Old has passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. Guys, that is huge.
They broken. People need to know that there
is a God that does that, that he isn't looking for what I can
give him. He's looking to come in and fix
everything in me. We are made new in Him, verse
18. All this is from God, who
through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation. So He has already done the work
we're supposed to be out doing, that ministry of sharing the
work that He's done that is in Christ.
God has reconciled the world to himself, not counting their
trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of
reconciliation, right? That's our jobs.
When James talks about religion that that is pure and undefiled
before God the Father. He's divisive orphan widows in
their affliction and keep oneself 1 self unstained from
the world that is to go out and care for people.
Orphans and widows were the were the downtrodden in Jerusalem
right. A widow had no no means of
taking care of herself and an orphan had no means of taking
care of themselves. We have Mark shares some pretty
heartbreaking stories about people that are not able to take
care of themselves but the lost and dying of this world, whether
they they are millionaires or on the street are unable to take
care of themselves outside of Christ and what he's done on the
cross in verse 20. It says, therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God.
We are to reflect him into the darkness.
Oh, this is one of those fun ones about why was Israel,
Israel, and this is Acts 13 four 347 says I have set you as a
light to the Gentiles. I have sent you, Sorry, I've set
you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be for salvation
to the ends of the earth. And that is out of Isaiah 49.
And it says, indeed, he says, is it too small a thing that you
should be my servants to raise up the tribe of Jacob and to
restore the preserved ones of Israel?
I will also give you a light to the Gentiles that you should be
my salvation to the end of the earth.
That's us, the body of Christ. We are supposed to be out in the
community that we live in, not, not violently taking it from the
community, but lovingly sharing the cure.
And and if you're here today outside of Christ and you have
no idea what I'm talking about and you've been trying with all
yourself, all yourself to be better and you're failing, come
to the Lord, right? It's he, he has a plan.
He loves us. If you have questions, if you
have a need, come and see me. Come and see one of the elders.
Grab, grab one of us here and we'll, we'll pray with you.
We'll talk with you. And Lord, I just lift up this
time I lift up everybody here. Thank you, thank you, thank you
for what you've done and thank you for all you've given us to
give the world. Lord, that you would and give us
the words to speak the cure, the words to share the cure, or that
we were able to have those conversations that you'd put
appointments in front of every one of us.
Thank you for this time and I pray all this in Jesus name,
Amen. I thought I would give you a
quick. Quick, quick, quick quick a
quick. Testimony we do kind of have to
move out after this. Our grandma, my husband's
grandma is just not doing well so she'll be with Jesus soon.
So that is one thing that's great, but we want to get home
and be with the family. But so yeah, 12 years ago I had
an accident at our church camp. I was hooked up wrong to a rope
swing and I fell 50 feet and I burst my T12 vertebrae and a
bunch of other stuff. But it was in front of, you
know, 30 plus kids. And so the one of the volunteers
at the camp was a volunteer EMT and he ran up to me and just
started assessing the situation. And he knew right away my eyes
were well back. I wasn't breathing and he just
started praying. God, we need a miracle.
And instantly I came to and started breathing.
And then from there they assessed that it was really,
really, really bad. And I ended up in Harborview in
Seattle. But just throughout all of that,
there was just so many miracles that God had continued to
perform. And my injury wasn't necessarily
as bad as the doctor had thought at 1st.
And he was shocked because he saw the X-ray.
And my dad was like, you don't know our God.
That's how good and big our God is, that he can in a moment
change something. And so I was in and out of the
hospital for a few months. My mom started a Facebook page
to just update family at home. And my boyfriend at the time was
there. And my mom recorded a song of a
singing and she put it on Facebook.
And back then, 12 years ago, it kind of blew up.
And people from all over the world saw my story and heard us
singing. And so, yeah, it kind of led us
to be able to share my testimony, God's testimony,
through us. And we've been married for nine
years. We have two beautiful little
kids and it's just been amazing to see that through a tragedy
what God can do and how He can move and work things for His
good. And I have a very obvious
physical situation that happened.
But we all go through things and we all have our trials and our
testimonies and things that the Lord allows in our life.
But what an amazing, amazing experience it is to be a vessel
for him and through him to be able to share of the goodness of
him and that we can still say God is good, you know, and it's
been a challenging 12 years and, you know, it just only can get
harder. But I have just seen God's hand
through so many situations and I'm just, I'm so blessed to be
here, to be able to share, to be able to sing, to do what I love
with my husband, and just to be able to say that that God is
good. So I just want to encourage you
that whatever you are going through, do not give up.
Look to Jesus. Put your whole trust and faith
in Him because He is so good, and you will come out on the
other side. Like Nick had said, if we would
have looked back, if I would have known that I would be here
right now at 30 years old and in this situation, I would not have
believed it at all. But I wouldn't change it.
I wouldn't go back and I wouldn't change it because it's
been an amazing ride with the Lord.
And so with that, please stand and we'll just close in a song.
Above all powers, above all keys, above all nature, in all
created things, above all wisdom, in all the ways of man.
You were here before the world began.
Above all kingdoms, above all Thrones, above all wonders the
world is ever known. Above all, well in treasures of
the earth. Earth, and there's no way to
measure what you're worth and crucify.
Leave behind the stone you leave to die.
Reject it at alone, and light the Rose trampled on the ground.
You took the far and thought of me above all in how great is our
God sing with me how great is our God?
In all we'll see how great, how great is our God.
And you're the name above all names.
You are worthy of our praise. And my heart will see how late
is our God, and how great is our God.
Sing with me How Ray is our God. Oh, we'll see how great, How
great is our God? God.
We just thank you so much. We just thank you and praise you
God, that you are great and that everyone would see that, that
they would see something different in US and want to know
how we can have that hope in this world.
And not through everything that happens and all the tragedies
and everything, God. But we know that only you can
bring that for us. And so I just pray God, that as
we leave here today, that we would just be encouraged to just
want to live a life devoted to you.
And we thank you and praise you in your name, Amen.
Have a blessed day.