Epiphany Sermon Series
The Book of James: A Manual for Maturity
What is the foremost wisdom book in the New Testament that we’re going to begin studying this month? That would be James. “Not James!” you lament. “Didn’t Martin Luther famously call James an epistle of straw?” You continue your protest. “Why, James only mentions Jesus two times—just two times! I’m with Luther,” you say, “Compared to the likes of Paul and John, James is a theological lightweight!”
Not so fast. James has much to teach us about God’s grace and our Spirit-empowered response. From the first to the last verse of his book, this half-brother of Jesus gives us one of the most practical pictures of the Christian faith in all the Bible. James insists that we are saved by faith alone; but saving faith is never alone. Faithfulness does not stop with a profession of faith but is a ticket to a life of continued transformation and service. To underscore this theme, James employs the word “mature” seven times in his five-chapter letter.
The lineup of sermons is as follows:
January 5 Profiting From Your Problems (James 1:1–12)
January 12 Feeding Your Faith (James 1:17–25)
January 19 Believing Better (James 2:14–26)
January 26 Taming Your Tongue (James 3:1–18)
February 2 Facing Your Future (James 4:13–17)
February 9 Practicing Patience (James 5:7–11)
I invite you to be a part of these opportunities so that, together, we mature in our Christian faith. What an awesome way to begin the new year!
