James
June 29 – James 5:7-12
Back to all discussion guides → Main Focus: Patience in Suffering James 5:7-12 turns our attention from rich to poor, from the evil oppressors to the righteous oppressed, from presumption to patience. Rather than fighting back, followers of Jesus are called to patient...
June 22 – James 4:13-5:6
Back to all discussion guides → Main Focus: Sins of the Wealthy At the outset of this section James addresses merchants, showing that the sovereignty of God precludes presumption and arrogance in making one’s plans. At the heart of a good business plan is the...
June 15 – James 4:1-12
Back to all discussion guides → Main Focus: Cause of Quarrels Why do we fight and argue with one another? Why do we have interpersonal conflict? Why does this happen in the church? James reveals the reason why people in the church make war against each other:...
June 8 – James 3:1-18
Back to all discussion guides → Main Focus: Taming the Tongue The first thing James establishes is a general principle that small things can cause great results then more specifically applies this to the power of the tongue to destroy. Teachers were important in the...
June 1 – James 2:14-26
Back to all discussion guides → Main Focus: Faith without Works. Faith that is not accompanied by action is useless and dead, unable to save. James leads off with a question in verse 14, “What good…?” This form of the question indicates that a negative answer is...
May 25 – James 2:1-13
Back to all discussion guides → Sin of Partiality James 1 introduces us to the problem of the poor and the rich. Here in chapter 2 the warning is further developed regarding discrimination against the poor in favor of the rich, especially among the people of God....
May 18 – James 1:19-27
Back to all discussion guides → Hearing and Doing the Word The book of James is a very practical guide for living the Christian life. If you really believe the basic message of Jesus, then what kind of life will you live? The central theme of this section is practical...
May 11 – James 1:9-18
Back to all discussion guides → Process of Temptation We learn a lot regarding the place of the rich and the poor before God in verses 9-12. Both poverty and riches bring enormous pressure on a person to focus on the world rather than on Christ. James encourages the...
May 4 – James 1:1-8
Back to all discussion guides → The Testing of Faith Trials are designed to produce spiritual maturity in us and should therefore be counted as joy. Trials test faith. Trials exist for our spiritual formation to become more like Jesus and are part of the “good gifts”...