Hello Blue Mound Church Family! It has been great to get to meet many of you. Even would be even greater to meet more of you in person in worship soon! At the beginning of July, I started preaching and teaching on the book of James. Here are some of the latest things we’ve learned:

July 25th – Conquering Temptation (James 1:12-18)

  • Mankind’s oldest problem is temptation. It is hard to do the right thing, but there’s a reward that comes with resisting temptation. When you say “no” to temptation it produces happiness in your life. So, how do you learn to say “no”?
  • 1 – Be realistic
  • 2 – Be responsible
  • 3- Be ready
    • Understand how temptation works
      • A – Desire
      • B – Deception
      • C – Disobedience
      • D – Death
    • 4 – Be refocused
    • 5 – Be reborn

 

August 1st – Receiving the Bible’s Blessings (James 1:19-27)

  • You can’t just hold a Bible and expect to have it seep into your innermost being through osmosis. James teaches us we receive the blessings of the Bible through three steps.
  • 1 – I must receive God’s word if I’m going to be blessed by it
    • Spiritual hearing aids
      • 1 – Be careful
      • 2 – Be calm
      • 3 – Be clean
      • 4 – Be compliant
    • 2 – I must reflect on the word of God if I’m going to be blessed by it
      • Three practical ways to reflect on the word of God
        • 1 – Read it – S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S.
        • 2 – Review it
        • 3 – Remember it
      • 3 – I must respond to the word of God if I’m going to be blessed by it.

 

August 8th – Treating People Right (James 2:1-13)

  • James teaches a simple principle – don’t show favoritism.
  • Common areas of discrimination
    • Appearance
    • Ancestry
    • Age
    • Achievement
    • Affluence
  • There are three problems with favoritism
    • 1 – Favoritism is unchristian
    • 2 – Favoritism is unreasonable
    • 3 – Favoritism is unloving
  • How do we go about treating people right?
    • 1 – Accept everybody
    • 2 – Appreciate everybody
    • 3 – Affirm everybody

 

August 15th – Faith That’s Real (James 2:14-26)

  • There’s a difference between real and counterfeit faith
  • We are saved by grace through faith, but we are saved by grace to do good works
  • There are five steps or principles how you can know you’ve got the real thing
  • 1 – Real faith is not just something you say
  • 2 – Real faith is not just something you feel
  • 3 – Real faith is not just something you think
  • 4 – Real faith is not just something you believe
  • 5 – Real faith is something you do

 

These are just the highlights. I know for those who have participated in person in worship that these highlights will seem familiar to you and remind you the points that we learned. I hope that these highlights will pique your curiosity for those of you who have not been worshipping with us in person. Let me personally invite you to return to the fellowship of your church family by joining us in worship this coming Sunday.

 

You were created to be in fellowship with other believers. Covid caused us to separate ourselves from one another and we lost something very precious when that happened. What we lost was how we build one another up when we are worshipping together in person. We all need the support and encouragement of our church family, especially during life’s challenges. So, come to church. It will warm my heart to see you, and it will warm your heart too!

 

Peace be with you,

Buster