Willow Ridge Sermons

Sunday, November 27th • Beau Bradberry

"And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." — James 5:15

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Show Notes

November 27th, 2022 • "And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." — James 5:15

–
Podcast: https://pod.link/willowridgechurch
Website: https://willowridgechurch.org
Instagram: https://instagram.com/willowridgechurch
Facebook: https://facebook.com/willowridgechurch
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@willowridgechurch

Creators and Guests

Host

Beau Bradberry

Senior Pastor

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

Sermon audio from Sunday services at Willow Ridge Church.

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

And so we're looking at James, and we've spent the last 12 weeks walking through this, and

I believe that James, the reason why I love James so much, is one of the most practical

books of the Bible.

It's just like over and over again of the practical nature of the truth of which James

is communicating to his audience, which some 2,000 years later, you and I can sit down and

read and have the exact same practical application in our life.

And one of the things we talked about from week one is there are 108 verses in James, and

contained within those 108 verses are 59 commandments, right?

So this isn't light on, hey, this is what you need to be doing.

Now, last Sunday and this Sunday, we talked about James is kind of giving us some final instructions,

and I use this illustration that it's like when a parent leaves their child home alone for

the first time, right?

Aaron and I, we've noticed this with our kids as they're getting older, and we're releasing

more to them, including leaving them at home for different times or different periods of

time.

In fact, it just kind of shows.

This is funny.

A few weeks ago, we were talking to some friends of ours, and I said, yeah, I think we're coming

up to the spot in life where, like, I'm ready to do an overnight trip with Aaron and leave

Emma and Grace at home alone.

I think we're ready for that.

And without skipping a beat and with a smile on her face, my wife said, oh, no, we're not.

No, no, no.

And in that moment, we didn't discuss it.

I was like, yeah, we're not ready.

I don't know where that came from.

I don't know why I said that.

That was foolish of me in that moment, right?

But when we're leaving, we kind of give those final instructions, right?

Like, they know the things they're not supposed to do.

But then in the final, it's like, oh, you're cooking yourself dinner.

Well, make sure you turn off the stove.

Oh, well, make sure that you lock the door if you go outside when you come back in, right?

Like, make sure that you're doing these things.

And it's not that these things that we're reminding them of are not important, that we haven't constantly said.

It's the exact opposite of that.

We're reinforcing all of the things for their safety and their betterment and for the goodness of their life to remind them of these things.

And this is what James is doing.

And so we kind of see this build and build and build and build within this.

And this is what James not only has been doing at the very end, but it's what James has been doing all along.

If I had to summarize the theme of James, it would be this.

Put your faith to work.

Take what you believe.

Take what you know and put it to work.

In fact, several years ago when I walked through this study, I wrote at the top of my Bible under James, just do what it says.

I think so many times is opinionated individuals, right?

Amen, yes, we are that.

As opinionated individuals, we read something.

And even as believers, reading God's word, there's this piece of depravity in us that says, well, let me agree with it or understand it, then I'll do it.

And that's not what James says.

James is like, I don't care if you agree with it, do it.

And I don't care if you understand it, do it.

And what we know and what we see is that through the kindness and the grace of the love of God and his kindness and his compassion toward us is when we do what it says, what God works in our heart and in our lives is a molding and a shaping of who we are to be more like Christ.

So guess what?

We end up agreeing with it and we end up understanding it as we go through this.

So what we see throughout James, it's not that my works will earn me my salvation, but it's that my works will show, will be a testimony not only to my salvation, but to the one who saved me.

And so this is what James is pushing us toward.

So last week we looked at being a people of patience, right?

How many of you went Black Friday shopping?

Raise your hands.

Not many of you.

That is, I don't know, that's kind of sad, that's kind of wonderful.

I don't know where we're at, right?

You just got on Amazon, didn't you?

That's what you did, right?

But I got out in it for a little bit.

And I experienced a lot of people that maybe needed that.

And I'll be honest with you, the whole time I'm walking around, I'm like, Bo, you've got to be patient.

You've got to be patient.

You've got to be patient, right?

Right?

This is where we are in life, what we're going through.

But being people of patience in that, in that, what we display is the truth of the gospel.

And so we're going to look at three different things that James calls us to be people of in these last several verses we wrap up.

So we're going to read 12 through 20 and then come back and look at each one of these.

It says this,

Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain.

And for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth.

Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruits.

Verse 19,

My brother, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,

let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

So you see right in through here, there are these three kind of broken pieces.

I don't mean broken as in they're flawed, but I mean as in they seem to be separated out from one another.

And James kind of gets them all tied in together.

And as we read this through, as this letter concludes, it's like one last thing, one last thing, one last thing.

Be this, be this, be this, be this.

I think this is what we need.

James said, as people see you, as people know you, as people hear you, let this, let this be what they see.

So what do we see from these?

Building off being people of patience.

Number one, what we look at this morning is being people of truth.

Being people of truth.

Look at verse 12.

But above all, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any oath.

But let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

So just really quickly, the teaching of James here in 512 is going to mirror in a lot of ways the teaching of Jesus.

In Matthew 5, 34 through 37, Jesus tackles this topic as well in the Sermon on the Mount.

And Jesus and James both command people not to swear by oaths.

Now here's what I would say.

I would argue in looking at Scripture, and most theologians agree that James and Jesus are not talking about formal oaths.

They're not talking about if you get called into court, that you can't fall under an oath that's there.

That if you join a branch of the military or something like that, that you are now excluded from doing that.

That's not all what they're talking about in the formal oaths that are put in place by governments and organizations.

But what they're talking about are informal oaths between people.

Now this was a common practice during the day of Jesus and during the day of James.

And we'll look at that.

That they would say to one another as they're coming to an agreement within those in the church, within believers in the nation of Israel,

is that they would come together on an agreement between two people who knew each other, two people who fall under the same faith,

and they would say, in agreeance, I swear by this oath.

And what was the purpose of it?

What was the purpose of it?

What's the purpose of any oath?

On a positive note, right?

On a positive note, an oath is an understanding or an agreeance that we both have.

But in all truthfulness, an oath most of the time is to limit lying or deceit.

So God's people, during the time where Jesus and James were talking about this,

they would swear by an oath, and they would call on God's name in this.

So they would say, I swear to you, I pledge to you, I commit to you, right, under the name of the Lord, that this is true.

And what they're doing in that moment is they're claiming God in two ways.

They're claiming God, number one, as a witness, as the third party that's there.

So I commit this, I pledge this, I say this to you, calling on the name of the Lord to be the third party witness,

which is kind of funny if you think about it, right?

It's like, I'm inviting God into the conversation like he ain't there to begin with, you know what I mean?

But they're bringing him in as the witness, and then in this, they're calling on him to be judge.

It's the acknowledgement of who he is.

And this then would be the binding peace.

So James writes this to the believers who are having to do this amongst themselves and says, don't.

Don't do this.

Stop being people who feel like in order to be trustworthy or truthful,

you have to call on the name of the Lord as a witness or as judge.

And here's the, where it's going to come to.

As believers, what we say matters.

What we say matters.

The overarching arc in James 5, 12 is not, is not, hear me on this, is not do not do this.

That's there.

The truth that comes into that is this.

Be a person of truth.

Be a person that when you say something, the people who hear it know to be true because they know the character of who you are.

And they know the Savior whose name you claim.

Be a person of truth.

So let your yes be yes and let your no be no.

Church, what we say matters.

We speak encouragement.

We speak hope.

We speak praise.

We speak prayers.

We speak truth.

And here is why all of this matters.

Because we speak the gospel.

Think about this.

If you're a person who doesn't speak truth, whether it's to your spouse, you lie about where you go, you lie about what you spend, you lie about what you do.

If you lie to your kids, if you lie to your business partners, to your coworkers, to your neighbors, to your friends.

If you lie about your accomplishments, if you lie about your taxes, if you lie about your income, if you lie about what you're doing and where you are and where you've been and what you hope for.

If you are a person who lies, but then you say, but let me tell you about the truth of Jesus, why should they believe you?

If everything that comes from our mouth is an exaggeration at minimum and a lie at best, right?

Then why, why should anyone believe when we say, but this is the truth of Jesus?

So James says this, just be people of truth.

Let your yes be yes.

Let your no be no.

Do what it says.

Live out the truth of God's word because what we're doing is so much more important here.

Be a person of truth.

We need to be people of truth.

The second thing that we see here is being people of prayer.

Let's read back through verse 13 and 18.

Is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful?

Let him sing praise.

Is anyone among you sick?

Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed fervently that it might not rain.

And for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth.

And then he prayed again.

And heaven gave rain and the earth bore its fruit.

So we're to be people of patience.

We're to be people of truth.

But we're also to be people of prayer.

Being people of prayer.

What does that mean?

What does that look like?

Well, here's kind of four questions as I went through this this week.

In my quiet time, in my study, I wanted to think a lot about prayer.

And so God just kind of led me to four questions that I've been asking myself over and over this week.

And I want to ask them to you that they're not on the screen.

If you want to jot them down, if you're a note taker, I would encourage it.

But just four questions.

Let me ask you this.

Question number one, why do you pray?

Why do you pray?

What's your goal?

When you decide to bring something before the Lord, when you decide to communicate something to Him, why do you do it?

Is it for selfish motivation?

Is it out of tradition that's there?

Is it out of a spiritual discipline that the Holy Spirit has built inside of you?

Is it because every time you sit down and eat, right, it's just what you do, right?

Why do you pray?

Question number one.

Question number two, when do you pray?

When do you pray?

I know some of you, you are prayer men and women on a schedule.

And there's nothing at all wrong with that, right?

Like, you've got your time lined up and set, and it's at this morning, a time of the morning, or this time of the evening, or this time of the day, and it's set for this time.

And, man, you walk in, and you set that timer, and you're there, and you're praying, and you're praying, and you're praying.

When do you pray?

Or maybe you're like me, and I'm more like all over the place, right?

I'm bobbing and weaving and zigzagging and doing all the things I need to do, and then in that moment, boom, here we are, right?

I find myself that that's more of the pattern of where I'm at.

When do you pray?

Do you schedule, or more impromptu?

Third question I ask is, is how do you pray?

How do you pray?

Do you pray mostly alone, or do you mostly pray with people?

Do you pray silent, right?

Or do you pray aloud?

Do you pray with your head bowed, and you're seated, or on your knees?

Or do you pray standing with your arms raised?

Like, what do you find in the positioning of your body when you pray?

I love it.

It never fails.

And I'm this way, too.

I always have to make sure I say this.

I spend a lot of time in the car praying, and then with my eyes open, right?

I've got to make sure that that's where we're at with this, right?

But how do you pray?

But here's the question that we're going to kind of look at here, this fourth question that

really, man, God just worked in my heart so much this week is this.

What do you pray for?

You know, is it laying there in bed at night, and you're thinking about all of the things

that have happened over the course of the day, and it's a wonderful time of reflection, of

gratitude toward the Lord, right?

Or maybe it's waking up early in the morning, knowing that all but the day has to hold, and

it's for the strength and the wisdom to endure.

What do you pray for?

Maybe you have a season of life that you're going through right now, where due to a relationship

that you have, or maybe even it's something internally within yourself that you find that

all of your prayers are guided and pointed toward this.

What do you pray for?

Maybe you have a different topic that's set aside for each day of the week, and so you

wake up in the morning and you pray for this missionary.

You wake up in the next morning and you pray for this organization.

You wake up in the next morning and you pray for these members of your family.

Like, what do you pray for?

Well, what James gives us here is several different types of prayers.

It feels like when we first read this, that this is one, like, here we go, and you can do

that.

You can embody all of these into one, but we kind of see these as isolated, either different

prayers that we pray or different aspects of prayer that we see here.

And so James says first, he says, pray during suffering.

The very beginning of the verse there, is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray.

Are you spiritually suffering?

Are you emotionally suffering?

Are you physically suffering?

James says, if you feel like you're in a mode and in a season of suffering, pray.

Do you know what we can't do or you know what's difficult to do when you pray?

It's difficult to wallow when you pray.

It's difficult to go Eeyore when you pray.

It's difficult to go doom and gloom when you pray.

James says, is anyone among you suffering?

What's, if you've been here, you know this answer.

Are they suffering?

Yeah.

What does he say?

Pray.

Jesus suffered.

And do you know what Jesus did when he suffered?

He prayed.

So if the Son of God needed prayer during suffering, if the Son of God sent to save our sins,

if the Son of God who died on the cross and rose from the grave and ascended and will return

and call his bride back to himself, needed to pray during suffering, maybe you and I need to as well.

Maybe it's a little less figuring out what we need to do next and a whole lot more of wearing out our knees before the Lord.

Prayer during suffering, the next that we see, right, is prayer during happiness.

Is anyone cheerful, James says, let him sing praise, right?

Let him sing.

You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're talking about prayer, right?

Well, yeah, let him sing.

So if prayer, think about this, if prayer is communication to God through our words,

then singing praise to God is a type and is a form of prayer.

So what we just did corporately together, elevating our words to him, is a form of prayer.

So what James says, though, is not is anyone cheerful when you get to church or is a band standing on stage?

Is there words on a screen?

No, no, no, no, no.

He says, hey, I'm going to go from one extreme to another.

Is anyone cheerful?

Where does it come from?

All good things come from above, right?

Is anyone cheerful?

Then let him sing praise.

Let him sing.

So why should we sing?

Like, I'm not a singer.

Well, I'm not either.

I don't sing.

I'm boring.

I listen to talk radio and podcasts, right?

That's what I do.

I don't sing.

I'm not a musician.

I played the trombone, and I was bad at it for three years, all right?

My dad said, it sounded like a moose dying.

I'll never forget.

Terry Jenkins passed away a few years ago from cancer.

She was my middle school band teacher.

Love that woman.

Special, sweet lady.

She ended up moving next door to my parents toward the end of her life.

And she was talking with my parents, and she said, you know, I always told Bo he just needed to practice more.

And my dad looked at her and said, and we always discouraged it, right?

Just so that you know, all right?

So you're like me.

Why should we sing?

Well, the Bible commands it.

The Bible commands it.

The Bible doesn't say, if you can.

The Bible says, sing a new song to the Lord.

The Bible commands that we sing.

Practically speaking, when we sing, it helps us respond to the truths of God.

You ever been listening to or singing a song, especially a song of worship, and it hits right where you're at?

It communicates the words that your heart feels, but your mouth doesn't know.

That's the work of the Holy Spirit.

But you wouldn't experience that if not for songs of praise.

And because James says this, right, we say it, it helps us celebrate.

It helps us celebrate.

Something good happens, you celebrate.

A baby is born, you celebrate.

A couple gets married, you celebrate.

Someone experiences something, you celebrate, right?

We experience the Lord and his kindness and his goodness and his grace and his mercy.

And we celebrate.

And we sing.

If anyone's cheerful, let him sing.

Let him sing.

We also have another way to pray is prayer during sickness.

Is anyone among you sick?

Let him call for the elders of the church.

And let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Right?

Praying for those who are sick, right?

I read an author this week, and I love this.

He gave three reasons in this article that he wrote of reasons why that we should pray for others who are sick.

Because it's not just necessarily the person who is sick, but it's also those who are praying for those who are sick.

And he loved these.

And I wanted to just share these with you because I thought it was beautiful of what he says here in this passage of Scripture.

But he says, number one, especially when it's someone close to you.

Especially when it's someone close to you.

Right?

You get the phone call about your mom, about your dad, about your kid, about your spouse.

And where does your heart go immediately?

I don't want to accept it.

And this author said, this pastor said, and I loved it, that prayer in those moments helps us deal with reality.

Not just the reality of the sickness, but the reality that God's still in control.

So when we pray for those who are sick, it helps us deal with the reality of what they face and what we are facing.

Number two, it helps us empathize with those who are sick.

It helps us bear the burden is what the Bible calls us to do with those who have gotten the news that we haven't.

It helps us come alongside them and empathize with them for us to feel what they are feeling and to deal with what they are dealing with.

And number three, it shows that we support them and that we love them.

It shows that we support them and that we love them.

So James, let's pray for those who are sick.

Call on the elders to lay hands and anoint with oil, right, for those who are there.

But let's talk about this topic, though.

Because sometimes this passage can get bent in ways that's not supposed to be.

Does God always heal the sick?

No.

Does he heal some?

Yes.

Does he heal all?

No.

Why?

I mean, the big answer is the brokenness of this world, right?

But the choice in that moment, I don't know.

I don't know.

I want to read to you, and I apologize, it's not on the screen, but I want to read to you a passage of scripture in Mark chapter 1.

And it's the truth of God's word that's there.

It's Mark chapter 1.

I'm sorry, starting in verse 29.

It says,

And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

This is Jesus.

Now, Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever.

And immediately they told him about her.

And he came, and he took her by the hand and lifted her up.

And the fever left her.

And she began to serve them.

And that evening at sundown.

So, don't miss this.

He healed her.

Verse 32.

That evening at sundown, they brought to him all.

All.

A-L-L.

Who were sick or oppressed by demons.

And the whole city gathered together at the door.

Verse 34.

And he healed many who were sick with various diseases.

And cast out many demons.

And he would not permit the demons to speak.

Because they knew him.

Brought all.

And he healed many.

Verse 35.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed.

And went out to a desolate place.

And there he prayed.

And Simon and those who were with him searched for him.

And they found him and said to him, everyone is looking for you.

Why do you think they're looking for him?

Everyone will get healed.

They got grandma.

They got aunt.

They got their son.

They got their daughter.

They got their spouse.

Hey, Jesus, we need some more people healed.

We heard about the mother-in-law.

We heard about the many.

We've got all.

We need you to heal them.

And he said to them, let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also.

For that is why I came out.

And he went out throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

He didn't heal all.

He healed many.

But he says, what I'm here for, the purpose, is the message.

So, I'm going to put us to this at verse 15 of prayer during sin.

Look at verse 15.

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick.

And the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

This verse, when read, can have both a physical and a spiritual healing in mind.

And here's just what I want to say about this verse.

The Lord raises up all the sick who believe in him.

You heard me.

All.

Some in this life for their physical sickness.

But for all who believe in him for their eternal sickness.

He raises all.

And that what Jesus was sent to do, which is bigger than any sickness that we face on this earth,

is bring the cure for sin.

And it's found in him, in him alone.

And they raised him.

He raises them.

And so, it's Jesus and Jesus alone.

It's greater than the fever.

It's greater than the cancer.

It's greater than the illness.

It's greater.

And this is what we all need.

And he comes to heal.

And then, James gives us in verse 16, two more prayers.

Verse 16, he gives us a prayer of confession.

Look at verse 16.

Because this is who you are in Christ now.

I lean into this.

That's what this therefore is doing for us.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

So, you see, we're moving on from the physical healing and we're moving toward a spiritual healing.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another.

Each one of us.

When we moved on from this level of repentance between me and the Lord to this level of confession between each other.

Therefore, confess.

This is a commandment.

This is not for when you feel comfortable or ready or you really get to know them well or it's in the right moment for you.

Or you've really dealt with all the issues that you've got going on and you've risen above them.

No, no, no, no.

It's therefore, confess.

So, I am doing this.

I am struggling with this.

We're really good, oftentimes, at confessing the PG-level sins that we've overcome.

But the Bible calls us to dive into the R-rated depravity of our heart that consumes us and confess it to one another and pray for one another.

And in that, it brings healing.

So, we pray with one another.

We confess with one another.

And then, in that moment when it happens, when someone sits down with you and says, hey, I need to get something off my chest.

If you're not ready for that, be a person of truth and say, stop.

But if you sit there and you bear the burden, which is the Bible, what it calls us to do, and they confess, the healing is found in the accountability of what's there in this moment.

And so, we hold each other accountable.

I want to ask you this question.

Who knows your mess?

When I lived with my parents, all right?

My mom listens to this, by the way, and my dad does, too.

They know this.

I could take anything and hide it in my closet or under my bed, right?

So, my parents would be like, hey, we're going away for the weekend.

Make sure when we get home the house is clean.

I don't know about clean, but hidden, I could do, right?

Sweep it under the rug.

Push it to the side.

Give the fake facade that when they walked in, it was good.

And the moment they walked in, hey, mom, hey, dad, good to see you.

Got to go to work, right?

I'm out.

And when they open the pantry and the trash of the weekend comes falling out, it's too late.

I'm gone, you know?

I'm out of here.

And that's what we do.

All that mess, man, it's there.

We just moved it out of the living room into the attic.

It's all there.

It's just moved from one room that people are going to see to that bedroom that always has the door closed.

And that's what we do with our sin.

And let's just confess it.

Confess it.

And here's what I'll say.

Not everybody has to know your mess.

Hear me out.

Social media, not the best, right?

Moment of open confession for everybody, probably not the best.

But if you don't have a handful of men and women in your life that know your mess, let me just say this to you.

You're walking on a layer of ice about that thick with a raging river underneath.

And you're doing it all by yourself, right?

Who knows?

Who knows your mess?

Last thing, prayer of faith.

Prayer of faith.

Look at the end of 16 through 18.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain.

And for three years and six months, it did not rain on the earth.

And he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

So let me just really quickly.

Elijah was the prophet.

We meet him.

If you don't know him, you can meet him in 1 Kings 17, all right?

So go read the story, right?

That's where it's at.

What James says is he was a man just like us.

No superhuman powers, but he was righteous, and he prayed earnestly.

And this is who he was.

And in that, in that, right, God did great things.

I just want to ask you this, and it's the conversation.

The Lord is having with me.

Am I praying T-ball prayers of faith?

Or am I praying only God can do it prayers of faith?

And in that, what I need to do, like Elijah, is I need to examine myself and attack my sin.

You see, Elijah was a man of right standing before God, and so he could come to God with big, God-focused prayers.

Because they weren't about his glory.

They weren't about what he wanted.

They were about God.

And then lastly, and we'll close with these two verses.

We'll close quickly, okay?

Being people of love.

Verse 19.

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

There's so much goodness that's here in this, but I just want to kind of look at this in an aspect, and then we'll conclude with this, being people of love.

All right, I'll ask you one last question when we kind of go through this together.

What does it mean to love people?

We live in a culture that I would argue is not a culture that is limited to 2022,

but it's been the culture of the depravity of people since sin entered the world.

When we go back and we look at Scripture,

the culture that we find ourselves in is not indicative to a generation that we want to blame,

but is indicative of being generational.

And it starts in the moment where sin enters the world.

But we live and have lived in a culture that says to love you means this,

that I must accept you as the best you can be, the best you choose to be.

You know what, kid, where you're at, that's just good enough.

Or affirm all the choices you make.

We define that this is what love is.

And I would argue that's not love at all.

I tried to find a word that that attitude describes.

And the only word I could come back to is sinful.

That's sinful is what it is.

Because look at what James says.

If anyone among you wanders from the truth,

the truth of the gospel, the truth of grace, the truth of Jesus Christ,

the truth of God's righteousness and holiness and desire and plan,

the 58 commandments that we see in the book of James

and the commandments that are filled with God's word,

if any one of you wanders from that,

here's how you love them,

not affirming them,

not encouraging them,

not telling them it's okay,

but you go and get them

and you bring them back.

You tell them where they are is wrong

and the standard is God.

So here's the question.

Did Jesus love people?

In my notes, three letters,

all capitalized,

in bold,

yes.

Yes.

I don't care who we have in our lives

that we think really loves people.

They don't come close to loving them the way that Jesus did.

Not even remotely close.

And what does Jesus do?

I hear this all the time.

Oh, it drives me crazy.

I just want to love people the way Jesus loved people.

And I hope you mean something different

than where my heart oftentimes hears that.

Because here's how Jesus loved people.

The woman at the well,

man, he loved her.

He loved her.

And he addressed her sexual sin.

The woman,

sorry,

the woman brought to him in adultery,

said, should we stone her?

That the law requires that.

Jesus saved her

and then looked at her

and said, stop sinning.

Stop sinning.

What they said about you is true.

Stop sinning.

Jesus and the rich young ruler.

How do I get eternal life?

And in love,

Jesus addresses the sin of his heart.

And in love,

Jesus watched him walk away.

Folks,

that's love.

That's love.

That's Jesus.

I mean,

the phrase,

I just want to meet people where they are,

I mean,

that's,

that's partially true.

We have to meet people where they are.

And in that,

we got to point them to Jesus.

We got to point them to Jesus.

I'm not saying within the first five seconds,

but I'm saying this,

how many people have you known for five years

that we've never shared

and we've never pointed

and it's never pointed us

to the truth of the gospel.

Here's what these verses,

here's what this book,

here's what this letter

reminds me of.

Number one,

and above all,

we need the Lord.

We need him.

And we're about to celebrate

a whole season,

whether if they want to or not.

There's lights out on the road.

There's decorations that have been put out.

All to celebrate

something.

What's it going to be?

Number two,

when we know

what we celebrate,

when we know

who it is,

when we know

that it's not a fat man

coming out of a chimney,

when we know

that it's not a feeling

that we just have,

when we know

that it's not a gift

that someone's going to

wrap up

that we're going to receive,

when we know

that it's Jesus,

then do what it says

and live like it

so that people may see

our works

and not look at us,

but look at him

and who he is.

Would you pray with me?

Amen.

God,

I thank you so much

for your word.

Oh,

Lord,

it hurts sometimes.

It hurts.

But it is beautiful.

As your spirit works,

it's the surgeon

on the disease

of our heart

and just slices off

and works on

the areas

of imperfection,

of sin,

of corruption,

of our heart

to bring forth

that new life,

new light,

and new hope

that's found in Christ,

in Christ alone.

God,

I thank you

for this

book of James.

I thank you

for the 12 weeks

that we've spent

as a church family

walking through it

together.

And Lord,

for all of us

who know Christ,

who are found

in him,

who have been

adopted

into your family.

Lord,

I pray that we

walk out of here

into every corner,

into every street,

into every home

that you lead us

and we would do

what your word

commands us

to do.

And in that,

and in that,

Lord,

we won't look

like ourselves,

we won't look

like you.

And we'll carry

the hope

of the gospel.

We'll speak

the hope

of the gospel.

We'll live

the hope

of the gospel.

We'll share

the hope

of the gospel.

We'll pray

for those

with the hope

of the gospel.

We'll encourage

those with the hope

of the gospel.

And we'll celebrate

you and who you are

and Lord,

and you and what

you've done

because you are holy

and you are worthy

of all of our praise,

of every breath

that we have,

of every fiber,

of our being,

of every beat

of our heart.

It's you.

And may we live

for you.

And Lord,

I pray if there's

anyone in here

this morning,

and I don't know

why they're here,

maybe they're here

because they're

visiting their grandma

for Thanksgiving,

they're here

for family

and just polite

before they pack up

and they head

down the road.

Lord,

they're just here

this morning

or maybe it's

someone who comes

in here every single week,

but in themselves,

there's not the hope

of salvation

that's found

in Christ

and Christ alone.

Maybe it's a self-earned,

I'll be good enough,

or maybe they don't

even know.

Lord,

I pray that right now,

Lord,

in the power

of your spirit

and the drawing work,

Lord,

in what you do,

that you would draw

their heart

to yourself,

Lord,

and that they

would respond,

Lord,

they would surrender

themselves to you

and declare

within themselves

that Jesus

and Jesus alone

is Lord and Savior.

They would recognize,

Lord,

that they are a sinner

who desperately needs you

and they would recognize,

Lord,

that the truth of us

who are around them

is that we were sinners

who just need you

and we're still flawed

and we still have our issues,

but Lord,

you're working on us,

but our identity now

is not found in our sin,

it's not found in our failure,

but now our identity

is found with you

and sealed with you

for all of eternity.

And Lord,

that they could have

that as well,

but it's not found

through a frame of mind,

it's not found

through a code of ethics,

it's not found

through a set of behaviors,

but it's found

in the person

of Jesus Christ.

And so, Lord,

in this moment

and in this day,

Lord,

captivate us

with your beauty.

Give us the boldness

in just a moment.

Give us the boldness.

Lord,

even though the crowd

is few today,

give us the boldness

to sound

like a multitude

of angels

before you

as we sing

your praise

and your goodness

of who you are.

Jesus,

we love you

and we celebrate you.

It's in your name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks again for listening

to the Willow Ridge Church

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