The David Spoon Experience 9-29-23 part 1

A) Welcome to the world of JAMES. Wow. We just finished Hebrews, so the next book in canonical order is James. No, this in Not Peter, James, and John, the trio of the early Gospels. This is James, the Lord’s brother. Yep…keep it all in the family. How do we know that it is not the early James and it’s the later James in Acts 15? Because the early James was killed before this letter was written (Acts 12). O.K., that's pretty straightforward.

B) The key to this epistle is the theme: believers MUST live out their faith, not just bat their eyes and say, “We love Jesus.” The main thesis of this epistle (not the wife of an apostle) is that the readers were suffering persecution and poverty. Because of this tension, too many believers were living in a worldly manner. The reality is that they, like us, need to work out these issues.

C) James opens up the letter stating that he understands his readers our pushed to the outer ends of their faith. It is NOT necessarily an Israeli reference as it is a point of faith reference. The idea is that it applies to all of us, and not just to a select few.

D) Oh my. Consider it “pure joy” that we win the lottery. Oh wait, that’s not what it says. How about this for a barn burner: “Consider it pure joy when we encounter TRIALS. Wait a second, James…are you trying to say to me that when we as in me encounter trials, I should consider it pure joy. Yes! What? That’s crazy. Yep. And that’s faith in Jesus. So, either say amen or oh me.