New Hearts
Notes
Transcript
To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.
1 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Do you remember the first time you ever had a paradigm shift?
Like the first time when you learned some truth about life that just rocked your world, and where you knew you were never going to be the same?
My first paradigm shift that I can remember was when I learned that the earth was actually not flat…I was in a play in the 3rd grade…and I was the moon…my role was to actually play the moon. I had a solo..”when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...” I put the moon costume on and looked at my teacher like...
Paradigm shifts are pretty rare…the older you get the less you have.
He was the brother of Jesus
v. 1 “James...”
Imagine if you just had all first names in your phone. No pictures, no last names, nothing to help us know who is trying to get in touch with us.
1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
James doesnt have to identify himself in this letter because everyone knew who he was…he was the brother of Jesus...
Have you Ever wondered who James is though?
The Skeptic
The Skeptic
Have you ever thought of how annoying it must have been to be Jesus’ brother?
Talk about the golden child. Like always obedient, always thoughtful and caring, always grateful, always patient…
James probably always felt like he was living in Jesus’ shadow a little bit, right?
In fact we see what their relationship was like the first time we read about Jesus’ family in Mark 3.
20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
Everyone around Jesus was in awe...
James was a skeptic...
But something happened in the life of James…look what verse one of this letter says...
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
From Skeptic to Servant
From Skeptic to Servant
The word “servant” is better translated into “slave” probably.
It is the ultimate form of humility.
James is essentially saying, “I am the property of Jesus Christ.”
It’s even deeper than that…he says that Jesus is the “christ.”
Christ means=anointed one
He is saying, Hey, this Jesus, the one I used to not believe in…he is the chosen one—he is God’s annointed one, the Holy One.
James is confessing here in this opening verse…Hey guys, this Jesus—my brother— He is God in the flesh.
So what happened? What made James flip?
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
What happened to James? —He had a life altering encounter with the Lord Jesus...
James had received a new heart...
And here is our reality…all of us are in the same situation as James…we were all born skeptics…none of us were born believing in Jesus...
And we, like James, need to experience the life altering, transformation
Next Steps:
Make the paradigm shifting decision to trust in Christ to save you and transform you.
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