Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture Reading Psalm 24

Good morning.

As we gather today we sit under the King of Glory.

The one who created the universe.

Who created you and me and who knows the beginning and the end.

Let us start today remembering who is in control all of the time.

Let us look at our Catechism question for the morning.

Q. 27.

What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?

A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in His estate of humiliation and exaltation.

Christ is our Redeemer and King.

This is his church and we are his people and with that reminder, I would like to announce that Pastor Chris resigned from the Lead Pastor Role on Monday.

Most of you know this already because of the eline announcement but for those who did not get that message there are copies on the back table if you would like to read one.

This comes as a sudden surprise and we are working on the next steps for Dishman and will communicate those to you as soon as possible.

I would ask that if anyone has not signed up for the eline please do so on a connection card and that way you will be getting information throughout the week.

Just put the card in the box at the back of the room.

I will be around after church in the senior room if anyone would like to come and ask questions.

Pastoral Prayer

God’s Direction for the Church

Let us Pray

We just spent 10 weeks in the last book of the Old Testament before the 400 years of silence between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

We saw God’s final warnings to Isreal to wake up and come back to God.

Malachi predicted that a messenger would come and prepare the way for the Lord Jesus and he would be called John the Baptist.

We see this come to pass in the Gospels (the 1st four books of the NT).

We see the birth of John and Jesus.

We see John’s ministry and Jesus ministry.

We see the descendants of the people warned in Malachi fail to recognize Jesus and the Messiah and they crucify him.

Jesus is buried, sealed in a tomb and on the third day he is resurrected, overcoming death and paying the penalty owed to sinful men and women.

After the resurrection Jesus appears to different people.

Paul recorded some of this in:

1 Corinthians 15:3–8 (CSB)

3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

One of the people listed by Paul was James, the half brother to Jesus.

Today we are going to start the book of James.

It is fitting that Malachi was believed to be written at the very end of the OT and James is believed to be the earliest writings of the NT between 44 and 49 A.D. Let us open our bibles today and stand with me as we read James 1:1-11

James 1:1–11 (CSB)

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:

To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.

Greetings.

2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith without doubting.

For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the brother of humble circumstances boast in his exaltation, 10 but let the rich boast in his humiliation because he will pass away like a flower of the field.

11 For the sun rises and, together with the scorching wind, dries up the grass; its flower falls off, and its beautiful appearance perishes.

In the same way, the rich person will wither away while pursuing his activities.

Greeting

The book very clearly lists the author as James with a simple identifier of “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”.

It is commonly understood that the author of this book is James, the half brother to Jesus.

James was most likely the brother closet in age to Jesus and therefore the oldest after Jesus.

This is based on the fact that scripture lists him first and it was practice to have lists like this in age order from oldest to youngest.

We see this in:

Mark 6:3 (CSB)

3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?

And aren’t his sisters here with us?”

So they were offended by him.

Even though James lived with Jesus and saw his sinless childhood, James would not believe that Jesus was actually the Christ until after his resurrection.

John 7:2–5 (CSB)

2 The Jewish Festival of Shelters was near. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing.

4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)

And it can be noted that while Jesus was being crucified.

That he handed his mother over to John and not to James.

John 19:25–26 (CSB)

25 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

It is believed that James did not believe until Jesus revealed himself after the resurrection to James personally.

The bible does not record James’ moment of belief but after that time James was with the other disciples when the Holy Spirit is poured onto the disciples at Pentecost.

After Pentecost as the church began to grow and the disciples traveled around on their missionary journeys James would stay in Jerusalem and would end up being a very prominent leader in the church there even though he was not one of the apostles.

He would become known as one of the pillars of the church, would lead the church and Jewish council in Jerusalem.

Galatians 2:9–10

9 When James, Cephas, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

10 They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.

Throughout scripture it is shown that James would be part of major decisions and would be gone to for council and wisdom.

So why does he describe himself with such a simple title?

Typically you announce a person with the highest titles possible to gain the attention of the audience and to validate what is about to be presented.

a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ is all he writes.

Some believe the simple title he gave was because he was well known to the readers and would not need the extra titles.

This could be part of it but it is more likely that James was setting up the framework for the letter he was writing.

He was showing great humility by point to Christ and God and not himself.

The word for servant here is doulos and means a bond-servant.

A type of slave of the time.

This is someone who is born into slavery and would have every aspect of their lives dependent on the will and pleasure of the master.

James is saying that his entire life is under the authority of Christ.

This is a title of humility and a description of the character of James.

This type of servanthood was seen as an honor in the Jewish culture.

People like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, David, Isaiah, Daniel, Timothy, Paul, Peter, Jude, and John were given this title per the MacAurther New Testament Commentary.

These people were honored not for what they did but who they served.

James was associating himself with these men, not by his own authority, but based on the authority of Christ.

His audience is described

James 1:1 (CSB)

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:

To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.

Greetings.

The twelve tribes dispersed abroad is not distinct enough to definitively define the audience without questions but this title was used other places in the bible and references all the way back to the OT exile of the Israelite.