Southside Forums

[Pastor Charles]

Life Group Lesson
12-16-07
Pat Graham, Associate Pastor

One day a man went out walking in the woods. He really wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on around him or to where he was. He was just walking aimlessly through the forest. As he walked he came to the edge of a sharp cliff. Like I said, he wasn’t paying much attention to where he was going and he walked off the edge. Now, if you ever watched any of those Saturday morning cartoons where Bugs Bunny or some other such creature walks out onto the air and sees where he is and turns around and walks back, that’s a lie! There isn’t anything out there but down, as our hiker found out. He went down. But, to his surprise, much like some of the old Saturday morning cartoons, there was a big branch sticking out on the side of the cliff. Somehow, he managed, as he was falling, to stick a hand out and grab that branch. It must have been a really funny sight; this guy was just hanging there from his branch. He realized that he was in a real bad bind and wouldn’t be able to hang onto the branch indefinitely. He started to yell, “Help! Is anybody out there?” Soon a soft voice from the sky answered him, “Yes, I am here.” The hiker says, “Who are you?” The voice says, “I am God.” The hiker then asks, “Can you help me?” God says, “Yes, I can help you. Let go of the branch.” The hiker hangs there for another minute and then yells, “Help, is there anybody else out there.”

This weekend we read the book of James. This is a powerful book on how faith and works go hand in hand. We cannot have one without the other. Faith that does not produce works is empty and useless. Like our hiker in the story we have to act upon the faith we have in God in order to see God do His work in our lives.

There are several different passages that we are going to look at to get deeper into the message of James. After giving a greeting in which James identifies himself as “a slave of God” he encourages his readers in their trials by pointing out some of the benefits of testing.

Read James 1:2-8.
1. According to this passage what are some of the benefits of trials and testing?
2. How have trials in your own life led to personal benefits?

James goes on in chapter 2 to challenge us to show our faith by producing works of mercy. He characterizes a faith that did not produce works as dead. He uses the illustrations of Abraham and Rahab as examples of this faith. Why do you think he uses these two polar opposites?

Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation. He is a man of integrity and faith. But even his faith means nothing if it isn’t acted on. It was only when Abraham acted upon his faith that God “declared him to be righteous.”

Rahab on the other hand was a prostitute. She was a woman of questionable reputation. But just as Abraham’s actions declared his faith so it was with Rahab. It was because of what she did that she was considered “right with God”. So therefore, it really doesn’t matter what walk of life you are from it still comes down to living out what we believe.

Read James 2:14-18.
After reading this passage, consider the following questions.
1. Are the people who work around you aware that you are a Christian? If so then how? If not then why not?
2. Does your conduct in your work place show the reality of your personal faith in Christ? In what ways?
3. If a team from our church approached your co-workers or neighbors and said, “We are investigating (Your Name) for a leadership position in our church,” would your neighbor or co-worker be able to give you a reference as a genuine believer? What evidence is there in your life that you have genuine faith in Christ?

James goes on in chapter 3 to discuss the practice of personal discipline. He points out the difficulty of controlling the tongue and the effect that our tongues have on others.

Read James 3:1-12
1. If you could hear a tape recording of everything you said last week, what would you want to edit out?
2. What similarity does a person’s tongue have to a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder, and a spark of fire?
3. What do you need to remove from your speech habits this week to make your words more pleasing to God?
4. What positive words do your family and coworkers need to hear from your mouth this week?

The correct use of the tongue is to bless God:
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. Psalms 51:15

Since God gives the gift of speech, He must have the glory; we owe it to Him. This is the advantage we have over creatures, that we can be explicit in praising God.
10 All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. Psalms 145:10.

Speech, being the most excellent ability, should be set apart for godly uses:
4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. Ephesians 5:4 .

So then, go away and say, 1 I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises. Psalms 34:1. This brings heaven on earth. So go and given ‘em heaven this week.