James 1:1 – James 2:26 // Andy Frost

The two metre long Great Whites swam majestically around the boat off the coast of South Africa. And as the sharks swarmed, a metal diving cage was revealed that looked a lot less sturdy than I had imagined.

‘Who wants to get in first?’ said the captain.

Now in my head I was pretty sure that the cage was safe. I was pretty sure that metal bars would stop the sharks eating the cage’s contents (i.e. me). I was pretty certain that the cage was fixed securely to the boat. I was pretty convinced that the captain knew what he was doing. But I wasn’t overly keen to get in the cage first. But when nobody stepped forward, I decided to climb in. I put my faith into action.

Welcome to James. His book isn’t just about loft theological concepts. His book is about putting faith into action. This theme runs throughout the letter as he draws on Old Testament heroes like Abraham and Rahab. He argues that faith without deeds is dead.

It is important to remember that we receive God’s grace freely but when we receive it, our lives need to reflect our thankfulness. It is not just about calling ourselves Christians or singing songs of thanks. It is about our very actions. It is about the words we speak, the generosity we demonstrate, the holiness that marks us out as different. In today’s segment of Scripture, James unpacks three really important areas that we need to understand in terms of active faith.

First of all, he speaks about trials. There is often a myth that being a Christian means life is easy. James is realistic. There will be trials. But rather than moaning when we find life tough, he challenges us to rejoice. These trials help us discern whether our faith is genuine and they help our faith become sturdy. How often do we fail to respond to difficult times with the right attitude and acknowledge that our faith is being deepened though the trials we face?

Secondly, James writes about the importance of listening. I love his advice to “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” We are often slow to listen and quick to speak. Our words often cause hurt, pain and isolation. It is by listening to what God is saying and putting his ideals into practice that we can speak words of healing, grace and truth more effectively. What is God speaking to you about today?

Thirdly, James moves onto tackle favouritism. Throughout this letter, he refers to his readers as brothers, as family. The early church was a mix of the rich and the poor and it was easy for division and favouritism to creep in. Here James insists that they are to love each other as they love themselves. How are you practically showing mercy to those that you come into contact with?

Standing inside the metal cage watching as sharks swam around was an amazing experience – kind of like being at the zoo but the other way round. Faith needs action. I don’t want to just live under the tag ‘Christian’. I want my life to reflect the Christ that I follow. Let’s live out our faith today!

1 Pet 1:1 – 1 Pet 2:12 // Dave Quintana

Peter’s beautiful letter begins with a fairly typical greeting, but let’s not allow that to take away the power and the importance of it.  God is merciful, and because of his great mercy we have been anew, we are given life again.  We will be tried and we will be tested, of that we can be sure, but the result is pure gold.  (Please remember that purification processes sound altogether more positive and more pleasant when you read about them than when you are going through them)

But the result is that we are born anew.  Born anew to a living hope.  A living hope in Jesus, Jesus risen from the dead (and thus victorious over sin and over death) and Jesus who will come again to finally and fully establish his kingdom.  It is a risen Christ and a revealed Christ that gives us hope.

And hope should change us, hope should make us different.  We should live differently than how we used to live and we should live differently from how those around us live.  We shouldn’t live as stupidly (sorry, don’t be offended—its the Bible, not just my trying to insult you) as we did before we were born anew, we should live wisely.  We should live in a way that will withstand whatever purification processes come our way.  We should live in a way, to put it simply, that is “holy as He is holy”.  If you are like me you are now struggling again to have hope.  But it is our call as Christians, as Christ’s ones—to live a life that is set apart, that is consecrated, that is given over to God, that is, in short “holy”.

But let’s read on to be clear how it is done.  Peter directs us to “come to him”, and that is what makes it possible for us to live holy lives.  To come to Jesus, to build our lives upon Jesus, that is what gives us hope to be holy.  And that is good news.

And we don’t have to (in fact, we can not) go it alone.  We are to be “built together into a spiritual house” and together we are to make of our lives a sacrifice (offering) to God.  Christ is the cornerstone, the starting point, the reference point—and then we are built into a spiritual house upon him and around him.  And we live lives that are holy, that are set aside for him and offered to him.

And through our lives we are to declare his marvellous deeds.  Once we knew only darkness, and now we live in his glorious light.  Once we were no people, and now we are God’s people, God’s family.  Once we were aliens (the RSV translation refers to us being strangers or foreigners, not to us being from outer space!), and now we are “at home” and born anew to a living hope.

2 Corinthians 4 // Chris Hunter

Imagine this.

That God would entrust his mission on earth to faltering souls like us…

God’s intention, that my life should tell out his glory.

My life. His glory.

That humanity in asking “Where is God?” would look to your life and unmistakably respond “there He is”.

What a mystery.  That Love would saddle the shoulders of such fragile beings with the task of revealing itself to the world through the mundane everydayness of life.

Then we look at Jesus.

God Flesh On.

There in Christ, God is pleased to make known his fulness in human flesh.

In a walk to death, God weaves life into our very midst.  In Christ. In You.

In the grip of his grace, as the Spirit leads, we and this world are transformed.

Those far off are brought close. To God.  To eachother.  One.

All this because of Jesus.

An entire creation restored.

What was once in pieces is now in peace.

See your life for what it is, for it burns with holy fire from God.

The love of the Father through Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit is always moving.

1 Corinthians 13 // John Alderdice

1 Corinthians 13 – Love is all you need

This is probably one of the best known passages in the bible. People read it at weddings because is such a fantastic piece of poetry about LOVE! So the danger is that we get nice warm fuzzy feelings about it. 

The reality is that the situation into which these words were written was far from warm and fuzzy! Paul wrote this letter to a church in the city of Corinth. The people in the church were really struggling to work out what it was like to live out their faith in Jesus when there was a real clash of values with the people around them, particularly in the whole area of sexuality. 

These challenges weren’t just in the city around them, they were actually causing problems IN the church too. There was immorality in the church… there were lawsuits between believers, there were problems relating to discipline, there were difficulties in relation to arrangements for worship and the use of spiritual gifts… there was great division, things were really messy.

What Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth was like dynamite! He wrote of the supremacy of God’s love… God is the source of love…  it is not engineered by humans, God’s love is greatly superior to all our love. Paul outlined what this greater love was like with an amazing description. Then he reminded his readers that this love was completely permanent… lots of important things will cease to be, but God’s love will remain forever. 

The challenge was that just as God loved the church people in Corinth in this way, so they were to love each other in the same way…. what a challenge to them and to us!

1. Who are you struggling to love right now?
2. Are there people you need to forgive, or from whom you need to seek forgiveness?
3. How can you show some love? Think of something practical you can do for someone else.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 // Peter Lynas