James 1:22 -25

We went back to Harvest Bible Chapel in Hickory this morning and heard a wonderful sermon by Pastor Kurt Gebhards on James 1:22 -25. The church is getting ready to start Life Groups and he related the sermon to the groups and also what the congregation should be doing when they come to church.

James 1:22- 25 22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

25But one who looks intently at the perfect law the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

The goal of the Bible is to understand and for understanding to lead to life application. Pastor Gebhards said when you look into the truth it compels you to do something about it. Hearing does nothing for you if you don’t apply it. You must know it, but then you must live it out.

These verses tell us that to be an effectual doer of the word we have to obey it. Obey God’s Word. We should also be taking on the attributes of Christ. His holiness, His humbleness, His servant’s heart, etc. There should be proof in our lives that we are Christians. That we are followers of Christ.

And there are two things we get from this. Freedom (God’s law gives us freedom and keeps us safe) and blessings.

The Pastor gave us another verse to meditate on:

Luke 6:46-50 46"Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47"Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49"But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."

He ended with giving the congregation a list of 8 things they should do.

1. Bring their Bibles to church
2. Expect to hear from God in church and when reading the Bible
3. Have a “live” Bible during the sermon. (Meaning people should not only be following along, but reading the cross references and looking things up.)
4. Take notes
5. And along with that keep a Journal
6. Study the extra passages during the week
7. Bring their application plan to Life Groups to encourage others
8. Establish a to-do list from each sermon