Introduction
KEEP IT REAL is a study through a 📜 letter that was written by a man named James (the half brother of Jesus) to the early church. James wanted the outcome of this letter to be that God’s people would no longer merely listen to the Word but KEEP IT REAL by 🏃🏾♀️ doing what it says 🏃🏼♂️. He writes encouraging them to pursue authentic Christianity in a society full of counterfeits.
Wk 1 I James 1:1 I Submission & SlaveryThe book of James is filled with practical wisdom for Christians, calling us to live out genuine faith in Jesus Christ in response to the grace shown to us in Him. As we introduce this letter we ask the questions: Who was James? What did he mean by calling himself a slave? What does that mean for us today?
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Wk 2 I James 1:2-18 I Trials & TemptationsAs believers, we will face trials and temptations in this world, and these hardships test our faith and dependence on God. But enduring adversity is ultimately for our joy. From this message you will see that... #1. The Christian views trials as a pathway to maturity. #2. Trials help me to be consciously aware of my need for God. Along the way we need to be aware of two battles we will face. #1. Doubt and #2. Comparison. Remember “Trials will come; count them all as joy because God is good.”
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Wk 3 I James 1:19-27 I Hearing & DoingThis week Precious talks to us about🦻🏽hearing and🏃🏾♀️ doing from James 1:19-27. What we will learn from James is that true belief causes Christians to live out their faith according to the Word. We don’t just passively hear the Word and receive it, rather action should always follow genuine ♥️ change.
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Wk 4 I James 2:1-13 I Judgment & MercyThis week Precious is talking to us about Judgment and Mercy. From it we will see so clearly that the gospel is for everyone. The body of Christ is made up of every👳🏾♂️ tribe,🧕🏻 tongue, the 👨👩👧👦 and the 👴🏼 old, the 💰 rich and the 🤷🏻♂️ poor. When the local church looks like this, it baffles the world. The world cannot explain how people of different races, economic and social levels, and age groups can come together in love and harmony. But, when we divide ourselves along these lines we are not representative of His kingdom. We sin when we show partiality to some over others, whether they are rich or poor or different in any other way. To favor some people and to disregard others based on outward factors is a terrible sin that plagued the early church in James’ day. It has plagued the church in every generation, because it stems from our own pride. Let’s talk about it.
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Wk 5 I James 2:14-17 I Faith & Works (Part 1)This week Jonathan begins a two week focus on Faith & Works from James 2:14-17. Faith and works 🙅🏻 aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, James tells us that faith apart from works is 😵 dead. In this difficult passage of scripture we explore what James means within the context from which these words are given. From it we learn that although works don’t save us, good works should follow true faith. We don’t work to be saved, we work because we are saved.
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Wk 6 I James 2:18-26 I Faith & Works (Part 2)This is part two of our discussion through James 2, an often 🧐 confused 🤨 and ⛔️ misinterpreted passage of scripture. As we have said already, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone. We don’t work to be saved, we work because we are saved. Works don’t save us, but good works should follow true faith and make our faith profitable.
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Wk 7 I James 3:1-18 I Words & WisdomThis week we jump into James 3 where he talked to followers of Jesus 👉🏼 about how we use our words. Our words can be either a blessing or a curse to those around us. Believers must learn to control their 👅 tongues and use their words for good, not evil.
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Wk 8 I James 4:1-12 I Warning & WorldlinessWe are in James 4:1-12 which is a warning against 🌎 worldliness 🌎. Our passions and desires are at war within us, and we must 👊🏻 fight against them. While pride, boasting and divisiveness mark worldly people, humility, obedience and repentance mark the godly.
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Wk 9 I James 4:13-17 I Arrogance & HumilityWe are in James 4:13-17 this week talking about how our view 👓 of the future has great 💪🏽 influence 💪🏽 on where we place our assurance. James urges us to humbly view all of our 🗓 days as lived under the sovereign will of the Lord.
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Wk 10 I James 5:1-6 I Affluence & AdmonitionThis week we are in James 5:1-6 where James gives a ⚠️ warning ⚠️ to the rich who oppress and exploit the underprivileged warning them about the danger of 🤑money💰, the deceit of the 🖤 heart and the ultimate 😵 death that this worldly mindset of self-indulgence will bring. 💵 Riches will amount to nothing in the end, but the humble and righteous will prevail.
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Wk 11 I James 5:7-11 I Patience & SufferingHere in James 5:7-11 we are taught that the believer’s life should be characterized by patience and steadfastness motivated by Jesus’s sovereignty and imminent return. While that 👍 sounds good 👍, each of us know we struggle with being 🥴 impatient and 😱 about many things. In this study James gives us four examples to follow as we endeavor to live our lives mindful of the Lord’s sovereignty and imminent return.
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Wk 12 I James 5:12 I Oaths & JudgmentThis week we are studying through James 5:12 which focuses on how our speech is important to God. We are commanded numerous times through the book of James to 🏇🏾 bridle our tongue, add 🏃🏾♀️ action to our words, and 🤐 guard our mouth from saying things that are not truthful or that cut down and destroy. Today James gives a final exhortation concerning the oaths that we make and 👨🏻⚖️ judgment we will face if they are not kept.
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Wk 13 I James 5:13-20 I Prayer & RestorationWelcome to the last week of Keep It Real👊🏻. In this last session in our series we are studying the final exhortation in James to the church about 🙏 prayer 🙏. James 5:16 says “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”. In our self-sufficient, self-help culture we often fail to pray because we do not truly believe that prayer can change anything. What James reminds us of today is of the 💪🏽 powerful working of the prayers of the righteous. Hear James and be reignited in your passion for prayer🙏.
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