After a very brief greeting, James launched into his letter of practical instruction in James 1:1-8 by urging believers in Jesus to consider trials an opportunity to experience pure joy. Because this instruction is so contrary to our natural reaction to trials, we need help! James provides just the help we need by giving us a proper perspective on what God is doing for us in our trials. It turns out that what God is doing is perfect for us!

In Acts 17:24-34 we get to hear a sermon that Paul preached to philosophers in Athens. He presented to them biblical truths about God, humans, Jesus, and our response. The game-changing declaration that got Paul laughed off stage was the resurrection of Jesus. The news about the resurrection left others curious enough to want to hear more, some of whom ended up believing the gospel message. That gospel is the same today, as relevant to us as it was to those philosophers, and life-changing good news to any who will believe it.

Before Jesus left this earth, he entrusted the gospel ministry to the apostles, but to whom did the apostles entrust it before they departed? The answer found in Acts 20:17-35 is that they entrusted ministry to the elders of the church. In fact, elders are not only God’s design for the church but also essential to its well-being.

The expression, “the body of Christ,” has become such a common name for the church that we may not reflect upon what it means for the life of the church. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, we have the most complete explanation of the similarity between the human body and the church. Both the human body and the church are unities made up of many diverse members. Therefore, the church needs all of its members, and the members need to function as a unity.

In some of his last words, in Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus gave a clear mission to his disciples: to make more disciples of all people groups until the end of the age. As it is easy for the church to get distracted from our mission by many other good activities, Jesus’ words refocus us and send us out. Today’s sermon reviews not only what our mission is but also ways we can accomplish it in our daily lives.

From the very first preaching of the gospel after Jesus’ ascension, the new believers were “added” to local churches. Once God added them to churches, the believers devoted themselves to simple practices that God used to add even more people both to himself and to the churches. These activities, found in Acts 2:36-47, are marks of a solid church, so make sure that your church has them, and devote yourself to them.

Although the word church appears only three times in all of the gospels, in Matthew 16:13-23 and Matthew 18:15-20. However, the church figured large in the mission of the apostles, who they went out and made disciples by starting churches everywhere. By studying these three instances of the word church, we discover that Christ gave authority to his church to open the kingdom of God to those who receive the gospel. The health of Christianity and our own health depend on our recognition of the church’s kingdom authority.

When we considered the Covenant of Law given through Moses, we detected a major problem that we have with God’s law: we cannot keep it. In light of this fact, in Jeremiah 31:31-34, God announced a New Covenant that would transform our relationship to the law by providing what we all need – complete forgiveness for all our sins.

After Abraham’s family became a great nation, it also became a kingdom, and no one ever equalled the greatness of King David. Even so, in 2 Samuel 7:1-17, God announced to David that he had even greater plans for his offspring. Those plans were so great that even today we are seeing only part of their realization. However, we often miss out on what God is doing, because we are looking for him to do something much smaller than what he is actually doing.

Because God had fulfilled one of his promises to Abraham by making his descendants a great nation, the next announcement of the Covenant of Grace contained laws that were necessary for the life of the nation of Israel. In God’s sealing of this covenant with Moses and the people in Exodus 24:1-11, we discover that the law cannot put us in a right relationship with God, but it can guide us into the best life possible.