Young Families February Thrive Night

So, Sam, tell us about the Book of James. How we doing? Yes. Okay. So excited.

You said it really good last year. Can you say that again? I did something right. Okay, I need to hear that out loud again. Continuing.

No, it's a replay loop. Right. It's already recorded. He can just go back and listen to it. You said it really good.

Okay. Andrew, what did you say in leaders meeting about last year and then this year? Our theme last year was being. I got it. I'll just do it myself.

This is how it is. I asked you for your help. I just. I don't need it. Actually, I'm gonna do it myself.

Last year we were being rooted in the. Let me help you out. So. So year one, young families. It was a.

Let's scatter the seed. Remember year two, that seed germinated and we became. And as a group to grow deeper and to grow a root system, as a ministry and as a group of people who are seeking stability in our lives and marriages and our families. Year three, we are very, very interested in. Now that we have sewn into this, we've seen some things start to take development and take root.

What do we do with the fruit that happens? How do you continue to develop good fruit in your spiritual walk? So in the very beginning, Taylor and Steph talked about our mission statement, which again, the whole point is biblical instruction. That's very important. We do that also.

We need to make sure we're doing practical guidance. Some of you guys are changing diapers, some of you guys are not changing diapers. I get that. And then the third thing goes, life giving, relationship. In the middle of all those things for this year, year three, the book of James talks about being doers of the word.

Those who actually not just hear the word and. And then forget what they heard and don't do anything. Don't grow, don't mature, don't bear fruit. We want to be ones that actually produce fruit in our lives because we've taken root. That's the whole theme this year.

I hope that was. You did it. Okay. All right. Okay.

So the 2026 verse of the year is obviously going to come out of James and it's James 1:22 26. Do not merely listen to the words, so deceive yourselves. Do what it says, says anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the law, the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it will be blessed in what he does. So we have a funny story.

Okay, you ready? I'm trying not to be. We're sorry if we're a lot. I am sorry for the new people that are here tonight. I'm going to apologize in advance.

So read the word and do what it says. So over Christmas, my aunt came in town and she was baking cookies with our kids, and she needed, like, her readers on to, like, read the buttons on their microwave to melt butter and couldn't. She didn't know where her glasses were. So she said, hey, Micah, our son. Oh, yeah, that's our kid.

Our son. Hey, Micah, can you tell me how to work the microwave? Because it's a. Like a countertop depth one, so it's not like one over here. And he said, read the words and do what it says.

It wasn't. It wasn't. Mike is not a punk. No, he's not a punk. He is so innocent.

And. And it was just. It was beautifully innocent because he. Because she was like, do you know how to work the microwave? And he was like, yeah, you read the words and do what it says.

So, guys, in James, read the word and do what it says. That's kind of the idea here, is that we take in the Word of God. We cannot just sit upon the Word of God as if it was something to be. It's not like it's a. It's not fancy china you put in a cabinet and never actually use.

The point here is the Word of God has to be applicable to your life. So Matthew, chapter 7, verses 24 and 25, similar verses we talked about in our whole body. When Pastor Jay over, I don't know, 10 weeks or so, we were talking about spiritual maturity as a church who hears these particular verse multiple times. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundations on the rock.

We can build upon the Word of God and we can be doers of the Word of God, not hearers only. So that when we also have challenges, problems raising middle schoolers or whatever's going on, you will need the application of wisdom. It's going to come in handy. But we can't do that unless we pay attention to what the word of God says. And do something with it.

So tell us more.

So this study in James is coming from. A lot of it is coming from this book. I went through the Book of James starting in October of last year and loved it so much. There was. James is such a packed book with instructions, warnings, teachings, encouragement.

So we're gonna do that together. But this, the Stud Fads Steadfast Life of James is where we're going to be pulling a lot of the content from. If you want to take a picture of it or also order it, let me know because it is really, really amazing and has blessed me so much. And so that's where we're going to get a lot of the content from. But we were supposed to lay the foundation of James with you guys back at Vision Night, but we're going to do it tonight for.

For the first part of James 1. So we need to talk about who is James? Well, James, he is the half brother of Jesus, as recounted in a couple different verses, but one that I'm going to pull from is Math Teen Ma. Math Teen. Math Teen.

That is so cool. Matthew 13:55. Isn't this a carpenter's son? Isn't this. Isn't his name Mary?

Aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? So he is the half brother of Jesus. James was. He saw the resurrected Christ as recounted in 1st Corinthians 15:7. He ministered with the apostle Paul.

Acts 12:17. Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this. And then it's that James. It's this James we're talking about.

I was making reference. He's referencing the James we're talking about. Oh, yep. He is recognized as a pillar of faith found in Galatians 2. 9.

He was a devoted servant and slave of God. And it declares that in James 1:1, James, a servant of the Lord. Amen. And then I wrote this because Andrew and I were actually having this discussion on the couch. He was martyred for his faith in 62 AD and we were talking about how interesting it is that James wrote an entire book recounting a lot of miracles and instructions and warnings, yet there's not a lot of scripture where he was with Jesus on the earth.

He wasn't at the crucifixion. Nope. But he was at the resurrection. It's true. He came.

Isn't that really cool? It's. It goes to show this. Why wasn't he there? Well, many, many times.

Imagine if, I don't know, somebody told you that your brother was the Messiah. You're like, yeah, whatever, dude. I see that guy, he has farts like you would not believe. Okay? So all of a sudden you just can't.

Your heart hardens. Well, this is this James that wrote the Book of James. He's like, nah, man, you are not the Messiah. Ain't no way you're the Messiah. He was a doubter completely through and through.

Yeah, until Jesus was crucified, which he wasn't even there for the crucifixion. If you've read In John, chapter 19, I believe it is where Jesus on the cross tells John the Apostle Mary, this is now your son. In Hebrew culture and Jewish culture, it was commonplace where the next oldest son would have. Would be told, take care of your mother if something happens to me. Well, guess what?

The next oldest son wasn't there, James. He was nowhere to be found. In fact, John was the only disciple that was at the crucifixion. So what's really important here is we recognize James was a doubter. Something transpired and transformed in his heart.

So we're going to talk through. What does it look like at this point to deal with trial struggle? I don't know who I am. I'm not sure what my faith's all about it and counting it all joy, as we'll see here in a few minutes, about when you endure painful sufferings. Because all of a sudden, as we see on the screen, he did see the resurrected Christ and all of it made sense.

The scales fell from his eyes and this really was the Messiah. And I've been missing it the entire time. So very important piece. Now what you'll notice the next slide's about the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of James. Jesus, of course, in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, chapter five makes a whole lot of, I guess you could say, statements.

The poor are blessed in the kingdom of God. The grieved are exalted in the kingdom of God. The merciful will be shown mercy, peace, as a fruit of righteousness. Those who experience trials are blessed, hope amid persecution and trial, warnings against anger, honesty, honest and integrity in speech are all themes that Jesus talked through in the Sermon on the Mount. Well, guess who probably heard a lot of that.

James. Whether he believed any of it or not, probably not, but he was around. But you'll notice in his book, in the Epistle of James, he goes in great detail and it mirrors quite a bit of Jesus teachings. There's a Reason for that? He's the half brother of Jesus and spent a good bit of time with Jesus.

However, he did not have an understanding of real Messiah. We'll call it doctrine at that point until Jesus was raised from the dead. So. But it's pretty important that tonight want to talk through the major narratives, right? So the first, the first narrative that we're going to break down is the first chunk of scripture.

Consider it joy when undergoing suffering. And that's literally what, like in my Bible, it's trials and temptations. Consider it pure joy. My brothers, when you face trials of many kind, that's hard to understand. I don't look at trials as joyful.

So that requires an understanding or a faith in the Lord to know that there can be joy in the midst of suffering. Why would James start this practical letter about the Christian life when he's called to consider our trials as joy? James is speaking of the upside down kingdom, just like Jesus did on the Sermon of the Mount. Yes, Jesus or James knows that trials and sufferings are realities for all believers. Yet he can use even our sufferings to draw our hearts to him.

Thank you, Lord. Every time I hear this verse, I always think back to the women's conference. I don't know if any of you guys were there. Gosh, it was like so, so long ago. But Alex Seeley was here.

Was anybody here when Alex Seeley was here? You were the joy that took him to the cross. Like I, that's like burned into my brain. And her and her kids. Cute little Australian accent.

I'm not even going to try that. But fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer of the perfect faith, for the joy sets before him. He endured the cross. We were the joy that set before him, that nailed him to the cross. He saw us when he went to the cross, scoring at shame and sat down at the right hand of the Father.

So counting our trials as joy, not really making sense to us. But we are commanded to do so. This means that we need to be intentional at looking at the I found a misspelled word. Trails. The trails, trials, trails we are going through and purposely finding joy.

This does not mean that we are consumed with ourselves. It only means when we trust Christ through each storm. Considering our trials as joy does not mean that we are happy about suffering, but it means that we know that Jesus can bring joy through them. So the riddles have been through their fair share of suffering. Sure.

And I want to say we're good at fighting joy in the midst of suffering, but it's an area that we are going to grow in. Right? Okay. I mean, who is. Nobody loves going through the stuff.

And there's. I like to tell people all the time, yes, there's enough grief to go around for everybody. Everybody gets their fair share of grief. Nobody owns the corner on grief. We don't own the corner on grief.

Challenges have happened. What I'll say is this about four years into our journey, after our son passed away. I don't know how this happened. When Noah went to heaven, it was like, I don't know what we'll do. I don't know how we're going to think.

I don't know how to put one foot in front of the next foot. I don't know. And four years later or so, there was this moment when unspeakable sorrow and pain somehow held hands with acceptance and joy. And then they started walking together. I don't know when that takes place.

I don't know what you call that, but I call that when sorrow and grief and joy have a baby. And it's called acceptance. And this is kind of where we've been living. We just marked 10 years, a week and a half ago of Noah being in heaven. And again, you guys have all gone through your own, all kinds of stuff, and there's agony everywhere.

My point, though, is that. How do we consider it pure joy? Well, one of the joys that came out of that journey is this. We'd have never been in this seat. I was in the journeys that all of you incredible people, had it not been for the trials and the journeys that we've been on, and we have no idea what we're doing most of the time.

Probably like that tonight, as you've seen, with the jokes we tell. Good grief, man. But the truth of the matter is that none of this is possible unless you walk through the fire. The trials, the struggles, they do produce something. And in fact, Christ on the cross, his production of the reality of forgiveness and redemption is only possible because of tremendous suffering, unspeakable suffering.

Good came out of it, you came out of it. Redemption came out of it. So, point two, or sorry, next theme about James, chapter one. If we ask for wisdom, he's good and faithful to give it. James 1, verses 5 through 8.

James ended verse 4 by telling us that as we mature, we will lack nothing. Then ironically, he tells us that if we lack wisdom, which is something, apparently we can ask God for it. Apparently, we haven't matured enough of that yet. The promise is sure. So what is wisdom?

Well, I would call it. It is discernment and insight. It is the application of knowledge. Proverbs 19:2 says that wisdom without. I'm sorry, knowledge without wisdom is reckless.

I know a bunch of stuff, but I have no idea how to do it or what to do with it. If you've seen any politicians for any amount of time, go get them and then no idea how to implement any of the infrastructure. So this is the reality of what if I'm. If I'm Elon Musk, for example, we're going to go to Mars. How are you going to do that, man?

I'm not going to break stuff on the way there. We'll figure it out when we get there. How are you going to get back? You know, I don't know. All those questions come to my mind.

But all the things about what do you do with wisdom? It's application of knowledge submitted unto Christ. It is the wisdom of God and the truth of the upside down kingdom that allows us to have joy and in our trials and to trust God when absolutely nothing in your life makes sense. Mark, chapter nine. This is not on the screen yet, but there's a story.

You guys have probably read this a hundred times. The disciples are brought, a young boy and his father. The young boy is demon possessed. The demon throws the boy in the fire, tries to burn him, throws him in the water, tries to drown him. They've gone to all kinds of places trying to seek help.

Nothing can be done about this boy's condition. The father brings the boy to the disciples and they cannot cast out the demon and they cannot make any headway to this. Jesus is coming down, just came off the mountain of transfiguration. If you read the timeline, he comes off of that moment and is then introduced into this scenario with the disciples who can't accomplish what they have been tasked to do. They've done before, many, many, many, many times.

Cast out demons and devils and all kinds of stuff. Yet they cann here and they are dumbfounded. They don't know what's going on. Jesus eventually takes control of the situation, casts the demon out of the boy. He looks like he's dead on the ground.

Jesus picks him back up and gives him back to his father. The father of the little boy is like, please help me in my unbelief. I believe, but help my doubt. The issue comes down to later, at the end of all of that, Jesus goes back into the house or wherever he's at and privately, verses 28 and 29 after Jesus had gone Indoors, his disciples asked him privately, why couldn't we drive it out? He replied, this kind can only come out by prayer.

So the reality is when the disciples had no idea what they were doing and all the stuff that had worked, no problem beforehand, but it's not working now. They didn't know what the answer was, but they know where to go to get the answer, which is Jesus. They went to him to receive wisdom. So the disciples were confused. They were frustrated.

Why could they not do this? Can you imagine the defeat they must have felt? Like we've cast out demons like crazy before, but here's what ends up happening. James1 points out that if any of us lack wisdom, we should ask for it, right? The distinct advantage that the disciples had was that they knew where to go.

And then Jesus provided them with the wisdom of how to take their ministry to the next level. He introduced the concept that there are levels and layers of demonic harassment and warfare that you will not be able to overcome or defeat without consistent fervent prayer. You will not get there with show and tell. Jesus unlocks this nugget of wisdom for them of a consecrated life. How you take care of this kind of demon.

So shameless plug. Next Thursday night, I guess this coming Thursday night we're doing a men's teaching. There'll be four different topics. One of those topics I'm going to unpack some of this detail about. What do you do?

How do you deal with demonic harassment? How do you deal with demons in your household? Possibly demons, maybe even in your own family or even that you've been demonically harassed by different types of stuff. Bloodline curses, generational curses. I'm gonna talk about all those things speaking mostly out of the book talk.

They shall expel demons and blessings and curses. From Derek Prince. We're going to talk about this next Thursday evening. So men, if you are around and you are interested, I would challenge you to come and be a part of a conversation. So that is what wisdom can be done.

We can ask for it and we can receive it if we ask for it with a pure heart and not a double minded heart. Love it. All right. The third one is there is a greater one to pursue. And that is James 1:9 12.

The brother in humble circumstance ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position because he will pass away like a wildflower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant it blossoms, falls, and the beauty is destroyed in the same way the rich will fade away even while he goes about his business. James uses the contrast here of wealth and poverty to illustrate this spiritual truth. There are many things that cause us to compare.

I don't know if you guys have been on people's highlight reels called social media, but that causes us to compare to one another. And may I remind you, it is their highlight reel. Most people are not vulnerable enough to share their bad days, but it causes us to compare ourselves in many trials in our life. We are tempted to think that when it comes to poverty and wealth, poverty is the trial. But that's not the case for James or that James makes for us.

We find ourselves. When we find ourselves with great financial resources or we find ourselves with little, the temptation is to seek satisfaction in the world instead of Jesus. For this person that has little, the evidence may be in pursuit or lack of trust that he will supply all of your needs. Has anybody gone to the grocery store lately? Oh, man, it's expensive.

It's expensive. So to know that Jesus actually will supply all of our needs in the midst of, of rising inflation, it's time to, you know, reapply your kids for school. They also need uniforms and shoes and all those things. And you're like, all right, Lord, I'm trusting in you and not in the world. But this is what Jesus's heart is for us.

He wants us to pursue him instead of to pursue the confidence in the things of the world, because it doesn't apply any assurance for the person of wealth. The temptation may think that they have earned it all on their own, but the reality is, is that Jesus helped to get you there. Whether we are rich or poor, we are living in danger of a life, of a life in pursuit of things of the world. So James is telling us that there's a greater one to pursue, and the greater one is Jesus. He contrasts these things by making sure that we understand that the Word of God is the only thing that lasts forever.

And similar things have been echoed in Isaiah 47, 8. I think we should put that verse on the screen. Oh, there it is. You should put the verse on the screen. The verse is on the screen because it's in the notes.

This particular verse has much to do with the idea that all the stuff that we think about, the temporal stuff, it's going to burn, it's not going to last. But the Word of God, which we want to build on this year and every year lasts forever, right? This is a proving ground verse of. If you're looking for a scripture to hide in your heart, so to speak about. Hey, why is it important that I study the Bible?

It's because it's the only thing that will not shake when the rest of your world does shake. It's really. It's really important. Sorry. You're good.

Blessed is the first word echoed in the Sermon of the Mount. So here's that correlation between the Sermon on the Mount and James. And you're going to see it a lot as we go through the Book of James. And I think it's really cool how he was purposeful in writing the book with so many correlations. But blessed.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. This is that upside down kingdom that we were talking about, that when you go through trials or you go through temptation, you go through trusting you're blessed. How? What does that even mean? Like, that upside down kingdom tells us that those who endure the trials will be blessed.

The crown of life comes to those who endure. So apparently we are all getting really big crowns because we have endured lots of testing and trials in this life. The reward for faithfulness, endurance. Not only did Jesus run the race, but he carries us through the race. Amen.

And we also can have communion with him in the midst of our trials. Praise God. When I hear the word crown, I think of dental work. I don't want that kind of crown. I've had a couple of those in my life.

You don't have dental anxiety? I don't. Does anyone have dental? Like, you freak out when you go to the dentist. Okay.

We have so many friends that work in the dental field too. And I just don't get it. I just don't get it. I can't have that much saliva on my fingers, man. Like, I don't want to dig in your mouth.

I don't know. It's just they're also like, tell me about your life. And you're like, anyways, not that kind of crown. The good kind. Okay, just as a heads up, number four.

God never tempts us, but he certainly will allow us to be tested. And like gold is purified by fire to test the purity of it. The same is true of our lives. So after being taught from James all about how God is sovereign in trials and how trials are used to mature us and help us grow, James takes a moment to remind us that God is never the one that does the tempting of us to try to get us to fall. It's very important we see this.

It would be easy to look at the trials that we face and think God is messing with me, man. Like he's just messing with the stuff directly putting temptation in my life. That is not what happens here. So James proactively addresses the issue that he knows is going to come up. And he reminds us that our fallen nature is sinful, but God is sinless.

So there are generally two different ways that we can react to trials. Number one, we can allow God to use them to refine and mature us. That'd be great. That's awesome. Or number two, we can allow them to cause bitterness, frustration in our hearts towards God and we choose to spiral in sin.

Not as good, just as a heads up. So those two options are put before us. And when God allows for testing like he did for the book of Job, if you remember going through that earlier in the year, that to happen the whole Old Testament this year, God allowed for all that to happen. To test and to purify Job's heart, to test and to see what he was going to do. Did God already know?

Of course he did. But Job didn't know. He certainly found out. But the thing is, God's not looking to tempt you, to cause you to sin. In fact, he's trying to figure out, how can I get this area that seems like it's a.

A thorn in your flesh, like we cannot overcome this cycle. He will allow it to be tested so that we can get it out. That's a very big thing. He wants it out of us. So blaming God for sin is not something new.

The Old Testament is chock full of times when God's people looked right at him and said, this is your fault, you big jerk. Genesis chapter three recounts when Adam and Eve for the sin that they found themselves in. Adam wasn't really blaming Eve. In fact, he was blaming God for giving Eve to him. This is your fault.

You gave the woman to me. So what do you expect to have happen? Our first instinct is to shift blame to a person or a situation or a circumstance. It ain't my fault. I did not do that.

There's a song, it's like a rap song. It ain't my fault. Did I do that? I know all that stuff. My point, he tried, I tried.

He's a homeschooled pk. No, I was home teached. You were home teach. So anyways, that's a long story. That's a loose term again.

Adam and Eve may have been the first humans to blame God, but they would not be the last ones to blame God. God is consistently gracious and faithful. But sin in our own hearts causes us to sin and bring greater consequences. So the book of Exodus shows us how God miraculously delivered his people out of slavery. Who is in Exodus now in the Bible reading plan for our church?

Who's behind the Bible reading plan for our church? Just in case. All right. Most of us. Very good.

All right. I want to make sure we had an honest conversation. I'm a little behind as well, but we're going to get there. So the book of Exodus, God triumphantly brought them through the Red Sea. All this stuff on dry land.

This is like in chapter 14 and 15. By the end of chapter 15, they're complaining that there's no water. Dude, they just walk through water on dry ground, yet they're like, hey man, there's no water here. How are you going to provide it? It's too slow.

You're doing the thing. What's going on? They had zero patience. They wanted to blame God for all this stuff. It didn't even take a full chapter to get to that point.

I mean, they're hot and cranky, the whole thing. The people are overwhelmed with gratitude and praise for God when it's going good, but the minute it's not going good, it's his fault. So James 1:14,15 shows us the spiral of sin. This is how it works. Temptation, nature, which own evil desires.

Where does our own evil desires come from? The flesh fallen nature which you inherited because of Adam and Eve's sin. This is called a sin nature. Our own evil desires which entice us and drag us away. Do you realize the enemy's been studying you your entire life?

Do you realize he's been studying your family genealogical history for all of their lives? He's playing the long game here, guys. He's waiting for opportunities because just like really well timed ads on Instagram because they listen to all the stuff you're doing. Just like you need to buy boots at 3am or whatever because you're thinking about it and then somehow they know you're thinking about it. I don't even know how it works.

The enemy loves to watch what you do know, where you have hiccups and conveniently place roadblocks in front of you at just the right time. These desires, verse 15, give birth to sinful actions. This is called whenever you have a sinful thought. You know, I could probably do at that moment. If you don't catch that thing right there.

This is how it goes to the next phase. And when sin is allowed to grow, it's allowed to grow. When we let a thought that we know should not be in our brain, whether it's lust or something else about theft or stealing, whatever, if we don't catch that bad boy right there, that's called allowing it to grow. A little bit of yeast ruins the entire batch. What's the consequence?

Once it's allowed to grow, it gives birth, ultimately to death. But what is death? Separation from God in eternity. The enemy is playing the long game. We have to be mindful of that.

So we are tempted, enticed, and lured away by our own desires. They lead us to disobedience. And that sin and disobedience ultimately brings death. Trials and suffering are sure in this life, but we have a choice and and how we're going to respond. Two things again.

We can choose to count our trials as joy and grow and mature, or we can allow our trials to lead us down a dangerous and deadly path of unrepentant sin. And James exhorts us to choose life. So that was the Sorry for the heavy. All right. Next thing.

Sorry. It's okay. Because the fifth thing is Jesus is all we need. Hallelujah. Right.

So verse 16 and 17, he comes off by saying, do not be deceived. Why does he say that? Because immediately after warning us about trials and temptations, the command to do not be deceived comes in. This command is only necessary because there's a reason for it. And there's a great reason for this warning.

Hallelujah. The world will try to deceive you. The enemy is going to try to deceive you. And honestly, you'll try to deceive yourself. But in verse 17, he continues by saying that we will be good things are good, but that to believe that good things are.

Believe that good things are being withheld from us, but they're not. Typically, we hear verse 17. Every good and perfect gift is from above. You think of that like as baby dedications or a gift from the Lord being the blessing of a child, but it's ultimately him. He is the good and perfect thing that comes from above.

And the temptation to believe that Jesus or that God is holding out on us goes all the way back to the times of Eden. But we know that the reality is that God holds the nothing back from his people. We need a truth. We need to preach this truth to our hearts that Jesus is really all we need. And if we know that Jesus is all we need, then we do not need the approvals of others to feel worthy.

If Jesus is All we need, then we do not need our days to go smoothly because true peace and contentment are found in him. If Jesus is all we need, we don't need the sun and two days of rain, because peace and contentment are in him. Samantha. After two days of rain. My wife hates rain, in case you're wondering.

Went, dude, I'm serious. When it's cloudy for, like, three or four days, this woman, do not go near her. It's just. She will cut you so. And I love you, Steph Brown.

She typically gets my text messages, oh, my gosh. Should we ever see this on? I'm not. It's so dramatic. It's like, it's.

Where's the sun at? It hasn't been sunny in two days. I don't know what to say. I don't like winter. I don't like cloudy days.

There's areas for me to grow as a person. So congratulations. That's my goals. Submit that thing to Jesus. Yeah.

Sidebar. You were having a conversation, and Gracie Denton overheard it. And those that know Gracie Denton, she does Sozo, Inner Healing and Deliverance. And Andrew said something like, the cloudy days. And you said, the cloudy days, man, my wife's been so sad.

And Gracie goes, you know we can deliver her from that, right? I was like, then go to my house right now and deliver her from. That would save me a lot of time. Gracie, I love you. I've been in the Deliverance room lots of times, but maybe need it for myself.

For the cloudy days. I don't know. All that is good and everything that comes from our Father. We do not need to be deceived by the lies of the enemy, the lies of the world, or the lies that we tell ourselves. We can be clever, confident in the word of God and the character that every good and perfect gift has been given to us through Jesus.

And he is the most perfect gift that went to the cross and sacrificed himself so that we can find every spiritual blessing, which is Ephesians 1:3. Praise be to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual in Christ. Even on rainy days? Even on rainy days. You know, in the middle of the summertime when it's 100 degrees and you don't have a break from the heat and the sun.

A rainy day is therapeutic in February. I just think it's demonic.

You're getting Sam's real heart tonight. What do you really think, babe? I don't know. I'll tell you the last point. Is what we've kind of already hit on.

Jesus is in fact the greatest gift. Every good and perfect gift does come from the Father. And he is. Jesus is the greatest gift that's ever been given. So without Jesus, redemption there is no good in us.

There is no desire for what is right in us without Him. When we were running from God, he still chose us first. Peter 1:3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Remember this, okay? Peter was a disciple who abandoned Jesus and didn't even go, didn't even follow. He denied him three times. James, Jesus own half brother didn't even go to the crucifixion. And yet now we're seeing ah.

All of a sudden we realize he was the gift the entire time and there's still hope for me because of the resurrection, he didn't stay dead. That's good news for all of us, guys. We have no power of our own, no righteousness of our own. And yet God in His love has brought forth and given us new birth and life. There is nothing we can do to earn his love.

Yet he loved us with an unshakable love. He loves your kids with an unrelenting love. Even when they act like little hellions, he does. He loves your spouse even when they've driven you crazy all freaking day and pressed all your buttons. He loves you even when you've messed up for the 759th time this week.

That's for me. Do you realize this morning I repented to my wife? I was being a butthead. I really was. I was just being a butthead.

I'm gonna say that on the mic. Butt head. This is being recorded. I'm sorry. Don't let your kid listen to this.

I was just being a butthead, like all week to my wife. And I had to repent this morning because I was convicted. I don't even know why I'm being a butthead. I'm just grumpy. And you know what?

She forgave me because she loves me. And I'm thankful for that. She didn't have to, but she did forgive me. So my name is Andrew, I'm a pastor. And sometimes I'm a butt head.

I just am. And I'm sorry if I've been a butthead to you. I'm very sorry. When we were still sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us all. Romans 5, 6, 11, talks about that and we can be confident.

There is nothing we can do to earn his free gift of salvation. It is a free, free gift that we can't earn, and there's nothing that can separate us from the vast love of Jesus. You can't run far enough away from it. You can't do enough stuff to one day disqualify yourself. He loves you guys, he loves your family.

He loves your children. He loves your marriage. He loves you. Romans 8 tells us that why don't you land the plane? So after the riddles have declared that rainy days are demonic and have used choice words words at date or teaching night, we are going to round out this night.

And we are just the heart behind of trying to convey Book of James and all of what James wrote. The heart behind of trying to convey ultimately how to be more like Jesus and his character. The first chapter was full of commands, warnings and promises. This is where we get our verse 20 of 2026 from this year. That we would be not just doers of the Word, but obey the Word, and that these words from James are hard, but if we do not obey them, then we are deceiving ourselves.

James 1:22 26 so do not merely listen to the Word and deceive yourself. Do what it says. Read the Word and do what it says, which means don't be a butthead to your wife or your husband. Okay, so I've learned that.