We have come to the end of our study of James. After studying together as a Drawing Near to God community, I am sad to see it end. It was awesome having people in our city and other cities who joined us in studying this letter together. Written as possibly one of the first letters of the New Testament, the dispersed Jewish Christians were being called to action. James was on the front lines of this band of brothers and sisters calling them to take up the cross and fight the powers of darkness in practical ways as a people called to be the light of the world.
Peter describes the church in action proclaiming the Gospel:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
James reminds Christians how to live from perseverance to true faith, controlling one’s tongue, submitting to God’s will, and having patience. Then, finally ending his letter with a call to action to pray for one another when we suffer or are sick.
As we end our time together, we too are called to action. What are your next faithful steps? What is God nudging you to do?
For those of you who are local, maybe your next faithful step is to join the Drawing Near community for Soup, Salad & Stepping Stones (invitation below) as I share my biggest takeaways from our study in James and how to put our faith into action. You can also still register for one of our Abiding Space summer groups, which starts April 11th (click to learn more). For those of you who do not live in the Charleston SC area, you can still take the next step and register (Fall 2024 Study link) to join the Abiding Space summer group via Zoom.
Also, more information is to come about registration for the fall study of Nehemiah beginning in September.
One faithful step……that’s all it takes.
