James - Intro

Let's talk a little about the Bible. We'll start with James, which is a cool book in the New Testament of the Bible. The reason its cool is because James, who was the brother of Jesus, is really concerned with how faith in Jesus plays out in every day life. It is full of practical advice.

Open up your Bible and turn it to James (If you don't know where it is, its ok, no one is watching you, you can look it up in the contents). In your Bible, it may be called The Epistle of James. "Epistle" is just a big fancy religious word for "letter." So this "book" was a letter first. James wrote this letter to all the christian churches.

As we read this verse by verse over the next few weeks, notice how much James talks about "works" and "faith." A question for you to think about is, "What do works and faith have to do with each other?"

Another cool thing about this letter to me is the fact that James wrote it. He was the brother of Jesus, but in the first verse he writes that he is a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." This guy was Jesus brother, yet he is calling Him "Lord" and saying he is his servant?

Do you have a sibling? Would you ever call them God and declare to the whole world that you are forever their servant? I have two brothers and a sister and I'm not about to do that. My older brother made me eat, among other things, a mosquito stick, comet, soap, the pink wall insulation and a worm. I'm not going to be his servant.

That makes the story of Jesus even cooler. If His own brothers were willing to follow him, and his mother (who at one time changed his stinky diapers), shouldn't we?