JAMES
“Faith that Works!”
Lesson #5 – November 2-3, 2013
Scripture: James 2:14-26
Memory Verse: James 2:17, “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Activities and Crafts: Coloring Pages, Faith Coloring picture, Find the animals picture; Believe puzzle
Introduction: (Skit)
Bible Lesson Read James 2:14-26
What is Faith?
I. Believing Faith:
Do you all remember in Lesson #1 we talked about “faith”. For review someone look up and read Romans 1:17 & 3:22-24
· From Romans 1:17, what must we have to be saved? (faith)
· From Romans 3:22-24, how are we made right in God’s sight? (trusting in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.)
II.Living Faith:
In today’s world we want everything to be easy. If you go on a diet – you buy “light” food. There are packages of 100 calorie cookies and crackers. There is “light” mayonnaise, soups, pies and frozen dinners. We don’t just want to eat vegetables and fruits we want them in little packages to make it easy. But everything is not easy. If you are going on a diet you need to do the hard work to make it work. When you live a life of faith you need to take action steps to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and to follow God. A “lazy” Christian is a Christian with out faith!
A. Faith in Action! 2:14-20
· Life of Faith:
Look up Hebrews 10:38a, “And a righteous person will live by faith...’All of scripture teaches that once you believe in Jesus Christ for your salvation you begin your life long journey of “faith.” This is exactly what James is telling us here. If you believe in God your life will show it! He is talking about your life after you believe in Jesus for salvation.
· Prove It!
Has anyone ever said to you “prove it?” You make some “claim to fame” to your friends and what do they say, prove it! (“I can run the mile in 5 minutes, prove it!”)
That’s exactly what James is saying here, you say you have faith, PROVE IT! Remember our skit this morning....Does that sound like verses 2:15-16 to you? Faith is a mental decision to believe and a life long journey living out that faith. James is not saying that the “good things” that you do save you. He’s saying that the “good things” that you do show reveal your faith in God. To ignore the people in need around us is to ignore living a life of faith. Look at 1 John 3:17-18 to further discuss this truth.
· Even the demons believe:
What do you think that James is saying in verse 19? (You may want to refer to Matthew 8:28-29.) It is very clear from Scripture that the demons and the devil know that God is God and that Jesus is His Son! But just because they know who God is, they have chosen to not “believe” in Him and to not live a life for God.
When James talks about the “foolish” man – that word literally means “empty.” A man who’s faith is empty.
B. Illustrations of Faith: James 2:21-26
To prove his point, James is going to give us two examples:
Abraham: Who can tell us what they know about Abraham?
· Abraham was asked by God to leave his home and go to a land He would show him. Abraham did it! (Genesis 12)
· Abraham lies to protect his life. Genesis 12:10-20 (Journeys off his path because of a famine and lies to protect his life.)
Abraham goes back to the place that he started from,(Genesis 13:3-4) and begins his journey again.
· God promises Abraham a son, and Abraham believes God, (Genesis 15: 4-7.) It says that it was counted to Abraham as righteousness, Abraham was declared righteous because of his faith. God has ALWAYS worked in the same way. We are saved through faith! This is the first instance of the word “believed” in the Bible. This shows the complete faith or trust the Abraham put in God. Abraham rested everything on God’s word. He simply believed in what God said was true. He could leave the present, the future in God’s hands.
· Abraham jumps ahead of God and listens to his wife and has a child from one of his servants. (Genesis 16 :)
· God again promises Abraham a son through His wife Sarah (Genesis 18)
· Abraham lies one more time (Genesis 20) about his wife to King Abimelech.
· Abraham and Sarah have a son Isaac, just as God promised (Genesis 21)
· God tests Abraham’s faith and obedience. (Genesis 22) Abraham is asked to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham obeys God and God provides the sacrifice and blesses Abraham. This incident took place a full 30 years after Genesis 15:6.
· What can we learn from the life of Abraham?
· He didn’t start out this great man of “faith.” Abraham initially believed God, and took the steps to follow Him. But along the way he made some mistakes, just like we do. Big Mistakes! Abraham kept going and learning and believing in God, he learned from his mistakes and saw that God was always faithful. Abraham believed God but he BECAME the man of faith through the course of his life. He was even called the “friend of God!” How cool is that!
· Abraham’s faith was working with his works. (James 2:22)
· Hebrews 11 shows us the progression of Abraham’s faith;
Hebrews 11:8 = started out on his journey in faith
Hebrews 11:9 = wandered in faith
Hebrews 11:11 = believed God would provide a son
Hebrews 11:17 = offered Isaac as a sacrifice to God
As a result of Abrahams faith, James tells us he was called a “friend of God.”
Rahab:
· What can we learn from the life of Rahab?
· Joshua 2:
· She’s a prostitute, not a noble profession. Probably shunned by the people of Jericho because of her reputation.
· Joshua sends spy’s into the land around Jericho to check things out
· The spy’s hide out at Rahabs house.
· Rahab hides them.
· Rahab responds to the spy’s and asks for protection. (Joshua 2:8-13) Rahab shows that she has heard of what God has done for Israel and she has believed that God is the supreme God.
· Rahab is saved, Joshua 6:22-25
· By her actions she showed that she believed. One of the most amazing things about God is that He sees a person’s heart. Look at Matthew 1 this is the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 5, who is mentioned there? Rahab is only one of four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ! God did not look at who Rahab was in the past, but who she became after she believed in God. God saw her heart!
James has given us two examples of “living faith.” Abraham and Rahab showed that they believed in God by how they lived their lives.
Conclusion:
Shortly after World War II came to a close, Europe began picking up the pieces. Much of the Old Country had been ravaged by war and was in ruins. Perhaps the saddest sight of all was that of little orphaned children starving in the streets of those war-torn cities. Early one chilly morning an American soldier was making his way back to the barracks in London. As he turned the corner in his jeep, he spotted a little boy with his nose pressed to the window of a pastry shop. Inside, the cook was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts. The hungry boy stared in silence, with his nose pressed against the window, drooling and watching the cook’s every move. The soldier pulled his jeep to the curb, stopped, and got out.
“Son, would you like some of those?”
The boy was startled. “Oh yeah...I would.”
The American stepped inside and bought a dozen, put them in a bag and walked back to where the lad was standing in the foggy cold of the London morning. He smiled, held out the bag and said simply, “Here you are.”
As he turned to walk away, he felt a tug on his coat. He looked back and heard the child ask quietly, “Mister....are you God?”
Our actions reveal what we believe. Our faith should produce “right living”! People cannot see God, but they can see us as His representatives!
Small Group Questions
1. Do you think that it is true that what you believe is proven by your actions?
2. Why is it so hard to act the way we should? What gets in our way?
3. If God points out a need (physical need of others) to you what should you do about it?
4. Why is it important to help others?
5. List ways that you could reach out to someone in need?
6. What did this passage teach that demons know about God? What does that show us about having “knowledge of” and “believing”?
7. How do Abraham and Rahab prove James’ point?
8. Do you understand how you are saved? Does this passage confuse you about faith and works? (The relationship between faith and our lifestyle is inseparable. It isn’t that we are saved by what we do. Rather that how we live is evident of God’s working in our lives.)
This week I will ______
Name:______Date:______
Skit for Lesson #5
Setting: School Fieldtrip (lunchtime)
Cast: Two school kids with two lunch bags.
Kid #1: Boy what a great day for a field trip, I can’t wait to eat my lunch, I’m starving!
Kid #2: Yeah, it’s a great day. I’m hungry too. Looks into his lunch and doesn’t see much!
Kid #1: My Mom always packs the best lunches. Wow, look at this, there’s a sandwich, chips, carrot sticks and dip, 4 cookies and two drinks. Wow, my mom is the best! (Starts eating very noisily.)
Kid #2: Wow that does look good. My parents are divorced and things are tight right now. My mom has to go to work early and I guess she forgot to go to the store. So when I went to pack my lunch all I could find was this piece of bologna, we were out of bread, so this is all I have.
Kid #1: Boy, that’s too bad! (Eating his lunch, with great gusto and talking as he eats.) I just love field trips, because we get to get out of school don’t you?
Kid #2: (Looking hungry and dejected.) Yeah, field trips are great!
Kid #1: Wow that was a fantastic lunch. Well, I got to go now. Sorry about your parents. I hope everything works out! If you ever need anything let me know, ok! Bye!
Kid #2: (Says quietly) Yeah right, bye!
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