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James 5:13-20 – James ends his letter by calling the church to the importance of prayer. He notes four particular aspects of prayer. 1) That we should pray at all times. God wants to be in conversation with us. 2) That we should pray earnestly and authentically. 3) That should always pray with a heart for communal restoration. This is power prayer. 4) That we should pray in community, particularly interceding in presence for those most on the margins.

James 5:1-12 – James channels Israel's agrarian prophet Amos in this passage. Amos spoke truth to Israel, who took being God's chosen for granted, and became focused on themselves and their own advantage. James knows the same will happen to the new Christian church and that they must always keep the judgment of God in plain view. Today, we look at how keeping the end in view is essential in cultivating a hopeful patience that will allow God to teach us in the waiting.

James 3:13-18 – Tabatha Leady teaches about the wisdom God calls us to seek. She challenges us to ask God where we think, live and act unwisely. She encourages us to tend our hearts and the hearts of others well through service, the letting go of selfish ambition, bitter envy and deceit. Tabatha then calls us to a life of wisdom that is lived in hopes of a harvest.

James 3:1-12

James 2:14-26 – Have you ever been the Christian that says, "I'll pray for you." And then doesn't pray? James is looking at you in this passage. Let's be honest, if you have any kind of heart, you are looking at you! Who wants to be a two-faced person? We all want faith that actually works, but we struggle to get there. Today, Jon teaches on identifying dead faith within yourself and within our church community. He then aims for the development of a new allegiance to Christ that results in humility, sacrifice, and practical service.

James 2:1-13 – James urges his church to take a good look in the mirror before they judge those who come into their church from the street. To truly see ourselves as Christians, we must realize it is not we who are the good guys in our story, but it is Jesus Christ alone. Only once we see ourselves clearly, in complete need of grace and mercy, can we properly see others and what they need. Unfortunately, due to a lack of accountability, weak biblical interpretation and tribalism, the church has fallen prey to blindness created by seeking power and privilege. We need Jesus.

James 1:19-27 – James central image in this passage is of a man looking into the mirror, studying his 'natural face' intently, and then forgetting what he looks like. It is in the forgetting that he loses self control, acts contrary to what he studies, and succumbs to anger, and derails his religion. If we look deeply, we will find that this text shows us that anger is but a symptom of lack of self control, that springs from a misplaced identity. What is the identity we must cultivate to achieve the ability to persevere, tremendous self control, and the practice of true religion, which includes acts of selfless kindness to people who have no worth to us? James tells us we need to look in the mirror each morning and remember our identity in Jesus Christ, our natural and most true identity as human beings.

Mark 16:1-8 – Pastor Jon gives an Easter message about the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Looking at an unusual account in Mark 16, he asks: Is the resurrection real, reliable, relatable, and relevant? If so, the question for all who hear the gospel (good news) message of Jesus is – "Who do *you* say that he is?"

James 1:12-18 – James outlines two life cycles in this text. The first is the lifecycle of human desire, with leads to sin and death. The second is the revealed "good life" given by God to use through the "word of truth", which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This new birth comes with the forgiveness of sins, as a free gift to all Christians through faith in Jesus. But this gospel is also an announcement of a new ruler over life – Jesus Christ, the King, who is both savior and role model. To follow Jesus, is to imitate his life, as he went through death to new life, so we die to our desire, in order to truly live.

James 1:9-11 – Embracing Poverty. This teaching was given by Tabatha Leady at Citizens Church on April 3rd, 2022.

James 1:5-8 – James is intent on the church being made up of whole Christians: joyful and complete in their identity as followers of Jesus. Our fallen bodies are conflict-zones of opposing desires. In short, quick strokes James illustrates the unstable nature of split souls-desiring momentary pleasures just as, or more even than they desire Christ. He encourages the church to admit their lack of wisdom in such schizophrenic living, and with no condemnation, to confess our lack and honor our commitment Jesus: to realize his reliability and wisdom. Then we can honor the commitments in all of life that we make as we walk alongside of Jesus into the unknown, knowing God's gifts are packaged within faith itself.

James 1:1-4 – James doesn't mince words to start his letter to the Church. Essentially, he writes this: "To be devoted to Jesus, means– to be made whole in Jesus." But that proposition is only so helpful, James knows, as we know, that it is the doing that is what distances us from Jesus. James breaks this down by encouraging us to 1) learn to interpret the facts with the truth, 2) that we learn the road by walking and 3) that to reach the end of the life in the arms of Christ is the lack nothing.