Grace in Our Town Devotional James Chapter 1 -Leader Study Guide- Welcome to our Grace in Our Town devotional! Thank you so much for taking on the wonderful task of being a group leader. Print this study out to use for yourself, as the study takes place; it has special notes for you to follow along and you re your group. Review it in advance, and prayerfully prepare! Let s begin with prayer: Lord, we need you. We want nothing less than to honor You and bring glory to Your name. Help us understand the things you need us to. Open our eyes, ears, heart, and mind to see your instructions, and know them well. We love You, thank You, and put ourselves in Your hands, Father, in Jesus name. Fun Times: It s always fun to begin a night of fellowship with a game or activity. For today s activity, and since it s your first gathering, have everyone introduce themselves with the following: Name Occupation What they like most about their own character. What they like least about their character. How satisfied are they with their walk with God right now, and why. Our Study: *Read James- Chapter 1 out loud; the chapters are short, and it will serve to have James words fresh on everyone s minds. Then, begin the study. The book of James is straightforward. He would be the friend you d want to go to when you know you need to hear the truth- when your faith needs to be confronted. In this, our first devotional, we will be discussing chapter 1; it is brimming with advice and wisdom for the church today.
Questions: 1. What do you struggle with? a) Double-mindedness? b) Getting rid of evil, and filth in your life? c) Being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry? 2. Are you patiently enduring testing and temptation, or do you give in to the flesh too often? a) A difficult co-worker, our jobs, or family member can really try us. b) An addiction (food, alcohol, drugs) can still have hold of us. c) Giving up on our faith in difficult situations might seem easier. 3. Do you live out your faith, walk the walk, and put it into action? a) Study to show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15)? b) Uncompromisingly try to follow God s Word and leading in your life? c) Serve others in some way, even if it means inconveniencing yourself? *Stop, and allow everyone to take a couple of minutes to write down your answers to these questions before proceeding. If you believe you have enough time, this would be a great time for everyone to share something from their answers that particularly stood out to them. The characteristics we are to have as Christians can be found in Christ. Yet, we look to others; certain popular preachers can grab our attention and fill us with a false sense of entitlement. Did we not learn about serving and dying to ourselves from our Messiah? *Have everyone take a moment to fill out the Characteristic Comparison printout, if your group is using it. Ask the group: Does anybody struggle with self-condemnation? How do you handle others ungodly characteristics? James call to action for us is clear: put your faith in action. It begins with a decision- a choice to stop making excuses and allowances that, only in our minds, excuse us from living a life fully surrendered to our Creator. 1) Make a choice to follow God and live to honor Him. 2) Remember that our hope is in God alone. 3) Pray (without ceasing- 1 Thessalonians 5:17) and study to show yourself approved (2 Timothy 2:15)
So many of the things that affect this generation of believers are discussed in this first chapter of James: double-mindedness; hypocrisy; temptation; lack of endurance; sin; anger. Take your time reading it and see how many of the verses you identify with at this present moment in your life. Much is expected of believers because the standards God has set are high, yet they are not a burden to one who wants to honor Him (1 John 5:3). Will we be perfect? Certainly not. But our sincere hearts will continue to seek God and serve Him well with our whole lives- every part of our being, behavior, speech, and thought. The first questionable verse I read in James when I first read it, was the very second verse, right after his greeting. when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy, it reads. That James, I tell you- he s asking too much of us. This was questionable to my finite mind. Then I determined that it was impossible for me. But the more I learned about God, the more I surrendered to Him. The more I surrendered to Him, the more truth I found in James words. This is how endurance grows; through trials. One recurring issue in many believers is our wavering faith. These trials that are supposed to make our endurance grow are too heavy for our shoulders and we begin to lose our footing. God, are you even there? Why don t you take this away? we wonder. We might ask for wisdom, but fail to seek it in His Word. Instead, we look to the left and to the right, looking for a way out, all in our own time and strength. We don t set out to be double-minded. It happens when we fail to keep our eyes on Him and allow the thoughts that don t align with His Word to have their way with us. How can we show God today that our loyalty is not divided? What does that look like for you today? Is there a concern you need to stop playing over in your mind? God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has for those who love Him, says James in the 12 th verse. To endure patiently while our faith is tested and/or we are being tempted is torturous for the human flesh, but edifying our spirits. The longer we endure, the more we die to ourselves and our old sinful nature. It s a daily, sometimes hour-by-hour struggle. Since God never changes, we can surely come to the conclusion that we are the ones that must change to align ourselves with His will. Think of a time when you were treated unfairly. How well did you do at being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry (James 1:19)? It is not a game to see who can take more without bursting in anger. Rather, it is realizing that we have nothing to prove to others as we turn the other cheek (see Matthew 5:39). Are we not sure of who and Whose we are? Do we not know vengeance is His (Romans 12:18-19)? Or are we simply doing what James warns us not to do in verse 22? But don t just listen to God s Word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
Self-control is godly; a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). This godliness- this way of living- involves controlling the mighty tongue. We get a good idea of how well we do in this area when it comes time to being slow to speak and get angry. We feel justified in lashing out. Righteous anger is acceptable after all, right? Conveniently, we decide on our own what righteous anger is. We are hypocrites when it is convenient and we excuse it by disguising it and/or comparing it to the time Jesus turned the merchants tables at the temple. But that was passion for His Father s house, not his own interests (John 2:17). James says, If you claim to be religious, but don t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself and your religion is worthless. I have to wonder how many people James would tell that to, these days. Our inability to control our tongues is a tremendous indicator of our need to crucify our flesh. There is something we are not moving past in our walk with God. There must come a time, in this walk, in which we no longer live on milk (Hebrews 5:12-13) and we mature in the faith. We are to crave pure spiritual milk, like newborn babies, when we know we need it (1 Peter 2:2-3), but we must do so and get our nourishment with the purpose of growing. Who refuses to get rid of all the filth and evil in their lives (James 1:21)? Those of us that make excuses and attempt to find loopholes in God s standards, while keeping away from the Word long enough to allow this fallen world to desensitize us. This cannot be. We not only have a call to action from our Savior, His brother James, and many others that came before us- we also have a generation coming after us that need us see our faithfulness to the God we serve. What will we leave behind for our children and others to work with and learn from? If you already keep a journal, that s wonderful! I encourage you to keep one for our devotions, in order to keep together all the wonderful things we dig into in our studies. Let s take the words of James to heart. Let s determine to be a church after God s own heart. It begins with us, beloved of God. A Note For You and Your Group: If you re not sure what to journal about or would like further selfexamination, I encourage you to take one of the questions on this chapter s study (or anything the Spirit might have impressed on you during your study/prayer time), and focus on that. You can also take the questions and focus on one each day, writing about anything they bring to your mind, regarding your own walk with the King. We all develop our own methods of journaling- anything that helps us flourish as we meditate on God s Word and our spiritual condition.
Call to Action : Seek to put your faith in action! 1) Keep a journal! 2) Don t skip prayer and Bible study time! 3) Pay attention to yourself and your reactions! 4) Be honest with yourself! 5) Be intentional in your godly reactions! *Ask the group to consider which call to action point you will begin with. Which one is more out of your comfort zone, or willingness to do? Discuss, write in your journal, and close in prayer. Take any prayer requests the group might have. If you would like more discussion questions, please refer to your Leader Guide and use before the prayers, as more prayer requests might result from the answers. Prayer : Father, let this evening be the beginning of obedience where there wasn t any, faith where we were lacking, and hope where we saw none. In the name of Jesus, we position ourselves at your feet, where you can teach us, equip us, and do as You will. Thank you for your Word, which lights our path. Thank you for Your presence, which humbles us, and thank You for Jesus, through Whom a Way to You was made. In His name we pray, Lord. Truly, we are better together. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. -Hebrews 10:25 Thank you for hosting our James Devotional Group Study. I hope you have been inspired to put your faith in action in any area where you might have not thought of, or perhaps you had, but haven t proceeded! You will be blessed for your willingness to be used by God. Encourage the group to invite others for your next gathering, and be in prayer for them all. I understand the work that goes behind a gathering. Please take time to replenish yourself with the Word, worship, and downtime with your family and friends. I am praying for you and everyone else who steps out in faith and obedience to host their own study, whether they use Grace in Our Town, or any other! We need more people willing to open their homes, hearts, and schedules! Thank you! God bless you. See you in Chapter 2! Serving our King, Cynthia Rey