A podcast for Christ City Church in Dallas, TX. Sunday sermons, community conversations, and more...
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"Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you." Just some light, Sunday morning devotional reading... right? In James 5:1-12, James speaks first as a prophet against the unrighteous rich: those who hoard, defraud, and live in self-indulgence while the people who work for them go unpaid or overlooked. Then he turns to those who are taken advantage of--the ones who…
What is your life? A mist? A vapor? Something more? Less? In James 4, James turns from the war within us to the way we live in the world. He confronts two universal sins: the individual sin of judging and condemning one another — exalting ourselves to lawgivers — and the collective sin of presuming we are in control of our lives, planning our futures as if we were the source of our own present and…
What keeps you from peace? In week 9 of our series on James, we arrive at one of the most confrontational passages in the New Testament. James asks, "What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?" His answer is not about the other person, the circumstances, or even the truth — it is about the war within us: frustrated desire met with twisted passion. This sermon moves through James…
How do you know if you are living wisely? James does not ask for your credentials. He asks for evidence. "Who is wise and understanding among you?" is not a question looking for a particular set of ideas or even beliefs — it is a question looking for a particular way of life. In James 3:13-18 there are two kinds of wisdom. One is earthly and unspiritual, carrying bitter jealousy and…
What if the problem with our words is deeper than just saying the wrong thing? In James 3:1-12, we are invited to feel the weight of the tongue. Our words matter in our journey of faith, our work, and our community. They can bless God while wounding people made in his likeness. They can become a fire that divides, or they can participate in the healing work of the Word made flesh. This sermon…
What if faith was never meant to be a private belief you keep separate from the rest of your life? In week 5 of James: Faith At Work , we sit with one of the more difficult and controversial passages in the New Testament: James 2:14-26. James asks, to paraphrase, "What good is a claim of faith while ignoring a brother or sister in need?" He presses against a faith that separates us from our…
Many of our churches ignore our tendencies towards partiality, justify our favoritism, and excuse our cliquish exclusivity, labeling it 'fellowship.' But what if this is an afront to God, who, after all, "shows no partiality" (Rom. 2:11)? What if communities filled with partiality actually betray their professed faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory? In week 4 of our summer series, James: Faith…
A plant grown without wind grows weak. James says your faith is no different — the friction of an ordinary week may be the very thing God is using to strengthen and mature both you and your faith. In week 2 of our look at James we walk through James 1:19-27: How do we move from merely agreeing with our faith to participating in it fully? We consider the work of faith and faith at work, as we grow…
Sheltered, undisturbed plants may grow fast and even tall, but the result is a weak, fragile, and easily uprooted plant. By contrast, plants exposed to rain, wind, and the occasional disturbance grow strong, stable, and sturdy. Your soul works the same way. In this opening sermon of our summer series through the letter of James, we walk through James 1:1–18 and the old wisdom he himself leans…
What if work was never the thing to survive on the way to your real life — but the very medium through which you offer yourself to God? In the finale of our "Get(ing) Out of Work" series we consider a few of the ancient, yet ever new, practices that the church has used to help God's people stay in step with the Spirit during the daily rhythms of work and rest, rest and work. Drawing on Irenaeus…
What if the burden of your work isn't that there's too much to do — but that there's an anxiousness in your soul that no productivity system can fix? This Sunday we looked at Matthew 11:25-30, sitting with the weight of Jesus' invitation to all who are "heavy laden." The Greek word for burden, notably, carries with it not just the image of an animal loaded past its capacity — but the idea of…
