September 2, 2018

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for September 2nd: Song of Solomon 2:8-13, Psalm 45:1-2,6-9; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23: Theme: Faith in Action James: For the next month we will be studying the book of James. James goes much further than Ephesians in telling us how to live as individual Christians, and as the church. James starts our by asking us two fundamental questions. Who is God, and who are we. God is a God who gives, we know God by what we have been given in faith – God gave us birth, God gave us every gift, God gave us a harvest to enjoy. Then James asks who are we: Just as God showed God’s love in action, we the faithful must also be those who act upon our faith, not just think about it in our heads. We show our faith in the way we treat others, when we forget who we are, not only do we lose track of our lives, but we lose track of God. Whatever we are doing, we must never forget our faith, others are watching. Mark: People are asking Jesus why his disciples don’t wash their hands like everyone else. Jesus explains that it is not what is on our hands that hurts us and others, it is what is on our hearts. Jesus tells the pharisees to not get so caught up on outward appearances. It is pretty common for the faithful to talk about how good they are – but then to think that just because they go to church everyday- they can treat people anyway they want. Jesus continually reminds us that true faith is not about appearances, it is about what we think and about how we live that out in life. People can tell our faith by the fruits that it produces. Are we kind and gentle, or controlling an mean? Jesus says that true evil comes from inside the heart. So we have to be careful about what we feed our spirit. Questions: What gifts have you received from God recently? Did you say thank you in prayer? How do you put your faith into action? How do you guard your heart from doing mean things? What inner practices do you do to get closer to God?