Is Your Faith Worthless?

Is Your Faith Worthless?

Dave Riddle - 6/11/2023

Key Passage: James 1:26-27

If anyone considers themselves religious…

• James 1:26

• Religious = thrēskos: fearing or worshipping God; ceremonious in the worship of God

…their religion is worthless

• James 1:26

• Worthless, profitless, empty, devoid of value 

• Same word as 1 Corinthians 15:14

• If there is no resurrection your faith is “worthless”

…If you don’t keep a tight reign on your tongue…

• James 1:26

• We all hold tightly to the resurrection, but how seriously do we take the way we speak?

Pure and undefiled religion…

• James 1:27

• Pure = katharos: clean (literally and figuratively). Free from anything that soils or corrupts.

• Undefiled = amiantos: not defiled. Incorruptible.

Our faith is directly tied to our concern for others

• James 1:27

• Pure and undefiled religion means having concern for vulnerable people.

• Orphans and widows in distress.

• Doing this requires an investment of time, energy, resources.

• See also: James 2:15-17, James 2:26, 1 John 3:17-18

Our Allegiance and Devotion

• James 1:27

• Keep yourself unstained from the world.

• Romans 12:2 - don’t be conformed… be transformed…

What is the product of your heart?

• Luke 6:45

• What we say and do overflows from our heart.

Your words, actions, and heart are the true indicators of your faith.

• Repent. Don’t rationalize.

The Bible - Know it. Love it. Live it.

House Rules - Bible

Dave Riddle - 9/25/2022

Key Passage: 2 Timothy 3:15-17

Bible Engagement

• Learning to know, love, and follow the teaching of scripture.

Originates with God Himself

• All scripture is inspired by God

  • 2 Timothy 3:16

  • “All scripture is God-breathed”

• 2 Peter 1:20-21

God’s Word and Truth

• John 17:17

  • God’s Word = Truth

The Design For Our Lives

• Hebrews 4:12

  • God’s Word = Living, effective, able to judge our thoughts and intentions.

• Psalm 119:7, 9, 33, 36-37, 104-105, 160

  • The impact of God’s Word on our lives.

The Way of Salvation

• 2 Timothy 3:15

  • Scripture reveals the way of salvation.

Equips God’s People

• 2 Timothy 3:16-17

  • …So that the righteous person may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

Know it so you can Share it

• Matthew 28:19-20

• Acts 17:11-12 - The Bereans

  • Eagerness

  • Examination

Know it. Love it. Live it.

• James 1:22-25

  • Not just hearers, but doers.

Spiritual Astigmatism

Message begins around 34:00

Spiritual Astigmatism 

Dave Riddle - 8/21/22

Key Passage: Matthew 6:22-23

“Eyes are the windows to the soul” - Shakespeare… or Cicero… or someone else

 “The eye is the lamp of the body” - Jesus in Matthew 6:22a

“The Evil Eye”

• Matthew 6:23

• A concept found in many world cultures and elsewhere in the Bible

  • Deuteronomy 28:54, 56

  • Proverbs 28:22

• A person who lacks generosity. A person who looks out for their own self-interest. Narcissistic, self-consumed.

• Matthew 20:15 - literally translated “is your eye evil because I am good?”.

The Single Eye (Healthy Eye)

• Matthew 6:22

• haplous (ἁπλοῦς) - simple, single, whole

  • haplos: bountifully, liberally

    • See James 1:5

  • haplotes: singleness. Subjective Meaning: sincerity, without pretense or self-interest), or Objective Meaning: generosity.

    • See 2 Corinthians 8:2

Racism and Our Response

Racism
• 2 Chronicles 20:12

Racism exists.

Racism is wrong.
• Genesis 1:27

Repent.
• 1 John 1:9

Listen.
• James 1:19
• Proverbs 1:5

Pursue.
• Galatians 3:28
• Ephesians 2:14-15

Embrace.
• 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a Strategize.
•1 Chronicles 12:32
• Amos 5:24

“In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted on the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on the sideline and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities.”
~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.