1. James The Servant

James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

- The greatest men were called servants. They do not engage in what is there for their own profit or preference.

- He was absolutely obedient to his master Christ and did not take any special privileges because he was Jesus' brother.

2. Joyful In Trials

James 1:2-4
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

- What are some trials? Persecution, financial, illness,

- Worries about future, share some trials as a disciple. { Pretend like they are always doing great }

- How do you feel when you go through a trial - Pain, discouraged, God is not there, lack of faith, negative, angry.

- Bible says that we should consider it pure joy. The reason why we don't consider it as pure joy is because we do not realize that trials make us mature and complete.

- Without trials we will never be TESTED, but with trials we will be refined if we persevere.

- We need to remain faithful to God during the trials and we will be JOYFUL. Don't quit when it gets tough. Remember the proverb "When the going gets tough then the tough gets going" We can get tough when we persevere by praying

- SHARE about a part of your character which changed and matured after a trial.

3. Stability That Gains Respect.

James 1:5-8
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

- The wisdom James speaks of is how to respond when we face pressure in different areas of our lives.

- Becoming a Christian does not mean we just start praying and reading the Bible but we must become stable emotionally, spiritually and worthy of respect Jesus always had a job. In the following areas.
     a. Marriage : Our marriages need to be worthy of respect not fighting and quarreling
     b. Children : Need to be disciplined and obedient with love.
     c. Jobs : We need to have stable jobs not jumping from job to job, and borrowing money.

- The pressures of daily life must be faced with the wisdom from God. We must pray and rely on God. There needs to be more Christians recommended for promotions at work because of the respect that they have gained through their hard work. Rather than constantly looking for other jobs.

4. The Same For All

James 1:9-11
9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.
10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.
11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

- We like to excuse ourselves because of our situation to do the work of the Lord

- God has called us to make disciples. We all need to work to make it happen.

- We should not have the attitude that I'm not talented enough, or rich enough, or it's just for the leaders. Nor can we say that our life is okay. No need to work hard to make disciples. If we do not want to share our faith then we do not love the lost and we do not have the heart of God. We all need to be on the edge. Need to be radical and not comfortable. Confident and not insecure in making sure that we reach the goal to save souls.

5. Taking Responsibility

James 1:12-18
12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.
15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

- God wants to bless our lives with fruit and prosperity,

- But we need to take responsibility for where our lives are at. God wants us to be fruitful, God wants us to grow and change to become great leaders, great servants, God is ready and wants to give the desires of your heart. But we do not take responsibility. We are where we are spiritually and in life because we have chosen to be that way,

- If we don't bring visitors it's not the visitors fault but our fault.

- If we are not giving - It is not the disciplers fault but our fault.

- If we are not changing - it's not the families fault but our fault

- If not trusting - It's not the Church's fault

- If we are lustful or impure - It is not other fault but ours

- If we angry is it is not our spouses or children's fault but ours.

After the meeting talk to your discipler or friend over some sins that you have not taken responsibility.

6. A Teachable Heart

James 1:19-21
19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
20 for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

- We need to be slow to speak but quick to listen

- How do you take correction. Do you get defensive and have excuses, why you can't practice the Word of God or do you accept the Word of God being taught to you.

- A teachable heart keeps itself pure and free from sin and from the worldly desires. Are you being attracted by the world - money. OOT, marriage proposal, smoking, impurity, lust, lying at work, not coming for DP times, missing meetings, be careful! Don't let your heart become unteachable be open and get help.

7. Listening And Doing

James 1:22-27
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

The Bible is a mirror according to it. Our hearts are like the faces. One morning we have a big yellow boil on our face. Do we say "No problems!" or do we say "What was happened. I need to do something about it!". We look intently at it and make decisions and plan to do something about it. Our faces are like our hearts. The mirror is the Word of God and the big boil is sin.