Church Family,
This past Sunday we looked at a famously difficult passage of James in which we are told that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. As a church that confesses that salvation is through faith alone, this phrase may be upsetting to us if we take it on its own without considering the full idea James is intending to convey. But what’s really being said here is that a living faith always bears itself out in good works. If we trust that we are heirs to the riches of God in the coming kingdom, then we will be generous with what we have here and now. If we trust that we have been received by God with open arms, then we will boldly share the Gospel now even at the risk of rejection. Let us be assured that it is not our good works that allow God to be merciful to us, rather it is God’s mercy that empowers and even compels us to do good works.
Life Groups
The much anticipated start of life groups is just around the corner on September 21st. As a reminder, we are asking that those south of the 60 go to our south group hosted by Alex and Cassandra, and those north of the 60 go to our north group hosted by Kyle. Both groups will be meeting at 4 p.m. and will be bring-your-own-dinner. If you signed up on the life group interest sheet that was in the foyer earlier this summer, keep an eye out for an email in the next few days with more details about life group. If you had not signed up but would like more information then feel free to send me an email at logan@lightinthedesert.church.
Grace be with you,
Logan Murphy
Pastoral Intern