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Today’s text challenges us on a lot of different levels, but ultimately, it’s a call to examine ourselves to see if we’re relating to others in a way that brings glory to God. There’s a particular sin discussed here that we don’t think about very often – partiality. The Greek word that James uses here for partiality means to lean toward one person in favor of another – to play favorites based on some external circumstances that you believe make an individual more desirable or acceptable than someone else who has maybe less desirable characteristics. It’s favoritism, and James defines this as sin.  The bad news - If you break just one part of God's law, James says you've broken it all. The good news - We have a Saviour in Jesus who redeems us and spares us from the punishment we deserve for our sins, saves us from the curse of the law, and sets us free to be guided in love by God's Word.  If we are in Christ, the law no longer condemns us, but instead, it protects, guides, and nurtures us.

Elie Wiesel once wrote, “If an angel appears to you and says, ‘do not be afraid’, then it is most definitely time to be afraid.” Angels are often messengers, so if you meet an angel, he’s probably about to give you some extraordinary news or assignment that will likely throw your life completely off balance, and possibly turn the whole world upside down. Mary responds to the angel’s announcement, the news that she is going to be the mother of the Messiah, in an unusual way…in the midst of her fear, she begins to sing...and she sings a remarkable, beautiful song that has been known for 2000 years as “The Magnificat”…the word magnificat simply means to magnify, or to praise. So Mary’s response to the angel’s message was to worship.

Isaiah defines the Messiah that is coming as "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace".  Bearing these majestic titles, Jesus is leading us toward a future pregnant and bursting with hope. But it all began with a baby – “To us a child is born…” I Corinthians 1:27 says that “God chose what is weak in the world to put to shame the strong” – God chose a baby with a mother who was a teenage mom and an earthly father who was a carpenter with calloused hands from a middle eastern ghetto called Nazareth to change history and alter the eternities of those who might believe in Him. Sally Lloyd-Jones described Him this way – “There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle–the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture. And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend…This baby would be everybody’s dream come true.”

In today’s text, James identifies three signs of pure religion – three indicators that an individual is a true follower of Christ - How you speak How you serve Your stance toward sin John MacArthur wrote, “It’s not our perfection that proves our salvation; it’s the reaction to our imperfection…Is the normal pattern of your life as you look at your own heart a tongue that speaks good things, pure things, upright things, honorable things, honest things, clean things? But every once in while the flesh comes through, too. But…do you (desire to honor God with your tongue, with how you speak)? That rises out of a transformed heart. And what about people in need. Do you have a desire to meet that need? Does it burden your heart that there are folks that are deprived? Does that burden your heart to the point where when you find out about that you rush to meet those needs? There are times when you don’t, but when you don’t do you feel guilty about that? That’s the indication of a transformed life. And do you want not to conform to the world more than anything else? And every time you get too close and you realize you’re conforming (to sin), do you want to run from that? Do you want repent of your sins, and follow Christ? That’s the mark of a transformed life.

In today's episode, we hear an exposition of John 3:16 for the second Sunday of Advent, the Sunday we celebrate the love of God.  The Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ gave Himself fully, as a free gift, to bear the punishment for our sins on the cross, so that we don’t have to fear God’s judgment, but instead we can enjoy the forever love of God for all eternity. It’s an incredible gift that costs us absolutely nothing, and cost Christ absolutely everything. Fix your eyes on Jesus – Trust in His love. It never runs out, never gives up, never leaves, and never lets go.

In today's text, James commands us to be "quick to hear, slow to speak, (and) slow to anger".  We achieve this change of our actions through a change of the heart, a change that can only be brought about by the Gospel.  God saves us by faith, keeps us in faith, and strengthens us in faith through the power of His implanted Word, renewing our minds, transforming our desires, and building us up as followers of Christ.

The playwright Oscar Wilde wrote, “I can resist anything except temptation.”  Every one of us, at some point in life, has had the desire to do something that we either know is wrong or we know isn’t wise. Now, these choices we make to give in to temptation aren’t always earth-shattering sins – Sometimes it’s simple things like repeating some gossip you’ve heard about someone, or coming up with a half-truth to justify talking a day off of work, or even making a choice to say something, to speak your mind, when you should really keep quiet-when you know speaking your mind is going to create conflict or hurt someone’s feelings. We all do are tempted to do things that are wrong or unwise all the time.   In today’s text, James breaks shows us how temptation to sin works, frame by frame, step by step, and reminds us to never blame God for our problems, because God is good, all the time, even when we are trouble, even when we are tempted.

We have a tendency to categorize people  according to money and material possessions – There are haves and have nots. There are the rich and then there are the poor. The people who are poor resent the people who are rich because they wish they had what the rich people have. The people who are rich look down on the poor because obviously, they’re lazy or they just don’t want to get ahead.  Both poverty and prosperity present their own unique problems. And that’s the context James is writing in here – If we view our poverty and our riches the wrong way, and shape our identity through those things instead of recognizing ourselves as belonging to Christ, then being poor and being rich becomes a trial that we have to work through – a spiritual dilemma for us to navigate.  James’ message to Christians, rich or poor, is don’t define yourselves by looking through the lens of your bank account or the world’s measures of success – find your identity in Christ.  Our greatest treasure is found in Him.

Sam Storms defines wisdom this way - "It is the God-given ability to take the scattered, chaotic, and seemingly senseless trials and afflictions of life and understand them as God’s way of producing Christian maturity."  If we ask, God will give us an eternal, Big-God view of our temporary, small trials in life.  The wisdom we need is not from politicians or pop culture – I Corinthians 1:30 says that Christ Himself is our wisdom. He knows we have conflicting desires. He knows how easily we choose wrong when we know we should choose right. If you aren’t a Christian, then what you need is Jesus. And if you are a Christian, then what you need is Jesus.  Our desperate dependence on Him produces fruit in our lives.

James teaches us in these first few lines that the trials that come our way aren’t intended to shake our faith or see if our faith is real; instead, these difficult things happen in life to increase and deepen our faith and our confidence in the character of  God. So we go through difficult things to reach a positive end – to make us more like Jesus.  Those who have faith in Christ can rejoice in times of trial because every difficulty in life has purpose - God's glory, and our own good.

Where do you look for joy and satisfaction?  Most of us look horizontally, at temporary, earthly things - our possessions, our social status, our careers, our family, our achievements in life.  But Solomon challenges us to look horizontally, to God Himself, as the greatest source of joy and satisfaction we could ever experience.

In today's text, Solomon gives us 6 negative facts about money, and 2 positive facts about money, and teaches us to keep the gift in context - the Giver, God himself, is of much greater value.  Matthew 6:21 says “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. How you earn, spend, save, budget, and give away the gifts God gives you is a direct indicator of how much you love the Giver.  In Matthew 7, Jesus said a good father gives good gifts to his children – And money is a good gift – But money is not God. Our God has given the greatest gift we could ever receive in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Good News of the Gospel is that God gave us Jesus, and Jesus gave His life on the cross as a gift, to pay the price all of the sins of all eternity, so that we no longer have to fear God, but we can enjoy life in this world and and enjoy peace with God in eternity.

In today's text, Solomon gives us four commands for the worship of God - Guard your steps. Watch your mouth. Keep your vows. Stand in awe.  Remember God in the days of your youth. Fear God, and keep His commandments. This fear always asks one question when we’re faced with choices in our lives – “Does my Father in Heaven approve?” And you ask it not because you are in terror of Him – but because you are in awe of Him – You adore Him. You want to live under His smile with your career choices, with how you spend your weekends, with how you spend your money, and with how you spend your time. Because He’s a good father.

God created human beings to be in relationship - In fact, the first thing God said was "not good" was for "man to be alone".  You’re created to have relationships as a priority in your life – Relationship with other believers in the context of a church family helps ease the weight of burdens you can't bear on your own -and no relationship is of greater importance than your relationship with Jesus.  Relationship matters in this life, and relationship matters for eternity.  Charles Spurgeon once said, “There is no joy in this world like union with Christ. The more we can feel it, the happier we are.” Union with Christ is the center of our salvation and our growth as believers and the key to the deepest joy you can experience in this life and in eternity.

Sometimes we get caught up in the mindset of wishing people would "get what they deserve" - Which sounds reasonable, until the idea is applied to me personally!  Here's the good news – Life isn’t fair. If life was fair, God would absolutely obliterate us for our sins.  Jesus didn’t come for the winners in the world.  Instead, Jesus identifies with the poor, the blind and crippled, thieves and drunks and battered women and adulterers and unfaithful sons who spend their dad’s last dime and widows who lose their last coin. He invites those to the table who have no place in proper society – the sinners, and the sick; the lawbreakers; the needy and the hungry; the neglected and forgotten; the thirsty, the naked, stranger, those who mourn, the rejected, the convicts, the poor and powerless; all those oppressed and weighed down by their sin; He invites those who don’t deserve it and could never earn it.

Pastor and author Dustin Benge framed the theme of this passage with these words - “The world is not falling apart.  It’s falling together into God’s sovereign plan.” God is in control, no matter what your circumstances in life may be. No matter what your circumstances are, God is sovereign over them, and the time he has placed you in for this moment is a gift - And in eternity, He will set right everything that has gone wrong.

The theme for the episode is "“True joy comes not from our striving, but from God’s giving.”  We so often get caught up in experiencing the gifts God gives us, we forget the Giver.  There’s a place in your heart that only God Himself can occupy. Knowing Jesus is the most important thing, the one thing, the good portion. I John 4:19 says: “We love because he first loved us”. We love God, because God gave us the gift of Christ on the cross – We love God because He gave us a gift that won’t fade away – He gave us Himself.

Life is short.  Life is repetitive.  Life can be difficult. Ecclesiastes teaches us that life is just a breath.  Knowing that, all of our work and efforts and striving can leave us feeling empty - which is exactly what the writer intends.  This book compels us to understand the emptiness of our short, repetitive, difficult lives, so that we can fill ourselves with eternal truths.  Empty cups aren't a bad thing - They're just waiting to be filled. So how do we approach this life from a Biblical perspective? How do we "fill our cups"? Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes encourages us with this overarching theme -  “Don’t just think in the now – because now will be gone soon. Focus on forever. That’s what really matters. Remember God in everything you do. Enjoy life, and enjoy God.”  

Paul spends the first 11 chapters of The Book of Romans explaining the Gospel, how men might be saved, and the theological implications of this. He closes that portion of his letter by bursting into an explosion of praise. In the text, doctrine blooms into devotion; theology (what we teach) gives birth to doxology (an expression of worship); and Paul’s passion for truth is laid bare for us all to see – Paul is passionate for one thing and one thing alone – the glory of God, as expressed in the person of Jesus Christ. In these lines, Paul gives us distinct reasons why God is of inherent value, full of glory, and worthy to be worshiped.

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus asked His disciples a poignant question - "Who do you say that I am?"  In this episode of Fort of the Broad, we let Scripture speak for Scripture to answer the most important question we could ever answer - a question that not only impacts how we live, but our eternal disposition, as well.