Do The Word

Do The Word

James 1:22-25

Pastor Ryan Akers

Video- Year of the bible

Me- Moving from Bartlesville, OK to Rapid City, SD. Wouldn’t ask directions and almost burned the breaks out in the black hills. If I followed direction I wouldn’t have gotten into trouble.

We- People don’t like to ask about directions- PRIDE

We want to succeed without help. We don’t like instruction.

We like freedom, but are we really free?

Living on our own and doing our own thing isn’t freedom. It is chaos.

Just because we live in America doesn’t really make us free. I don’t have the freedom to speed, or to go take something out of Wal-Mart. The difference between man’s laws and God’s laws are that I obey man’s laws because I don’t want to get into trouble. I obey God’s laws because I want to. Because I love him and want to be like him. I have no choice in obeying man’s laws, but I have a choice to love and obey God.

There is power in God’s Word. God has taught us….

Week 1: Real hope comes when your willing to discover God’s word

Week 2: Real living happens when your willing to lose everything because of God’s Word

Week 3: Real freedom begins when your willing to live according to God’s Word.

God- God taught us that true freedom is actually found when we follow His direction.

James 1:22-25

Vs. 22- Demands- cookbook=you don’t have to cook, read books but they don’t demand something of us.

• Word of God demands belief

• Hearing leads to acting. Our inner desire will act out according to God’s purpose for us, because we want to please God.

Vs. 23-24- A mirror reflects who you really are. It shows your flaws. The word of God will tell you who you really are and who you should become.

People are scared to look at themselves through the word because they are scared to change who they are.

Don’t just study the bible to gain knowledge, study it to change. 30 minutes to preach and I don’t want to stand up here and teach you just knowledge. I want to show you how to change your life.

Don’t skip over hard to hear verses. Read every section carefully.

Vs. 25- Real freedom is found only in Christ. The more we read the more we will desire to live and to love and to learn.

You- Real freedom begins when your willing to live according to God’s word.

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

Take Baby steps- open a door, help someone financially, ring a bell, volunteer for a ministry, read a couple verses today.

Don’t try to be Billy Graham in one day, take little steps.

We- Together we can rejoice when little steps are taken. We can hold each other accountable in our small group communities. We can encourage, lift up, challenge each other to take another step to being more like God.

There is power in God’s Word. God has taught us….

Week 1: Real hope comes when your willing to discover God’s word

Week 2: Real living happens when your willing to lose everything because of God’s Word

Week 3: Real freedom begins when your willing to live according to God’s Word.

Without God’s Word there is chaos. If you want to live the life God has planned for you. If you want to live it, breathe it, be consumed by it, then you have to just do it!