From The Inside Out Series

EXTREME MAKEOVER – PART ONE

“FROM THE INSIDE OUT!”

JAMES 1:1 - ©DR. LARRY L. THOMPSON (2004)

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations,’ greetings.” James 1:1

Introduction:

Begin this message with a table and four objects: an egg; an orange; tube of toothpaste; a staff members hand. Take a hammer and apply pressure to each of the objects having a team member holding the object and then ask the team member to describe what comes out of each object. For the last object as the team member to place his hand on the table and then act as if you hitting his thumb as hard as possible. Illustration reveals when we are pressed what is on the inside will come to the surface the real nature of what is inside will be revealed.

Today we begin a new series from the book of James entitled, “EXTREME MAKEOVER.” As we walk through this series today you will quickly realize why I have chosen that title.

The Bible has two main themes:

• Our WAY to God

• Our WALK with God

Our Way to God is the hope of those who have no relationship with Christ, those who realize they have sinned and understand that something is missing in their life and the Word of God reveals the WAY to find eternal life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our Walk with God is the vast majority of the Bible and instructs us how to allow Christ to give us an extreme makeover from the inside out so that our life is so radically changed that others are drawn to him because of us our walk.

James is considered the most PRACTICAL book in the entire Bible and is often referred to as the “PROVERBS of the New Testament.” This book is NOT a book of doctrine and churches have faced confusion and division when some have attempted to make this a doctrinal book. Jesus is only mentioned twice and the cross and resurrection are never mentioned. WHY? James is making an assumption that his readers know their biblical doctrine and so he deals with them practically…an extreme makeover…from the inside out!

The main theme of the book of James: “IF YOU BELIEVE LIKE YOU SAY, THEN YOU NEED AN EXTREME MAKEOVER IN ORDER TO BEHAVE LIKE YOU SHOULD!”

Our world is saying; “SHOW ME the new you, show me the benefits of an extreme makeover.”

What should we know about the man who is going to be used in our extreme makeover?

1. THE MAIN MAN

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations,’ greetings.” James 1:1

There are at least FIVE different men by the name of James in the Bible. This James is the half brother of Jesus Christ. Read Matt. 13:53-57:

“When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. [54] Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. [55] "Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? [56] Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" [57] And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” Matthew 13:53-57

According to Jewish custom in the listing of the children, James was the number two son, born after Jesus to Mary and Joseph. QUESTION: How many older brothers and sisters do we have in this room today? It’s bad enough to have an older brother or sister who your parents think is perfect…poor James really did have a perfect brother! Do you think James ever got tired of Mary saying, “Why can’t you be like your brother, Jesus?” James: “Why? I’ll tell you why…because the kid really is perfect! He always makes his bed, picks up his toys, is never a minute late for curfew, always brings Dad’s camel home clean, he never talks back, he even cleans the ring out of the bathtub and hangs up his clothes.”

Seriously, if you are the younger brother of Jesus you are going to have some serious jealousy problems along with envy and anger. So when at age 30 Jesus announced that he was the Messiah…James would say, “What else is new?” However, this was James’ opportunity to retaliate. Mark 3:20-21:

“Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. [21] When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind.” Mark 3:20-21