The Epistle of James, Part 8
We’ve come to the end of our series on James, but of course, our work isn’t done. God’s Holy Spirit is the one who has been teaching us and drawing us nearer to the Father through the gospel of the Son, and that same Spirit is challenging us to take action!
Christ Heals the Sick, Gebhard Fugel
This week our focus is on taking action in light of what we have learned throughout this series. We’re going to practice taking action by not just reading, but participating in the actions James calls the church to at the end of his epistle (letter). We’ll be taking to pray in the midst of suffering, to sing praise in the midst of God’s encouragement, and to pray for the sick as leaders in the church do their part of lead others toward Jesus’ healing power.
Anchor Texts:
1 Kings 17:1 ESVUK , 1 Kings 18:1 ESVUK (Click here for the whole story!)
Questions to Ponder: (Re-read James 5:13-20)
Should we take the call to pray and anoint with oil as the norm for sick people today? How do we decide when to do this? Keep your answers in dialogue with the passage!
Should we be including confession in our gatherings together? Should there be a “liturgy” or “rhythm” of confession we practice each week? What would that look like?
Theologian Scot McKnight says almost all Evangelicals (our general tradition) have abandoned corporate confession as James calls for it here, do you agree or disagree - and why?
interpretation Question - re-read v. 19-20. Do you think James means we’ll save ourselves and cover our own sins, or save the wandering one and cover their sins? Look at Ezekiel 33:9 and Daniel 12:3 as examples for “saving oneself” that James may have in mind.
The Theme in Song:
We sing this song at church regularly, but you may not have heard it by the band that originally wrote it. I hope you listen to this song actively and pay attention to the words and the way they encourage us in suffering, and that they show us we real “cheerfulness” is that we find in v. 13 or today’s main text.
The Theme for Kids:
We’re talking about a few different ways to pray today. In our passage we hear about asking for healing, giving our burdens to God, and praising him in good times and hard times. This video helps us understand what prayer is!
How do you pray at home? What do you pray for? When do you pray?
Do you just talk to God sometimes? Just to tell him how your day is going? Or how you’re feeling?
What can you pray about right now?
The Theme in Art:
As we saw above in the introduction to this week’s companion, Fugel has painted an amazing portrait of Christ healing the sick. What about this painting represents the truth about Christ’s healing?
Now thing about our passage today. What is this painting missing about the nature of God’s healing power? What might it misrepresent? How can we see ourselves in this painting asking for healing for the sick or for ourselves?