Prayers for week of June 27

Irene -- For my relationship with my friend.

Rhianwen -- For all who were at Zoe and Justin's weddoimng today and Sam and Monica's last week
That those who came for a party heard the Good News and will remember it.

Kerry -- pray that I will do what God thinks is right, not what I think in regard to this friend. And that God will give this man wisdom.

ZoeRose -- Prayers for my dad, now in his 70s and going through some tests. That he'll be healthy

Able -- For my mum that the results of medical tests she is having are positive. Secondly that God might really speak to her at the service a week tomorrow. (ie. Able's ordination.)

Joyous -- For discernment in what I should be doing when I retire.

Wilfried -- for guidance and for obedience

Ruby -- strength and faith in God; also must speak at a rather large event and is nervous.

Thanks, Joyous, for noting them down!

Prayer requests for week of June 21

Sorry they're so late, folks!

Helene: For wisdom in her new leadership responsiblities as Lay Pastor at the Cathedral. For patience and tolerance in her new role as it challenges some.

ZoeRose: I ask for prayers as I continue in my new job. I am very thankful to the Lord for this new adventure! I ask for travel mercies as I fly to Ft. Worth for the ACNA Assembly - I'll be writing about it and reporting on it.

JulieAnnRose Serenity: pray that my hubby is feeling well enough to enjoy next weekend as we celebrate our anniversary.

MingLynn Lionheart: Remaining positive amongst chaos and bleek economic times. Pray for provision.

Wilfried: Pray for the formation of the ACNA. Pray for God's will to be done.

Joyous Schism: for discernment on where I should be going next in my life, particularly whether I should be taking retirement now - what is the right way to spend my time and energy?

For Ruby as she makes decisions.

Book of James on audio

A tip from Helene: the book of James is available in audio - http://www.cwr.org.uk/store/p-603-new-testament-complete-mp3-audio-files-13gb.aspx

Prayer requests 6 May 2009

Joyous: Facing a decision regarding whether to take early retirement. That she would clearly know what she should do over the offer she had at work to retire. If she accepts it, she would also like clear guidance about what direction she should take with her life.

Ruby: Friend Joanne took an overdose early Friday morning. Pray for Ruby for strength, wisdom. She feels empty and stressed. Ruby's church is up for sale and they have an opportunity to buy the building, but they need to raise circa £30k to do so by this Wednesday

Irene: I need direction about my job. I want to do what God wants me to. I am having trouble letting go of some hurt and anger I feel at work.

Able: For good endings, closure and new beginnings all with God at the centre - and that God would restore my soul. That God might speak to this person in SL who was character assassinated in a Christian group.

Helene: I need to use the next three months well to establish a good routine, in case I am recommended to start training at theological college

JulieAnnRose Serenity: for Samantha who is a satanist - for her salvation

Rhianwen: Thank you for answered prayer re technical things and that they will keep going

Wilfried: For peace, wisdom, and obedience

Notes on James 2

Able Shepherd has provided us with some notes, questions, and discussion points for James 2:

James 1
Rollover question from last week’s study...Why does James never quote Jesus?

James 2
1. What do verses 1 to 13 say about our tendency to form cliques in church?
2. How effective are our churches in welcoming?
3. How do verses 2:1-7 engage with our own cultures approach to wealth and poverty?
4. How could these verse shape our ministry to those in congregation who are involved in business?
5. How might Matthew 25:31-46 change our understanding of this? (See also the account of the widows mite, and treasure in heaven)
6. Does James’ teaching on faith and works in James 2:14-26 conflict with Paul’s teaching on this matter?

Note
a) The issue for James is NOT ‘Can faith save?’ but ‘Can dead faith save?’
b) The issue is NOT between salvation by faith in Christ and salvation by works
c) ‘Dead faith’ (intellectual orthodoxy) cannot save (2:14), is only a verbal thing (‘if someone CLAIMS to have faith’, 2:14) and does not show love (2:15f)
d) Paul and James agree that faith and the obedience proceeding from it are not antithetical but work together. For Paul, what really matters is ‘faith WORKING (same Greek root as ‘works’ in James) through love’ (Gal 5:6)
e) Abraham was justified before God (approved) long before he was shown to be righteous by his offering of Isaac (Gen 15, Gen 22)
f) ‘Faith alone justifies, but faith that justifies is never alone’

For the geeks out there, James can be analysed from a Multiple Intelligence Theory perspective. If you want to know more, let me know!

We will return to some of the above issues again later in James.

Yours in Christ

Able

Prayer requests 16 May 2009

Joyous: guidance in a couple of decisions

Saskia: strength and wlsdom ln certaln thlngs

lrene: Please pray for my continued healing and for peace in my family.

Rhianwen: For my friend J ho was recovering well from an injury but now is unhappy and disappointed because it's getting worse again.

Wilfried: that I am free from anxiety and do all that God wants me to do - that I OBEY and Carry through !

MingLynn: Please keep and comgort my Godmother, Mary Francis Clark in her battle with breast cancer at age 84.

Able: having a meeting with the bishop - that it goes well

A visualization of James 1 by Able Shepherd

Able has created for us a verbal visualization of the first chapter of James using http://www.wordle.net - interesting for thinking back on this chapter:

James 1, second half - "Carrying through"

"Carrying through"

Before we read the passage together, I'd like you to think about this question - what do:
- shooting a gun
- taking a photograph
- what a conductor does when conducting the last few seconds of a piece of music

have in common? Hint: these have to do with the very "end" in the sense of "last part" of each of these actions - but also the "end" in the sense of "goal" or "final result", as in "the end justifies the means"

- what does vv 19-20 have to do with carrying through?

- have you had any experiences which are like this man and his mirror, in verse 23? What are the elements of this metaphor?

- type out the whole verse 25 to me in IM.

- we sometimes have a tendency to "objectify" things - what does this word mean, and can we objectify "faith"? Another word, which sounds a bit more hoity-toity - is "reify" - this means, "making a thing out of something."

Prayer requests for May 9

Helene: big decision to make regarding work need a lot of wisdom.

Saskia: lnsplratlon for my asslgnments.
wlsdom regardng a few matters

Liliana : keeping my spirits up
have an open sore from the burns on my neck that is giving me a lot of trouble.

Able:been to a meetlng at college meeting concerns a friend pray that God's will might be done, and that somehow, whatever the outcome, it might be turned to his glory.

Joyous: for my friend Chris. She had been providing care for her elderly mother, who recently died. And now she is caring for her father, with whom she has a difficult hisory.

Charlie: - for Margarita's counselling, and for our friendship.

Rhlanwen: for three firends who are enduring and ask that they be sustained by an awareness of the presence of Jesus.

Wilf: that God helps me focus on what I need to focus on in this coming week

James - An Introduction

Able Shepherd has kindly provided us with this introduction to the book of James.

James has been controversial for a number of reasons. When reading the book of James, it is a challenge to define what genre of literature it might be. It could be:
a) A letter
Yet when compared to other letters in the New Testament it omits a number of features we might typically expect:
• An introductory blessing
• Personal address / context
• Conclusion
• Doxology
• Emphasis / focus on the cross
• Mention of the Holy Spirit
• Detail about Jesus and the Lord’s supper
• A tightly defined target / receiving body of believers

b) Wisdom literature
Certainly wisdom is an important theme (James 1:5, James 3:13-18), it pervades the subject matter (teaching on themes of faith and perseverance under pressure) and its literary form. Yet there are aspects which do not sit well with wisdom literature:
• It is letter like (even if unusual)
• Usually with wisdom literature, the difference between God’s people and humanity is very slight – in James, God’s people have a distinctive.
• It features an eschatological flavour, which is unusual for wisdom literature.

c) Paraenesis (exhortation / encouragement)
With such literature, and in general:
• The author is unimportant
• The presentation lacks continuity or development
• Links are made by repetition of words rather than by means of real connection of thought (much like a stand up comic can be gifted at making what appear to be random connections)
• The situation addressed is general rather than specific


Notwithstanding this, James is perhaps the most quoted letter in the New Testament. It is popular for three reasons:
a) James introduces many vivid and compelling metaphors
b) It is intensely practical
c) It is quite radical and uncompromising


Most commentators favour either an early date (42-60 AD, if the brother of Jesus wrote it) or a late date between 80-140 AD. General consensus though would seem to favour the early date.