Overview of the book of James 📖

Week 1 Small Group (Wednesdays)

James the half-brother of Jesus (Mark 6:3) wrote this letter to the dispersed Christians between 44-49 AD.

It’s a challenging book that combines Jesus’s teaching, in particular the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7), with his knowledge of the Proverbs to make it one of the most quoted books of the bible, even among non-Christians.

By reading Acts 15 we can identify that James has a key purpose for writing such a letter. James 1:22 is another key insight into that purpose.

I posed the question, why does this letter differ from Paul’s writing in his letters? James doesn’t spend any time presenting the Gospel message. James instead writes to instruct us in Christian living. That is, for us to take the teachings of Jesus and apply it to the Christian’s personal life!

Please watch this 8-minute video by BibleProject for an overview of the book of James

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn-hLHWwRYY

Over the next few days please read James all the way through and add any verses you find particularly challenging into the chat… we already identified 1:19-20… how often are we quick to anger!? 😡

James calls for patience, but remember we all fall short of God’s divine standard, which is why we need Jesus Christ as our savior. ➕