Dear brothers and sisters,

It is hard to believe we are coming to the last portion of James’ epistle this Sunday (5:12-20). James has proven himself a dear friend and shepherd of my own soul, and I hope you have a sense of that as well. And he certainly does not disappoint in those roles as he draws his letter to a close. I have been convicted on many fronts during this time of sermon preparation.

These closing exhortations of James have this common thread running through each of them – glorifying God in every circumstance of life. Glorifying Him in our conversations, in our suffering, in our joy, in our sickness, in our repentance, in our prayer life, and in our rescue efforts. To glorify Him in these areas will require tongues that are not set on fire by hell but are rather tamed by heaven.

May God make us doers of the things that we have been blessed to hear from James.

Continue to pray for Scott, Paul, and Michael as they are now boots-on-the-ground. Please be careful and very wise with the handling of any information that comes to you by way of reports, emails, photos, etc. This cannot be emphasized enough. We live in a society that traffics heavily in the sharing of information. If you have any questions or doubts about forwarding or posting anything, it would be better to err on the side of caution. Once the information leaves your ‘possession’, that information and any sense of confidentiality that should accompany it are out of your control.

Our gathered prayer time tomorrow night will be held at the Noah’s home.