My First Sermon

James 2:18-19 - But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. James 2:23-24 - And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

This passage from James has a bit of sentimental value for me because my very first attempt at preaching came from this passage. I studied for multiple weeks. I read the text and everything else I could find on this subject for a couple of months. When the time came for me to share my lesson, I preached everything I knew about James Chapter 2:22-24. In fact, almost everything I knew about Christianity and my Sermon lasted five minutes. That was about forty years ago. Now, for me to tell you everything I know it would take at least twice that long!

The point of application I would make from James speaks of two kinds of Faith: Do-Nothing Faith and Do-Something Faith. Do nothing faith does nothing and is never put into practice. Do-Something Faith, on the other hand, is a faith that is so strong it inevitably leads to corresponding actions. James has a lot to say about real faith

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Clark Tatum