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October 30 - James 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's a Thursday, it's the 30th
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  of October and today's date is an absolute banger.
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  This is one of my favourite stories.
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  On this day, October 30th in 1938, they decided to update the
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  novel The War of the Worlds into this live radio play.
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  And the way that programming worked, most of the audience
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  missed the introduction where they told the audience that it
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  was just a work of fiction. And when most people, most
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  Americans tuned in, they tuned in to this news broadcast of
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  aliens taking over and it caused mass hysteria.
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  Thousands of people fled their homes and when the authorities
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  tried to penalise them for causing this havoc, well they've
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  done nothing wrong. No law against.
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  Really well produced radio plays with lots of extras in the
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  studio screaming and making it sound very real.
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  Amazing that was 1938, but here we are in 2025 and we are going
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  back in time to hear the words captured 2000 years ago by Jesus
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  brother, inspired by the Holy Spirit writing to the Jews
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  scattered around the world about how they can live to follow
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  Jesus. So let us buckle up, this is
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  real. No fake radio play here.
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  These are the words of our God speaking to us.
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  Holy Spirit, lead us, shape us by your words.
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  Let's do it friends. Let's read together James
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  chapter 2. My dear brothers and sisters,
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  how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus
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  Christ if you favour some people over others?
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  For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed
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  in fancy clothes and expensive jewellery, and another comes in
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  who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.
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  If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich
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  person, but you say to the poor, 1 you can stand over there or
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  else sit on the floor. Well, doesn't this
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  discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil
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  motives? Listen to me, dear brothers and
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  sisters, Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in
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  faith? Aren't they the ones who will
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  inherit the Kingdom He promised to those who love him?
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  But you dishonour the poor. Isn't it the rich who oppress
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  you and drag you into court? Aren't they the ones who slander
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  Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?
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  Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in
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  the Scriptures. Love your neighbour as yourself.
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  But if you favour some people over others, you were committing
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  a sin. You were guilty of breaking the
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  law. For the person who keeps all of
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  the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all
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  of God's laws. For the same God who said you
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  must not commit adultery also said you must not murder.
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  So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have
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  still broken the law. So whatever you say, or whatever
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  you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets
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  you free. There will be no mercy for those
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  who have not shown mercy to others.
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  But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when He
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  judges you. What good is it, Dear brothers
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  and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show by your
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  actions? Can that kind of faith save
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  anyone? Suppose you see a brother or
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  sister who has no food or clothing, and you say goodbye
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  and have a good day, stay warm and eat well, but then you don't
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  give that person any food or clothing.
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  What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself
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  isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds,
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  it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue some
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  people have faith, others have good deeds.
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  But I say, how can you show me your faith if you don't have
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  good deeds? I will show you my faith by my
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  good deeds. You say you have faith, for you
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  believe that there is one God good for you.
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  Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror.
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  How foolish. Can't you see that faith without
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  good deeds is useless? Don't you remember that our
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  ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions
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  when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
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  You see, his faith and his actions worked together.
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  His actions made his faith complete.
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  And so it happened just as the scriptures say.
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  Abraham believed God and God counted him as righteous because
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  of his faith. He was even called the friend of
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  God. So you see, we are shown to be
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  right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
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  Rahab the prostitute is another example.
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  She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid
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  those messengers and sent them safely away by a different Rd.
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  Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead
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  without good works. Jesus here we are, your
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  disciples, your children, your family, and we do not want our
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  faith to be a shallow, tokenistic or ineffective faith.
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  We want our faith to move mountains, to shape our
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  behaviour, to make us move through the world in a way that
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  stops people in their tracks and causes them to ask what is up
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  with that person. How can they love the way they
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  do? And the only way they're going
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  to do that is if they see our actions shaped by our faith.
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  Holy Spirit, change us. May the fruits that you grow in
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  US shape us to be your Kingdom people saved by your sacrificial
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  death, Jesus, claimed by the residents of the Holy Spirit
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  within us, and transformed by that continuing work every day.
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  We are yours and we love you, and we pray all of this in your
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  name, Jesus, Amen.