Spring City Fellowship
261004Sunday
Sunday October 4, 2026 10:15AM Service

      • Psalm 150:3NIV2011

  • Earth And Heaven Roar
  • It Is Well With My Soul
  • Have My Heart
  • I Surrender
  • Abide
  • Lord Send Revival
  • Come Alive (Dry Bones)
  • Surely The Presence Of The Lord

      • Isaiah 41:10NIV2011

  • Our theme for 2026 is “Embrace Transformation”
    We are in a series on the Book of James called “Faith that works.”
    Faith has to work.
    It’s not enough to believe it, you have to do it.
    It has to change you in fundamental ways so that you embrace transformation.
    First, we talked about how faith is a process.
    We know it is a positive spiral of turning our tests into endurance.
    This turns our whole understanding of faith or religion around.
    Instead of doing what we do to try to become something.
    We internalize what God says about us, and that becomes the source of both our thoughts and our actions.
    We then had a report from the team that went to Honduras about their experiences of putting faith into action.
    We talked about how the church has been divided into those who prioritize right belief and those who prioritize right practice.
    And what is the problem with either of those positions?
    If you separate faith and works, saying one is more vitally important than the other, you lose the integrity of both!
    Real Christianity is not faith versus works - it’s faith and works.
    James is making his point pretty clear- but we’re not done yet.
    Words lead to actions, and actions validate words.
    James takes time to focus on words.
    Our words give expression to our thoughts and help us to see what that thought can look like in reality.
    A faith that works needs to be very intentional about how we use words.
    This morning we are going to talk about wisdom from above.
    What is wisdom?
    Biblical wisdom encompasses far more than intellectual knowledge—it represents a comprehensive capacity to navigate life skillfully according to God’s standards.
    The ability to handle matters skillfully, exercise sound judgment, and apply scriptural truths to one’s conduct constitutes biblical wisdom, which guides believers toward an upright and virtuous manner of living.
    Wisdom is not just knowing things - it is knowing what to do with what you know.
    Wisdom is practical - it knows how to solve problems.
    Even more practical … it knows how to keep you from having the problem in the first place!
    Wisdom teaches us the best way to live - and then trains us with the disciplines to actually do it.
    Have you ever seen someone and you think to yourself - “that person seems to have it together.
    They know who they are.
    They know what they want out of life.
    And they seem to be doing all the right things to get there.
    You might even want to hang around that person just to learn their secret.
    You might hope that whatever they are doing right will rub off on you - that’s wisdom!
    Wisdom is what makes the difference between the negative spiral and the positive one.
    The wise person knows which end is up!
    And they put God at the center of everything.
    Proverbs 9:10 ESV
    10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
    We are going to revisit James’ teaching on words for just a moment, because James launches from there into a lesson on wisdom.
    Our words often help us to see the problem.
    But wisdom tells us to look to our own hearts and consider the source of the problem.
    Wisdom also helps us to refocus of the solution - to look up and see God and what He is doing in the earth and in our lives.
    God is restoring humanity and the world and Jesus Christ is the embodiment of wisdom.
    And that is essentially our outline for today - if you are following along on your bulletin insert we have some blanks that you can fill-in as we go along.
    And if you are watching online, click the link to our e-bulletin. there are blanks that you can click on there that fill in themselves - or you can just follow along with the slides.

    Recognize the problem.

    Lets review that last few verses from the previous section.
    James 3:10–12 ESV
    10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
    Do you remember? We said that we conflicting thoughts and emotions.
    But then there was this conclusion:
    We can have a lot of conflicting thoughts and feelings go through our minds and our hearts, but our words represent a choice.
    I want to back up for just a moment and talk more about the conflicting thoughts and emotions, because James is going to address this problem in a way that involves more than just words.
    The first step is to recognize the problem.
    We have a group going through Elijah House right now on Tuesday evenings. It is an inner healing ministry that we do each year. Many of you have been through it. Those who haven’t - you should really consider it for next year.
    Those of you who have been through Elijah House - do you remember the five R’s of healing? Recognize - Repent or renounce - Release forgiveness - Recon as dead and Resurrect! That’s right - you got it.
    But my point for now is that it begins with recognizing he problem. Or to use Elijah House language - the bitter fruit.
    So what is the problem? Why do we have so many conflicting thoughts and feelings?

    We each have a sinful nature.

    James identifies this already in chapter one where he talks about the negative spiral.
    James 1:14–15 CSB
    14 But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. 15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
    You have a sinful human nature - corrupt desires that come from simply living in a fallen sinful world.
    Paul talks about this at greater length.
    Romans 7:18–20 ESV
    18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
    Have you ever encountered this?
    You know what is right and wrong.
    You might even want to do the right thing.
    But somehow you end up doing the wrong thing - the very thing you thought or even said you didn’t want to do!
    You end up looking too long at that provocative social media post.
    You end up eating the whole bag of potato chips.
    You are embarrassed by your own outburst of anger.
    You decide to say home and skip church - again!
    Thes may be small things - but you know they also lead to bigger things.
    The point is the same- we don’t always do what we know we should do even thought we want to.
    Yeah, what’s up with that?
    Paul calls it the flesh - and the flesh wants what the flesh wants.
    And opposite the flesh is the spirit- and the spirit wants what God wants.
    Galatians 5:16–17 ESV
    16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
    You have two natures at war within you.
    There is the old nature - the flesh- the sinful human nature.
    And there is the new nature - the spirit created in God’s image and the mind that is being renewed in Christ.
    And they don’t usually get along - they often want opposite things.

    We all have a choice to make.

    Whether it is with our word or with our actions - what we actually say or do represents a choice.
    The conflicting natures operate in the realm of our thoughts and our feelings.
    Sometimes it all gets jumbled up in there - we don’t really know what we are thinking or feeling.
    Everything is just swirling around, all mixed up and we need help to sort it all out.
    That is why James said:
    James 1:5 ESV
    5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
    You invite God into the chaos.
    And just as in creation - He separates the light from the darkness and the land from the air and the seas.
    James 1:6 ESV
    6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
    Faith in this context is trust in God - letting God do what God does - creating order and beauty from chaos.
    That, my friends, is wisdom.
    Not choosing is also a choice.
    Doing nothing is always and option - but not a good one.
    Allowing the chaos to continue and doing nothing about it is also a personal choice.
    It’s doesn’t let you off the hook that you are choosing to stay there.
    James 1:7–8 NLT
    7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
    Continuing in sin is rebellion against God.
    Taking the easy way is playing right into the devil’s trap.
    Wisdom is putting things in perspective.
    Beginning to sort it out.
    Recognizing what is wrong.
    Inviting God into the situation.
    the we can go to the next step:

    Consider the source.

    What is really going on? - let’s look deeper.
    James 3:13–16 ESV
    13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
    Who are the wise people among you, James asks?
    Everyone points to the guy with the degree.
    Or to the woman who is a teacher.
    Or to the person with the nationally recognized ministry.
    James goes on...
    Do you know what that person is actually like?
    Do you know what they do when no one is looking?
    Are they people that you would want to be around when they are not on stage?

    What is inside your heart?

    James turns from talking about visible character qualities to the hidden motives of the heart.
    He mentions bitterness, jealousy and selfish ambition.
    Wisdom takes inventory of what is inside.
    Proverbs 16:2 CSB
    2 All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs motives.
    That means not just looking at your behavior, but what is behind the behavior.
    Why do you do what you do?
    The first step in applying wisdom is to recognize and admit what is happening.
    Wisdom means first getting past denial.
    Denial - we all have it - means we are blind to what we don’t want to see.
    It takes courage to look inside and ask hard questions.
    When I am talking to men about pornography, the first thing we talk about is self-awareness.
    When you look at dirty pictures what is it that you really want?
    Most men will eventually admit that they don’t want a relationship with that girl - they don’t even want to know who she is, they just want to feel something.
    It’s self-medicating doing something to make yourself feel better.
    The key to breaking the habit is going to mean facing you pain an dealing with it more openly and directly.
    Guess what? It’s the same with the bag of potato chips. It means getting intentional about what is really going on.
    Its making order out of chaos - separating the components and putting each of them in their rightful place.
    Jesus taught us to prioritize sorting out what is on the inside and that if we do, our behavior will sort itself out.
    Matthew 23:25–26 CSB
    25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside of it may also become clean.
    Wisdom looks beyond the surface - it sees past behaviors - it recognizes that whatever is happening happens first in the heart.
    And healing, if it is to be full and lasting, must also begin with the heart.

    Could there also be an outside source?

    James isn’t done yet - he drills down on the evil nature of our hidden motives.
    James 3:15 AMP
    15 This [superficial] wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal), even devilish (demoniacal).
    When the heart is out of order, there is another source that is at least partially or potentially also behind it.
    It is the same source that also brought chaos and disorder to earth - the rebellion of spiritual beings.
    It is always good to consider that there may be more at work in our own hearts and minds than we are immediately aware of.
    1 Peter 5:8 NLT
    8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
    Yes, that’s right - the devil might make you do it.
    Actually, the devil can’t make you do anything you don’t already want to do.
    But what the devil does do, is empower your own disordered desires in a way that goes beyond what you would otherwise be capable of.
    Just ask anyone who has been in addiction - it started out as a temptation, became a lifestyle and at some point they realized that they are no longer in control.
    Sin took on a life of its own and the addiction has a mind of its own, making you feel as if you no longer have a choice - even when you do.
    But it all starts with giving in to the flesh.
    James is going to give us the remedy in the next chapter, but just so I don’t leave you hanging, here it is.
    James 4:7 ESV
    7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
    In other words, invite God the Creator to re-create order again out of the chaos.
    Start with your heart and your mind, separating truth from lies.
    Discerning your own will and making right choices.
    Eventually it works itself out in every aspect of your behavior as well.
    Oh, and the humility also, because you know where you would be without God.
    God becomes your source.
    And it is God who is making you who He designed you to be.

    Envision restoration.

    When Jesus taught His disciples to pray - He taught them to pray this:
    Matthew 6:10 ESV
    10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
    It is God’s plan to restore humanity and the world.
    That is the plan that gives purpose to our lives.
    That is the mission that we are given as followers of Christ.
    So in order to do that, we need wisdom from above.
    Literally, we need heaven’s perspective on our current reality.
    Because our current reality is messed up!
    We need God’s vision to have a clue as to what order even looks like.
    James goes on to give us some of these clues.
    James 3:17–18 ESV
    17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
    Purity - as opposed to the double-mindedness - purity is a singleness of focus.
    The Greek word used here is the same word the is translated as saints or holy.
    Wisdom is wholly devoted to God.
    Peaceable - This word also speaks of wholeness, but in the sense of wellbeing.
    The peaceable person reflects humanity as it should be.
    Gentle - includes things like kindness, goodness and fairness.
    This is not a passive gentleness but an active role model.
    Open to reason - this is not about intellect - its about compliance.
    The Greek word used here could also be translated as obedient.
    Wise people know how to get along - even when they don’t agree.
    And lastly, they are full of mercy or compassion, he very quality that God uses to describe Himself.
    Exodus 34:6 NLT
    6 The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
    What James identifies as the characteristics of wisdom are the qualities of God Himself.
    Going back to verse 13, it begins with humility.
    James 3:13 NLT
    13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

    Wisdom is shown by humility.

    A wise person shows the quality of meekness as evidence of their wisdom.
    Let’s see ...meekness is not a word we often use …how would we say it today?
    “Are they pretty chill?” - or for us older ones “Are they cool?”
    Not like Fonzy cool - but “Joe Cool”
    They are actually calm - not acting like they have anything to prove.
    Like genuinely humble -James calls this evidence of wisdom.
    That’s a nice thought - but I think James has even more in mind.
    Humility is best demonstrated by Jesus Himself.
    Philippians 2:5–8 CSB
    5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
    Now that is humility!
    That’s not Joe Cool - that’s Jesus cool!
    Jesus laid it all down to become like us - He didn’t have to do that!
    In fact, He became like us so that we could become like Him.
    That is how restoration works.
    2 Corinthians 5:21 CEV
    21 Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.
    Has here ever been a greater example of humility?
    What Jesus did turns everything we think we know about life upside down.
    Suddenly everything we think is important, really isn’t...
    Thinking about how to get ahead.
    Trying to be somebody we’re not.
    Living for money or pleasure just doesn’t cut it.
    Jesus showed us a new way to be human - He is the embodiment of wisdom!
    1 Corinthians 1:30 NLT
    30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
    Jesus really is wisdom from above who came down and made everything we thought was wise look like foolishness.
    1 Corinthians 1:18–19 CEV
    18 The message about the cross doesn’t make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God’s power at work. 19 As God says in the Scriptures, “I will destroy the wisdom of all who claim to be wise. I will confuse those who think they know so much.”
    The problem with our earthly wisdom is that it is all mixed up by our fleshly desires and our selfish motives.
    We don’t even know what we want, let alone how to get there.
    I have seen more than one wise person get off track because people tell them how great they are and then they begin to live according to what people think and expect and loose sight of who they are in Christ.
    So if we were to reduce godly wisdom to a single quality that lends itself to all of the others, it would be humility.
    Keep yourself humble and you are that much more certain to be wise.
    Romans 12:16 AMP
    16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.
    That’s good advice - and it’s an important key to having a faith that works.
    James is going to tie it all together as we close out this chapter.

    Consistently doing the right thing over time produces peace.

    James 3:18 CSB
    18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.
    Remember how James talked about the positive spiral way back in chapter one?
    A positive spiral is having a good attitude about our trials and developing endurance which leads to consistency and an upward trajectory.
    Well here the same idea is restated, but using and agricultural metaphor.
    Do you want to grow in righteousness or right living? Then plant seeds of peace.
    Peace is the right attitude that leads to right living.
    The seed metaphor speaks to the elements of time and nature.
    You plant a seed and then you wait.
    While you are waiting - or while you are planting more seeds- the seed does what seed do - it grows.
    And when it grows, it produces more seeds of the same kind- a harvest of peace.
    That is the upward spiral.
    Wisdom is not just knowing and doing the right thing - but doing it consistently -over time - and with humility!
    Just like everything we have been saying though this who series - wisdom is a process.
    You don’t just suddenly become wise - you first do the right thing.
    And then you learn to do it consistently.
    And then you learn to do it with humility.
    And eventually you look back and realize that you were wise.
    And that wisdom came from above.

    Questions for reflection:

    How are you doing with self awareness? Are you in denial about anything? Are you able to identify mixed motives? Do you ask God to sort it out?
    Are you making good choices? Or are you just doing what comes naturally? Do you realize that failure to choose is also a choice? Does your rebellion have any help from outside?
    What about humility? How would you know if you were truly humble? Does it even matter? Or are you too busy looking at Jesus to notice?

      • Proverbs 9:10ESV

      • James 3:10–12ESV

      • James 1:14–15ESV

      • Romans 7:18–20ESV

      • Galatians 5:16–17ESV

      • James 1:5ESV

      • James 1:6ESV

      • James 1:7–8ESV

      • James 3:13–16ESV

      • Proverbs 16:2ESV

      • Matthew 23:25–26ESV

      • James 3:15ESV

      • 1 Peter 5:8ESV

      • James 4:7ESV

      • Matthew 6:10ESV

      • James 3:17–18ESV

      • Exodus 34:6ESV

      • James 3:13ESV

      • Philippians 2:5–8ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 5:21ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:30ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:18–19ESV

      • Romans 12:16ESV

      • James 3:18ESV

  • Trust In God
Spring City Fellowship
office@springcityfellowship.com
(610) 948-5250
https://springcityfellowship.com
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