Don’t Swear

Such a special time of being the church today.  The entire service was built around James 5:12:

But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Today’s service went like this:

  • Reading – Psalm 122:1
  • Song – In the Sanctuary (“yes, Lord, for the rest of our days”)
  • Welcome – Anna Laurel George read the Scripture and was a great example of children learning the Word in Bible Drill.  I led through a time of prayer asking God to help us live out James 5:12 today.
  • Song – Amazing Grace
  • Song – Your Word
  • Prayer Time
  • Song – Trust and Obey
  • Message – Don’t Swear (James 5:12)
  • Reading – Ps. 51:9-12
  • Song – Change My Heart O God
  • Prayer

he songs for today were selected based upon highlighting the trustworthiness of God’s Word in order to set high the standard of how our words should be able to be trusted as well.

This pursuit led us to sing a gospel song, a hymn, a North Side original, a bluegrass hymn, and an 80’s CCM classic.  We weren’t being diverse just for the sake of diversity.  We are just allowing the Word to shape our services.

When we had the idea for people to submit prayer requests in the services, we never anticipated such a response.  Both service teams had their work cut out for them!  It was humbling to see so many needs represented among us, but then to have people interceding for them while the service was going on was incredible.

We will have teams praying over your requests during the services this morning (Eph. 6:18). You are not alone!

I got to join the 11:00 team.

It was incredible walking into a room and seeing people on their faces crying out to God on behalf of others.  Absolutely beautiful.

Jeff’s message was so helpful.  The concepts in James 5:12 aren’t talked about regularly which is one of the benefits of preaching through books.

Here are some of the notes I wrote down:

  • Don’t be deceptive.
  • Heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and even my very own head is all about God (Matt. 5:33-37).  Any oath I make actually invokes his name!
  • Every oath eventually leads to a commitment to God – be careful (Matt. 23:16-22).
  • Never use the name of God as part of your deception.
  • Be honest in your words and reliable in your actions.

Such a great time today.  Loved getting to be a part in so many ways!

Lord, help me be honest in my words and reliable in my actions.

Worship Music

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