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Showing posts with the label St. James of Jerusalem

Sermon - Trinity XIII, 2026 - 2 Chronicles 28:8-15

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The Good Samaritan, Joseph Highmore, 1744   God’s People are Those Who Have Faith in Him We typically think my people are those who are like me externally History of the two kingdoms The Faithful Remnant of Samaria was more faithful than Judah We are God’s people through faith The lawyer asked Jesus: “ Who is my neighbor? ” That’s another way of asking: “Who are my people?” We ask this question because like prefers like and we want to love those people who are like us more than we love those who are not like us. This is a generally true principle in many facets of life. We do this in mostly playful ways with sports, where we greatly prefer our team which we identify with and we do not like the rival teams. This happens more seriously between countries, sometimes even to the point of war. This happens with some seriousness between political parties, sometimes leading to political assassinations. This happens in families when one family member defends another even through criminal be...

Sermon - St. James the Just 2022 - Matthew 13:54-58

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James, Brother of the Lord,  Constantinople, 985 Remaining steadfast under trial. Early on James rejected Jesus, then came to faith, eventually became Bishop of Jerusalem, and remained faithful to death. Let us learn from James to repent of our unbelief and remain steadfast when we face trials of various kinds. “ Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. ” Those words penned by St. James are such an encouragement to remain faithful when we’re frustrated, worn down, and intimidated by this world. In fact, the entire life of St. James is a beautiful illustration of remaining steadfast under trial. Early on James rejected Jesus, then he came to faith, eventually became bishop of Jerusalem, and remained faithful to death. Let us learn from James to repent of our unbelief and remain steadfast when we face trials of various kinds. St. James is called the brother of...