1. Where do fights and quarrels come from in our church life?

2. When we ask God for stuff, what are usually our motives?

3. Which is worse, to not ask at all, or to ask with the wrong motives?

4. Why can’t you be a friend with both God and the world?

5. How does it make you feel to know that God is jealous for you?

6.Verse 7 is a wonderful promise, but how can we resist the enemy?

Read James 4 v 13-17

1a .What are your plans for tomorrow? 1b. What could change your plans?

2a. In what ways does God make his will known?

2b. By which of these (if any) do you usually discern God’s will for your life?

2c. How difficult is it to determine God’s will?

3a. Why does God not always give us what we want when we want it?

3b How can we know what to ask for?

1. What is so dangerous about being a teacher?

2. Why do you think teachers are judged more strictly?

3. Who in our church would be considered a teacher?

4. If everyone stumbles in many ways,(verse 2) then surely stumbling is no big deal? Is this true?

5. What is the most difficult area in which to keep from stumbling?

6. Why is the tongue so difficult to tame? Indeed impossible according to James.

7. If anything, What has worked well for you when it comes to taming the tongue?

8. What do the words in verse 9 and 10 tell us about how we should relate to other people?

Read James 3:13-18

1a What is the world’s definition of “wisdom”? How does God define “wisdom”?

1b. What is the result of the world’s wisdom, which is really false wisdom?

1c. What is the result of true wisdom, God’s kind of wisdom? Why?

2. James’ list of the characteristics of wisdom, reads like a list of good people skills. Why is wisdom aimed so much at how we treat others?

3. How does one go about getting this wisdom? How do you know when you have it?

1. What forms does discrimination take in today’s church?

2. Do we always think of everyone as equal?

3. How are we supposed to treat the poor? Why?

4. Why does mercy triumph over judgement?

5. How can we try to “Love our neighbour as ourselves”?

Read James 2 v 14-26

1. Which came first: faith or works?

2. How could we translate “Faith without works” into more modern English?

3. If “faith alone can save us”? Then what is the role of the ‘works’?

4. Verse 20 says that “faith without works is dead” Do you agree with this? Is this a bit extreme?

5. Which is more important: the amount of faith, or the focus of faith?

6. How is James saying a Christian is to act?

Read James 1 v 1-12

How easily does joy come from trials?

How can we focus on God when things are going badly?

Does this passage teach that trials and testing are good?

This passage speaks strongly against doubt. Do we often consider doubting God to be a Sin?

How can our doubts about God be eliminated?

Read James 1 v 19 – 25

If human anger enters in to a situation what is usually the end result?

How does this differ from the righteous life that God desires of us?

How often are we “Quick to listen, slow to speak”?

What might be the result if we were to follow these instructions more closely?

“Accept the word planted in you, which can save you” v21

“Saved” is a good old church word. What does it mean?
What are we saved from and what are we saved to?

What are some other words which we could use in the place of “saved” so that people not from the church would understand?

1) What do you think of by the term Worship?

2) Why do you worship?

TRUE WORSHIP PUTS GOD FIRST

When Isaiah is given a glimpse of heaven, it is almost overpowering – the whole sense of the scale of it, the majesty, the glory, the immensity of God. To glimpse the glory of God, to realise that this awesome Creator not only deigns to be interested in us – but actually loves us, cares about us, is concerned for us – allowed his Son to die for us, when we did nothing to deserve it – just because he loves us. That is why we should worship.

3) Do we always put God first?

4) If not then why not? How can we try to change our attitudes?

TRUE WORSHIP IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

Read 1 John 4v20

5) How can we try to worship together as a family of God?

6) As Jesus called us all to “serve and not be served “ how can we serve each other in Worship?

TRUE WORSHIP HUMBLES THE HEART

Read Isaiah 6v5 and Deuteronomy 7v7-8

To come before God in worship really should be a humbling experience. It’s a coming before God and realising exactly where we stand. We come without any claim to our own merits, but through the love of God. When we come into the presence of God we would be wise to remember that the only reason we’re here is because God loved us enough to allow Jesus to die for us.

7) How often in church/in worship do you really think about this?

What can often distract us from being Humbled by God ?