Home Group Sermon Series - 2009

Apostle James's Letter to the Early Christian Church

James’s letter is a handbook for practical Christian living:

It touches on issues of Christian concern in a world of human need; and the implications of careless and evil words; it shows us how a genuine faith is a tested faith; and how encountering difficulties is an essential part of growth in Christian maturity.

This series of studies, supplementing our preaching on a Sunday morning, will give plenty of ‘food for thought’ as we continue to discern God’s future vision for us here at Emmanuel. As we wrestle with God’s word it will challenge us and strengthen our faith as we allow His Spirit to shape our lives.

The Parables of Jesus

One third of all Jesus’ teaching was done in parables and so there’s much we can learn from them. Parables are stories intended to convey spiritual truths. They’re not historical or accounts of actual events; they are fictional stories involving made-up characters. The situations they describe never really happened, and the people involved aren’t real people. That’s why the characters in parables aren’t named; they’re just identified by their occupations: a farmer; a merchant; a shepherd; a priest. But these people could be real, and that’s the point. The characters in parables are instantly recognizable by everyone, regardless of time or culture, that’s why these deceptively simple stories are so full of wisdom and so strikingly memorable and so true to life.