Posts by jhumphries

June 16, 2017 Daily Reading Exodus 4:27-31 Psalm 100 This week’s sermon text: James 5:7-12 Field NotesOur passage could use a little backstory. Earlier, in chapters 3 & 4, God commissioned Moses to go to Pharaoh in Egypt and demand that he free the Israelites from slavery. But Moses balked. He didn’t want to go.…

June 15, 2017 Daily Reading Hebrews 3:1-6 Psalm 100 This week’s sermon text: James 5:7-12 Field NotesDo you think a lot about hope? American poet Emily Dickinson said that “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” Desmond Tutu, the…

June 14, 2017 Daily Reading John 14:25-26 Psalm 29 This week’s sermon text: James 5:7-12 Field Notes In today’s reading, there’s an interesting word in verse 26. The New Revised Standard Version translates it as “advocate,” but the Greek word is paracletos, which is literally translated “one called alongside to help.” There have been many times…

June 13, 2017 Daily Reading 1 Corinthians 12:4-13 Psalm 29 This week’s sermon text: James 5:7-12 Field NotesThere’s a member of our church who owns his own business and for years was asked to serve on the administrative committees of our church – the ones that deal with finance and facilities and business-oriented tasks. He…

June 12, 2017 Daily Reading Job 38:39-39:12 Psalm 29 This week’s sermon text:  James 5:7-12 Field NotesThe central character of the Book of Job is a righteous man who, due to no wrongdoing of his own, has everything in his life stripped away – his home, his family, his health. Many commentators assert that the…

June 10, 2017 Perfect in the Spirit Daily ReadingJohn 14:15-17Psalm 8This week’s sermon text: James 5:1-6 Field Notes“One of the words John Wesley used to describe the holiness characteristic of the Christian life was perfection. He did not think that Christians could be free of ignorance or mistakes, but he did think that through the…

June 9, 2017 Sound Teaching Daily Reading 2 Timothy 1:12-14Psalm 8This week’s sermon text: James 5:1-6 Field NotesHow do we know if what we are hearing is “sound teaching?” In Wesleyan theology, we have a useful tool called The Wesleyan Quadrilateral (quad = “four”; laterus = “sides”). This was not a tool that John Wesley…

June 8, 2017 Deep Change Daily Reading2 Timothy 1:8-12Psalm 8This week’s sermon text: James 5:1-6 Field Notes“The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self-all your wishes and precautions-to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to…

June 7, 2017 Water = Life Daily ReadingJohn 7:37-39Psalm 104:24-34This week’s sermon text: James 5:1-6 Field NotesOne of the most powerful and enduring biblical images is the image of water. During the first moments of creation, we hear of God’s Spirit sweeping across the formless waters (Genesis 1:2). As the Hebrew people wander through the…

June 6, 2017 The Deepest Prayer Daily ReadingRomans 8:26-27Psalm 104:24-34This week’s sermon text: James 5:1-6 Field NotesOften, in our prayer lives, we seek to fill space. We add flourishes or big 10-cent theological words we heard in a sermon once. We’re pretty sure God likes big words. Or, we think our own words are lacking and…