{"id":14128,"date":"2023-08-20T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-20T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/?post_type=ctc_sermon&#038;p=14128"},"modified":"2023-08-22T09:37:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-22T13:37:31","slug":"submission-to-gods-way-keeps-the-peace","status":"publish","type":"ctc_sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/sermons\/submission-to-gods-way-keeps-the-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Submission To God\u2019s Way Keeps The Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-gdm-google-drive-embedder-viewer\"><iframe width='100%' height='100' frameborder='0' scrolling='yes' src='https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1OOV9kYFxSjAOSP1a1WPj8yK9AOb-gmG2\/preview?usp=drivesdk' allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n<h6 class=\"p1\"><b>READ<\/b><\/h6>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">James 4:1-12<\/p>\n<h6 class=\"p4\"><b>CONSIDER<\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">From the beginning of chapter 4, it is not hard to imagine what kind of community James\u2019 recipients was like: a people marked with bickering, infighting and worldly indulgent behaviors and described as \u201cadulterous people \u2026friend of the world\u2026 enemy of God.\u201d (4:1-4)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Quickly, James identified the root problem of all these evils by quoting the Old Testament: \u201cGod opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.\u201d (4:6) It is human arrogance usurping the lordship of God that robs away peace and ruptures all relationships.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">In his practical and terse style of wisdom to heal the situation, James gives some 10 imperatives beginning from \u201cSubmit yourselves, then to God\u2026.\u201d (4:7) to \u201cHumble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.\u201d (4:10) Sandwiched in between are the wise instructions to \u201cmanaging self\u201d than \u201cmanaging others\u201d: \u201cResist the devil\u2026 Come near to God\u2026 Wash your hands and purify your hearts\u2026 Grieve, mourn and wail\u2026Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Incisively he rounds up the lesson by putting proper relationship with God and with one another first so that lasting genuine peace prevail. Stop slander or judge one another. Do not put ourselves on the judgement seat as \u201cthe Judge\u201d because \u201cThere is only one Lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and to destroy \u2014 who are you to judge your neighbour?\u201d (4:12)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">The word of Christ drives home: \u201cDo not judge, or you will be judged\u2026first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother\u2019s eye.\u201d<br \/>(Matt7:1-5)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Deacon Thomas Choy<\/p>\n<h6 class=\"p4\"><b>PRAY<\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Dear Lord:<br \/>Grant me the mind of Christ who humbled himself, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. Teach me what it means to be self-emptying, self-denial and all submissive to your lordship. May your holiness, love and peace transcend every relationship of mine. Amen!<\/p>\n<h6 class=\"p1\"><b>DIVING\u00a0DEEPER<\/b><\/h6>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Do I frequently feel being challenged by others though I don\u2019t openly argue with others or get into conflict easily?<br \/>Does any of the following statement apply to me more or less:<br \/>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01. I attend church regularly but honestly speaking I enjoy way more other non-\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 church related activities where I feel more belonged.<br \/>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02. I do not comment on others in conversation but somehow I tend to perceive\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 easily other\u2019s weaknesses than strengths.<br \/>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03. I have much more to teach others than to learn from them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">What does it mean to me: God is enthroned in all my relationships? How do I demonstrate that?<\/p>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James 4:1-12<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":13973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ctc_sermon_topic":[],"ctc_sermon_book":[162],"ctc_sermon_series":[546],"ctc_sermon_speaker":[549],"ctc_sermon_tag":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/14128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ctc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14128"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/14128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14142,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon\/14128\/revisions\/14142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_topic?post=14128"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_book?post=14128"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_series?post=14128"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_speaker?post=14128"},{"taxonomy":"ctc_sermon_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scbc.com\/em\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ctc_sermon_tag?post=14128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}