How do you find a good church? When looking for a Christian community to be part of, how do we know whether it is one being faithful to Jesus Christ. That is what the Gospel of James is about ... how to find a good church.

One pearl of wisdom he gives us is that we should be "doers of the word, not merely hearers". So we must look for a community that "does the Word" ... one that is acting in response to what it has heard from God.

But let's step back for a second, because when most people hear "Word", they think that James is talking about the bible. And he is not, he's talking about the "Living Word" ... about God's reality ... about the unfolding kingdom ... about the presence of Jesus Christ is the world. Don't just hear Jesus Christ ... act as Jesus Christ. Don't just discuss the love of God ... do the love of God. Don't get me wrong, knowing the bible is key to figuring out what Christ is up to in the world. It is in the bible that James says, "Be doers of the word, not merely hearers."

A good church community will expect all the members of the community to be engaged in a process of listen for God. Listen through personal and group prayer. Seeking to hear God through daily personal scripture reading as well as group reading. Make no mistake, when looking for a good church, seek one which takes listening seriously. But more importantly look for a church that is putting what it hears into action. And this does not mean hiring staff to "do the word" for them, but where people, together are "doing the word of God."

But be careful, James is not talking about a church being busy. Certainly there are churches that are continually busy, with activities focused internally. The are "doers," but never listen for God, so like busy ants that pointlessly move sand back and forth, obsessed with what happens within the church walls, but with little concern for loving the world God loves.

Another piece of wisdom from James is this; Look for a church that is struggling to be a place of transformation and conversion; a community that seeks a reality different that the values of the world around it. One where people are asking God to free them from what the world offers; competition, disordered passions, life where rich are pandered to, comfort, security and self protection, survival of the fittest. Look rather for a church where people are seeking God's new reality, wanting the clarity only the light of God provides; struggling to be a community driven by search for God's wisdom; one where people are not given false comfort like religious candy floss platitudes but rather one where each is challenged to grow in faith; however painful that often is. Look for a community that is embracing the Good News that the world does not know. Looking to live God's reality which is drenched with grace!

That sounds like a tall order for any church; so James keeps it simple. When looking for a good church, one that is hearing the Word and Doing the word; James says this, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this; to care for orphans, and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."

"Orphans and Widows in distress"; what does that mean? In the bible it refers to those who are the most vulnerable in society. In Jesus time if a boy or girl were orphaned, they often ended up dumped in the slave market, to become like human cattle, or become abused physically and sexually. Then the widows ... this is not talking about just elderly women but women who's husbands have died, and have no family to protect them. Women who were on their own without support of church or family, as in Bible times and today. can be a very dangerous place to be. Without status, in a culture where "family name" was everything, and to be without support left one open to the worst of fates. Being drawn into prostitution and other forms of exploitation.

Who are the orphans and widows of our age? Who are the poor and the oppressed of our time? There you will find good churches not only helping these people but welcoming them into their communities.

Basically James is saying that churches that care for the dispossessed are friends of God; whereas churches which follow the values of the world are enemies of God. It's one or the other with James.

Either churches are giving themselves away to vulnerable and the needy of the community; or they are self focused. Concerned with their own survival as protecting enclaves of security. But James knows Jesus Christ; he knows that he said, "Those who save their lives will lose them; but those who lose their lives for his sake will find them."

This is why when seeking a good church look for one that is dying. Not in the way that the world sees dying, but one that is willing to trust God and give itself away; risking the cross. There you will find new life. For by faith these communities will endure to the end and receive a crown of life. They know the reality of God through Jesus Christ, that when churches, as a community dispose of themselves with joyful giving; When they "do the Word" they find that death is turned into resurrection and new life.

But how do they do it? They do it by embracing God's Word. They learn the Good News that God gives to all generously and without reproach. They listen, and live out the Good News and find that many the various other "truths" our cultures teach us are lies. They hear about the graceful reality of God, and they begin to live it; they begin to "do the Word". And as they act in response to God's goodness they find that competition turns into cooperation, disordered passions turn into life-giving obedience; the poor turn from being a nuisance into the bearers of God; self protection yields to self-giving; and survival of the fittest is seen for what it really is; the devil's misguided motto.

James knows about good churches; that in hearing, they do; and in doing they open themselves to a wondrous & challenging new way of life as Christian communities. May we all have ears to hear, and hearts open to respond to what the Word is calling US to do. AMEN.

Call to Worship
Open your hearts to the Word of God.
Come and worship the One who can give you new life.
Let us give praise tp the Living Christ who's love is poured out for the life of the World.

Approach and Confession.
Your Word is indeed at work in the world,
as it was long before we were born.
In the fullness of time, your Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Jesus healed the sick,
welcomed the stranger,
ate with the outcast,
forgave the sinner.
And yet, at his time of greatest need we know that we abandoned him to death on the cross.
And yet, even our greatest failure, through Your power, has become for us our very salvation through the cross of Christ.
He rose from the grace, spoke his peace to us, and called us to be his very body in the world.
Forgive us, O Risen One, when we have forgotten our calling to be bread broken for the world.
Forgive us, when we have trusted in our own failing power, instead of allowing you to help us to stand.
Forgive us, when we have turned from being your mission of reconciling love for the world around us.
We turn again to you seeking to follow Your Word, that we might be your body in the world.
In Christ, AMEN.

Prayers of the People
{I will ask the people for the prayers and then we will pray in silence this Sunday}

Offering Prayer
Living Word, we offer this money as a sign of our willingness to "do your Word". Open our ears to hear your calling and give us the determination to respond courageously and joyfully to your mission in the world. In Christ we pray, AMEN.