{"id":354,"date":"2016-03-13T11:38:42","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T16:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/?p=354"},"modified":"2016-05-31T13:54:14","modified_gmt":"2016-05-31T18:54:14","slug":"genuine-faith-bears-good-fruit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/?p=354","title":{"rendered":"Genuine Faith Bears Good Fruit"},"content":{"rendered":"<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-354-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3\">http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><b>Genuine Faith\u00a0Bears Good Fruit<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>James 2:14-26<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Faith vs Works:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>If salvation is ____________________________________________, then works _____________________________.<\/p>\n<p>If salvation is ____________________________________________, then\u00a0 faith ______________________________.<\/p>\n<p>We are saved through faith, but works are the ___________________________.<\/p>\n<p><b>Justified by works?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Justified means to be _________________ in right standing.<\/p>\n<p>It is JUST as IF\u00a0 I\u2019D never sinned.<\/p>\n<p>It also means to be ________________ or _______________\u00a0 in right standing<b>.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>James\u2019 main idea:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>You say you have faith?\u00a0 ______________! Don\u2019t tell me; ____________!<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Ephesians 2:8-10<\/p>\n<p>Faith without works is _________, _____________ and ________________.<\/p>\n<p><b>What are you doing to put your faith into action?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Faith isn\u2019t needed when we _______________________________________.<\/p>\n<p><b>Connection Group Questions<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Read James 2:14-20<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>What do you think James means by faith?\u00a0 What do you think James means by works?\u00a0 People can place faith in many things.\u00a0 How is faith in Christ different than faith in other things, like elevators, spouses, or savings accounts?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>James gives an example in 2:15-16 of lifeless, empty faith.\u00a0 What kind of action would have accompanied genuine faith in this situation?<\/p>\n<p><b>Have you ever offered pious words of encouragement or sympathy without doing anything practical to help a brother or sister in need?\u00a0 What usually are the motives behind such statements? \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Why is faith apart from works useless, as James states in 2:20? \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Read about Abraham in Genesis 22:1-18. What do you learn about Abraham in this passage?\u00a0 How did Abraham\u2019s willingness to sacrifice Isaac prove the authenticity of his faith?<\/p>\n<p>Read about Rahab in Joshua 2:1-21.\u00a0 What stands out to you about this woman?\u00a0 How was her faith proven to be true?<\/p>\n<p><b>What areas of your life would you point to as evidence or proof that you have a genuine faith?\u00a0 <\/b>(Hint: Look at Galatians 5: 22-23 for areas to consider as a starting point.)<\/p>\n<p>Faith without works is dead, lifeless and useless.\u00a0 So\u2026 <b>How are you putting your faith into action?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Describe the thinking of someone who believes faith in God means we don\u2019t need to worry about obeying the word any more. Is there an areas of your life where this applies to you?<\/p>\n<p><b>Try to summarize the message\u00a0 of James 2:14-26 in one sentence: \u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>What one step can you take this week to better live in light of this truth?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6389\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-354-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3\">http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/?powerpress_pinw=354-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/3-13-16.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"3-13-16.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/?feed=podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Genuine Faith\u00a0Bears Good Fruit James 2:14-26 Faith vs Works: If salvation is ____________________________________________, then works _____________________________. If salvation is ____________________________________________, then\u00a0 faith ______________________________. We are saved through faith, but works are the ___________________________. Justified by works? Justified means to be _________________ in right standing. It is JUST as IF\u00a0 I\u2019D never sinned. It also means &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/?p=354\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Genuine Faith Bears Good Fruit<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-of-james","category-genuine-faith","post_format-post-format-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363,"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions\/363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/media.porticocommunity.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}