Here is the outline of our teaching/discussion from January16th. These are interactive teaching times, interspersed with questions and discussion.

+ Alan

James 1:22-25 - Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.

Doers of the Word, not hearers only - act on what is in you - don't forget what you look like (who are you?) We look into the Word, which is Jesus revealed, and we see who we are, who He has made us to be, is making us. In our trust that this is true, we are changed by His Grace. We act on this Grace or we sit still. Peering into freedom's ideal law - the perfect law of freedom - what is that? LOVE. Living focused on Love - the center of all things. As we live centered on Love, Love perfects us, changes us, infuses us with Grace to be what we are looking at - you'll go where you're looking.

Its not just "do the right thing you big dummy!" That doesn't work. Its looking at Love - focusing yourself on the center, seeing who you are and receiving the Grace to be that person, constantly reminding yourself (and one another) of it, and living it out. This is living inside the life of blessing - not blessings as rewards for actions, but living within a life to which blessings belong and experiencing them as a matter of course.