EM Worship Service (11/11/18)

[Summary]
James as he close his letter, goes back to the theme of patience in the trials. And the reason that we are to be patient is that it is nature of our faith. Jesus had conquered the death and he brought the new life to us. And this is completely done on the cross. There's nothing that we can add to it. However, it is not fully completed because we are to grow in knowledge and relationship. Until Jesus returns we are to wait patiently. 
It is much easier to grumble than to be patient. However, James prohibits it by giving us the same urgency. Jesus is at the door. He will come and judge. Moreover, we are not supposed to take an oath. Swear often happens when people lose patience. So James urges his readers to be patient instead of grumbling and carelessly swearing. 
Then how does the patience look like? It is shown in form of a prayer. Prayer requires a lot of patience but at the same time prayer is the explicit form of patience. So if we meet a situation or a hardship, it's a reminder of prayers. If someone gets ill, he is supposed to ask the elders to come and pray. They can use medical remedy (anointing oil), but prayer comes first. And this prayer is not the least way, but the most certain and powerful way because it connects us to God. We pray not to bring God's power to us, but to bring us to God's presence. Therefore, we should pray in each situation. And why do we pray? It is a dump question. Why don't we pray is the right question because God who answers our prayers is our father. If we don't pray, that's weird. It's not weird to pray. And for Christians, if we don't pray each other, it is a sin (1 Samuel 12:23). Let's pray.

[Announcements]
Next Sunday we will meet at 11:00am for the church-wide joint worship. (Not meeting at 1:30pm)