लगनशील ख्रीष्टिय जीवन - ३, पा. अरबिन पोखरेल

James: Steadfast Life “nugzLn v|Lli6o hLjg”  James is supposedly the first epistle written (around AD 45-47). The Church was just being formed in Jerusalem. Christians were being persecuted. After the death of Stephen, churches were scattered across the region (Acts 11:19). Douglas Moo says, “James, [head of Jerusalem church] addresses a pastoral admonition to these believers from his home church who had been scattered abroad because of persecution.” So the audience at large (the twelve tribes scattered among the nations”  v1) lived lives as “refugees”.  The scattered churches were struggling against the pressures from the society and culture “worldliness” around them. They were suffering from trials and temptations that refugees would face in a foreign land without inherent identity, rights and liberty.  Worldliness is our problem as well. In a world where we live, we are pulled from every side, by the media, by society and neighbors around us, they speak volumes about what we should pursue, what is desirable, and how we should live our lives. Worldliness is right around us all the time, pulling us in different directions. Unless we choose to shut our eyes, seek God and his life for us, we’ll easily buy into those values and voices of the “vision of good life”.  James, being the brother of Jesus, and having seen and heard, lived with Jesus and weighed his teaching against his own life and society around, he’s a believer in what he’s teaching as a reliable witness.  This series will help us study every section of the book of James, drawing parallels to our lives, and drawing lessons on how we must learn to stand firm and steadfast amidst circumstances we face in our life from the world surrounding us.