James 5:16
The memory verse for this Sunday (09152024) is James 5:16. Here is a song to help your students learn it.
James was written primarily to Jewish followers of Jesus, so I thought it would be fun to give it a Hebrew flair.
The book of James is all about how faith without action is dead and worthless. This verse speaks of the prayers of a "righteous" person. What makes a person righteous? It's faith in Jesus that is lived out in our actions. It is obedience to God's commands. An interesting discussion for you and your students would be, "What are God's commands?" Let me help you out...most of what we consider important isn't, and most of what we don't do is. It's why Jesus says in Matthew 7 that there will be many who stand before Him and say, "Look at all these things we've done," and He will say, "Depart from me...I never knew you."
The other interesting thing in this verse is the conditional promise. Confess AND pray so that healing will come. We do pretty well at the praying part. How often do we confess our sins to each other? Almost never. In fact, I've rarely been in a church where confession of sin to others is a part of any practice of the faithful. That would be another interesting discussion for you to have with your students: What would it look like to confess to others? Who should we confess to? Why wouldn't healing come without confession?
Interesting questions....enjoy!