Living Ready: Faith that Works to the Finish
WHEN LIFE HURTS, WHO DO YOU CALL?
Read: James 5:13–16
Intro: Life doesn’t usually fall apart all at once. It wears you down slowly. You get tired. You get discouraged. Your body feels weak. Your soul feels thin. And you wonder, Is this just how life is now? James writes to believers who feel exactly that way. And instead of giving them a lecture or a formula, he gives them something better: a pathway back to strength through prayer, community, and grace. James is not dramatic here. He’s practical. He doesn’t shame weakness. He doesn’t deny pain. He simply asks good questions—and gives wise guidance.
- WHEN LIFE IS HEAVY, WHERE DO YOU TURN FIRST?
James 5:13 “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.”
James starts with the most basic reality of life: ups and downs. Some days are heavy. Some days are good. And James says both moments deserve a spiritual response.
If you’re suffering—pray. If you’re cheerful—praise.
The word suffering here includes hardship, pressure, emotional strain — the kind of stress that piles up when life keeps demanding more than you feel able to give.
The word James uses describes suffering from any source. Trouble at work. Family strain. Financial pressure. Physical weakness. Emotional exhaustion. Anything that causes you to suffer under a load.
James isn’t promising that prayer instantly removes the problem. He’s saying prayer keeps the problem from hollowing you out.
Sometimes God answers immediately and supernaturally.
Sometimes He answers by changing the circumstance. Sometimes He answers by strengthening the believer inside the circumstance. James is not merely teaching us to pray for deliverance. He is teaching us to pray for endurance.
And notice—James doesn’t say, “fix yourself first.” He says, bring your real condition to God.
Prayer isn’t a last resort. It’s a first reflex.
Prayer is the hotline to the One who can provide for any need, no matter how complex or impossible it may seem.
James gives us two reflexes. Suffering should elicit prayer. Sufficiency should elicit praise.
When suffering arrives, what is your first instinct? Is it to immediately call a friend, vent online, bury yourself in work, distract yourself with entertainment, or search for relief from professionals? Or is it to take the need directly to God?
When anxiety rises, do you rehearse the problem—or do you pray about it? When your child is struggling, when the doctor calls, when the marriage is strained, when the bills are piling up, what is your first reflex?
James is not saying counselors, doctors, friends, and wise advisors are unhelpful. He's asking whether prayer is your first instinct or your last resort.
And when blessing arrives, what is your first impulse? Is it to celebrate with people while forgetting the God who gave the blessing?
When the promotion comes, when the test results are good, when the prayer is answered, when the family gathers around the table, do you stop long enough to acknowledge the Lord? Do you enjoy God's gifts while forgetting the Giver?
James says suffering should lead us to prayer and blessing should lead us to praise.
- WHEN YOU’RE WORN DOWN, ARE YOU WILLING TO ASK FOR HELP?
James 5:14 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
Now James moves from general suffering to something more specific and concrete: sickness.
Here James is not speaking metaphorically. He is referring to actual physical illness — the kind of sickness that leaves a person unable to come to the gathering, needing others to come to them.
The application is clear: when believers are weak, weary, discouraged, or physically suffering, James expects them to reach out rather than retreat inward.
This is the same kind of sickness Jesus addressed again and again in the Gospels.
Blind eyes. Fevers. Paralysis. Chronic conditions. Oppression that left people bound and broken.
And James’ instruction sounds very familiar if you’ve read the ministry of Jesus or the early church.
He says: call for the elders. Not for a show. Not for embarrassment. Not for a spectacle. But for care.
The elders come as shepherds — representatives of the church — to do what Jesus’ followers have always done: pray in faith, under Christ’s authority, for God to act.
They pray over the sick — drawing near, standing with them.
The picture is deeply personal. The suffering believer does not sit alone in a room carrying the burden by himself. The leaders of God's people come near, pray, encourage, and remind him that he has not been forgotten.
They anoint with oil — a visible act of care and consecration — done “in the name of the Lord,” meaning under Jesus’ authority, not human power.
The emphasis is not on the oil. The emphasis is on the Lord who heals.
This is the church at its best — not fixing people but lifting them.
What do you do when you're weak? Do you isolate? Do you disappear? Do you tell everyone you're fine when you're clearly not? Do you convince yourself that asking for help is weakness?
How many of us have learned to suffer silently? We don't want to burden anyone. We don't want to appear needy. We don't want anyone to know we're struggling. So we smile. We nod. We say we're fine. Meanwhile we're falling apart.
James asks: Are you willing to let God's people help carry the burden? Are you willing to make the phone call? Are you willing to ask for prayer? Are you willing to let somebody know what's really going on?
Pride often sounds spiritual: "It's just between me and God." But James says sometimes God intends to help you through His people.
- DO YOU BELIEVE GOD STILL HEALS THE SICK WHEN WE PRAY?
James 5:15 “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
James now brings everything together: Prayer. Faith. Healing. Forgiveness.
When James says the prayer of faith will “save the sick,” he is speaking plainly about healing — God intervening to restore the body.
James is not inventing something new. He is simply calling the church to continue doing what Jesus and the apostles had already been doing—bringing hurting people to God in prayer and trusting Him to act.
Prayer is not therapy. Prayer is not positive thinking. Prayer is not a religious exercise. Prayer is bringing our needs before a living God who can intervene.
Body and soul are connected. Sometimes guilt, hidden sin, or spiritual burdens weigh heavily on physical health.
So when the elders come, they don’t just pray for bodies. They pray for hearts.
The crowd often sees the problem. Jesus sees the person. We often bring God one problem. God sees the entire person attached to that problem.
Healing and forgiveness walk together here—not as accusation, but as mercy.
James is careful not to say that every sickness is caused by sin. Jesus explicitly rejected that idea. Yet James also refuses to separate body and soul as though they have nothing to do with one another. God cares about both.
Prayer for healing is not an isolated event in James. Elijah is about to appear as the great illustration. Why Elijah? Because James wants discouraged believers to remember that powerful prayer is offered by ordinary people.
Elijah was not superhuman. He knew weakness, fear, discouragement, and exhaustion. Yet he prayed earnestly, and God moved.
When you pray, what are you expecting? Have you quietly concluded that God doesn't really do anything anymore? Have disappointments lowered your expectations? Have unanswered prayers convinced you to stop asking?
How many of us have developed a kind of soft unbelief. We still pray because Christians are supposed to pray. But deep down we no longer expect God to intervene.
James confronts us with a simple question: Do you still believe God acts? Do you still believe He heals? Do you still believe He provides? Do you still believe He answers prayer?
On the other hand, have you drifted into a different danger? Do you think prayer is a formula? Do you think the right words, enough faith, enough emotion, or enough certainty can force God's hand?
One danger expects too little from God. The other expects to control God.
James calls us to balance: confident trust in a sovereign God.
- ARE YOU WILLING TO BE KNOWN SO YOU CAN BE HELPED?
James 5:16 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
This verse is not calling for public confession or oversharing. It is calling for safe, prayerful honesty inside the family of God.
James is not calling for public embarrassment. He is calling for personal confession and prayerful concern, because he understands something deeply human: isolation makes pain heavier.
The enemy loves isolation because isolated people become vulnerable people. Discouragement grows in the dark. Shame grows in the dark. Temptation grows in the dark. James calls believers out of hiding and into prayerful relationships.
One of God’s primary remedies for discouragement is a mutual concern for one another.
Prayer works because God is good and God is faithful to Himself.
The focus is not ultimately on the strength of the person praying. The focus is on the God who hears prayer. Effective prayer is powerful because God is powerful.
What are you hiding? What burden are you carrying alone? What struggle have you convinced yourself nobody can know about? What conversation are you avoiding? What secret is keeping you isolated?
How many of us would rather remain stuck than become known? We would rather protect our image than pursue healing. We would rather appear strong than admit weakness. We would rather manage our reputation than seek restoration.
James says healing often begins where hiding ends.
Who really knows you? Not your church attendance. Not your social media profile. Not your public image. Who knows what you're battling? Who knows your fears? Who knows your temptations? Who knows your discouragements?
If nobody knows you, no one can help you.
James is calling believers into the kind of relationships where honesty becomes possible and prayer becomes powerful.
So he invites believers to bring things into the light — wisely, humbly — so prayer can move toward real healing.
This is still part of the same flow. Prayer for the sick. Prayer for forgiveness. Prayer for restoration.
James ends with confidence, not pressure: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Conclusion: If life is heavy — pray. If joy is present — praise. If sickness has come — don’t carry it alone. If guilt is weighing you down, bring it into the light and receive forgiveness. God has made provision for healing — not only through private faith, but through loving community.
And sometimes the bravest prayer is simply: “Lord, I need help.”
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Alright, find James chapter five in your Bibles. James Chapter five.
I'm Trevor Davis, I'm GCC's pastor. I am so glad that on this Lord's Day you came here to be with us. And we are in a series this summer called Living Faith that works to the finish, verse by verse through James chapter five. And I'm excited today because today inside that series I'm starting a sub series, a miniseries on the subject of healing. And next week I'm going to present a message called Reasons God Heals.
And then the week after that I'm going to present the other side of the coin when God doesn't heal. And so I want you to get ready for that. But here's what I need you to do. If you belong to us on this welcome card today, find somewhere like on the back maybe what's your God story and if you have had a physical or an emotional Healing through the ministry of this church. Maybe you call the elders to come and pray for you.
Maybe your small group surrounded you and laid their hands on your shoulder when you were sick and they prayed for you in your small group meeting and God healed you. Or maybe you were healed at one of our prayer lines when we prayed. If you have any of those stories, I'm collecting them for the next couple of weeks. Some of you, you need to write me a little paragraph, a little sermonette, right? Others of you can just say, look, the Lord healed me of a whatever at a prayer line.
I'm counting these things and I'm going to share some of them because it's going to encourage our church. So I'm collecting healing stories that the Lord did for us through our ministry. So if you'll do that, that will help me out a lot. Lot. Also, if you are helping us fight biblical illiteracy in our church, and we are reading some of the same chapters of the Bible together this week starting today is Psalms 8:14.
Psalms 8:14. We'll be reading each day this week together. I think that should get you to Saturday. If not, just go on to 15. Amen.
It's just right there in your Bible waiting for you. All right? Today I want to preach a message to you called when life hurts, who do you call? Call. When life hurts, who do you call?
And our text is James 5, 13, 16. I've been looking forward to this series for six months. I've had it ready since then. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith will save the sick. And the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Do you believe that? The word of the Lord. Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, we bow before you today and we confess that you're the chief shepherd and we are the sheep of your pasture. And we are hungry. So take your word, God, the light of the world, the bread of life, and feed your sheep today. Holy Spirit, keep our attention even if we came in here unprepared. Father, let us see ourselves in your word and our need for you make the Lord Jesus so beautiful and appealing.
Holy Spirit, that we have no other choice except to run to him. This is our prayer in Jesus name and a faith filled church said with gusto. Amen. All right. Life doesn't usually fall apart all at once.
Once, have you noticed it wears you down slowly. You get tired, you get discouraged, your body begins to feel weak, your soul begins to be disturbed or even dulled. And here's what you wonder, is this just how life is? Now, James writes to believers who feel exactly that same way. But instead of giving them a lecture and instead of giving them a formula, he gives us all something better.
James gives us a pathway back to being strong in the Lord again. And that pathway back is through prayer. It's through Christian community. And best of all, it is through grace. What?
We don't deserve God's favor. And I want you to know that in our text that I just read, James is not being dramatic. And neither is he being just kind of religious. He's being practical. In other words, he doesn't shame us in our weaknesses, and we've got many of those.
And he doesn't deny our pain. And we are filled up with that all the time. James, the Lord's brother, simply asks good questions in James 5, 13, 16, and then he gives us some wise guidance. And so I think I've got four verses here, and I think James asks his readers, the church, four questions. So if you're ready, say yes.
Question number one. When life is heavy, where do you turn? First?
The verse in James 5, 13 says, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. By the way, we don't acknowledge them enough.
Can we just take one second here and give God praise for our praise band and singers.
I'm telling you, you people are spoiled with the talent and the gifts that God has given us, we're grateful for them. James starts with the most basic reality of life. It's the ups and the downs, the roller coaster. Isn't it true that some days are heavy and other days are good? Yes.
And James says both of those moments deserve a spiritual response. So if you're suffering, he says, you pray. If you're cheerful, you praise. Let's talk about suffering. The word James uses for suffering describes hardship from any source.
It might be trouble at work, it's very likely tension at home and pressure from finances. But what I want to zero in on today is physical weakness and emotional exhaustion. In other words, anything that causes you to suffer under a heavy load. Now, is James promising that prayer instantly removes all your problems? Yes, or no, he's saying that what prayer does is it keeps all your problems from hollowing you out on the inside.
Sometimes God answers immediately and supernaturally, this we know, but most of the time not. And I want you to notice that James doesn't say, hey, if you want to get well, fix yourself first. Aren't you glad he doesn't say that? Instead, he says, bring your real condition to the living God who hears. In other words, prayer for us must not be a last resort.
Instead, it must be our first reflex. When life is heavy, where do you turn first? So let me ask you some questions. When suffering arises, what's your first instinct?
Is it to immediately call your friend and just download all your garbage in their dumpster?
Is it to vent all your frustrations online so all the world can see it?
Is it to bury yourself in your work?
How about this? Is it to distract yourself with entertainment? Do you just check out? Do you search for relief from professionals? Or is your first instinct to take the need directly to God?
Let me ask another question. When anxiety appears, when you begin to feel anxious, do you rehearse the problem over and over again in your mind or do you pray about it? It? When your child is struggling, when the doctor calls, when your marriage is being strained, when the bills are piling up, what's your first reflex? James is not saying that counselors and doctors and friends and wise advisors are not helpful.
You know I wouldn't tell you that. He is asking whether prayer is your first instinct or your last resort. It's like when you tried everything else. Well, maybe we should pray. You need to flip that list.
It's backwards. Let me ask you the flip side. What about when blessing arrives? What's your first impulse? Is it to celebrate with friends while forgetting the God who gave the blessing?
When the promotion comes at work, when the test results are good, when that prayer is answered, when the family gathers around the table, does anybody still do that? Do you stop long enough to acknowledge the Lord? Or have you been enjoying God's gifts while forgetting the gift giver of the gifts? Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
Is anyone among you cheerful? Let him sing Psalms. James is saying to us, suffering should lead us to prayer, and blessing should lead us to praise. That verse is easy to understand, isn't it? Alright, we just crushed it.
Let's go to question number two.
When you're worn down, are you willing to ask for help? This is James 5:14.
When you're worn down, are you willing to ask for help? Is anyone among you sick, James asks for us, let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. So in verse 14, James moves from general suffering in verse 13 to something more specific and concrete. Sickness.
Here's what I hope happens. I hope in the next three weeks our church imbibes on this drink from the Lord about healing, that our first reaction when we get sick is to pray and ask others to pray for us as we're making that doctor's appointment. It's not either or, it's both. And isn't that true? Except for most of us, it's just, well, what can medical science do for my body?
Well, not as much as Jesus can do. Isn't that true? So listen, he's referring to legitimate. Legitimate physical illness. It's the kind of sickness in this verse that goes all the way to making a person unable to come to the gathering today.
And they need others to come to them. In my Baptist upbringing, we had a word for that. We called them shut ins. Y' all remember that term? That's a terrible term.
Daniel was shut in the lion's den. But sick Christians, they're just at home. Would they be here otherwise? Amen. Right?
Amen. Does that make sense here? The application's clear. When believers are weak, when believers are weary and discouraged, and when they're physically suffering, James expects the physically suffering person to reach out, not retreat in. Is any one of you sick?
Let him call for the elders of the church. It's not. If anybody's sick, the elders are supposed to call them. That's very important. Look, there is no spiritual gift promised of reading your mind, so we can't know.
You have to tell us. This is the same kind of sickness, by the way, that Jesus addressed again and again in the Gospels. And I'm talking about blind eyes. I want you to know something. God's filling me with faith, and he's letting me begin to see with the eyes of Jesus a little bit.
So when I see somebody in a wheelchair, it takes all this in me to not go up and say to them, has anybody prayed for you to get up out of that chair today? Because I think if I ask them, they're gonna say, nobody asked me to do that ever. When I see somebody blind, I go, when's the last time somebody prayed for them with their permission, saying, let's see if Jesus won't just heal this. You know why we don't? Because we don't believe he does that anymore.
And I aim to fix that as your preacher. And I'm not talking about some name it, claim it, nonsense. I'm talking about Bible. This is. You know, nobody thinks the book of James is some controversial letter.
And nobody says, well, the church shouldn't read, can't help it. Well, look, I believe every verse in this letter. Do you? Look, I know you expect me to, but I'm telling you, I expect you to. Amen.
So blind eyes and fevers and paralysis and chronic conditions and yes, even demonic intrusion that left people bound and broken. That's what James is saying we can pray for.
And then he instructs us to call for the elders. What does that mean? Well, he says, look, do that, but not to put on a show and not to embarrass anyone. And certainly not for a spectacle. You call for the elders because you need care.
You need the loving kindness of God embodied in church leaders. So the elders, they come to you as shepherds, under shepherds, but still shepherds, shepherds, representatives of the Lord Jesus, leaders of your local church. And by the way, I think this promise is for local churches. I don't think the elders from some other church is going to come and pray for you. Number one, they don't know you.
You don't know them. They don't have a covenant together, but we do. I am such a local church guy. Did you know that the word church in the New Testament shows up about 103 times and 97 of those 103 are about local churches. I want that proportion of understanding of church to be in my life.
In other words, I don't need the whole church. I need you. And you don't need the whole church, you need us. Does that make sense? So this is local church.
Here you get your elders and they do what Jesus followers have always done. They pray in faith. Look, I pray believing and I pray for people. I don't pray against people.
But if you come to my prayer line and you hear me pray for you, you need to know that I believe what I'm saying. I believe that God can do it. And if you don't have a lot of faith, come borrow some of mine. Amen. I borrowed it from my leaders and my mentors.
Pray in faith under Jesus authority for God to intervene. And the picture is deeply personal. The suffering believer doesn't sit alone in a room carrying the burden by himself. The leaders of God's people come near to that person to pray and to encourage and to remind him that he has not been forgotten. Look, we want to make it very hard for you to hide and get lost in this congregation.
Some of you are going, well, I'm out. I'm like, okay, you need the real Jesus, not the church that feels like the movies where you go and sit and receive and leave.
That was such good preaching and got too.
All right, y'. All, don't make me be daddy today and correct everybody. I'm only kidding. Listen, the leaders of God's people in this church love you. Here's how I know.
I hear them pray out loud for you at every one of our elders meetings.
I hear the small group leaders pray for people in their small group. We haven't asked God to make us a big church. We've asked God to make us a welcoming, loving church. And if that's 20 people or 220, we don't care. We want you to go.
If I have to look anywhere for somebody to love me, I'll stop at my church because I know that they do.
And then the elders do something funny. They anoint with oil. Pastor, is it Crisco? What is this? It's like.
No. Is it olive oil? Thank God. A few years ago, the Baptist bookstores made some of this oil. I always laughed at that.
You go buy your charismatic oil at the Baptist store. It was weird, but it always smelled just a little vile. And we'll just take a little bit on our finger and we'll dab a little bit on your forehead, and that's that. You barely need a tissue. What's the whole oil thing about?
Because the emphasis is not on the oil. The oil is a visible act of care and consecration. It's done in the name of the Lord. Meaning it's done under Jesus authority and not under some human power. The emphasis on Yahweh, Rapha, the Lord who heals.
So the oil represents the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, and he's here to do God's bidding. This is the church at its best. And not fixing people, lifting our people up to God. So I want to ask you a question. What do you do when you're weak?
Do you isolate? Do you disappear? Do you use the Christian F word and tell everybody you're fine when you're clearly not?
Do you convince yourself that asking for help is weakness? How many of us have learned to suffer silently? We don't want to burden anyone. We don't want to appear needy. We don't want anyone thinking that we're struggling.
So here's what we do. We smile and we nod and we say we're fine. Meanwhile, everything's falling apart. That's called lying.
James asked, are you willing to let God's people carry the burden for you? Are you willing to make the phone call, send a text, ask for prayer? Are you willing to let somebody know what's really going on? I got to tell you, pride often sounds spiritual. Let me give you a pride sentence.
It's just between me and God. Said, no Bible verse ever.
James says sometimes God intends to help you through his people.
When you're worn down, are you willing to ask for help? Alright, did you survive that one? Question number three, do you believe God still heals the sick when we pray? Yes or no?
James 5:15. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, heal the sick and the Lord will raise him up.
I'm not a healer, I'm a pray for healer guy. God does the healing. Amen.
And if he's committed sins, we'd rather this last part of this verse go away. And if he's committed sins, he'll be forgiven. At verse 15, James brings it all. Prayer, faith, healing, forgiveness. When James says that the prayer of faith will quote, unquote, save the sick, he is speaking plainly about divine healing.
And we confess as a church that God's power is his ability to make wrong things right.
So let me clarify something. At our church, we don't view prayer as therapy. It's not positive thinking. Neither is it religious ritual. Prayer is bringing our needs before a living God who loves his children and will intervene by grace.
That's the God of the Bible. And I want you to observe something here. James connects body and spirit. Everybody say body and spirit. The only thing in the world that can separate those two are the word of God.
Acts 4:12. So James connects body and spirit. What does that mean? Well, sometimes guilt, sometimes hidden faults and sins in our lives, and even spiritual burdens, whatever they are, weigh heavily on our physical health.
In 1st Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul says some of the Corinthians kept dying because of their sins at the Lord's table. Here's the part that the Evangelical church in America has rejected and that is that it's impossible for your body to be sick because of something you did. Well, don't read your Bible, it will contradict you. And so James connects bottom and spirit. And he says sometimes your body's not working because God is using that to get your attention.
He's like a screaming banshee to you. If you get your heart right, he'll make your body right. It's not 100% of the time, but it is some of the time. The scriptures connect. Well, let me say it this way.
So when the elders come, they don't just pray for bodies, they pray for hearts. I want to pray for you about healing, and I want to pray for you about cleansing.
Healing and forgiveness walk together here. Now, let me. I added this to my notes last night. I think it's important. Some people ask, does God still heal today?
We should always reply with, only if he still forgives sins.
Because the Scriptures connect healing and forgiveness in several memorable places, most notably in Mark, chapter two, the paralyzed man's four friends. I didn't know this. We sang that song, tear off the Roof, the King's in the House. That's a song about this text. Most notably, when the paralyzed man's four friends dug through a guy's roof, damaging his homeowner's insurance, and lowers him through the roof into the house where Jesus is teaching.
Do you remember the story? The first thing that Jesus says to that paralyzed man with a hushed crowd and all eyes on him, was, son, your sins are forgiven. The problem with that is we don't think that's exciting. We want to see the paralyzed guy get up. But Jesus said, it's better for you to cut off your hand or gouge out your eyes or cut off your leg and enter into heaven maimed than to go to hell with your body intact.
In other words, your forgiveness of sins and being made right with God is better than your health. It's first, but there's a second in the list. Jesus followed that with an important lesson. He says, but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. I say to you, arise.
Take up your bed. And Jesus says, go to your house.
And the guy did. Look, I want forgiveness and healing. And if I gotta pick one, I pick forgiveness of my sins. I wanna be right with God and with him with my new body in the new heavens and the new earth. But I don't have to pick.
Nobody asked, does God still forgive sins today? We know he does. Then why do we ask, does he still heal today? Because In Mark chapter 2, Jesus tied those two realities together. Hebrews 13:8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Malachi, Chapter three says, I, the Lord do not change. Forgiveness. Forgiveness and healing are both gifts of grace from the same Savior.
We still celebrate one every week. We celebrated the forgiveness of sins at this table. My question is, why would we Assume that he stopped doing the other. I'm still celebrating him healing people. And I'm expecting to see it mainly in my small group all the time.
So that should make you want to be in my small group. Amen. Right? Because if you're in Theresa's small group, she's going to check out how many times you've been to church. I'm going to sic her on all of you people.
That's awesome. So good. Now I've got to tell you something. James is careful not to say that every sickness is caused by sin. We know this is true, right?
John, chapter nine. There's a man born blind. And they asked. The disciples asked, hey, Master, who sinned? This guy or his parents, that he was born blind?
And Jesus said, neither of them. He said this happened so that the work, the grace of God could be displayed in his life. And then Jesus healed him.
James also refuses to separate body and spirit, as though they have nothing to do with one another. Listen to me. God cares about both your spirit and your body.
So I want to ask some questions of you today. When you pray, what are you expecting?
Have you quietly concluded that God doesn't really do anything anymore? That the Bible's like a museum book? You read about it and look at the past, but it's not the present? Have disappointments lowered your expectations?
Have unanswered prayers convinced you to stop asking?
How many of us have developed a kind of soft unbelief? We still pray because Christians are supposed to, but deep down, we no longer expect God to do any acting or moving on our behalf.
There's the other side of the ditch. The other side of the road is a ditch on the other side of the road. How many of you have drifted into this danger? Do you think prayer is a formula? Do you think the right words in the right order, with psychological certainty and enough emotion can force God's hand?
That's also an error.
One danger expects too little from God. The other danger expects too control God. James calls us to a biblical balance that is confident, trust in a sovereign God and let that sovereign God ultimately decide.
Do you believe God still heals the sick when we pray now? It's easy to say yes to me when I'm preaching. If you want to prove it, you should be at the prayer lines when you're sick. If you want to prove that you still believe that God heals. When you're at home and you're down, you call for the elders.
You call your small group leader. You ask your small group to pray. If you really believe it, you'll do it.
Alright, question number four. Finally today, are you willing to be known so that you can be helped?
I saved the worst for last.
And by worst I mean the thing that we all need the most but our pride sets aside. Here's James 5:16. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effect effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. It pains me to say this, but Roman Catholics confess their sins out loud more than the born again do.
You say? Well they go behind a booth to do it. I like the way they do it better than the way you don't do it. Does that make sense? Let me tell you you there is very little evidence in your New Testament when the Bible says confess your sins, there's hardly any instances where that means confess your sins in prayer to God.
Now I'm not telling you not to do that. I'm just telling you that the overwhelming majority of the times that your Bible says confess your sins, it means out loud to somebody else. Now you can thank God, it hardly ever means stand at the microphone and tell all of us confess your trespasses one to another, pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. This verse is not calling for some public, very public from the stage confession.
And it's also not calling for oversharing. It's calling for safe prayerful honesty. Listen to to me, inside the family of God. This is a local church, small group, people that you trust in your covenant family thing. James is not setting us up for public embarrassment.
Aren't you glad he's calling for personal confession alongside prayerful concern? Because James understands something deeply human. Don't miss this. Isolation makes pain heavier.
The enemy. Satan loves isolation because isolated people become vulnerable people. And let me tell you, discouragement grows in the dark. Shame grows in the dark. Temptation grow in the dark.
James calls in verse 16 he calls believers out of hiding and into prayerful trusting relationships with believers. What if I told you that one of God's primary remedies for discouragement is our mutual concern for one another. And if you're discouraged all the time, it's because you haven't gone to the spiritual gas station, your local church for a fill up. What if our church got addicted to saying encouraging things to everybody in the hallways?
Healing comes from that. So prayer works because God is good and God is faithful to himself. So he says if you ask Me. I'll do it. I'm going to ask some very difficult questions of you right now.
Just say a quick prayer. Say holy Spirit, come sit down beside me and let me hear this.
What are you hiding?
What burden are you carrying alone? What struggle have you convinced yourself nobody can ever know about?
What conversation are you avoiding? What secret secret are you keeping isolated? I mean, how many of us would rather remain stuck than be known? Would we rather protect our image than pursue healing? Would we rather appear strong rather than admit weakness?
Would we rather manage our reputation than seek to be respectful, restored?
James says healing often begins where hiding ends.
So who really knows you?
Not your church affiliation and not your social media profile and not the airbrushed public image you get. Who knows what you're battling?
Who knows your fears?
Who knows what tempts you, who knows your discouragements. Because, listen, if nobody knows you, no one can help you.
So James invites believers to bring things into the light, to do so wisely and to do so humbly, but to do it so that prayer can move us toward real healing. I like how James ends the text of today. He ends it with confidence, not pressure. He's confident the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And if that's true, what about the effective fervent prayers of a hundred righteous ministers, women?
So in conclusion today, if life is heavy, pray. If joy is present, then praise. If sickness has come, don't carry it alone. If guilt is weighing you down, bring it into the light to receive forgiveness.
My brothers and my sisters, God has provided for your healing not only through private faith, but through loving Christian community. And let me tell you, let me end with this. Sometimes the bravest prayer is simply this. Lord, I need help. Do you receive that word today?
It's bow for prayer. God, thank you for the scriptures and thank you for the healings that are on death here in our church.
Father, don't let the enemy steal the seed that's been planted before we leave today in Jesus name, amen.
Well, good morning. My name is Don McKenzie. I'm a part of the membership team and this morning we're going to baptize someone and then also welcome in a another person. We're going to adopt one and baptize the other. So if you would help me welcome to the stage Dustin and Eden Roberts.
We'll start with you. Dustin, this is Dustin. You step on up here with me if you want would. All right. This is Dustin Roberts.
And Dustin, when we met that you shared that in your spiritual Journeys that you've been through a lot. And you actually were baptized when you were younger, around age 9. But then you were also baptized when you were around 20, kind of recommitting your life to Christ. And I think most of us recognize that life has roller coaster effects. And what I think is so great is when you're standing here, the roller coaster has taken you up and you're going, I'm experiencing God's blessing.
I'm making spiritual progress. I'm here wanting to say in front of these people, I would like to become a part of this church family because. Because I'm already a Christian. I've already been baptized. Dustin is wanting to know if we will joyfully receive him into our fellowship.
And so, Dustin, I wanna ask you, in the presence of these members, is your confession that you're trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Lord and Savior? Yes, sir. Well, based on that, we recommend Dustin to our fellowship. And members of gcc, if you would like to welcome Dustin into our fellowship, would you raise your hand and say amen?
Right. You know what? That makes you, Dustin, the newest member. I have trained you well. You are now the newest member of Great Commission Church.
Now, I just wonder if we have any family members of yours and those that might be here if you're here to stand, Dustin, received into our fellowship. And Eden is going to be baptized. Raise your hand if you're here as guest. Okay. Hey, welcome.
We are so glad that you're here. Thank you so much. Now, Dustin, you're a member here, so step back now. Here's Eden. Okay.
Now, Eden, the Lord had begun having you to hear the gospel through friends, inviting you to church. And you have heard the gospel, but yet you have not been baptized in obedience to the gospel. And you want to do that, right? Yes. And so I want to ask you, Eden, is it your testimony that you also are trusting only in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
Yes, I am. Well, based on that, we're going to baptize you. And when you come up out of the water, guess what? You'll be the newest member. The newest member of Great Commission Church.
But the glory is that your baptism is confessing that you believe that when Jesus died for your sins, that he had you on his heart and that you were with him. And when he conquered death and rose from the dead, he brought you up also and gives you a new life, one that wants to love him and follow him. So with great joy, we're going to baptize Eden. All right. Step back up here.
We're going to pray for both of you guys and then we'll step over here and baptize Eden. Okay? Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace in pouring out your favor upon the Roberts. God, may we be a church that helps them grow and develop, helps them to be able to love their fellow believers and us love them. We thank you so much, Jesus, for dying for sinners like us.
And we pray these things in your name. Amen. All right, let's step right over here. And Eden, your mom, Lindsay Hanigan is going to assist from the floor. She is excited about that.
Have your hand. Okay. Step right there and step down.
All right. Best shot's right over there, Dustin. All right.
All right. He can look at me. Okay. What a joy it is, is to be a part of assisting in your obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ when he commanded us to baptize people in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And we now do that for you.
All right.
I don't know why they make me come back over here and do this. Trevor, you could have jumped up here and done this. Are you complaining in front of everybody? I know it's bad, isn't it? But I have confessed sin in front of everyone as an example this morning.
And that he wants them to be here with us. And the growth goes both ways. They grow, we grow. We're going to end our service by first asking our prayer ministry teams to come forward. If you're on one of our prayer ministry teams, go ahead and come on up here.
And as they're coming up here, I'm going to ask the rest of you to stand up, if you would. And while you're standing, I want to say, may God have mercy on our souls in having the strength to apply the message that we heard this morning. Don't run from the Lord, Run to the Lord and do it in the form of letting others pray for you.
So thank you for being here this morning. And we are just dismissed. Come and receive prayer.
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Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church for a welcoming and uplifting worship experience. If you’ve been searching for a church near you, you’ll discover a warm, authentic church family ready to help you grow in faith.
We are a family-friendly, non-denominational Christian church in Olive Branch, serving individuals and families throughout DeSoto County and the greater Mid-South. People looking for Christian churches in Olive Branch often discover a vibrant community where faith comes alive and lives are transformed through the Gospel.
Whether you’re new to faith or have followed Christ for years, you’ll find welcoming Sunday services, practical Bible teaching, and a place to belong. We are more than a congregation — we are a church family united by a mission to follow Jesus and live out the Great Commission.
A Place for the Whole Family
Families searching for a church with strong children’s programs love our engaging Kids Ministry and safe, caring environments. Students can connect through our Youth Ministry, and adults of every stage can find community through groups, prayer, and discipleship opportunities. As a multi-generational church, we love seeing every age grow in faith together.
Meaningful Worship
Experience contemporary worship with modern Christian music, heartfelt prayer, and Gospel-centered messages designed to help you encounter God personally. If you’re looking for vibrant worship near Memphis, you’ll find a place that feels both authentic and inspiring.
Grow in Your Faith
We offer Bible studies, small groups, and discipleship opportunities that help you understand and apply God’s Word to everyday life. If you’re looking for a place to grow spiritually, you’ll find support and encouragement here.
Connected to Our Community
We are passionate about serving our neighbors through outreach and local partnerships, making a positive impact in Olive Branch and beyond.
Conveniently located in Olive Branch, we serve families from surrounding communities, including Southaven, Germantown, Collierville, Lewisburg, and Byhalia.
You’re Invited
If you’re looking for a church family, meaningful community, and Gospel-centered worship, we would love to welcome you.
Join us this Sunday at Great Commission Church — where faith, love, and community come together and lives are changed by Jesus.
