Jeremy Hoover

When we struggle with who to serve and who we should love, we are not loving our neighbors as Jesus told us to (Luke 10:25-37).

Part of transformation--whether with God or with others--deals with overcoming our prejudices and sacrificing ourselves for others. Jesus taught the hypocritical "expert" that very thing when he taught that a Samaritan, an enemy of the Jews, was a true neighbor to a Jew who was beaten up, surpassing a priest and a Levite who were more concerned with their "ritual purity" than with helping one in need.

Our neighbors are those in need. We love them, and transform our relationships with them, when we serve them by using the time and resources God has given us.

This is a recap of my sermon from Sunday. The audio file failed, so I presented the sermon material in a shorter, more casual format.

To grow spiritually, we need to regularly engage in four different areas of relationship: with God, with believers, with neighbors, and with strangers. In this sermon, I describe these four areas by focusing on a core thought, a key scripture, a leading action, and several examples of each.

My personal view is that we should always be focused in our relationship with God and at least one other significant relationship in one of the other three areas. We can supplement this with ongoing activity in the other two relationship areas.

By taking action and cooperating with God (Philippians 2:12-13), we'll grow spiritually and be transformed (Romans 12:1-2).

James teaches us that we are required to live out our faith. Faith without works, after all, is dead.

In this sermon, I look at James 2:1-13 to learn how loving the poor as our neighbor and avoiding favoritism is what God looks for in one who keeps God's royal law by faith.