Wes McAdams: After a sermon is over, have you ever wanted to make a comment, ask a question, or listen to the preacher say more about a particular idea? If so, this podcast is for you. My name is Wes McAdams, and I'll be sitting down with one of my fellow McDermott Road ministers to discuss comments, questions, and thoughts that have come up after the sermon is over. Welcome to P.S., the Post-Sermon Podcast.
Barrett: That's right, Wes. Welcome back to the post sermon podcast. See, I remembered we had a bumper video this time around. my name's Barrett. I'm one of the ministers at the McDermott Road Church of Christ, joined as always by the voice you've already heard. Wes McAdams, our preaching minister. How are you, Wes?
Wes McAdams: I'm great, Barrett. How are you?
Barrett: I'm doing really well, man. Doing well. It's you know, Monday always follows Sunday. And so I feel like we're coming off of another busy one, but a great one. I thought you did an excellent job yesterday.
Wes McAdams: Thanks.
Barrett: Yeah. how did you feel like it went it got out of your hands and
Wes McAdams: Well, you already know because I've already told you, but yeah, I did not feel like first service went really well, which was ironic. And and I've I I hate to to share this, but this is what this podcast is all about behind the scenes and kind of breaking things down. But yeah,
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: I felt amazing before I got in the pulpit. I was just kind of overwhelmed. We've been talking a lot about the spirit, and I really felt like I was In the spirit and the spirit was present in me. And I was just excited to be there and excited to to be with the people and and just feeling
Barrett: That's awesome.
Wes McAdams: a bunch of love for everybody. And and I just kind of got overwhelmed by all of that. And I kind of thought, well, maybe this is gonna help me preach really well. And and then I got in the pulpit. I felt like I bombed immediately, like I was struggling to remember what I was gonna talk about. And then I forgot to advance my slide. And but it was a a reminder afterwards when I sat down. You know, that that my performance or the delivery is not the most important thing. What's important is that the truth is preached. And so why would we expect why would we expect that if the Spirit is empowering and helping us to do his will, why would we expect that that means a flawless delivery? It doesn't
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: necessarily mean a flawless delivery. It means that the truth is proclaimed and and I I hope that that that happened. But sometimes I get caught up in focused on my delivery and and kinda get you know,
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: feel bad about that. But but yeah, I I think that second service probably went a little bit better as far as that goes than first service, but hopefully the the truth was preached in both.
Barrett: Yeah. absolutely, I think so. Do you do you feel like there were any big differences in first and second, or what was the the change like between first and
Wes McAdams: Yeah, it was it was mostly it was mostly tightening up on on my my delivery mostly. But but there was one thing that when I ended the the sermon, I ended with a statement. Let's see if I can pull it up here. And I I was really this week was a a weird week. We had a funeral on Saturday, we had a funeral on Wednesday, there so there were multiple funerals. I was gone Monday and Tuesday. We went to to tour
Barrett: Right. We got it.
Wes McAdams: Harding and I didn't really get to work on my sermon until Wednesday. Usually my sermon is written mostly by by the end of the day Tuesday. So the fact that I didn't even get to start on it until Wednesday really meant that I was behind. And then we also had a funeral that same day. And I really struggled with this last statement of the sermon. I ended up it ended up being no words on earth can match the power of a humble, merciful prayer of faith. But I really th that wasn't what I had in my notes. That was what was on the screen. But in my notes, I had humble and patient and fervent and faithful. Because I was really struggling with what sort of adjectives to add to that because I think all of those are present in James, but I I wanted it to be a memorable way of phrasing it at the end, but apparently I didn't tell myself that I had changed the slide, but I hadn't changed my notes. So I was a little bit surprised when I got to the last slide in first service and I thought, that's not exactly what I had in my notes, but it's all true. It's all it's all important for us to cover and and think about, but yeah, I really struggled to kind of put that into one final statement, not just to sum up this sermon and in this particular text, but to kind of put a bow on everything we've been talking about.
Barrett: Right. Yeah, this was the the last sermon in our Talk Is Cheap series that you've been doing an excellent job with, but we skipped the podcast last week since you were out of town. And so this week I wanna kind of go back and at least I know we got two emails from last week that we're gonna cover in today's podcast, which was talking about trouble with a big mouth. and kind of get into some of those and then we'll jump ahead to yesterday's sermon words that hurt and words that heal and so that's where we're headed with this this week's podcast but let's start with a some comments and a question from our brother Ryan Travis. He wrote this Grieve, mourn and wail Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. James four nine. Hello, brothers. In your lesson today we went over James chapter four, and we have read it a few times myself. It all makes pretty clear sense, but in verse nine, while it why it tells us to change our joy to gloom. I'm just curious your thoughts on this or if you would have any more insight a reason why he asks them, the audience to do this. In my mind I am to be happy and joyous of Christ and his love, mercy, and grace, and shine my light of the love and and that he shows me into the world. So why would it be talking about gloom and grief? I think it mentions it a few other times in the Bible as well. Thanks for everything. Love ya. Ryan, we love you too. Great question and something that Wes and I really enjoy talking about.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, and and really this this question really ties together these two sermons here at the end of James, because in chapter five he he uses similar type of language. He says this is in verse one, come now, you you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, your garments are mothied, and your gold and silver have corroded, their corrosion will be evidence against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. And and I think that the these two ideas are tied together because The the prophets, including James here, they have a tendency to tell God's people, be miserable, mourn and weep when they they've been too comfortable, when they have gotten comfortable in the the luxuries of this world and and too reliant on these things. And so he's exactly right. Ryan is exactly right, that we do need to be joyful in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord. The problem comes when we're rejoicing in the world and not in the Lord. It's not just joy. Joy isn't necessarily good or bad. It is what are you rejoicing in? What are you trusting in? Where is your hope founded? And and that's everything that James is talking about is stop becoming friends of the world and getting your comfort and your hope from the world because all of these things are going to pass away. And and when you are happy because things are going well, when you are happy because you you're healthy and you're wealthy and and people respect you. You need to to humble yourself. You need to be miserable. You need to weep and mourn because that that sort of comfort, that sort of joy is untenable. It's unsustainable. It will collapse. And so the the happiest person is the person who recognizes their total dependence on God and that they are rejoicing not in the stuff that they have, not in their The blessings, as we often call it, the blessings of this world, but that they are with God, that they have fellowship with God. That's where their joy is found, in spite of the fact that they don't have these earthly treasures. In fact, James would say that those who are poor, they should rejoice in their poverty. And those who are rich, those who are rich should rejoice in their in their hum humiliation, in their humility, that it's actually the opposite of what it appears from the world's perspective. And so yes, we should rejoice, we should be joyful, but it our joy should be in the Lord and not in the earthly comforts that we have.
Barrett: I I had two thoughts come to mind. Like I remember my probably my freshman year of college, the older members asking, you know, younger members trying to get into a club, you know, what are you passionate about? And I remember them being frustrated by other people and I don't remember what I said, but I can tell you it wasn't football or basketball. And they were frustrated with, you know, some incoming college freshmen being asked, Hey, what are you passionate about? What you want to do with your life? What are you what excites you? What brings up a passion in your life? What stirs you up? And there would, you know, be some guys that'd be like, baseball, you know. And that was frustrating for these older guys. And I remember them voicing that frustration and that being really challenging for me to be like, well, what am I passionate? And I think that's kind of what Ryan is getting at here of like where does the joy come from? Where does the grieving come from? That's important. It's important to think about what stirs up joy and what causes us to grieve. Like the sources of those things is really important. And to that point, that seems like a very elementary thought to me like that's pretty simple of like yeah it's you know the source of those things not saying hey you can't be joyful anymore and you mentioned yesterday and I'm getting ahead of ourselves but you mentioned yesterday that you know James is kind of dogged for being like not a very deep book or kind of a I I remember the church that I grew up at one of the churches I was at when I was in elementary school they were like hey James is a great place to start for young Christians this is a really straightforward Ford simple book and reading it as like a fifth grader, being like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I I get it. You know, it's it makes sense. But especially getting older and this series that you've been taking us through and and talking about it from the angles that we've taken, like what a difficult teaching though. What an incredibly, you
Wes McAdams: Yeah.
Barrett: know deep and difficult, like yeah, it's straightforward, but that doesn't make it any easier or any easier to preach or to live out. And so I think I I love it. I love the book because it is, you know, practical and straightforward and maybe seemingly, you know, elementary, but very deep in a lot of different areas of like, well that changes how I view everything about how I speak and about how I think about these things. So anyway.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, and to and to that point, th there is something to be said for when you're just coasting along and acting like everything is okay, that it's that everything is easy and good, then that's when you need to be told, hey, wake up. And if you're if you are happily naive about your own sin or the sin around you, like there this is a real problem. And so yes, it is good to be happy and joyful, but not not wi if that means that we're not being sober-minded. And and to your point, James is a very hard book. Like he covers some really convicting stuff. And so if you finish this book and you're wow, that was pretty easy, that was good, you know, and you just toss it aside like, that was that was no big deal. And it's like, no, no, no, you didn't really read it because he's stepping on your toes. And so if you if you don't feel some pain from what he's saying, then you probably need to listen again. He knows from the very beginning this is gonna make some people mad, which is why he tells them, be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry. Because this could change your life if you're really willing to listen. But if you're just kind of going through it, this happy go lucky, you know, not really considering what's being said, you need to to weep and mourn because what is being said is, hey, there's some serious things that need to be dealt with here.
Barrett: Well, without getting into yesterday's sermon yet, I mean the addressing wealthy people, it's like most of us listening to this podcast fall into an extremely wealthy category. we've put ourselves maybe in more uncomfortable situations by different choices and that sort of thing, but we're a very wealthy audience in North Texas for the most part, and not that we don't have struggles here and there, but yeah Where we are storing up treasure, right? What what emphasis we're placing on treasures from place I mean, at one of the funerals on Saturday or the funeral on Saturday this past week, when we sang As the Deer, that I want you more than gold or silver and as I was singing it, I was like, I don't know if that's true for me recently. You know, I think there has I've been
Wes McAdams: Mm. Wow, yeah.
Barrett: in a season of Gold and silver giving him a pretty good run for his money, you know. There's
Wes McAdams: Hm.
Barrett: definitely seasons of life where that's been the case. And so that was an emotional time. And I think James addresses a lot of that. And that's tough teaching for sure. let's get into this next comment and question. and I will say to the listener and the watching audience on YouTube, etc., that we've got some long Thoughts and questions and comments. So stick with me as we read through these. But this one's an anonymous one. I always enjoy your lessons. I'm an online participant. My question is, can you give us some practical application to the lesson yesterday? I wholeheartedly agree with your message. We should not be concerned with the tomorrows and let God do the doing. I am, however, surrounded by people who just received a life-changing diagnosis, they've lost jobs, they've received news that their house is going to be foreclosed. Of course, I don't think you were. saying just don't do anything, God will take care of it for you. So can you give us some practical application on how we can not become like Sarah and take matters into our own hands while at the same time not losing our house, ability to feed our family, or our life waiting for God to show up while we are stationary. Thanks for taking my question.
Wes McAdams: Yeah. Yeah, that's a great it's a great question. It it really could, if you're not careful, when we talk about trusting in God and letting God do the work for us, it could seem like we are suggesting that we should be passive. But that's really the beauty of everything James has to say. Like, I mean, he has a lot to say about not just talking, but doing, like actually being doers of the word. Where we go wrong. Is when we do the wrong thing. Obviously, I mean, again, that that sounds very basic, but but sometimes we think that it is so incumbent upon me to fix this situation that I'm willing to do anything in order to fix it. And that's when it becomes a problem. Because there are things that I should not do, including alliances that I should not make, friendships that I should not make in order to fix this situation. But we tend to believe. Like, I've I've got to do everything within my power to do when really that's sometimes a compromise of our faith. And I think that's exactly what James is telling them not to do. Like, don't do things, you know, don't make plans as if you are actually in control of what does and what doesn't happen, and don't make friendships with the world in order to make your plans come true. Sometimes you have to simply do. Do what is good and what is right and what is true and what is noble. You have to do what God wants you to do. This is our theme this year is fearless and faithful. Like do the right thing, even when you think, yeah, but that's not gonna work. It's not gonna work to do the right thing. I I know I I should do this thing, but this thing over here seems more practical. This seems more pragmatic. It seems more pragmatic for me to tell a little white lie. For me to, you know, kind of bend the truth a little bit, for me to make friends with this group in in order to achieve my goals, the end does not justify the means. The means is everything. And so our faithfulness is about doing what the Lord tells us to do, even when it doesn't make sense. And so in order to feed my family, I will work hard, I will serve, I will love, I will help. I will not steal. I will not kill. I will not take something that doesn't belong to me. Even if that seems practical, even if it seems pragmatic, we we cannot do what is wrong in order to achieve what it whatever it is that we think that we need to achieve. But if we if we get into that area where we think, well, you know, this is just the way the world works, whatever that is, you know, whether that's lying or or or stealing or or cheating or killing or whatever it is, or or just Being mean or cruel or whatever. I mean, I could think of a million different scenarios where we we sort of excuse ourselves by just saying, well, that's the way the world works, or if I didn't do this, I know I probably shouldn't do this, but if I didn't do this, then my my family's gonna go hungry. And it's like, well, do we trust the Lord? Again, that doesn't mean sit around and just sing kumbaya, but it means doing what Jesus calls us to do. It it does mean. Probably working a job. It means you know getting up, making plans. But in everything that we do, and all the plans that we make and all the work that we do, we say, if it's the Lord's will, and I'm trusting in him. And again, to James's whole point in this book is our trust in God is not just about the things that we say, but the things that we do. And do we trust him? That that isn't just seen in do we show up for church on Sunday, but it means. How do we conduct ourselves at work on Monday? Like, do we live as a follower of Jesus on Monday, even when living as a follower of Jesus in the workplace, or living as a follower of Jesus in our neighborhood, or living as a follower of Jesus at school might end up having severe consequences for us, but we're gonna do that anyway. We're gonna love our enemy anyway, we're gonna be kind anyway, we're gonna tell the truth anyway. Knowing that God is going to take care of us and we don't need to do things the world's way in order to have all the things that God wants us to have.
Barrett: Thank you. That was fantastic. I'm gonna keep us on schedule and keep moving right along.
Wes McAdams: Yes.
Barrett: and this is a great time to say if you have questions or comments about an episode of the podcast, you can send those in as well and have Matt Mead get to them the week after I do it, you know? so if you have questions or complaints about the podcast, email Matt. This next question, we're getting into yesterday's sermon, and so I think we're we're catching up here. starts with hi there, which I love that, just addressing us with hi there. hi back. referring to James five sixteen. Should we be discerning about who we confess our sins to? Is there anyone in our lives that we probably shouldn't be so vulnerable with? It's a great question.
Wes McAdams: I love this question so much. I love it so much. And the answer is yes. Yes. There are people that you should not be that vulnerable with. And I would say, look for people who are filled with the spirit. And that means very clearly
Barrett: Yeah. That's great.
Wes McAdams: what Paul would say is people who are filled with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness. And goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Like that's what it looks like for somebody to be spirit-filled. It's not somebody who talks a good game, it's somebody who is actually manifesting the fruit of the spirit. James would say it's somebody who has wisdom from above that's pure and peaceable and gentle and open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits. Like look for people like that. And when there are people like that in your life, those are the kinds of people that you can open up to, and they're not going to you know, wag their finger at you. They're not going to condemn you. They're not going to to be harsh with you. They're going to be kind. They're going to be gentle because the spirit is manifesting that sort of fruit in their life. They they have wisdom from above. We all have people in our life that are critical and and mean spirited. And if we confess our sins to them, or people that are gossips and they're going to talk about us behind our back. They're not, they're not faithful, not just to the Lord, but they're not faithful to us. Those are not the kinds of people to be vulnerable with and to to confess your sins to. Not to say that they don't have the spirit, but maybe maybe they haven't been walking by the spirit. They're not mature in their spiritual journey. But find people who are mature, people that in their life you can see the spirit working, you can see wisdom from above. Those are the kind of people to confess your sins to and ask them to be praying for you.
Barrett: And I think if you had any concern about is this the right person to share with or you know I don't know of anybody. Can you I think it's it's worth asking God to use the Spirit to put those people on your path and and highlight
Wes McAdams: Yeah.
Barrett: those people and I know he will. but Lord highlight the people that are, you know, being filled with the Spirit and put them in my path and allow the conversation, God, to go there in a supernatural, spiritual way that I know, this is a person that is worth confessing to and that this is gonna be beneficial for me and for this person. brother or sister for us to share together. I think that is another great place to start. I'm gonna read two comments that were just really positive comments and we'll And on well, then we'll have one more question from this week and then maybe we can get into some more kind of the content of yesterday's sermon. But the first comment was from my wife who found out that I get the emails when they are sent in to the podcast yesterday sitting next to me. So she was like, I'm so embarrassed. I didn't know you were also on the email chain. I think she thought she was messaging Wes during the sermon privately, which is very funny to think about too. But Jenna Bingham says, I wanted to say this is such an empowering message. I'm so grateful for the reminder that I am part of a royal priesthood and that my prayers matter. Thank you for sharing this with our community. And that was something Jenna and I went home talking about of like we have to use prayer more in less of a asking way and less of a worship way even maybe not less than but or less of but in addition to worshiping and asking but also using them as a powerful tool for for healing and for growth and that sort of thing. So yes, thank you Wes for sharing that yesterday.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, and and and I sure appreciate Jenna for for saying that. And I'm I'm glad that came across. And again, sometimes I get caught up in my own in my own head about the delivery. And so it's it's a good reminder when somebody says something like that that, good, the the point that I was trying to make did come across. We are empowered. We're empowered by the presence of God in our life to serve as priests, to serve as a royal priesthood. And that when we listen to the confession of someone, we don't have to have special title. We don't have to have it We don't have to have a special role. Like being a disciple of Jesus is a special role. And you are a priest. And when you pray for somebody and the Lord heals them and the Lord, you know, forgives their sins, you get to be a
Barrett: It's been yeah.
Wes McAdams: participant. That's amazing. A participant in their forgiveness, a participant in bringing them back to the truth, in a a participant in their healing. That's amazing that God wants us to play a part in that in that process. It's amazing.
Barrett: I think that's one of the biggest lessons that I've learned in ministry from you is, you know, I I think as a young youth minister working here, you know, a while ago now, but I was very like task-oriented and action-oriented, and I need to have the right words and we need to have a plan of attack for if someone has a question or someone has a concern, or if someone does confess their sins, well, this is what they're looking for. They want me to outline a plan and a response. response and they need all these things. And that's not what we need to do. And it's also not what God's asking us to do. He's saying, take it to me, let's pray. And that's something that you taught me very early on of like, you know, I would be like, hey, I need help in this situation. And you would come in and go, let's pray. Let's pray about it. All right, we'll see ya, you know, and it's like that is all we can do, that's all we're asked to do is to pray about it and pray for deliverance and forgiveness and for the spirit to show up in a big way. And so, great lessons learned. Here is an another
Wes McAdams: Well I think I think a lot of people not to sorry to interrupt here. I think a lot of people think that we have to be other people's rock. And I tell people all the time, you don't have to be their rock. Like they
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: have a rock and his name is Jesus. All you have
Barrett: So good.
Wes McAdams: to do is point people to the rock. That that's our job.
Barrett: I I'm gonna write that down. now this next one is an anonymous comment, but again some more positive feedback from yesterday and I guess this is like a commercial like hyping up yesterday's sermon, like you should go back and listen to it if you haven't. But it seems like the book of James is so negative throughout, but I'm glad in this last section of chapter five, verses thirteen through twenty, he offers encouragement to his audience about the prayer of faith, a message of hope. This sermon series was very intense and I would pause pause and agree with this comment that again I think getting into the book of James, I, Barrett, you know, had like, yeah, we'll see how it goes, probably about not cussin' or whatever, you know. And then it turns into much, much more than that. and it was a very intense series. back to the comment, I'm glad that James ends on a positive note. And I think that was on purpose for sure.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, I agree. It it it is intense and I think that's that's kind of the whole point. And sometimes sometimes we need a gentle reminder and sometimes we need to be shaken. And James is a book that will shake you to your core if you really consider what he has to say.
Barrett: This next question is from Gay Oliver, and she wrote in and said, Mike and I have an acquaintance who is Jewish and on her deathbed. We know her through close friends of ours. I don't believe anyone has tried to visit with her about Jesus being the Messiah. We found out at a mutual gathering she does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. At what point do you know God intends you to participate in bringing that knowledge to her and how to go about doing it? Mike asks our close friends for the husband's. phone number, who Mike doesn't know closely, but the husband is Catholic and believes everyone's going to heaven. We have been praying for her for many months now. She's on hospice for the last two months. Family and friends have come to visit and say goodbye. Her daughter is arriving soon. So do we continue to pray or try to be more forceful in trying to speak with her or with her husband?
Wes McAdams: Hmm. This is such a good question and and so heartbreaking to it is heartbreaking to to see people at the end of their life who have chosen or or not had the opportunity to hear about Jesus and or have chosen not to respond to the good news that he is the Messiah. And and this is where we come up against our own limitations, our own human limitations. And it's like what we said before one of the most powerful things that you can do is pray. And that's what you've been doing. And and I would encourage you keep doing that. Keep praying for her and pray specifically for opportunities. And and it's not wrong to offer to say, Hey, this is this is what I would like to have the opportunity to do. I'd like to have the opportunity to share the good news with this person. but you may not have the opportunity to do that. And and it sounds like this is a couple that they're not super, super close with or may not have the opportunity to do. And there can be a lot of guilt attached to that. And I would say you can't bear that guilt. There are there are billions of people in the world. And I I wish so much that we could reach them all with the gospel. Some are are willing to hear, but just have never had the opportunity. We've never had the opportunity to connect with them. We need to be praying that God opens those doors. And some have had the opportunity and just aren't interested. Nobody becomes a disciple of Jesus by compulsion. You can't force somebody to to to believe, you can't even force yourself into that conversation. And so to answer the specific question of should we be more forceful, I would say no. Like we should never enter into an evangelistic conversation forcefully. I I don't know if that's a an always hard and fast rule, but I would say we should never enter into an evangelistic conversation forcefully. We can't kick the door open. We have to be invited in. And even Jesus lived his life this way. Jesus didn't force himself on anyone. There were thousands and thousands of people in his vicinity, probably that he even came into contact with, that he didn't make into disciples. And he had to be okay with that. And so we also have to be okay with that. We have to be okay with the fact that we are not going to reach everyone. Sometimes all we can do is pray, sometimes all we can do is plant, sometimes all we can do is water. The growth is up to the Lord. And so we can do what we can do. And we do get to be a part of this process. We get to be part of saving people's souls, which is amazing to even say out loud. And you are playing a role in that. You are praying for her and keep praying for her and pray for opportunities. Maybe you will have the opportunity to plant a seed, and maybe you won't. Maybe other people have already planted a seed, and maybe you'll get the opportunity to water that seed. Whatever role you get to play in it, know. That you are participating in the saving process, whether or not she responds to it, you are participating in that, regardless of how she responds. But also don't bear the guilt because it we we also don't get to bear the glory. Like we don't take the glory when somebody does respond, we don't say, see, look at the good work that I did did. But on the other hand, when somebody doesn't respond or doesn't even get the opportunity to respond, we also don't bear the guilt of that. We are not in charge of this. God is. He invites us to play our small role with him, but it's God who gives the growth and God who gives the increase. So yes, pray for opportunities, look for opportunities, but don't force your way into the conversation.
Barrett: That's great. Thank you, Wes. I think I'm gonna ask just two of my few questions that we had prepped for today, but I I didn't wanna do this podcast and not mention the great intro from yesterday. I thought a very funny one and that people responded to really well. But you know, you started with the story of man, you had several good lines about nothing cooler to you in eighth grade. than a pair of Oakleys. Which is so f I mean, I think that's most eighth grade boys love a cool pair of sunglasses, whether it's Oakleys, I know Costas were a big deal, like Vipers or whatever were a big deal for baseball team, you know, back in the day. so and then I yeah, I was had to lock back in because I was like, what did I think was really cool in eighth grade? And I remember like basketball shoes, like Dada spinners. I don't know if you remember those, but
Wes McAdams: No.
Barrett: Just ter you should Google it. It's a terrible looking shoe that when you would step down, it would have like a wheel on the side built into the shoe that would spin. And I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. And they are not easy to look at, but cool shoes, right? But you started with, you know, thought oakley's were cool, they're expensive. You know, we classmates go on a class trip to DC and we got some jokely's. you know, these ten dollar oak leaves off the street, and ultimately both end up in the same landfill, right? And so a very funny but very poignant you know, description of exactly what we were talking about. Like that illustration really challenges our tendency, to put trust in earthly, you know, wealth and status and Help me if I mess up the phrasing here, because I thought it was an absolute, as the kids would say, absolute bar of like if the appearance of wealth is what you're shooting for, then cheap is totally fine. Man, you said it way better yesterday. But you know, what is genuine power and and wealth actually look like in our daily lives? And I know we've already talked about prayer, but do you have anything that you would add to that?
Wes McAdams: Yeah, yeah. The way I said it was when when all that matters is appearance, cheap will do. And and and I think that that really kind of gets to the heart of what James is saying throughout this book. Like when when you only care about the appearance of faith, when you only care about the appearance of being religious, when you only care about the appearance of being loving or having, you know, whatever, wisdom, then cheap will do and you settle for talk, talk that is not backed up by action. And And we do. We settle for all kinds of things, but the genuine, the genuine wealth, the genuine power, the genuine status. That's the thing is like sometimes we we look down on glory seeking or status seeking. God wants us to be glorified. He wants us to have glory. He wants us to have honor. That desire we have to be somebody, like that's real. But don't settle for being. Valuable or being honorable in the in the world's sight, like so what they glorify you. When God condemns you, but the world glorifies you, what what good is their glory? But when the world condemns you and God glorifies you, that has real value, that has lasting value. That's why Jesus is willing to. He's willing to despise the shame of the cross. Like, who cares what you think of me? My father, who is God, loves me and will vindicate me and will glorify me. And we have all of those blessings as well. But we throw away what is genuinely valuable, what is genuinely powerful for these cheap knockoffs that the world has to offer us. And so, yeah, our status as children of God. The love, as John puts it, the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God and such we are. And this is why the world hates us, because this is who we are. And so we have to learn to value what God values. And and that's why prayer and priestly service and praise, these are the things that are really valuable. This is this is a reflection of our true honor that we get from God rather than the honor we seek from the world.
Barrett: That's great. I for most of you that don't know this, that are listening and watching, I did farm for one year with my father-in-law. And so I like James V Verse 7 says, Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the earthly, or sorry, the early and the late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. And you talked about the difficulty or the difficult reality of praying fervently for someone who still ends up dying or never gets well, and you know, still struggles and and never recovers. From whatever. You know, James 5 gives us kind of a different lens of this long-term patience. And it was very difficult being on a farm and knowing, like, I know this work matters, like tilling this fill field matters, but it also feels like just one of 12 million steps we have to do here. But how does shifting our perspective from you know? immediate relief or immediate impact to the resurrection, change how we approach unanswered prayers, long-term suffering. I know we've talked about it on the podcast before, but I really like to come back to this one because it's the hope in which all of our things rest.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, yeah. And and I I think that that James could really easily be misunderstood. This is why it's so important not to take things out of context. Because James says if you pray for somebody, they'll be healed. If
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: if you if you pray for them, God will raise them up. He'll forgive them of their sins. They'll be raised up. And like if you just take that in isolation, you think, okay, well, then if I pray for this person, they're going to be healed. And if I if I pray for them and they they're not healed, well, what went wrong? Was it that I didn't have enough faith? Was it I Prayed wrong? Was it God's a liar and he doesn't keep his promises? But if you go back to the beginning of James chapter five, he starts this conversation with them about prayer by telling them to be patient and wait for the coming of the Lord, that the coming of the Lord is at hand. That's where all of these promises are fulfilled. Like there are people who are in the grave right now. Yes, their spirit is resting with the Lord, absolutely, but their body. Their body that God promised to heal, that they're that God promised to raise up, their body is still in the grave. But God's not done yet. And that's what we have to remember, that God is not done yet, that the seed has to be planted and break down. And then it just is there under the surface of the ground for a long time. And you have to wait and wait and wait and wait. And then finally you see the fruit that you've been waiting for. The resurrection of Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection. It's the proof God is going to keep his promises. He is going to raise the dead. And what God has done for Jesus, he will do for all of his people, which means that there is not, there is not one single child of God who has had cancer, who has had any disease, who's had a serious injury, and has succumbed to that sickness or that injury. That God will not keep his promises for them. There's not a single one, every single one of them will be healed. And they will be healed in such a way that their healing is ultimate and complete and they will never get sick again. They will never die again. That is the promise that we have in Christ. And so if we've prayed for someone and it seems like death one, cancer one, the injury one, it's not true. God will win. But we have to be patient and we have to wait. And we cannot assume that just because God hasn't answered it yet, that He's not going to answer it. We can't assume that just because God has said that the response you're waiting for is delayed, that it won't ever come true. All of them, all of God's promises are going to come true. But we do have to wait for the coming of the Lord. And it's coming, it's coming, and God will keep all of his promises.
Barrett: That's great. Thank you Wes for taking the time to answer those questions and get to all of those that wrote in and handling all of the the compliments and the comments and everybody's questions. you do such a great job. So where are we going next month? What's the next series called?
Wes McAdams: super excited about next month. I almost forgot that we were gonna talk about this. Yeah, we're we're going to have our friends and family month. We can't really have a friends and family day because praise God, there are too many people to have a friends and family day. We would be busting at the seams and couldn't handle everyone. So we try to spread it out over a whole month, the month of September. And we are going to be looking at the Gospel of John and these passages that invite people to come and see. Come and see. And and again, back to our question about evangelism. That's all we can do is just say, hey. I found, I found the Messiah. Would you be interested in coming and seeing who he is? And let them see and let them experience for themselves who Jesus is. And that's what the whole gospel of John does. It presents Jesus and says, Hey, come and see. Come and see. And I think that you will see what I see, that Jesus is the Son of God. And by by believing that you will have life in his name. And so we want to invite our friends and family to come and experience this with us. We believe that we found something great. I think that you'll agree. Come and see.
Barrett: Yeah, that's awesome. I'm very excited about next month. It's always nice to kinda have a focus on you know, friends and family that are coming in from community and neighborhoods all across North DFW up here, and so I'm excited to meet lots of new people next month. It's gonna be great. but again, thank you, Wes, and thank you all for listening and for watching. We appreciate your comments and questions. Keep them coming, and we'll catch you next time on the Post Sermon Podcast.
Wes McAdams: Thanks so much for listening to P.S., the Post Sermon Podcast. To find out more about this podcast or about the Church of Christ on McDermott Road, you can visit our website at ccmcdermott.org slash P.S. If this has been an encouragement to you, we also hope you will rate and review the show wherever you're listening, as well as share it with a friend. Because we believe sermons are not just for Sunday, but for our whole week and our whole life.
Barrett: That's right, Wes. Welcome back to the post sermon podcast. See, I remembered we had a bumper video this time around. my name's Barrett. I'm one of the ministers at the McDermott Road Church of Christ, joined as always by the voice you've already heard. Wes McAdams, our preaching minister. How are you, Wes?
Wes McAdams: I'm great, Barrett. How are you?
Barrett: I'm doing really well, man. Doing well. It's you know, Monday always follows Sunday. And so I feel like we're coming off of another busy one, but a great one. I thought you did an excellent job yesterday.
Wes McAdams: Thanks.
Barrett: Yeah. how did you feel like it went it got out of your hands and
Wes McAdams: Well, you already know because I've already told you, but yeah, I did not feel like first service went really well, which was ironic. And and I've I I hate to to share this, but this is what this podcast is all about behind the scenes and kind of breaking things down. But yeah,
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: I felt amazing before I got in the pulpit. I was just kind of overwhelmed. We've been talking a lot about the spirit, and I really felt like I was In the spirit and the spirit was present in me. And I was just excited to be there and excited to to be with the people and and just feeling
Barrett: That's awesome.
Wes McAdams: a bunch of love for everybody. And and I just kind of got overwhelmed by all of that. And I kind of thought, well, maybe this is gonna help me preach really well. And and then I got in the pulpit. I felt like I bombed immediately, like I was struggling to remember what I was gonna talk about. And then I forgot to advance my slide. And but it was a a reminder afterwards when I sat down. You know, that that my performance or the delivery is not the most important thing. What's important is that the truth is preached. And so why would we expect why would we expect that if the Spirit is empowering and helping us to do his will, why would we expect that that means a flawless delivery? It doesn't
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: necessarily mean a flawless delivery. It means that the truth is proclaimed and and I I hope that that that happened. But sometimes I get caught up in focused on my delivery and and kinda get you know,
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: feel bad about that. But but yeah, I I think that second service probably went a little bit better as far as that goes than first service, but hopefully the the truth was preached in both.
Barrett: Yeah. absolutely, I think so. Do you do you feel like there were any big differences in first and second, or what was the the change like between first and
Wes McAdams: Yeah, it was it was mostly it was mostly tightening up on on my my delivery mostly. But but there was one thing that when I ended the the sermon, I ended with a statement. Let's see if I can pull it up here. And I I was really this week was a a weird week. We had a funeral on Saturday, we had a funeral on Wednesday, there so there were multiple funerals. I was gone Monday and Tuesday. We went to to tour
Barrett: Right. We got it.
Wes McAdams: Harding and I didn't really get to work on my sermon until Wednesday. Usually my sermon is written mostly by by the end of the day Tuesday. So the fact that I didn't even get to start on it until Wednesday really meant that I was behind. And then we also had a funeral that same day. And I really struggled with this last statement of the sermon. I ended up it ended up being no words on earth can match the power of a humble, merciful prayer of faith. But I really th that wasn't what I had in my notes. That was what was on the screen. But in my notes, I had humble and patient and fervent and faithful. Because I was really struggling with what sort of adjectives to add to that because I think all of those are present in James, but I I wanted it to be a memorable way of phrasing it at the end, but apparently I didn't tell myself that I had changed the slide, but I hadn't changed my notes. So I was a little bit surprised when I got to the last slide in first service and I thought, that's not exactly what I had in my notes, but it's all true. It's all it's all important for us to cover and and think about, but yeah, I really struggled to kind of put that into one final statement, not just to sum up this sermon and in this particular text, but to kind of put a bow on everything we've been talking about.
Barrett: Right. Yeah, this was the the last sermon in our Talk Is Cheap series that you've been doing an excellent job with, but we skipped the podcast last week since you were out of town. And so this week I wanna kind of go back and at least I know we got two emails from last week that we're gonna cover in today's podcast, which was talking about trouble with a big mouth. and kind of get into some of those and then we'll jump ahead to yesterday's sermon words that hurt and words that heal and so that's where we're headed with this this week's podcast but let's start with a some comments and a question from our brother Ryan Travis. He wrote this Grieve, mourn and wail Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. James four nine. Hello, brothers. In your lesson today we went over James chapter four, and we have read it a few times myself. It all makes pretty clear sense, but in verse nine, while it why it tells us to change our joy to gloom. I'm just curious your thoughts on this or if you would have any more insight a reason why he asks them, the audience to do this. In my mind I am to be happy and joyous of Christ and his love, mercy, and grace, and shine my light of the love and and that he shows me into the world. So why would it be talking about gloom and grief? I think it mentions it a few other times in the Bible as well. Thanks for everything. Love ya. Ryan, we love you too. Great question and something that Wes and I really enjoy talking about.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, and and really this this question really ties together these two sermons here at the end of James, because in chapter five he he uses similar type of language. He says this is in verse one, come now, you you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, your garments are mothied, and your gold and silver have corroded, their corrosion will be evidence against you, and will eat your flesh like fire. And and I think that the these two ideas are tied together because The the prophets, including James here, they have a tendency to tell God's people, be miserable, mourn and weep when they they've been too comfortable, when they have gotten comfortable in the the luxuries of this world and and too reliant on these things. And so he's exactly right. Ryan is exactly right, that we do need to be joyful in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord. The problem comes when we're rejoicing in the world and not in the Lord. It's not just joy. Joy isn't necessarily good or bad. It is what are you rejoicing in? What are you trusting in? Where is your hope founded? And and that's everything that James is talking about is stop becoming friends of the world and getting your comfort and your hope from the world because all of these things are going to pass away. And and when you are happy because things are going well, when you are happy because you you're healthy and you're wealthy and and people respect you. You need to to humble yourself. You need to be miserable. You need to weep and mourn because that that sort of comfort, that sort of joy is untenable. It's unsustainable. It will collapse. And so the the happiest person is the person who recognizes their total dependence on God and that they are rejoicing not in the stuff that they have, not in their The blessings, as we often call it, the blessings of this world, but that they are with God, that they have fellowship with God. That's where their joy is found, in spite of the fact that they don't have these earthly treasures. In fact, James would say that those who are poor, they should rejoice in their poverty. And those who are rich, those who are rich should rejoice in their in their hum humiliation, in their humility, that it's actually the opposite of what it appears from the world's perspective. And so yes, we should rejoice, we should be joyful, but it our joy should be in the Lord and not in the earthly comforts that we have.
Barrett: I I had two thoughts come to mind. Like I remember my probably my freshman year of college, the older members asking, you know, younger members trying to get into a club, you know, what are you passionate about? And I remember them being frustrated by other people and I don't remember what I said, but I can tell you it wasn't football or basketball. And they were frustrated with, you know, some incoming college freshmen being asked, Hey, what are you passionate about? What you want to do with your life? What are you what excites you? What brings up a passion in your life? What stirs you up? And there would, you know, be some guys that'd be like, baseball, you know. And that was frustrating for these older guys. And I remember them voicing that frustration and that being really challenging for me to be like, well, what am I passionate? And I think that's kind of what Ryan is getting at here of like where does the joy come from? Where does the grieving come from? That's important. It's important to think about what stirs up joy and what causes us to grieve. Like the sources of those things is really important. And to that point, that seems like a very elementary thought to me like that's pretty simple of like yeah it's you know the source of those things not saying hey you can't be joyful anymore and you mentioned yesterday and I'm getting ahead of ourselves but you mentioned yesterday that you know James is kind of dogged for being like not a very deep book or kind of a I I remember the church that I grew up at one of the churches I was at when I was in elementary school they were like hey James is a great place to start for young Christians this is a really straightforward Ford simple book and reading it as like a fifth grader, being like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I I get it. You know, it's it makes sense. But especially getting older and this series that you've been taking us through and and talking about it from the angles that we've taken, like what a difficult teaching though. What an incredibly, you
Wes McAdams: Yeah.
Barrett: know deep and difficult, like yeah, it's straightforward, but that doesn't make it any easier or any easier to preach or to live out. And so I think I I love it. I love the book because it is, you know, practical and straightforward and maybe seemingly, you know, elementary, but very deep in a lot of different areas of like, well that changes how I view everything about how I speak and about how I think about these things. So anyway.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, and to and to that point, th there is something to be said for when you're just coasting along and acting like everything is okay, that it's that everything is easy and good, then that's when you need to be told, hey, wake up. And if you're if you are happily naive about your own sin or the sin around you, like there this is a real problem. And so yes, it is good to be happy and joyful, but not not wi if that means that we're not being sober-minded. And and to your point, James is a very hard book. Like he covers some really convicting stuff. And so if you finish this book and you're wow, that was pretty easy, that was good, you know, and you just toss it aside like, that was that was no big deal. And it's like, no, no, no, you didn't really read it because he's stepping on your toes. And so if you if you don't feel some pain from what he's saying, then you probably need to listen again. He knows from the very beginning this is gonna make some people mad, which is why he tells them, be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry. Because this could change your life if you're really willing to listen. But if you're just kind of going through it, this happy go lucky, you know, not really considering what's being said, you need to to weep and mourn because what is being said is, hey, there's some serious things that need to be dealt with here.
Barrett: Well, without getting into yesterday's sermon yet, I mean the addressing wealthy people, it's like most of us listening to this podcast fall into an extremely wealthy category. we've put ourselves maybe in more uncomfortable situations by different choices and that sort of thing, but we're a very wealthy audience in North Texas for the most part, and not that we don't have struggles here and there, but yeah Where we are storing up treasure, right? What what emphasis we're placing on treasures from place I mean, at one of the funerals on Saturday or the funeral on Saturday this past week, when we sang As the Deer, that I want you more than gold or silver and as I was singing it, I was like, I don't know if that's true for me recently. You know, I think there has I've been
Wes McAdams: Mm. Wow, yeah.
Barrett: in a season of Gold and silver giving him a pretty good run for his money, you know. There's
Wes McAdams: Hm.
Barrett: definitely seasons of life where that's been the case. And so that was an emotional time. And I think James addresses a lot of that. And that's tough teaching for sure. let's get into this next comment and question. and I will say to the listener and the watching audience on YouTube, etc., that we've got some long Thoughts and questions and comments. So stick with me as we read through these. But this one's an anonymous one. I always enjoy your lessons. I'm an online participant. My question is, can you give us some practical application to the lesson yesterday? I wholeheartedly agree with your message. We should not be concerned with the tomorrows and let God do the doing. I am, however, surrounded by people who just received a life-changing diagnosis, they've lost jobs, they've received news that their house is going to be foreclosed. Of course, I don't think you were. saying just don't do anything, God will take care of it for you. So can you give us some practical application on how we can not become like Sarah and take matters into our own hands while at the same time not losing our house, ability to feed our family, or our life waiting for God to show up while we are stationary. Thanks for taking my question.
Wes McAdams: Yeah. Yeah, that's a great it's a great question. It it really could, if you're not careful, when we talk about trusting in God and letting God do the work for us, it could seem like we are suggesting that we should be passive. But that's really the beauty of everything James has to say. Like, I mean, he has a lot to say about not just talking, but doing, like actually being doers of the word. Where we go wrong. Is when we do the wrong thing. Obviously, I mean, again, that that sounds very basic, but but sometimes we think that it is so incumbent upon me to fix this situation that I'm willing to do anything in order to fix it. And that's when it becomes a problem. Because there are things that I should not do, including alliances that I should not make, friendships that I should not make in order to fix this situation. But we tend to believe. Like, I've I've got to do everything within my power to do when really that's sometimes a compromise of our faith. And I think that's exactly what James is telling them not to do. Like, don't do things, you know, don't make plans as if you are actually in control of what does and what doesn't happen, and don't make friendships with the world in order to make your plans come true. Sometimes you have to simply do. Do what is good and what is right and what is true and what is noble. You have to do what God wants you to do. This is our theme this year is fearless and faithful. Like do the right thing, even when you think, yeah, but that's not gonna work. It's not gonna work to do the right thing. I I know I I should do this thing, but this thing over here seems more practical. This seems more pragmatic. It seems more pragmatic for me to tell a little white lie. For me to, you know, kind of bend the truth a little bit, for me to make friends with this group in in order to achieve my goals, the end does not justify the means. The means is everything. And so our faithfulness is about doing what the Lord tells us to do, even when it doesn't make sense. And so in order to feed my family, I will work hard, I will serve, I will love, I will help. I will not steal. I will not kill. I will not take something that doesn't belong to me. Even if that seems practical, even if it seems pragmatic, we we cannot do what is wrong in order to achieve what it whatever it is that we think that we need to achieve. But if we if we get into that area where we think, well, you know, this is just the way the world works, whatever that is, you know, whether that's lying or or or stealing or or cheating or killing or whatever it is, or or just Being mean or cruel or whatever. I mean, I could think of a million different scenarios where we we sort of excuse ourselves by just saying, well, that's the way the world works, or if I didn't do this, I know I probably shouldn't do this, but if I didn't do this, then my my family's gonna go hungry. And it's like, well, do we trust the Lord? Again, that doesn't mean sit around and just sing kumbaya, but it means doing what Jesus calls us to do. It it does mean. Probably working a job. It means you know getting up, making plans. But in everything that we do, and all the plans that we make and all the work that we do, we say, if it's the Lord's will, and I'm trusting in him. And again, to James's whole point in this book is our trust in God is not just about the things that we say, but the things that we do. And do we trust him? That that isn't just seen in do we show up for church on Sunday, but it means. How do we conduct ourselves at work on Monday? Like, do we live as a follower of Jesus on Monday, even when living as a follower of Jesus in the workplace, or living as a follower of Jesus in our neighborhood, or living as a follower of Jesus at school might end up having severe consequences for us, but we're gonna do that anyway. We're gonna love our enemy anyway, we're gonna be kind anyway, we're gonna tell the truth anyway. Knowing that God is going to take care of us and we don't need to do things the world's way in order to have all the things that God wants us to have.
Barrett: Thank you. That was fantastic. I'm gonna keep us on schedule and keep moving right along.
Wes McAdams: Yes.
Barrett: and this is a great time to say if you have questions or comments about an episode of the podcast, you can send those in as well and have Matt Mead get to them the week after I do it, you know? so if you have questions or complaints about the podcast, email Matt. This next question, we're getting into yesterday's sermon, and so I think we're we're catching up here. starts with hi there, which I love that, just addressing us with hi there. hi back. referring to James five sixteen. Should we be discerning about who we confess our sins to? Is there anyone in our lives that we probably shouldn't be so vulnerable with? It's a great question.
Wes McAdams: I love this question so much. I love it so much. And the answer is yes. Yes. There are people that you should not be that vulnerable with. And I would say, look for people who are filled with the spirit. And that means very clearly
Barrett: Yeah. That's great.
Wes McAdams: what Paul would say is people who are filled with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness. And goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Like that's what it looks like for somebody to be spirit-filled. It's not somebody who talks a good game, it's somebody who is actually manifesting the fruit of the spirit. James would say it's somebody who has wisdom from above that's pure and peaceable and gentle and open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits. Like look for people like that. And when there are people like that in your life, those are the kinds of people that you can open up to, and they're not going to you know, wag their finger at you. They're not going to condemn you. They're not going to to be harsh with you. They're going to be kind. They're going to be gentle because the spirit is manifesting that sort of fruit in their life. They they have wisdom from above. We all have people in our life that are critical and and mean spirited. And if we confess our sins to them, or people that are gossips and they're going to talk about us behind our back. They're not, they're not faithful, not just to the Lord, but they're not faithful to us. Those are not the kinds of people to be vulnerable with and to to confess your sins to. Not to say that they don't have the spirit, but maybe maybe they haven't been walking by the spirit. They're not mature in their spiritual journey. But find people who are mature, people that in their life you can see the spirit working, you can see wisdom from above. Those are the kind of people to confess your sins to and ask them to be praying for you.
Barrett: And I think if you had any concern about is this the right person to share with or you know I don't know of anybody. Can you I think it's it's worth asking God to use the Spirit to put those people on your path and and highlight
Wes McAdams: Yeah.
Barrett: those people and I know he will. but Lord highlight the people that are, you know, being filled with the Spirit and put them in my path and allow the conversation, God, to go there in a supernatural, spiritual way that I know, this is a person that is worth confessing to and that this is gonna be beneficial for me and for this person. brother or sister for us to share together. I think that is another great place to start. I'm gonna read two comments that were just really positive comments and we'll And on well, then we'll have one more question from this week and then maybe we can get into some more kind of the content of yesterday's sermon. But the first comment was from my wife who found out that I get the emails when they are sent in to the podcast yesterday sitting next to me. So she was like, I'm so embarrassed. I didn't know you were also on the email chain. I think she thought she was messaging Wes during the sermon privately, which is very funny to think about too. But Jenna Bingham says, I wanted to say this is such an empowering message. I'm so grateful for the reminder that I am part of a royal priesthood and that my prayers matter. Thank you for sharing this with our community. And that was something Jenna and I went home talking about of like we have to use prayer more in less of a asking way and less of a worship way even maybe not less than but or less of but in addition to worshiping and asking but also using them as a powerful tool for for healing and for growth and that sort of thing. So yes, thank you Wes for sharing that yesterday.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, and and and I sure appreciate Jenna for for saying that. And I'm I'm glad that came across. And again, sometimes I get caught up in my own in my own head about the delivery. And so it's it's a good reminder when somebody says something like that that, good, the the point that I was trying to make did come across. We are empowered. We're empowered by the presence of God in our life to serve as priests, to serve as a royal priesthood. And that when we listen to the confession of someone, we don't have to have special title. We don't have to have it We don't have to have a special role. Like being a disciple of Jesus is a special role. And you are a priest. And when you pray for somebody and the Lord heals them and the Lord, you know, forgives their sins, you get to be a
Barrett: It's been yeah.
Wes McAdams: participant. That's amazing. A participant in their forgiveness, a participant in bringing them back to the truth, in a a participant in their healing. That's amazing that God wants us to play a part in that in that process. It's amazing.
Barrett: I think that's one of the biggest lessons that I've learned in ministry from you is, you know, I I think as a young youth minister working here, you know, a while ago now, but I was very like task-oriented and action-oriented, and I need to have the right words and we need to have a plan of attack for if someone has a question or someone has a concern, or if someone does confess their sins, well, this is what they're looking for. They want me to outline a plan and a response. response and they need all these things. And that's not what we need to do. And it's also not what God's asking us to do. He's saying, take it to me, let's pray. And that's something that you taught me very early on of like, you know, I would be like, hey, I need help in this situation. And you would come in and go, let's pray. Let's pray about it. All right, we'll see ya, you know, and it's like that is all we can do, that's all we're asked to do is to pray about it and pray for deliverance and forgiveness and for the spirit to show up in a big way. And so, great lessons learned. Here is an another
Wes McAdams: Well I think I think a lot of people not to sorry to interrupt here. I think a lot of people think that we have to be other people's rock. And I tell people all the time, you don't have to be their rock. Like they
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: have a rock and his name is Jesus. All you have
Barrett: So good.
Wes McAdams: to do is point people to the rock. That that's our job.
Barrett: I I'm gonna write that down. now this next one is an anonymous comment, but again some more positive feedback from yesterday and I guess this is like a commercial like hyping up yesterday's sermon, like you should go back and listen to it if you haven't. But it seems like the book of James is so negative throughout, but I'm glad in this last section of chapter five, verses thirteen through twenty, he offers encouragement to his audience about the prayer of faith, a message of hope. This sermon series was very intense and I would pause pause and agree with this comment that again I think getting into the book of James, I, Barrett, you know, had like, yeah, we'll see how it goes, probably about not cussin' or whatever, you know. And then it turns into much, much more than that. and it was a very intense series. back to the comment, I'm glad that James ends on a positive note. And I think that was on purpose for sure.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, I agree. It it it is intense and I think that's that's kind of the whole point. And sometimes sometimes we need a gentle reminder and sometimes we need to be shaken. And James is a book that will shake you to your core if you really consider what he has to say.
Barrett: This next question is from Gay Oliver, and she wrote in and said, Mike and I have an acquaintance who is Jewish and on her deathbed. We know her through close friends of ours. I don't believe anyone has tried to visit with her about Jesus being the Messiah. We found out at a mutual gathering she does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. At what point do you know God intends you to participate in bringing that knowledge to her and how to go about doing it? Mike asks our close friends for the husband's. phone number, who Mike doesn't know closely, but the husband is Catholic and believes everyone's going to heaven. We have been praying for her for many months now. She's on hospice for the last two months. Family and friends have come to visit and say goodbye. Her daughter is arriving soon. So do we continue to pray or try to be more forceful in trying to speak with her or with her husband?
Wes McAdams: Hmm. This is such a good question and and so heartbreaking to it is heartbreaking to to see people at the end of their life who have chosen or or not had the opportunity to hear about Jesus and or have chosen not to respond to the good news that he is the Messiah. And and this is where we come up against our own limitations, our own human limitations. And it's like what we said before one of the most powerful things that you can do is pray. And that's what you've been doing. And and I would encourage you keep doing that. Keep praying for her and pray specifically for opportunities. And and it's not wrong to offer to say, Hey, this is this is what I would like to have the opportunity to do. I'd like to have the opportunity to share the good news with this person. but you may not have the opportunity to do that. And and it sounds like this is a couple that they're not super, super close with or may not have the opportunity to do. And there can be a lot of guilt attached to that. And I would say you can't bear that guilt. There are there are billions of people in the world. And I I wish so much that we could reach them all with the gospel. Some are are willing to hear, but just have never had the opportunity. We've never had the opportunity to connect with them. We need to be praying that God opens those doors. And some have had the opportunity and just aren't interested. Nobody becomes a disciple of Jesus by compulsion. You can't force somebody to to to believe, you can't even force yourself into that conversation. And so to answer the specific question of should we be more forceful, I would say no. Like we should never enter into an evangelistic conversation forcefully. I I don't know if that's a an always hard and fast rule, but I would say we should never enter into an evangelistic conversation forcefully. We can't kick the door open. We have to be invited in. And even Jesus lived his life this way. Jesus didn't force himself on anyone. There were thousands and thousands of people in his vicinity, probably that he even came into contact with, that he didn't make into disciples. And he had to be okay with that. And so we also have to be okay with that. We have to be okay with the fact that we are not going to reach everyone. Sometimes all we can do is pray, sometimes all we can do is plant, sometimes all we can do is water. The growth is up to the Lord. And so we can do what we can do. And we do get to be a part of this process. We get to be part of saving people's souls, which is amazing to even say out loud. And you are playing a role in that. You are praying for her and keep praying for her and pray for opportunities. Maybe you will have the opportunity to plant a seed, and maybe you won't. Maybe other people have already planted a seed, and maybe you'll get the opportunity to water that seed. Whatever role you get to play in it, know. That you are participating in the saving process, whether or not she responds to it, you are participating in that, regardless of how she responds. But also don't bear the guilt because it we we also don't get to bear the glory. Like we don't take the glory when somebody does respond, we don't say, see, look at the good work that I did did. But on the other hand, when somebody doesn't respond or doesn't even get the opportunity to respond, we also don't bear the guilt of that. We are not in charge of this. God is. He invites us to play our small role with him, but it's God who gives the growth and God who gives the increase. So yes, pray for opportunities, look for opportunities, but don't force your way into the conversation.
Barrett: That's great. Thank you, Wes. I think I'm gonna ask just two of my few questions that we had prepped for today, but I I didn't wanna do this podcast and not mention the great intro from yesterday. I thought a very funny one and that people responded to really well. But you know, you started with the story of man, you had several good lines about nothing cooler to you in eighth grade. than a pair of Oakleys. Which is so f I mean, I think that's most eighth grade boys love a cool pair of sunglasses, whether it's Oakleys, I know Costas were a big deal, like Vipers or whatever were a big deal for baseball team, you know, back in the day. so and then I yeah, I was had to lock back in because I was like, what did I think was really cool in eighth grade? And I remember like basketball shoes, like Dada spinners. I don't know if you remember those, but
Wes McAdams: No.
Barrett: Just ter you should Google it. It's a terrible looking shoe that when you would step down, it would have like a wheel on the side built into the shoe that would spin. And I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. And they are not easy to look at, but cool shoes, right? But you started with, you know, thought oakley's were cool, they're expensive. You know, we classmates go on a class trip to DC and we got some jokely's. you know, these ten dollar oak leaves off the street, and ultimately both end up in the same landfill, right? And so a very funny but very poignant you know, description of exactly what we were talking about. Like that illustration really challenges our tendency, to put trust in earthly, you know, wealth and status and Help me if I mess up the phrasing here, because I thought it was an absolute, as the kids would say, absolute bar of like if the appearance of wealth is what you're shooting for, then cheap is totally fine. Man, you said it way better yesterday. But you know, what is genuine power and and wealth actually look like in our daily lives? And I know we've already talked about prayer, but do you have anything that you would add to that?
Wes McAdams: Yeah, yeah. The way I said it was when when all that matters is appearance, cheap will do. And and and I think that that really kind of gets to the heart of what James is saying throughout this book. Like when when you only care about the appearance of faith, when you only care about the appearance of being religious, when you only care about the appearance of being loving or having, you know, whatever, wisdom, then cheap will do and you settle for talk, talk that is not backed up by action. And And we do. We settle for all kinds of things, but the genuine, the genuine wealth, the genuine power, the genuine status. That's the thing is like sometimes we we look down on glory seeking or status seeking. God wants us to be glorified. He wants us to have glory. He wants us to have honor. That desire we have to be somebody, like that's real. But don't settle for being. Valuable or being honorable in the in the world's sight, like so what they glorify you. When God condemns you, but the world glorifies you, what what good is their glory? But when the world condemns you and God glorifies you, that has real value, that has lasting value. That's why Jesus is willing to. He's willing to despise the shame of the cross. Like, who cares what you think of me? My father, who is God, loves me and will vindicate me and will glorify me. And we have all of those blessings as well. But we throw away what is genuinely valuable, what is genuinely powerful for these cheap knockoffs that the world has to offer us. And so, yeah, our status as children of God. The love, as John puts it, the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God and such we are. And this is why the world hates us, because this is who we are. And so we have to learn to value what God values. And and that's why prayer and priestly service and praise, these are the things that are really valuable. This is this is a reflection of our true honor that we get from God rather than the honor we seek from the world.
Barrett: That's great. I for most of you that don't know this, that are listening and watching, I did farm for one year with my father-in-law. And so I like James V Verse 7 says, Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the earthly, or sorry, the early and the late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. And you talked about the difficulty or the difficult reality of praying fervently for someone who still ends up dying or never gets well, and you know, still struggles and and never recovers. From whatever. You know, James 5 gives us kind of a different lens of this long-term patience. And it was very difficult being on a farm and knowing, like, I know this work matters, like tilling this fill field matters, but it also feels like just one of 12 million steps we have to do here. But how does shifting our perspective from you know? immediate relief or immediate impact to the resurrection, change how we approach unanswered prayers, long-term suffering. I know we've talked about it on the podcast before, but I really like to come back to this one because it's the hope in which all of our things rest.
Wes McAdams: Yeah, yeah. And and I I think that that James could really easily be misunderstood. This is why it's so important not to take things out of context. Because James says if you pray for somebody, they'll be healed. If
Barrett: Yeah.
Wes McAdams: if you if you pray for them, God will raise them up. He'll forgive them of their sins. They'll be raised up. And like if you just take that in isolation, you think, okay, well, then if I pray for this person, they're going to be healed. And if I if I pray for them and they they're not healed, well, what went wrong? Was it that I didn't have enough faith? Was it I Prayed wrong? Was it God's a liar and he doesn't keep his promises? But if you go back to the beginning of James chapter five, he starts this conversation with them about prayer by telling them to be patient and wait for the coming of the Lord, that the coming of the Lord is at hand. That's where all of these promises are fulfilled. Like there are people who are in the grave right now. Yes, their spirit is resting with the Lord, absolutely, but their body. Their body that God promised to heal, that they're that God promised to raise up, their body is still in the grave. But God's not done yet. And that's what we have to remember, that God is not done yet, that the seed has to be planted and break down. And then it just is there under the surface of the ground for a long time. And you have to wait and wait and wait and wait. And then finally you see the fruit that you've been waiting for. The resurrection of Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection. It's the proof God is going to keep his promises. He is going to raise the dead. And what God has done for Jesus, he will do for all of his people, which means that there is not, there is not one single child of God who has had cancer, who has had any disease, who's had a serious injury, and has succumbed to that sickness or that injury. That God will not keep his promises for them. There's not a single one, every single one of them will be healed. And they will be healed in such a way that their healing is ultimate and complete and they will never get sick again. They will never die again. That is the promise that we have in Christ. And so if we've prayed for someone and it seems like death one, cancer one, the injury one, it's not true. God will win. But we have to be patient and we have to wait. And we cannot assume that just because God hasn't answered it yet, that He's not going to answer it. We can't assume that just because God has said that the response you're waiting for is delayed, that it won't ever come true. All of them, all of God's promises are going to come true. But we do have to wait for the coming of the Lord. And it's coming, it's coming, and God will keep all of his promises.
Barrett: That's great. Thank you Wes for taking the time to answer those questions and get to all of those that wrote in and handling all of the the compliments and the comments and everybody's questions. you do such a great job. So where are we going next month? What's the next series called?
Wes McAdams: super excited about next month. I almost forgot that we were gonna talk about this. Yeah, we're we're going to have our friends and family month. We can't really have a friends and family day because praise God, there are too many people to have a friends and family day. We would be busting at the seams and couldn't handle everyone. So we try to spread it out over a whole month, the month of September. And we are going to be looking at the Gospel of John and these passages that invite people to come and see. Come and see. And and again, back to our question about evangelism. That's all we can do is just say, hey. I found, I found the Messiah. Would you be interested in coming and seeing who he is? And let them see and let them experience for themselves who Jesus is. And that's what the whole gospel of John does. It presents Jesus and says, Hey, come and see. Come and see. And I think that you will see what I see, that Jesus is the Son of God. And by by believing that you will have life in his name. And so we want to invite our friends and family to come and experience this with us. We believe that we found something great. I think that you'll agree. Come and see.
Barrett: Yeah, that's awesome. I'm very excited about next month. It's always nice to kinda have a focus on you know, friends and family that are coming in from community and neighborhoods all across North DFW up here, and so I'm excited to meet lots of new people next month. It's gonna be great. but again, thank you, Wes, and thank you all for listening and for watching. We appreciate your comments and questions. Keep them coming, and we'll catch you next time on the Post Sermon Podcast.
Wes McAdams: Thanks so much for listening to P.S., the Post Sermon Podcast. To find out more about this podcast or about the Church of Christ on McDermott Road, you can visit our website at ccmcdermott.org slash P.S. If this has been an encouragement to you, we also hope you will rate and review the show wherever you're listening, as well as share it with a friend. Because we believe sermons are not just for Sunday, but for our whole week and our whole life.
