Hear and Do (An Inductive Study in James)
Web Helps

PREP IT Helps
Here you’ll find further insight and background for your personal prep.

TEACH IT Helps
The Teach It helps give you additional icebreakers, application ideas, object lessons for your group session.

MEDIA Helps
We've made some media recommendations for each session---songs and videos that you might want to use before, during or after your session. You may want to use media as an opener or closer to the session, as a worship element during your session, or simply create your own media list to send to your students for them to view/download throughout the course of your Bible study---a study playlist. Some of the video links are freebies you can stream for your students (from sites such as YouTube or GodTube), some are videos you would need to purchase and download, and a few are available only on DVD (i.e. the Nooma videos).

AfterWord
Ministry and application ideas to use as follow-up to Hear and Do.

SESSION 1: “The James Gang”

Session 1 PREP IT
James Burial Box:
A few years ago the discovery of an ancient burial box bearing the name “James” made worldwide news and, some would say, turned New Testament archeology upside down. Google a phrase like James Burial Box and see what you might find. You may want to include the name Ben Witherington, a trusted Christian scholar on the subject. Devote some of your prep time to this subject and consider sharing this info with your students.

Session 1 MEDIA
Music: The Disease and The Cure, Kutless (To Know That You're Alive)
             American Dream, Switchfoot (Oh! Gravity.)
Video: Video teaching/illustration: Nooma video 001 Rain

Session 1 TEACH IT
To Tell the Truth:
Session 1 makes allusions to the long-running TV game show, “To Tell the Truth” (i.e., Will the Real James Please Stand). Search “To Tell the Truth” on a video sharing website like YouTube and you’ll find some vintage game show footage that your students might enjoy.

SESSION 2: Do You Have Issues?

Session 2 PREP IT
Why do bad things happen?
The subject of “trials” in session 2 may certainly bring up the age-old question: why do bad things happen? Or similarly, if God is a loving God in control of the world, why is there still so much evil? Obviously these are deep questions, and may not even be the right questions to address the nature of this world. But as you ponder the nature and existence of “trials of many kinds,” consider the different fates of two apostles who were arrested at about the same time. Take a look at Acts 12:1-18 and notice the different outcomes of imprisonment between James and Peter.

Session 2 MEDIA
Music: For The Moments I Feel Faint, Relient K (Anatomy of The Tongue In Cheek)
             Beauty From Pain, SuperChick (Beauty From Pain)
Video: video illustrations: Sermonspice.com search results for “temptation”

Session 2 TEACH IT
Digital options for Taking It Inward: Taking It to Heart
In your Teach It guide, depending on which guide you use, you’ll run across some suggestions for depicting the issues that James wrote about in chapter 1. You may want to collect the actual items and bring them to your session, or you may want to stay digital and simply project them at the appropriate time in your session. If that’s the case, here are some pictures you can use—simply click on the thumbnail photo, then right click, and “save picture as,” and save it to your computer.

SESSION 3: “Keep It Simple”
Session 3 PREP IT

God has always had a thing for orphans:
It doesn’t get much more clear-cut than James 1:27, 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

If God states that something is pure and faultless, we would do well to pay attention to it. God talks a lot about orphans throughout Scripture. And through James you can almost hear Him saying: One last time, and clear enough that it can’t be misinterpreted. Here are a few other instances when God talked about the cause of the orphan, the fatherless.

    Exodus 22:21-24
    Deuteronomy 10:17-19
    Deuteronomy 24:17-22
    Jeremiah 22:3
    Zechariah 7:8-10

And then Jesus said this to us:
John 14:18

Session 3 MEDIA
Music: The Fight Song, Sanctus Real (Fight the Tide)
             Trust and Obey, Big Daddy Weave (Every Time I Breathe)
Video: video illustrations: Sermonspice.com search results for “obedience”

Session 3 TEACH IT
Inny vs. Outy
We didn’t have the guts to do this in the more “permanent” media of book and CD, but you may want to use the terms “inny” or “outy” for the “inner” or “outer” exercise.

Put some meat on the bones:
We want to give you a few more practical suggestions for living out the practical instructions you and your students will uncover in James.

1. Keep from being polluted by the world:
In the session we suggest a media fast as a way to jump start obedience to this instruction---abstaining from e-mail, internet, MP3 players, phones, etc. As a group you can set your own parameters. Before your session Google “media fast” and you’ll run across some other ideas and testimonies you may want to share with your group.

2. Look after widows in their distress:
A key phrase here: “in their distress.” Think of the things that might distress a widow: unreliable car, clogged gutters, loneliness, tax returns, holidays. Try to anticipate their needs and establish a “look after” group that can easily mobilize to bring relief in times of distress.

3. Look after orphans in their distress:
Your students may have personal relationships/friendships with orphans (or “fatherless”) in distress. If not, you can find plenty of social agencies through your county or local United Way that can supply you with needs your group can help with.

SESSION 4: “Nothin’ But Heart”
Session 4 PREP IT

Favoritism observations:
It’s easy to fly over James 2:1, seeing it simply as an introduction to the subject James addresses throughout the chapter: favoritism. But spend a couple moments hovering over that verse. The way James 2:1 is structured in the NIV, it’s very clear that believing in Christ cannot mix with showing favoritism. It’s also worth noting that James 2:1 is the only instance in which James uses the word “glorious” in his letter to describe anything. You can almost hear him saying: “Who are we to show favoritism to anyone when the glorious Lord Jesus obviously showed no favoritism toward meager, inglorious us?”

Session 4 MEDIA
Music: Love Somebody, Mandisa (True Beauty)
             Give Me Your Eyes, Brandon Heath (What If We)
Video: Video/Scripture illustration: Show Mercy

Session 4 TEACH IT
A professional paraphrase for Taking It Inward: Of Course You Don’t Discriminate...or Do You?
You and your students are asked to paraphrase James 2:2-4, using phrases and situations from today if James were to write the letter to your group. Here are a couple additional suggestions:
1. Ask for a hip-hop version of James 2:2-4 (or more)
2. Grab the translation/paraphrase from Eugene Peterson’s The Message. Go to www.biblegateway.com.

SESSION 5: “Faith You Can See”

Session 5 PREP IT
A Few More Abraham Sightings:
The phrase from James 2:23, “credited to him as righteousness,” got its genesis in, well, Genesis. It was also cited a couple other times by Paul. You may want to add this background info to the Prep It exercise Insight: Faith Versus Works—or Faith and Works?

Genesis 15:1-6
Romans 4
Galatians 3:6-11

Session 5 MEDIA
Music: A Shame, Pillar (FireProof)
             If We Are the Body, Casting Crowns (Casting Crowns)
Video: Sermonspice.com search results for “faith without works”


Session 5 TEACH IT
Video option for Taking It Inward: Do Good and Do It Secretly (Deeds Then and Now)
To help students visualize the idea of doing deeds NOW, you may want to show a video clip or promo material for sponsoring a child or doing the 30 Hour Famine. Here are links to Compassion and World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine.

www.compassion.com

www.30hourfamine.org

SESSION 6: “Faith You Can Say”

Session 6 PREP IT
What’s that about “teachers”?
James’ warning to potential teachers in James 3:1 and his warnings about the tongue in James 3:2-12 seem a bit disjointed. His warnings about the tongue appear to be directed to the general population, not at teachers specifically. Additional insight, however, might shed some light on the subject.

1.	The missing word “for”: In James 3:2, the original Greek contains the little word gar which can be translated as a connecting word such as “for” or “since.” The NIV leaves this word out, but many other translations include the word “for.” You can see, then how this little word does make a connection between teachers in verse 1 and the tongue in the information that follows. This doesn’t necessarily mean the “tongue” info is to apply only to teachers, but it does make a connection.
2.	What’s this about teachers being “judged more strictly”? That just doesn’t sound like a great recruiting slogan for Bible study leaders! Douglas Moo, in his commentary on James (Eerdmans, 2000), notes that because a teacher uses the tongue frequently and publicly, and because the tongue is the hardest part of the body to control, a teacher stands a greater chance of using the tongue incorrectly. The constant use of the tongue gives teachers greater opportunity to lead people astray. For that reason, warnings and teachings about the tongue are very fitting.
3.	The sacred task: But don’t let the previous point water down the high expectations and greater accountability that’s asked for in teaching and discipling. In fact, you may want to linger for a few minutes with the verses below and reacquaint yourself with the responsibility that comes with teaching and discipling teens. Matthew 18:3-6 Luke 12:48 2 Timothy 1:13-14

 

Session 6 MEDIA
Music: Liar, Disciple (Southern Hospitality)
             What If I Stumble, DC Talk (Welcome to the Freak Show)
Video: video illustrations: Sermonspice.com search results for “student”

Session 6 TEACH IT
Active option for Taking It Inward: The Power of Your Tongue
If you need a more active option for discussing how students have used their tongues over the past week, try this:
Create a wall-sized scale, numbered 1-10. You can do this several ways: write the numbers 1-10 on 10 sheets of paper and place them equidistant from each other on the wall; tape up a long banner from a roll of newsprint or purchase long banner paper from a store like Kinko’s.
When you ask students how they rated themselves on the three scales that were part of their tongue questionnaire, invite them to place themselves along the wall-sized scale at the spot that reflects their rating. While they’re standing at the wall-sized scale, ask them why they ranked themselves where they did. Do this for each of the three scales in the exercise.

SESSION 7: “Wisdom 101”

Session 7 PREP IT
No-Fault Wisdom Request:
You may notice a small but powerful phrase in James 1:5-8 (Cross-Checking: Why God Is Bullish on Wisdom). James states that when we ask God for wisdom, He not only gives wisdom generously, He gives it “without finding fault.” We don’t touch on it in the session, but that short three-word phrase sums up God’s nature about as succinctly as anything.

In the Greek, the phrase “without finding fault” was strong language. The words “finding fault” conveyed enough reproach to cause blushing. It implied scorn.

And we’ve all been there. The tone of the Jiffy Lube guy when he shows us our caked-up air filter. The smirk of the church bookkeeper when we finally turn in that long-lost receipt.

But imagine being let off the hook, with no upbraiding. That’s how God responds when we ask for wisdom. Even when we’re in the middle of a crisis—and we haven’t been in touch with Him on a regular basis.

Find yourself needing to make a decision but don’t know what to do—and it’s been quite awhile since you’ve had your quiet time? It’s okay. Ask God. He’ll give wisdom generously. Without finding fault. You won’t hear Him saying something like “Well, if you’d been praying all along, you’d know what to do and not have to panic.” That’s not what God does. One more time for emphasis: He gives wisdom generously, without finding fault. Here are a couple other verses that help complete the picture of God’s no-fault nature.

Jude 1:24                 Ephesians 1:7-8

Session 7 MEDIA
Music: Love Break Me, Starfield (Starfield)
             Good Life, Audio Adrenaline (Underdog)
Video: video illustration: The Outreach---Big Brother

Session 7 TEACH IT
Video option for Open: Wisdom Brainstorm
Open your session by showing a couple “dumb criminals” videos to get your students thinking about wisdom, or the lack thereof. Search “dumb criminals” on a video sharing website like www.youtube.com and you’ll be off and running. Definitely screen the videos: some of the commentary may be inappropriate for your group. As you screen, however, remember you do have a Bible study session to prepare. It’s easy to spend the rest of the day laughing at these videos.

SESSION 8: “Sanctuary”

Session 8 PREP IT
We thought we’d take the opportunity of this session to introduce you to some long-term “sanctuary.” This information may not be immediately applicable as prep for Session 8, but it will have long-term impact for your ministry. You may have begun to notice some new resources and training along the lines of “soul care.” Thankfully, the task of nurturing our souls has begun to receive some needed attention, a task that is vitally important but that seldom presents itself as immediately urgent. Below are some resources for your perusing pleasure. Perhaps Session 8 can be a launch point for a lifestyle of sanctuary.

Discovering Soul Care (Mindy Caliguire, 2007; InterVarsity Press)
Contemplative Youth Ministry (Mark Yaconelli, 2006; Youth Specialties/Zondervan)
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly (Marva Dean, 1989; Eerdmans)

Session 8 MEDIA
Music: Hoity Toity, Flatfoot 56 (Jungle of the Midwest Sea)
             In You, Mercy Me (Almost There)
Video: Video Illustration: Sermonspice.com search for “Psalm 73”

Session 8 TEACH IT
Retreat option for Wrapping It Up: Finding Your Own Sanctuary
InWord has developed a simple document entitled The Word on the Word. You can download it here. You may want to make that document a part of an added sanctuary time for your students or a separate personal retreat for them all together. The document is a collection of Scripture passages that describe the Word of God, giving you and your students a chance to see what God says about His Word.

SESSION 9: “The Time of Your Life”

Session 9 PREP IT
A mist is atmis:
James uses colorful, descriptive pictures and analogies throughout his book; but none, perhaps, are more descriptive than his description of life as a “mist.” Interestingly, the Greek word translated as “mist” is atmis, which includes all the letters need to spell “a mist.” Atmis can also be translated as “smoke” or “vapor.” You can see then, the temporary and transitory nature of our lives. James isn’t the only book of the Bible to give us this perspective. In fact, you may want to check out a couple other verses:

Proverbs 27:1
Job 7:7-9
Psalm 39:5-6

Session 9 MEDIA
Music: Tick-Tock, Chris Rice (Amusing)
             4:12, Switchfoot (Oh! Gravity.)
Video: video illustration: Sermonspice.com search results “do not worry”

Session 9 TEACH IT
Resource option for challenging students to make the most of their lives:
Lifechoices is a ministry that rose out of the ashes of the Columbine High School tragedy in 1999. Debbie and John Philipps, the aunt and uncle of Rachel Scott, the first student killed that tragic day, launched Lifechoices as a ministry to help students navigate the tough issues that teens face every day. One of the most encouraging messages from this ministry is showing how Rachel made the most of her shortened life. Below are a couple websites that contain encouragement and inspiration that might resonate with your students.

www.lifechoicespresents.org
www.racheljoyscott.com

SESSION 10: “It’s Not Just the Money”

Session 10 PREP IT
Insight on the Insight
James’ strong wording, that the rich have “condemned and murdered innocent men” calls for a look at a little more detail. The Greek phrase that the NIV translates as “innocent men” is ton dikaion which literally means “the righteous one.” This phrase has generated a few theories from the scholar sphere about just who that phrase is referring to:

1. Could it be Jesus? Possibly, but there’s nothing in the immediate context of the text that would indicate this to be the case.
2. Could it be James himself and this letter (or a portion of the letter) was written pseudonymously after James’ death? Unlikely, in that you have to go through some pretty big contortions and ignore good evidence that James wrote James.
3. Could it be a common righteous dude (with a nod to the movie “Feris Buehler’s Day Off”)? In fact, this is the most likely conclusion. James was stressing that the rich’s exploitive behavior was persecuting the typical follower of God.

And the thought that the lifestyle of the rich could lead to the condemnation and death of the poor had historic precedent. It was warned against in some of the Intertestamental writings as well as some of the Old Testament prophets (see Amos and Micah).

These conclusions are explored in greater detail in “The Letter of James” by Douglas Moo (2000, Eerdmans).

Session 10 MEDIA
Music: When You Come Down, Mainstay (Become Who You Are)
             Make Money Money, John Reuben (Word of Mouth)
Video: video illustration/teaching: Nooma Video 013 Rich

Session 10 TEACH IT
Discussion option for Taking It Inward: Share the Wealth
In this exercise (Taking It Inward: Share the Wealth), your students are asked to think about areas in which they might be “rich,” i.e. intelligence, enthusiasm, personality. They are then asked how they might use their wealth in these areas to help others. But let’s pose the question a bit differently, in a way that reflects the oppression obviously going on in James:

How might you use your riches to oppress or exploit others (whether knowingly or unknowingly)? For example, if you are rich in intelligence, how might your wealth in this area actually hurt others?
Sample responses: if we flaunt it, if we take advantage of someone who doesn’t think as quickly or clearly as we do, if we use our high level of achievement to accentuate someone else’s low level achievement.

This question could also be applied to other areas such as countries, industries, churches, etc.

SESSION 11: “Pilate’s Plot” (John 18–19)

Session 11 PREP IT
Unjust Events
Many writers and scholars have pointed out the illegality of Jesus' trial (see Session 11 TEACH IT helps below), showing how the Jewish leaders, in their zeal to crucify Jesus, ignored rules rooted in Mosaic Law. Perhaps the most striking overzealousness came, however, in John 19:15, when the chief priests and officers, in a desperate plea to persuade Pilate, declared that they had no king but Caesar. Think about the irony of this declaration…they were guilty of the very charge that they had trumped up against Jesus: blasphemy.

Session 11 MEDIA
Music: Completely Free, Big Daddy Weave (Fields of Grace)
             That's Why We Say, By the Tree (World on Fire)
Video: music video: artistic rendering of Jesus’ life

Session 11 TEACH IT
Insight option to accompany Digging In: Power-Play Ploy
Explain to your students that many scholars and writers have noted the illegality of Jesus trial based on both Roman and Jewish Law. Read a few examples below.

1. No legal procedure could be begun during the night of a trial which was to take place before the Sanhedrin. Jesus was taken as a criminal around midnight on that Thursday--consequently this rule was broken.
2. It was against Jewish law to initiate legal procedures on a Jewish Sabbath or on a feast day. This regulation was obviously violated as Jesus was arrested on the Passover Feast Day.
3. The Sanhedrin had no jurisdiction concerning capital punishment situations. The Jewish court had been divested of that authority some 40 years prior by the Romans.
4. Caiaphas, serving as judge, should not have tried to press Jesus to confess. This was an attempt to coerce a conviction by the accused's own confession without having supporting evidence. Such violation of law infringed on the person's guarantees against self-incrimination.
5. The Sanhedrin had not convened for a regular meeting, therefore the group was not actually in formal session, and consequently was without legal power.
6. The Roman Empire stipulated that trials were to be public; the grilling before Annas and Caiaphas were held in private.
7. Jesus was appointed no lawyer. He had no legal counsel. If He Himself could not have provided one, then the political system was under obligation to provide Him with one but no lawyer was given Jesus.
8. It was not legal for the Sanhedrin Court to convict an individual on the same day of the trial. The Court could acquit on the same day but it had to wait at least two days for a verdict of guilty concerning capital punishment cases.
9. Procurator Pilate, having taken the position that Jesus was in fact not guilty, erred in allowing the crazed mob to win out with their verdict of guilty. The judgment on evidence was overruled by the insistence of the mob.

SESSION 12: “Total Turnaround”

Session 12 PREP IT
Sacred Transition:
For centuries monks have had a practice of creating sacred transitions between their meditative and life practices. When they would finish a meditation or study time they would pause and reflect on that time. After a few minutes, they would then reflect on the activity they were to do next. This action served as a buffer between events. If they were going to the chapel to meditate, it served as a quieting down, prepping them for the sacred time they were about to experience. If they were leaving their sacred time, it served as a chance to ponder how to put into life practice anything that happened to them in their meditation and study of Scripture.

We’d like to suggest a similar practice as you close out your study of James. Take some time to look back on your experience, both for you personally and on behalf of your students. Ponder questions such as:

What has God been showing me through this study?
What does God want me to learn through the message of James?
What adjustments do I need to make in applying the message of James?
What themes have resonated with my students?
Where do I see God softening the hearts of my students?
What might God be leading us to do as a result of our experience in James?

Session 12 MEDIA
Music: Take You Back, Jeremy Camp (Restored)
             Turn Around and Bump in the Road, Jonny Lang (Turn Around)
Video: Video/Scripture experience: The Mirror of God’s Word

Session 12 TEACH IT
Active option for Final Thoughts:
materials needed: several hand held mirrors and Sharpie pens
One of James’ most strident points is found in James 1:23-25 where he writes:

23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does.

Use James’ picture of looking at yourself in the mirror to help your students lock into the message of James. Distribute hand mirrors to your students (one per student or one per 2-3 students) and a Sharpie pen for each mirror. Give students a couple minutes to look over their journal pages and Scripture sheets from the James study and find an instruction from James that was most convicting or challenging to them (remind them that James has more instructions per word than any other book of the Bible). After a couple minutes, read James 1:23-35 to your students and then have them share their instructions. But as they share, have them write it on a mirror.

After your students have shared and you have several mirrors with writing, decide as a group what you want to do with the mirrors. Make a wall collage? Pass them around from week to week?

AfterWord
Your study experience in James was a time for you and your students hear the word. Now do it. These are some of our favorite “doing” ministries, organizations that can help you and your students do what they’ve been hearing about.

TeenServe
www.teenserve.org

YouthWorks
www.youthworks.com

Justice Mission
www.ijm.org

Operation Light Force
www.operationlightforce.com