Conversation - with Pastor Jared & Pastor Robby - Kingdom Wisdom Launch

Welcome to the launch of Kingdom Wisdom, Church of the Lakes' newest sermon series exploring the practical and transformative teachings of the Book of James.

In this episode of Kingdom Conversations, Pastor Robby Strock and Pastor Jared Priset introduce the historical background, purpose, and key themes of James, a letter that challenges believers to live out their faith with authenticity and a Kingdom mindset. Together they discuss why James remains one of the most relevant books of the Bible today, addressing topics such as enduring life's trials, living faith through action, showing mercy and justice, taming the tongue, and walking in humility.

As Church of the Lakes focuses on developing a Kingdom Mindset in 2026, this conversation will help you discover what it means to view life through "God goggles" and follow Jesus in a way that is both countercultural and deeply practical.

The episode also features our "Real Questions, Real Answers" segment, where we explore James 1:5 and discuss why believers often struggle to seek God's wisdom before making important decisions.

Whether you're new to the Bible, a longtime follower of Christ, or preparing to join us for this sermon series, this episode provides a helpful introduction to the wisdom and challenges found in the Book of James.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Kingdom Conversations Podcast from Church of the Lakes, where our mission is connecting all to Christ, to become healthy in God and courageous in love. In 2026, we're focusing on living with the kingdom mindset, becoming more like Jesus, and living counterculturally in a world that often pulls us in the opposite direction. Today's podcast watches our newest sermon series, Kingdom Wisdom, a study of the book of James. Join Pastor Jared and Pastor Robbie as they talk about the overreaching themes of this letter to the early church. Be blessed.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Welcome to another Kingdom Conversation. I'm Pastor Robbie Strach, and today we are launching our next sermon series, Kingdom Wisdom, as we look at the book of James. And throughout this series, whether that's uh the sermons or the kingdom conversations here on our podcast feed, we're gonna look at some of the practical ways to live out our faith with a constant kingdom mindset. Or like I I like to say, I like to say we're gonna put our God goggles on. But uh to help us unravel some of the scripture uh and theology of James uh and the application points is Pastor Jared Preese. How are you doing, Jared? I'm doing well, thank you. Good. It's good to have you back on as we launch this new summer sermon series. We finally made it to summer, dude. It's it's uh I can't believe it.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Yeah, you know, we're gonna be wishing the year's gone by pretty quick, actually.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Well, I was gonna say, uh, you know, we're four sermon series in. Does that sound right? Yeah. But uh this kingdom mindset, uh, I keep telling people in worship, I was like, don't get sick of it. We got just a little bit more to go. But but let's let's look at James together, all right, over these uh next couple of weeks. But uh, can you help introduce us to the book of James? Maybe perhaps walk us through to someone who isn't familiar with it. Let's do some of the logistical stuff. Who wrote it? Who was the audience? What was its intended purpose? What's some of the overarching themes? What do you think about the book of James, Jared?

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Sure. Um, the first thing I would say in terms of who wrote it, uh, because I'm a Protestant Christian, uh, the answer is the half-brother of Jesus named James, who also was the leader of the Jerusalem Church.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

That feels like a loaded answer. It is.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Uh, if you talk to a Greek Orthodox Christian or a Catholic Christian, they would tell you that Jesus had no brothers or sisters, and that James is referring maybe to um uh stepbrothers and sisters from uh Joseph's his father's uh earthly father's uh previous marriage, or uh it's a term used loosely to consist of maybe Jesus' cousins. But as a Protestant, I take some of the scripture at face value, and you can't get past Matthew and Mark in particular and see that there's actually specific named people as the brothers and also some sisters of Jesus. So it's the half-brother of Jesus, leader of the Jerusalem church. Uh James, uh scriptures will also say once doubted that uh Jesus was actually uh the Son of God, uh, but after the resurrection became a bold leader and servant of Jesus Christ. I actually love how his letter opens to the early church. It's James, a servant of God or a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes no reference to Jesus as his brother because the more um primary uh relation happens to be uh in subservient to Jesus, because Jesus is indeed his Lord more than he's his brother. Interesting. Yeah, and so this was written, uh, and James says it at the start to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. Uh dispersion means the people of God that are just scattered all throughout the known world.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

But does that mean just 2,000 years ago or just applicable?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

The word of God is even though it was written a long time ago, still applicable to us today.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

I think that's what's so interesting as we've kind of laid that out, is it's not just relevant 2,000 years ago, so it's relevant today, even the words that are written like that. So sorry to interrupt.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

The truths of God are timeless. Um, I'd like to say that you know the scriptures may have been written to specific people or groups of people, but they're written for us as well. And so this was written to the people of God that are scattered throughout the known uh Roman world at that time that were facing uh persecution, hardship, spiritual drift, even, uh spiritual apathy. And the purpose of this letter was really to call believers in Jesus to a more authentic, mature faith in the way they lived out their life uh day to day. Uh this was not I I like what you said in in service that uh what you love about the letter to the James is it's not the why of Christianity, but the how-to. And it's a very practical book. It's meant to be a book of instruction. Uh people have called it the uh Proverbs of the New Testament because it's filled with just that practical wisdom on how to live as a kingdom of God person in the kingdoms of the world in the here and now. Uh so it emphasizes real faith that changes the way we live, the way we speak, uh the way we treat one another, uh, the way we endure suffering, uh, which is where he really starts uh the letter off in James chapter one. So uh just one more quick thing in terms of introductory thoughts is some of the themes that we're gonna see over the next five, six weeks that we study this book is simply wisdom from God. It's a you know, we're calling the series kingdom wisdom. Uh you know, uh in having endurance, uh being motivated to have endurance through trial, uh the you know, the the interaction, the relationship between faith and works, uh, the power of the tongue. Uh, you know, the the tongue, though it's a small part of the body, can cause great damage if it's not used carefully.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

In a moment of transparency, Jared. I'm glad I'm not preaching that week because that's a that's a growth edge for me.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

So I think that might be week four of the series. Um prayer, uh it takes center stage in James' letter to the early church. Justice and mercy is very um uh important to him, and also just wholehearted devotion to God. What does that look like? And so we'll go through a lot of that over the next six weeks.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Well, that begs the question, you know, in this whole entire year, Jared, in 2026, we are attempting to build on this kingdom mindset time kind of frame of mind. Um, so we're pitching this series as kingdom wisdom.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Why the book of James then? I mean, you kind of went into it, but there's gotta there's gotta be a little bit more to it, right? Do you want to dive into why kingdom wisdom, why James?

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Yeah, I would love to. Um well, like I said earlier, you know, it's it's the Proverbs of the New Testament.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Yeah, that's interesting. I've never heard that before, if I'm being honest. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

Yeah, uh, I I like I like the comment you made earlier about putting your God goggles on. Uh because James is really trying to get us to look at life through the lens of the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. I just this uh full confession this year, I had to get a pair of glasses. And uh it's amazing how how better I can see far distances. Uh I did not realize how bad my eyesight was, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

It's because it was a slow deterioration.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

It was a slow deterioration, and I I think uh, you know, and that's what I love about the kingdom mindset is we're we're really trying to help our congregation and ourselves more intuitively look at the world and life, challenges, even you know, suffering through the lens of the kingdom of God, of the rule and reign of the reign of Jesus Christ. And it's it's so easy. Like I didn't realize I was losing eyesight because it was happening so slowly, how easy it can be to deviate off of looking at life through the lens of the rule and reign of Jesus Christ. And uh James, again, I love because it is a book of wisdom. Uh James is teaching us what godly wisdom actually looks like in everyday life. Uh biblical wisdom, not merely head knowledge. Uh it is it is truth applied. So, you know, in school, you know, take biology class, for instance, you have lecture and lab. You know, uh James is really the lab of of uh you know putting the lesson into real life circumstances. It's the lab, it's really working the faith out in applicable ways. Uh James is constantly contrasting worldly wisdom, if I can call it that, versus the wisdom of above, the wisdom of heaven.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Oh, interesting. Especially that especially fids feeds into our theme for this year.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Oh, it does, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Um you know, uh, Jared, even to push a little further, you know, in the opening verses of James, he tells us that uh our real faith and real wisdom from God will push us through trials to endure. And the the endurance that's provided there will make us more mature and complete. Uh some translations say perfect, and it's like it's this callback. It's almost like James was sitting on the mountainside listening to his half-brother preach the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus tells us to be perfect as perfect perfect. And what people get really confused there is that Greek word there, perfect, doesn't mean sinless. Uh instead, rather it means a more deeper, mature, complete version of faith. Um not that we can't be perfect on said with the spirit we can do anything, with God we can do anything. But I think James is saying here that uh real faith is gonna be at a level of maturity that is much deeper than surface level.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Yeah. So so can we think of James as he's gonna push us deeper into our faith, right? So may so maybe like this isn't the book that you're supposed to start off with when you're becoming uh Christian at first, you know, learning the scriptures or stuff. But this is the next step, maybe the next gradual step for someone to take their faith more seriously and to go deeper.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Is that a fair that's that's very, very fair um statement to make. You know, going back to the idea of perfection, we you know, certainly one of the tenets of of the Methodist denomination within the Christian faith is this idea of entire uh entire sanctification. Um become getting to the point in spiritual depth uh and holiness that you're perfected in love, the type of perfection that that uh Jesus calls us to in Matthew chapter 5, being perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And that comes on the heels of him talking about loving your enemies as you love yourself. And and so the idea of being perfected in love, um, you know, I I I can't imagine my life right now where I'm no longer struggling with sin. But I hope as I continue to pursue Christ most fully, that as I get older I'm sinning less. Right. Uh, but but it is more this idea of of maturity, of uh being fully formed as Wesley was being made whole.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

It's kind of sanctification, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Uh Christian perfection it was the the Wesleyan theological term that he used. Uh now now Wesley did believe that a person could become sinless in this lifetime, although he never said he was on his deathbed.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Through the initial, gradual, and finally entire, which has more to do with surrendering your full self than your own.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Oh, yeah, it does, yeah. But but Jane, but James helps lead us in that direction towards perfection.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Which is why we're gonna focus on it. And so, like, I want people to realize that when you know, and Jared, you're you've really changed my mindset on this as I've um stepped up into somewhat of a pastoral leader now within this faith family, but I we're studying books of the Bible, we're not studying themes. Okay, this is called Kingdom Wisdom, but it's a study of the book of James.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

It is, yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

And we it's the exegesis that we're seeing the wisdom come out. Correct, yes. Yeah, like I want people to realize that a little bit because we're not cherry-picking certain things to make our yearly annual theme for this year be kingdom wisdom. Kingdom, kingdom type of mindset is all throughout scripture, it is, and we just happened to take that type of scripture and we saw the the continuity throughout the entirety of the narrative of the Bible, and we're helping people discover it that year. So, right now we may be discovering James as a faith family, and we're calling it Kingdom Wisdom as a series title, but really this is just what God is revealing to us in this time, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Is that a fair way of saying that's very fair, yep.

SPEAKER_01 12:49

Well, since we're already on that, um, how does the book of James fit in with our theme for 2026 of living with a kingdom mindset? Why, why did you uh help us pick this book to be as a part of 2026?

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Yeah, yeah, I I think part of it is because we need to, again, as you so eloquently say, put our god goggles on when we're trying to to to exegete culture as we try to understand circumstances or situations we find ourselves in. Um and so how how do we you know Mark Batterson in our Philippians study in our small groups, we talked about uh he in that study he talked about um looking at culture through the Bible, not looking at the Bible through culture. And I think that's why this fits in it, because because wisdom just because somebody knows a lot of facts doesn't mean they're wise.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

And we see plenty of people.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

I guess within let's be fair to be with within and outside the church. Absolutely. Um I think James is really trying to hit it, trying to get us to hit on our let me help you cultivate wisdom and not just knowledge. Uh you know, as I said the other day, uh, you know, the Christian faith is not an it's not an intellectual ascent. You know, we're not looking to try to just gain more knowledge for the sake of gaining knowledge. It's supposed to transform our lives from the inside out our relationships. Again, how we endure suffering or how we even understand suffering. Uh and we talked about that in our uh most previous sermon on this first chapter in James 1. But but in terms of uh the kingdom mindset, like you know, the early church cared about issues like suffering and poverty and division and persecution and tempt temptation. Guess what? Just like many of us do today, right? Uh trials revealed back then whether faith was genuine and whether they truly tr and most deeply trusted in God in the midst of those trials. Guess what? That's the same as today. Yes. Uh, you know, James stresses works not because works save us, but because works, I think, help um give witness to genuine faith. Right? Like so, you know, what does James say in in chapter two? You tell me you have works without your faith, let me show you my works by my faith. Or let me show you my faith by my works, excuse me. Again, works don't save you, but works is a natural response to somebody who is saved.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Because someone who has real faith is obviously gonna have actions that are changed or altered by that, right? That's the true transformation, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Like the tongue, the tongue matters.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah, I joked about that. But Jared, it really is a growth edge for me, and it's something that I take uh real serious when like uh God hits me upside the head with a two by four saying it's time to get in line. Because it's not it's not like I'm out here cussing every day. That's not that's not what I mean by a tame tongue. But instead, it's kind of like how you look at the uh the Ten Commandments. You know, one of the Ten Commandments is famously known is do not take the Lord's name in vain. And oftentimes people think that we're out there cussing uh with his name in there. That's not the point. The point is when you have opportunity to praise the Lord, you have an opportunity to share the good news and you don't do it.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

That's an issue. It is but also it's an issue of how you simply just the attitude behind how you talk to other people. You know, are you are you short? Do you cut them down with your tongue? Doesn't matter if you're using a cuss word or not. And I think in terms of the taming the tongue, and we'll get into this on in that particular Sunday. Uh wow, the the way people post on social media, even though it's not specifically coming out of their mouth, it's coming out of their mouth. And so taming the tongue, I think it you know, talking about kingdom wisdom, it is okay, how are you responding to people even online with your words? Because that's what he means by taming the tongue. It doesn't necessarily have to come out of your mouth, it could come off your keyboard onto a screen, and it's still your words. And so that's an you know, looking again at kingdom mindset to become better kingdom builders, looking at these themes again through the lens of the rule and reign of Jesus and trying to really uh make relevant uh the the proverbs of James here in in the here and now.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

Well, uh Jared, let's get this a little bit more practical because this is an imperatively practical book, James. How about for you? I've already shared a little bit. Maybe tame tongue is something that I need to work on personally. What is something for you? Is it maybe spiritual endurance, which is in James 1? Is it uh I know it's not mercy and justice for all. I mean, Jared, you're deeply invested in breaking cycles of dysfunction within this faith family and without uh outside the doors of this faith family. But what do you think? What is something that you think God is speaking or the spirit's convicting you to work on through this series?

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Um You know, I you know I'm not somebody who I made a I'm not somebody who cusses. Uh so in terms of taming the tongue that way, it's not something that that I tend to struggle with. But I do think sometimes I can be bitey with my words, and there's a conviction there uh from James. Okay, let's let's circle back and start looking at how I'm speaking to other people through the rule and reign of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Um you're a natural encourager.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

I try to, but but you know, there can be circumstances I get myself in where I can easily get angered. Right? And so maybe James is is having that conversation to me as well. Like, you know, be more considerate on the roadways, you know. Uh you know, don't be upset if you get behind the slow person in the cashier line at at the the grocery store when you're in a hurry. Yeah, you know, and again again it's you we laugh, but these are the practical aspects of life where I think James is really applicable.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Hey, here's here's breaking news, Jared. Avoid uh Beldham Village right now. That's all I can see.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

All the orange cones, right? Oh my goodness, there's so much construction.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Well, thank you. I really do like the opportunity giving us the authentic opportunity, as I said, to share a little bit about where we're reflecting in our own lives because I think that makes it real for people. So thanks for being honest and authentic, Jared. Not that that we we wouldn't be any other way, you and I. So it's gonna get us in trouble, I'm sure. But uh yeah, is there anything else that you'd like to say about James? Uh um I didn't I off the top of my head, I'm excited to, as you know, I think most people know that um I'm an engineer. So as an engineer, oftentimes uh I'm studying specs or rule books or code books that help us design and have safety margins, stuff like that. So I really like the book of James because it's practical. It's like this is how you actually do it. Um that's why I adore the book of James. Um, you know, uh how about for you? Is there anything else that you'd like to share on the book of James?

SPEAKER_02 19:54

Yeah, maybe maybe it's a couple one-liners as we we kind of move into the things to look forward to this next six weeks. Is it you know, just maybe some of the intention I believe there is behind the book of James. Like spiritual maturity happens when conviction leads to surrender and obedience. And I think James can be a convicting book for some of us. Sure. Uh, but it's not supposed to demoralize us, it's supposed to lead us toward obedience and towards surrender. Uh again, it's not meant to shame us where we're doing wrong. Uh it's meant to transform us. Uh the goal of this series is not information alone, it's truly spiritual formation. It's to be be changed from one degree of glory to the next, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians. Uh really, this series is supposed to help give us kingdom wisdom to change how we live Monday through Saturday, not just Sunday morning. Um the book is going to challenge us, I think, to stop thinking like the world and actually start living and thinking like citizens of heaven. And I know we just got out of Philippines where we talked a lot about what does it mean to be a citizen of heaven, primarily in the context though, of joy, in the midst of trying circumstances. Um but really James is one more one more thought. James reminds us that faith is not merely something we believe, it's something we embody. Uh you know, going back to that Lesbian Nubigan quote that we talked about last week, uh, living life in such a way that provokes questions only the gospel answers. Yeah. That's the book of James. Uh that we're living with a level of wisdom and humility and obedience and surrender that provokes questions from people that interact with us that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can actually answer.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Well, friends, I hope you're excited to study the book of James as much as we are. I know that uh we're getting towards the summer vacations and people will be popping in and out as school is done, and uh, praise the Lord, the yellow buses are off the roadway. But uh, as I joke, uh, I know my kids are getting ready for things like uh uh church summer camp and VBS and doing mission trips, so on and so forth. And the reason I bring it up is because as you're popping in and out of the faith family over the next uh couple of months, um if you miss a week, just stay tuned right here to this podcast. You're gonna be able to catch, of course, our sermon content, which will be available every Sunday and Monday. But we'll continue to plow through and and highlight some of our mission works and opportunities. And uh Jared, thank you so much for welcome welcoming us in and doing the the launch here. But before we go, I want to go to our our final segment that we do every week called Real Questions, Real Answers. You know, if you'd like to submit a question that Jared and I could help answer on this podcast, please email us at podcast at churchofthelakes.org. It's a great way to to anonymously even send something in to let us know if you like something, don't like something, or want to ask us a question. And you know we didn't have any questions this week so I came up with one in full transparency. But Jared here's my question for you especially as we're getting to turn the page to James. So here's my question. James says in James 1 5 that God gives wisdom generously to those who ask it. He says ungrudgingly giving it why do you think believers then often struggle to seek God's wisdom before making decisions? Because I know oftentimes in the heat of the moment the first thing I don't do is pray. I in a moment of transparency often I go to my wife and I vent or we try and brainstorm and then Stephanie praise the Lord is my center. A lot of times she pokes me and says hey you know this might be something good to pray on and it's like oh yeah you're right and I'm embarrassed to say that but it's true.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Why why why do you think that is true well I think you know just off of my head um we're conditioned in a culture that that encourages self-sufficiency. We are in suburbia and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps figure it out on yourself on your own right and I I I know when uh Meredith and I are in our family you know have tough stuff we have to deal with and she comes to me first thing I say is we'll figure it out you know and she you know in in Jess she'll well not in Jess she's kind of frustrated she's like when you ever when you say that what you mean is I'm gonna figure it out you're just gonna come along for the ride I'm like yeah that's that's pretty much what I mean when I say we'll figure it out as I I'm trusting that you can you can handle whatever it is that we're dealing with but uh spiritual maturity I I think a mark of spiritual maturity is is when we start beginning to pray when that becomes our first response instead of our last resort. And again I appreciate your transparency there. But that really is a mark of spiritual maturity is prayer becomes the first response not the last resort. Because again we are in a a condition in a culture that's about okay uh I I can rely on my own understanding I can rely on my own strength to finish this oh I can't okay well now let me go to the Lord. Yeah and it just it's not supposed to work that way the Lord needs to be the first response.

SPEAKER_01 25:03

Yeah I always I used an illustration recently that uh uh reminded me that our faith isn't like a gym membership it's not something that we have year-round access to but just don't use it because of a whole myriad of reasons you know uh it's not a get out of jail or get out of fire insurance policy rather it's something that needs to be exercised to be worked out as we learned in Philippians but even more so James is really going to push us and I'm excited that uh and at right at the beginning he really pushes us about through the trials of life to see the opportunity of God helping to build up endurance with us.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

It's not that God creates the hardship right it's that he uses the hardship I think the I think scripture will tell us regardless of why we think we're going through hardship the scripture will will affirm and declare that regardless of how we got there God can use it.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

The good the bad and the ugly for our good if for those who are walking according in accordance to his will um if if I could say one more thing about the question you asked I think also in terms of our culture our culture will rewards both speed and self-confidence and sometimes the Christian faith and the decision making within it is a long steady obedience in the same direction. It's waiting on the Lord to give an answer. And we don't like to wait.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

No we don't we're instant gratification.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Right we don't like to wait but sometimes we have to wait um for the Lord to to to to to respond or to give us the answer.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

Yeah well thank you Jared thank you for helping us out today and walking us through James uh but before we go I just want to say of course a big thank you to a lot of our staff here at Churchill Lakes and our guest volunteers uh I think of Betsy our director of communication I think of Lem Brown our editor and encourager I think of my wife Stephanie and how she gets this out onto the platforms and up and running uh way back at the beginning of this year. But uh once again if you'd like to reach out to us, submit a question, please, please please please please send an email to me at podcast at churchlakes.org we'd love to hear from you and please remember it's our mission here at Church of the Lakes as disciples of Jesus to connect all to Christ to become healthy in God and courageous in love and until next time God blessed thanks for listening to this episode from Church of the Lakes with Pastor Jared Priestet and Pastor Robbie Strock.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

If today's message encouraged you and helped you grow as a devoted follower of Christ we invite you to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can also help others discover this podcast by leaving a five-star rating or review and sharing it with your friends, family, coworkers and others in your circle of influence. We're also grateful for your generosity which helps make messages like this available to more people. If you feel led to give please check the link in the description and if you're in the Canton Ohio area we would love to invite you to join us in person on Sunday and worship together. To learn more about Church of the lakes visit churchofthelakes.org or click the web link in the description until next time stay encouraged and keep walking in faith