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

 In this episode of Kingdom Conversation, Pastor Jared and Pastor Robby conclude our Kingdom Wisdom sermon series with a look back at the practical and life-changing truths found in the book of James. Together they reflect on the lessons that challenged and encouraged our church—from enduring trials with faith, to living out our beliefs through action, guarding our words, and embracing God's impartial love. Join the conversation as they discuss what Kingdom living looks like today and share practical encouragement for continuing to grow as disciples of Jesus. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Church of the Lakes Kingdom Conversations Podcast. At Church of the Lakes, our mission is connecting all the Christ to become healthy in God and courageous in love. In 2026, we're emphasizing a kingdom mindset in all of our ministries and missions by being more like Jesus and countercultural in our living. Today's podcast wraps up our sermon series Kingdom Wisdom, a study of the book of James. Join Pastor Jared and Pastor Robbie as they talk about lessons learned from James and what encouragement can be drawn from God's holy words. Be blessed.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

Welcome to another Kingdom Conversation. I'm Pastor Robbie Strock, and today we are wrapping up our sermon series called Kingdom Wisdom, which we've been looking through the book of James, the letter from James to the early church in Jerusalem. And throughout this series, we've really focused on having faith in the fires of life. We've focused on faith that's lived outwardly, how there are no favorites in the kingdom of God. We talked about taming the tongue, amongst other great wisdoms, all found from the half-brother of Jesus James. And to help guide us through our wrap-up discussion today is Pastor Jared Pre said. How are you doing, Jared? I'm doing well. Thank you. Well, good. I hope you found this series encouraging as it has built up a part of our 2026 focus on the kingdom of God. Certainly, kingdom wisdom has something to do with that, uh, certainly, as we follow throughout the sermon series, that you can listen to right here on this podcast. But Jared, to first start us off, when you look back over this series, you know, what messages or kind of passages through the five chapters of James have stayed with you the most as we wrap this whole discussion up?

SPEAKER_01 1:51

I uh really just love the entire book of James because of how practical the book is.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Yeah, I'm into that.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

And so, you know, if you have to kind of push me down and name one verse that you you like the most, probably James 1.22, uh, where James talks about how we need must be doers of the word and not hearers of the word only. And I think that that verse alone encapsulates all of James, because it is really not the why but the how of our faith, of the Christian life. And so James 1.22, be doers of the word and not hearers only. Uh really a reminder that that spiritual maturity measured uh by obedience, not just head knowledge. Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Yeah, thanks, Sherrod, because when we look back over James, certainly we see the practical aspects like hitting us upside the head a couple of times. Because James is incredibly practical in the way that he's writing to the early church. And why do you think that should still speak powerfully to the church today? Look, I think we understand that we should do good things for the kingdom of God, but what are some of the other practical wisdoms that we see that need to be lived out from James's uh perspective, perhaps?

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Yeah, I you know, I think James is such a powerful book and relevant book even to today because human nature has not changed in 2,000 years.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Yeah, it's funny how that works.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

And the same issues that they write about in the scriptures, we're still dealing uh with today, right? We still struggle with were our words. So the you know, a message on the need to tame the tongue is so relevant. Uh we still struggle with you know our priorities, with favoritism, with with being too prideful, worried and consumed with anxiety. Uh we live with divided loyalties. Yeah. You know, going back to you know the being doers of the word and not just hearers only, it makes me think about you know how well maybe we in America compartmentalize life. And you mentioned that I think it was last week or the week before. And uh, you know, James is asking the question I don't want to just know what difference your faith makes on Sunday morning, but what difference does it make on Monday morning and throughout the rest of the week? And it's just such a relevant uh letter to the early church. And James is really cutting through the excuses, and he's calling us, the church, to authentic discipleship. Uh, I I want to see what authentic discipleship looks like, and it's not just Sunday morning and it's not just ethereal, it's not in your head.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

So at the root of this, then we've got to talk a little bit about surrender, which is not coincidental why we talked about surrender throughout the whole entire season of Lent through our sermon series called Altered, right? So, with that in mind, how does James focus in surrender and doing good works? Like, for instance, we talk about the three T's often at Church of the Lakes. We talk about people's time, talents, and treasures. When we talk about surrender, does that mean that we have to surrender all three of those things to God in a practical way of doing good works? Or how do you see that kind of playing out through the book of James?

SPEAKER_01 5:02

You just you're making me uh think of Jesus in the Gospels where He tells us that if anyone chooses to be to be a disciple of mine, that person must deny themselves, pick up a cross, and follow me. Yeah, you know, surrender in my mind has to do with relinquishing our rights or our privileges or our priorities the way we want them to uh having those things be subservient to what Jesus wants. Um, and and that's again why this is so practical with our time, treasures, and talents. So surrender, you know, it's we surrender and we we we do that with a sincere heart and a willingness to relinquish. Uh part of that relinquishing is the way we use our time, treasures, and talents. So that's the practical aspect of surrender. And that I think that's what you're asking.

SPEAKER_02 5:51

Yeah, so if we truly do surrender to King Jesus, as we've talked about multiple times this year, how does James factor into the equation then? Because kingdom living is going to actually look different, it's going to make us distinct in nature, right? How how does James play off of that theme a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Well, it it's just it's just it's living under the rule and reign of Jesus. It's it's trying to grow into his likeness each and every day. And and and that shows up in the practicalities of our lives, shows up in our relationships, it shows up in our conversations, it shows up in our generosity, in the way we we we we even look at work. I I know so many people they live for TGIF, thank God it's Friday, right? Yes. Um But but that's not how Christians should look at life. I mean, work is the context Monday through Friday God puts us in to to exhibit our faith in practical ways to to help further the advancement of his kingdom and expand the boundaries of his kingdom on earth. So we shouldn't be just living for the weekend. We should be living for every day.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Uh in and that's part of surrender as well. Yeah. It's giving up every day and every aspect of our day, whether it be at home, work, or in the community or the way we entertain ourselves.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

It's going to infiltrate every you know, reaches and depths, not only of our heart and our soul, but also of then if it does so into our homes, our schools, our workplaces, communities, so on and so forth.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Yeah, because the kingdom of God isn't something we're waiting to wait for to arrive. Right. You know, the scriptures talk about you know, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand or it is near or it is here. And and so we have this theology in the church about how they, you know, we understand the kingdom of God is already, but not yet. Yeah, yeah. Like like Jesus' conception, his birth, his ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension has inaugurated his kingdom here on earth, and it's not going to come in its completion until he returns. But we're not just sitting by waiting for it to come to in its fulfillment. No, we're called to display and demonstrate it in the here and now because it already is in the here and now.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Well, with that in mind, with it being in the here and now, what do you think out of the whole entire sermon series, Jared, the book of James, whether it's scripture or whether it's been um through our illustrative sermons, so on and so forth, what do you think on a very practical level, James is practical after all, here in Canton, Ohio in the year 2026, how do you think this book, if we truly applied it to our lives and used it, how do you think it's gonna have the biggest impact on our congregation in the here and now? Let's get practical, man.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Yeah, I love it. I love the question. In part, it's it's becoming people who consistently simply live with what we already know. You know, it's taking what's in our head and and allowing it to be worked out in our hands. Uh it looks like taming our tongues. Look, you know, he talks about the the power in the tongue. It it can either build up or it can tear down. And in our culture today, it man, the tongue tears down a lot. And you know, social media, those might not be words we're verbally speaking from our mouth, but they're they are words that we are shouting. Um, I I think another impact is it's it's extending mercy to people instead of showing favoritism. Uh, you know, it it's it's a willingness to help somebody in need, even if they can't repay us. Um, I I think it's it's seeing trials. I love the way James even starts the book with considering pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, yeah. I I think it's seeing trials as opportunities for God to shape our character and for us to demonstrate uh a witness to the to the faithfulness and the goodness of God in the midst of trials. It's it's also it's living with humility and even if you can call it a humble dependence on God instead of self-reliance. Um we are a culture who has been conditioned to rely on ourselves and selves alone, pull up ourselves by our bootstraps. If you know we want to m make something, we have to do it for ourselves. Really, the faith is it is it's a a humble dependence on God. It doesn't mean we don't work hard and you know use our resources to make more resources, but but ultimately we have a dependency on God. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Well, thanks, Jared. Let's do a even another further application step then. Let's talk good. Let's talk good about some of the people within the walls of this faith community. We don't need the name names, that's not what this is about. But Jared, you have been here for quite a season now. Yeah, loving you. My started my 12th year last week. Awesome, fantastic. I know we celebrated and will celebrate even to a further extent, Pastor Brian George, who spent 30 years.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

30 years, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Um, and then there's Measley Robbie, who's been here like six months, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Although I think maybe your involvement with the congregation created both of us because you grew up in the ways that you think Church of Lakes is, as James put it, are being doers of the word.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

What are some of the ways? Let's talk good. Let's talk good about the church.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Well, we are in the midst this summer of building a house uh for the Kearns family with Habitat for Humanity.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

You know, we have uh crews going out every weekend to help hang wall drywall to mail boards.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

Hey, last last week, Jared, I talked to some of the people who were kind enough to go out, even on a Wednesday morning.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

They put hammers down at 11 30 because by then it was already touching a hundred degrees and a hundred percent humidity.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

And it was a rough week last week.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

But they still they still got done doing good for the Lord. You know what I mean? Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

And I don't know, you might know better than me. Is this our 14th habitat bill?

SPEAKER_02 12:06

No, no, I think it's more like yeah, I think that's 15th or 16th.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

That's incredible. And that just shows not only are people willing to get their hands dirty doing good in that capacity, but most of the homes we built, uh, the church has either uh has paid for paid for the entire bill of one or has you know paid most of them each of the years. Yes. And that just it shows speaks to the generosity of this congregation with financial resources. Um certainly, and we we talked a lot about this last week. The way this church cares for children and foster care system the system or vulnerable people just astounds me. Um, I mean, from from the families who are licensed foster caregivers to all the people that that serves uh you know that wrap around them in care communities, to some of our partnerships with Hope Bridge or Children's Christian Home of Ohio or Royal Family Kids Camp. Uh it's a congregation that really uh you know wants every every child to be seen, understand that they're significant, that they're deeply loved uh by us, and more importantly by Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

Well, it and if I could be so bold, uh Jared, I I'm sure you would uh appreciate this maybe more than anybody, uh, but the evolution of going from having a a summer camp, Royal Family Kids Camp, that is a week in the whole entire scheme of the year of 52 weeks. Yeah, we've grown and expanded that so that there is a constant touch with kids in the foster care network. Maybe not to the same extent of 64 kids at a camp down at Wakanda every year, you know, but you know, seven, you know.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

Yeah, you're right. But like right now, I I think right now in the church on any given Sunday, there's over a dozen kids in foster care that are in our church. It's amazing, it's in our church because they're in our families.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

But that that's about being it's kind of like uh James is saying, I think in the scriptures, more so, is to continue maturing by doing good works. And that includes, you know, maybe instead of uh just giving uh one weekend a year, give a whole entire week, and then maybe it's to do it one weekend a month, yeah. So and start to grow it bits and pieces. And that isn't that cool with the evolution.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

It's really great. And we have over the past, I guess, two and a half years, three years, you know, we've gone from a family who fosters to now seven. Yeah. And and that's that's cool to see people that are are taking the next step of being willing to exhibit costly obedience by opening up their homes.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

But then think about and excuse my ignorance, but you can certainly speak to this. How many uh people are in a care community? Let's say for one of these. So so let's do the math. So if there's we went from one to yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

So now we'll all of a sudden, and you start, you know, it's a those are just care community team members that are you know providing tangible resources, maybe a meal, maybe transportation, maybe respite mentoring. There's also a whole army of people that support in terms of prayer support. Yeah, and that's another thing I would say about this congregation is just a significant amount of prayer that is invested in everything that they do. Um, you know, we believe in the power of prayer. Why? Well, because we direct those prayers to a big and powerful God, you know, the living God. And just even with Royal Family Kids Camp, you know, our director of communication, Betsy's, came up with this idea. Let's let's take a next step in prayer for praying for the 64 kids going to Royal Family Kids Camp. And so she she wrote names on um bracelets for people to wear for over the next two weeks leading up to camp. So these kids are being prayed by multiple people every day over these two weeks. Amen. And we believe that's gonna make an impact, right?

SPEAKER_02 15:52

And then uh, okay, how about this? I was thinking as we were preparing for this podcast, like there are certain times that you and I certainly, and Brian, Pastor Brian as well, we have a pretty large heavy duty on Sunday mornings, right? To lead worship in the in our capacity, at least. Uh, but we would be nothing without the people that come alongside of us to help us.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

The young the unsung heroes of that, you know, people operating the sound system, uh, live stream text, uh, readers at the door on the connection teams. Connection team, liturgists. I mean, you're in the choir. I can't carry a tune in the bucket, so I can't speak to, you know, you know, your dean is awfully kind, but let me sing as well. But well, yeah, all of our musicians, I mean, our Sunday school teachers, goodness. Uh, I don't know where we'd be without them as they're trying to plant seeds of faith in the hearts of our youngest members at our church.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

But I think of people who are doing good. Man, we partner with some incredible people who help us to put on an effective worship that helps people discover the Lord on Sunday mornings here. Um, it's countless. We could go on forever. And I wish we could uh to say thank you to all the people that help. But I I wanted to give us an opportunity to talk good about people, maybe behind their back a little bit. It's kind of weird to phrase it that way, but taming the tongue sometimes means that we get to talk good about people even when they don't realize it, right? Um so all right. So, Jared, let's kind of finish up the discussion this way, perhaps. Um, as we get ready to move beyond the book of James, what do you hope our church doesn't leave behind? Or maybe better said, what do you think will be the calling card of the book of James as we move forward, as we look back here in a couple of months, maybe on what we've done in this sermon series?

SPEAKER_01 17:47

Just to maybe give some bullet point statements to that question. I I I I would go um I I desire this congregation to have a hunger for God's word, a willingness to obey uh the promptings of the spirit, even when it's uncomfortable. Uh exhibit humility that listens before even speaking. Uh you know, having a faith that is visible, compassionate, and very active. Uh a conviction that every ordinary day is an opportunity to live as a kingdom citizen. That's that's honestly the whole theme of the year is to be effective kingdom builders in our circles of influence. And and maybe the last is you know, seek to be a site a disciple, not just a church attender. You know, not be a fan, be a follower. Yeah, I've been using Kyle Edelman uh statement from I mean 20 years ago, maybe now. But yeah, hey, that's okay. It's timeless. Yeah, that's where I'd go.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Oh, good. Well, um, of course, you know, I hope people feel the calling of Jesus Christ throughout this whole entire sermon series because Jesus got his hands dirty, if I can use those in those ministries, serving uh people upfront, personal, close. I think of so many times like the interaction that Jesus had with the woman at the well. Yeah, of like how he had an opportunity uh to certainly speak truth in love. He certainly didn't whitewash uh the conversation with her and the difficulty she was having in life, but he certainly didn't leave her without hope, right? So much so that she went running back to the village to spread the word. Like, and that's so cool. How if you allow Jesus to speak truth to you, how oftentimes the response is to go and do and to tell other people about Jesus, right? Certainly, who are you and I to talk, uh tell people how to tell Jesus, uh, share Jesus in their homeschool or workplace. We hope we give people a recipe that will be successful, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:50

Uh, but certainly whether it's in foster care ministry or whether it's uh by serving with our youth or whether that's by serving in worship, we hope we're empowering people to share the love of Jesus Christ in a unique and new way. Yeah. Praise God. Well, Jared, let's end this way. Let's end with our uh one of my favorite segments we always do throughout our podcast each week, which is real questions, real answers. And of course, if you have a question that you'd love for Jared and I to answer here on the podcast, feel free to shoot it off to us at podcast at churchalakes.org. We, of course, sometimes we'll take a swing and maybe we hit a single, or maybe Jared will hit a home run today. But here's our question for today. Um, what's one practical challenge you'd give every member of our church this week as a way to continue living with kingdom wisdom? Kingdom wisdom.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

That's good. I may not just have one, I may have a few.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Hey, I think we can make time for that. I think you're in charge here.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

So uh I think the what I would say first is before every significant conversation you have this week with somebody, before you go into it, just pause and pray. Jesus, help my words to reflect your kingdom. Help my words to reflect your kingdom. And you know, I get that from James 1, 19 to 21. You know, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Just before you go into any conversation, we'll okay, Lord, help my words today to reflect your kingdom. Uh another one is you know, to maybe choose one intentional act of service for someone who cannot repay you. You know, do something Jesus did, stoop down for one who cannot repay you. Extend grace as he did to you, uh this undeserved favor. Um maybe another one would be look for opportunity to encourage somebody instead of criticize someone. Right. I think we do a lot of criticizing of one another when we can probably instead just encourage. Um maybe the last one I would say is just remember. Bring that theme throughout the entire series, kingdom wisdom wisdom isn't just what you know, it's how you live. And just be conscious of that reality. Um let your light shine before all people that they may see your good deed and bring glory to God in heaven.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Well, I'm so thankful for your practical guidance, Jared, because certainly I think if we live this out, and it'll be difficult, and I'm sure it won't be perfect, but people will take notice. And then just like the bracelets that you mentioned that Betsy so graciously put together, and what a great idea. You had mentioned to me that not only is it a way of a reminder to keep people in prayer, but then it's also a ministry conversation opportunity. It is, yeah. Because somebody's gonna see it and you have a choice. You can either say, Um, this is why I'm doing this, uh, this is the reason why I'm doing this, and you have an opportunity to just share the gospel message, right? Isn't that what it's all about? So certainly we would encourage people to to see every opportunity that is before them, even maybe in the messy moments and seasons of life as well. Or the mundane ones, yeah, you know, yeah, speaking uh life and encouragement into people, certainly. Uh there is no greater way to do that than sharing the gospel message. But thanks. And once again, uh, if you'd love to submit a question, we'd love to uh read it right out here on the podcast. Once again, please email us at podcast at churchhelakes.org. Um, and thank you so much for your time, Jared. I know this is a busy season, it is the summer. We're gonna have lots of opportunities to share more about our sermon series and stuff, but uh, we're gonna certainly have a little hiatus between you and I because uh you're taking a trip to Africa. I am, had no where their permission were. Well, certainly we'll keep you in our prayers as you head over to Sierra Leone and our long-standing partnership with helping children worldwide and our ministry team of I guess it's eight, is it eight people in total?

SPEAKER_01 23:59

We have seven from church flakes going, and we're gonna be meeting a collective team of 18.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Okay. I knew the magic number was seven, but oftentimes we don't include ourselves in those numbers. But before we go, I just want to say once again a big shout out to Betsy, not only her incredible ingenuity and gospel center mission work that she does as director of communication, but thank you to Len Brown, who is our great editor-in-chief and encourager, and then to my wife, Stephanie, who helps get us uh up and running on our social media platforms. And if you want to reach out with a suggestion or something that you'd love to hear on the podcast, certainly while Jared's away for a couple of seasons, we're gonna interview uh the director of LifeWise Academy, our Habitat for Humanity coordinator. We're gonna interview uh uh people who went on the mission trip, whether that's in Sierra Leone or down to Kentucky with Pastor Tony and his team. Uh if you have a suggestion of someone you'd love to hear on, we'd love to hear it. Of course, send it to podcasts at church of the lakes.org. Uh but before we go, please remember that it's our mission here as followers of the disciples of Jesus to connect all to Christ, to become healthy in God and courageous in love. And then until next time, God bless.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Thanks for listening to this episode from Church of the Lakes with Pastor Jared Priestett and Pastor Robbie Strock. 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 church of the lakes.org or click the web link in the description. Until next time, stay encouraged and keep walking in faith.