Message by Dave Patterson- August 16, 2026
James 4:13-5:6 (NIV) Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
James shows us that an active, working faith is a mature faith. Even from the outset of his letter, James tells us a tested faith develops perseverance so we might become mature and complete. So, to be in Christ is to become mature. And a Jesus-centred approach to life culminates in a Christlike lifestyle.
It’s not enough to mind our manners or to do good works. At the core, we all have an issue of spiritual heart disease. God heals our wayward hearts through Jesus.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Big Idea: A growing, Christ-centred faith shapes our perspective on wealth and frees us from becoming schemers and scammers.
Warning #1: Making plans without an eternal perspective (James 4:13-15).
- Ask God to direct your heart and guide your work and ambitions.
Warning #2: Bragging about our schemes without a Jesus perspective (James 4:16-17).
- Consider the good we might be able to do for our fellow human beings, then act on it! If we fail to do good, we labour in vain.
Warning #3: Focusing on perishable wealth (James 5:1-3).
- All our wealth eventually becomes rotted, moth eaten, or tarnished. Being rich is not a sin; hoarding wealth at others’ expense is.
Warning #4: Depriving employees of their fair share (James 5:4-6).
- A self-serving, hoarding mentality is bad enough, but defrauding workers of their wages is especially heinous. Luxury has a way of eroding character.
Warning #5: Earthly actions may have eternal consequences (James 5:3,5).
- James uses end times language. There are two types of judgment mentioned here. What we do now matters.
You can listen to the sermon on YouTube here.
About Dave Patterson: Dave Patterson came from the GTA area and moved here in the 1980s to study kinesiology. Through the years he has worked as a youth pastor for ten years, as lead pastor for six years, and as a kinesiologist off and on throughout the years. Dave and his wife have been attending Westheights for five years. Dave is an extreme extrovert with boundless energy so feel free to approach him; he loves a great conversation!.
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