Sermon Lessons: Conviction
10 "You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom. 11-12 "Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable." (Matthew 5:10-12) You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. (James 2:18) It is our action, not so much our words, that reveal the real conviction of our heart. We always hear that we "cannot judge a book by its cover" and this is very true. What is hidden in the heart is what is manifest in the actions. We have a huge opportunity to affect how the world sees Jesus based on what actions we reveal to the world. James put it this way - you cannot separate "faith" from ...