weeklyred

w ou

texturized worship

every saturday at 1:30 p.m.

club fathom

412 market street

chattanooga, tn

11.06.04

warp and woof

Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other.

Act on what you hear!

Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived.

This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air.

Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

James 1

Do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?

Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?

For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup--where does that get you?

Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."

Not so fast. 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, like the warp and the woof of fabric.

The warp is the vertical strand of thread--faith--clear fishing line.

The woof is the horizontal strand of fabric, thread, paper.

The woof is what creates the texture of the fabric,

The woof is your life,

The woof is your worship.

Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works?

The fabric of your life--faith and expression.

Without faith, the expression of your life would not hold together,

without God,

your life has no value,

no meaning,

no substance.

Warp and Woof. Faith and Works. Your life in Christ.

Texturized.

Texturized worship. Warp and Woof. Faith and Works. God and You.

The very moment you separate body and spirit,
you end up with a corpse.

Separate faith and works
and you get the same thing: a corpse.

Separate the warp and the woof: tangled mess.

Separate your faith and your daily existance:
your are dead in sin

James 2

But weave the warp and the woof,
--faith and the expression of Christ in you,
and you have a beautiful tapestry
that glorifies God.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galations 2:20

under--over

growing up

reaching out

texturized worship

woven expression of
who you are in Christ