Him We Proclaim The Mount Church, Clemson, SC

James 1:1-4: Summary:James introduces himself to dispersed but gathered Christians. As is required to serve them well, James is first a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel is underneath him as he launches into deeply practical Christianity---heavenly wisdom for living faith. He deals initially with their approach to the trials they're facing. The main imperative is to count it all joy when they face them. This heavenly calculus demands applying what they know to be true about (1) God's goal with Christ's people, (2) the nature of true faith, (3) the result of testing of it, and (4) the cumulative effect and/or gain of steadfastness. Joy is in likeness to Jesus and, insofar as trials produce that, we can count it all joy when we meet them.
Sermon Outline:
James, and what to know of him. (1:1)
Trials, and how to meet them. (1:2-4)

Habakkuk 3:17-19: Summary:Habakkuk finishes his lyrical prayer with a loveliest resolve. Framing God's sufficiency by counting the cost of the nation's sin, grieving the result of the impending exile, the prophet resolves: as I have God, all is not lost. Indeed, where one has God, they have all they need or could ever want, even a joy that no terror can finally steal away. The believer's joy, being God Himself, is not situational or circumstantial. It is ultimately impervious to the change in wind and tide. Habakkuk takes joy, then, in God, focusing specifically on how the Lord has saved him, strengthened him, and given him a song to share with all who suffer for righteousness. Not suffering, but salvation will have the final say for all who live by faith.
Sermon Outline:
Framing the sufficiency of God for seasons of suffering. (3:17)
Standing on the sufficiency of God for seasons of suffering. (3:18-19)

Habakkuk 3:1-16: Summary:
Living by faith, the righteous prophet responds to God's Word with humble and hopeful prayer. God's purposes cannot be thwarted and though it includes the suffering of His own, His own will take heart and grant God to do whatever is most fitting to His glory. Though it involve a cross, faith pleads for a revival of God's work, 'in wrath remember mercy.' God shows up responsively. By faith, Habakkuk sees the Lord. He's granted to see the promise of Genesis 3:15 upheld and reaffirmed in his own day and situation. As promised, as in the Exodus, God will save His people through the judgment of His enemies. What they devised for their victory, God's designed for their downfall and the deliverance of all who believe. Seeing this, the prophet finds himself in a personal Gethsemane. He quakes, but doesn't falter. Living by faith, he resolves to wait patiently for the promised mercy of God. Like another, Habakkuk will bear his cross for the joy set before him.
Sermon Outline:

The prayer of faith under trial. (3:1-2)
The promise(s) for faith under trial. (3:3-15)
The perseverance of faith under trial. (3:16)

Habakkuk 2:5-20: Summary:
God's answer to Habakkuk continues. Having addressed his own people, he now directs his attention to Babylon. Though this nation may think its power uncontestable, it will find that all its wickedness will come back on its head. Though his people are chastened, God has not abdicated his throne. He still rules heaven and earth. He still speaks. And all that would boast in themselves and stand in opposition to his glory will be silenced.
Sermon Outline:

To the one storing up judgment for the future
To the one who would have safety at any cost
To the one benefiting off of others' pain
To the one finding joy in others' shame
To the one who trusts in the work of his own hands

Habakkuk 1:1-2:4: Summary: Habakkuk despairs over the spiritual condition of Judah. If he's pained by it, why doesn't God seem to be? And when God answers, why is the answer not revival? On the farthest end, why is it judgment by means of a wicked enemy? In revealing His knowledge of the Chaldeans, God reveals His control over the situation. His purpose will not be thwarted. Still, acknowledging this, how can the everlasting Holy One ordain the evil as instrumental in the judgment of His people? It seems out of character that the righteous should perish at the hands of the wicked. Habakkuk takes to his post and waits for the Word. God's answer is intended to fuel the faith of His people. It's for running under the weight of a cross. What God says will come to pass, so best not to be prideful. Instead, 'the righteous shall live by his faith.' By faith, the sinner is justified, and the justified is stabilized, and the stabilized is enabled to view present sufferings in light of the life won for them in that great reversal: Christ and Him crucified. This world is meant to give way to a never ending one.
Sermon Outline:The righteous surrounded: Habakkuk's perplexity over the state of God's people. (1:1-4)
The righteous exiled: the Lord's unexpected answer to the plight of the righteous. (1:5-11)
The righteous stationed: Habakkuk's perplexity over the content of God's answer. (1:12-2:1)
The righteous quickened: the Lord's sure Word for the waiting of His suffering saints. (2:2-4)

Acts 26:2-29: Summary:
Paul is on trial for his hope in the resurrection. Given a pulpit, he addresses the king on the matter. Pleading for patience, Paul recounts his roots. Laying the foundation for the dramatic reversal in his life, he speaks to his upbringing and notoriety within Pharisaical Judaism, and how that led him, against hope, to oppose Jesus by persecuting the Church. In the midst of his rage, however, his hope found realization where he'd have never imagined it: the risen Jesus. Meeting him, Jesus apparently converted, then commissioned Paul to preach the message he once tried and failed to destroy. And because he obeyed Jesus, he was on trial. It is not incredible that God raises the dead. He's God. Jesus lived. The Church endured. Paul was new. This was the Word of God. And it wasn't like it all happened in a corner! Christ and Christianity confirm for the world that God will raise the dead---and that it's essential that one become a Christian by faith in Christ.
Sermon Outline:

Paul's Christian hope. (26:2-8)
Paul's defense of the Christian hope. (26:9-26)
Paul's Christian hope for the 'almost Christian.' (26:27-29)