James 2:14-26 this weekend...

I'm excited about my opportunity to preach on this passage. To be honest, I'm a bit troubled by how hard James hits his Christian audience with his message of "faith without works is dead" because he doesn't skirt around it. He hits them square in the forehead with this simple message. I'm not troubled by him hitting his audience hard, but I'm troubled by how hard I should hit my audience. Jesus says, speak the truth with gentleness and respect. James, if I read between the lines, does not necessarily do this well. He's in your face! He's almost sarcastic to drive home his point...faith, unless accompanied by action is useless! I'm struggling to find a gentle yet firm way to approach North Way with this text. Pray.