Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Transparent Christianity

ILLUST - This isn’t what I signed up for.

Sometimes evangelism is like an Amway infomercial.

We’re in our series in the Book of James.

James is the half-brother of Jesus, and a leader in the early church.

At first he did not believe Jesus was God, but after the resurrection, he not only believed Jesus was God, he devoted his life and even his dying breath to teaching and leading others to follow Jesus.

Last week - significance of hearing from the half-brother of Jesus - things he teaches are things he learned from Jesus, not just as a student, but as a brother.

James is very practical.

Right out of the gate James is going to not just give us some theology to think about, he is going to give us some theology to live out.

Let’s be real.

No pretensions today.

As we talk about difficulties and trials today and you see someone struggling - go sit with them.

I love how James hits us right out of the gates.

James can seem a bit disjointed.

In the places where James seems to jump from one thought to another, you’ll often find he links the segments literarily.

v1 ‘Greetings’ and ‘joy’ v2

v4 ‘lacking’ and ‘lacks’ v5

2 Truths (we all know) about Trials

Trials are inevitable; our response to them is not.

(2)

‘When’

This is not an if but when.

you would think this is a no-brainer, but I believe there are many who are evangelized into the church with grand notions that Christianity is a comfortable candy-land filled with sunshine and unicorns.

ILLUST - This isn’t what I signed up for.

Lice at Prairie Camp?

Sometimes evangelism is like an Amway infomercial.

We tell them about a God who is love and loves them deeply.

We tell them about the glory of the gospel and a Savior who came to give life and give it to the fullest.

But we neglect to mention that while we still live in a world that life can still be hard. . .

very hard.

I get it - trials don’t make the best selling tool.

I’ve never seen this passage on the Evangacube or seen it represented on the wordless bracelet - ‘This dirt-brown bead, the one that kind of smells like poop - that represents life after you come to know Jesus but before the yellow one where Jesus returns and makes everything right.’

**However, while a promise of trials is not a good selling point in your gospel presentation, an understanding of how you can walk through ANY pain your going through with a mature faith that expresses itself with a solid joy that is rooted in a faithful understanding of the redemptive work of our good God is the deep answer to life’s pain that this world longs for and only Christianity affords.

**Trials are good because of our good God**

Like James, I don’t want to pull any punches, I don’t want to pretend anything about the Christian life.

I want us to be real.

Just because you follow Jesus

Walking with Jesus never guaranteed walking away from difficulty in life.

Sometimes evangelism is like an Amway infomercial.

‘various kinds’

James is writing to the churches that had been scattered due to persecution.

() - Any of you in witness protection running for your life because of persecution for your faith?

James is writing this for ‘various’ trials because trials can come at pretty much any aspect of our lives

marriage issues

health issues

financial issues

Your pain is YOUR pain.

Trials can be painful, but for the believer there is a purpose.

(3-4)

(Eternal hope enables us to endure trial)

Here’s where Christianity diverges from the rest of the world

‘Steadfastness’ - sometimes translated as ‘patience.’

patience = toleration until something is over.

steadfastness = strength to bear it.

So it’s not ‘grit your teeth until it is over;’ it’s a ‘BRING IT!’

‘perfect’ / ‘complete’ / ‘lacking in nothing’

Said three different ways to get the point across.

Endurance through trials creates a mature faith = ‘wholeness (perfect)

1 pet

All else is burned away.

When you lose everything until all you have is Christ, then you’ll come to realize that with Christ, you have all that you need!

The spiritual perfection that is the goal of trials (vv.

2–4) will be achieved only when divine wisdom is present

2 Battles (we all face) during trials

Doubt  (5-8, 13-15)

The spiritual perfection that is the goal of trials (vv.

2–4) will be achieved only when divine wisdom is present

Wisdom helps you in tests.

Wisdom helps you remain steadfast in trials.

ILLUST - my daughter and getting shots as a child.

She did not understand the shots were good for her.

More wisdom explains how the shots could actually be good.

The problem is, we sometimes operate out of what we FEEL to be REAL rather than what we KNOW to be TRUE.

I’m going through this trial because:

“God is punishing me.”

I must have done something wrong for God to allow this to happen.

God wouldn’t let this happen to someone who was following Jesus - who hasn’t sinned.

Ummmm. . .

Remember Abraham?

Joseph?

I’ll get asked this from time to time - Is what is happening to me a test or punishment.

I’ll give you five minutes to mull that over because the end result is the same - Go to God.

Pray.

If you’ve sinned, go to God and confess it.

If you’re not sure go to God and ask him.

If your trial is not a result of sin but is a test, what does James say to do? Go to God.

Ask him for wisdom.

“God has failed me.”

Some of you going through trials right now cannot understand how in the world God could be doing something good.

You’re praying for an end to the pain, but James is calling to pray for wisdom.

**Because the goal is not comfort but maturity.

Praying for wisdom is the way for us to begin to understand from the perspective of maturity rather than only pain

“God hates me.”

Some of you going through trials

“God is gone.”

God has NOT abandoned you

*The problem with each of these is the wrong view of God - they are born out of a view that God is not good.

If we allow any of these thoughts to grow, we can easily move from a place that calls us to remain steadfast in faith to a place that doubts God’s goodness.

And if God is not good, why serve him?

The feeling is that you’ve been abandoned by God so you will abandon God.

The testing becomes temptation - a way to overcome the trial - or at least numb it’s pain through a means other than steadfast faith - sin.