Sermon Prep | James 1:2–8

I would leave the closet light on to help, but night after night I would get up, go to mom and dad’s room, and lay down on the floor on mom’s side of the bed and fall asleep there.

She even left this pillow there on the floor for me to lay my head on.

There was comfort in knowing that no matter how scared I was, Mom and Dad wouldn’t be.

*Shipwreck pic*

“The Rock Never Trembled”

“About 100 years ago, a ship in a storm wrecked against the rocks in a place called Cornwall, at the South West corner of England. A fifteen-year-old sailor swam to safety on an offshore rock. He climbed up and waited all night until he was rescued the next morning. A reporter interviewed him and commented, ‘You must have been shaking all night as you clung to that rock.’ ‘Yes,’ the young sailor replied, ‘I trembled all night with fear and cold.’ Then he added, ‘But the rock never trembled once”

WE

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We’ve all been scared at one time or another.

Maybe it’s a scary character from a movie or show that freaks us out.

For me, it was Freddy Krueger.

For my wife, it’s Chucky from the Child’s Play movies.

We had a friend in West Virginia who was deathly afraid of little people- like could not function around them.

Or maybe you’re afraid of your parents getting a divorce, grandma possibly dying from illness, or some other real-life heavy stuff.

The truth is, tough times come for all of us, and we don’t like them.

GOD

A man named James knew about tough times.

He grew up as a poor child as the brother of literally the perfect kid: Jesus.

He watched as Jesus grew up and began His ministry, and experienced the horrific death of his big bro.

Then, after believing his brother as the Son of God accepting Him as Savior and serving him as the head of the church in Jerusalem, he was stoned to death for his beliefs.

That’s tough.

This month, we’re taking a look at the book that James wrote in the Bible.

In this book, we get practical, everyday advice from the Lord’s brother on things like suffering, peer pressure and temptation.

Today, we start with suffering:

James 1:2–8 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Problems=Pure Joy?

James says here that tough times make us stronger and mature in faith.

John Wesley said that “Joy is the highest degree of patience.”

When we can remain joyful in bad times, we can learn patience at all times.

What we must learn to do in tough times is cry out to God for wisdom on how to get through the situation.

God didn’t make those bad things happen in your life, but He will help you to grow through them.

By His grace, we will become stronger through trials.

WHEN BAD TIMES COME, GOD’S GRACE HELPS ME OVERCOME

YOU

Potato Famine pic

“BUT”

During one of the severe potato famines in Ireland, many families wrote letters to their landlord saying they had no money to pay their rent and begged to be let off all their debts. The Irish landlord was Canon Andrew Robert Fausset.

Canon Fausset wrote back to his tenants. He said it was quite impossible to let them off their debts. It would set a bad precedent. They had to pay every single penny.

‘But,’ he wrote, ‘I enclosed something that might help you.’ Unlike so many of the other landlords at the time, he sent a check for a very large sum of money – which more than covered all their debts.

Can you imagine how excited they were when they saw the word ‘but’?

‘But’ is a powerful word when facing trouble, tests and temptations.

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Jesus has overcome the world, and no matter what you’re facing in life, He will help you overcome too, if you’ll simply cry out to Him, listen for His voice, and TRUST HIM.