In this, second sermon in the James: Jesus’ Bold Little Brother series, Pastor Mark preached through James 1:2–8, which are some of the most well known verses about suffering in the Bible. Pastor Mark redefines “joy” when James says, “Count is all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Happiness is available to everyone because of common grace, but joy is the domain of Jesus’ people.
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When life is hard, God isn’t punishing you. God doesn’t punish his people bc he already punished his Son. #boldJames
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When life is hard, God isn’t failing you. God isn’t w/out power & God isn’t w/out a plan. #boldJames
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When life is hard & you’re hurting, you need to grow in trusting the Lord. That’s what faith is. #boldJames
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When life is hard, God hasn’t abandoned you. Jesus says, “I’ll never leave you. I’ll never forsake you.” #boldJames
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Trials will transform you. Do you want to be more like Jesus? Do you want a trial? It’s the same question. #boldJames
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Knowledge is not bad, but it’s not enough. Knowledge is knowing truth, wisdom is knowing how to act. #boldJames
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Knowledge fills your mind; wisdom guides your life. Knowledge is truthful; wisdom is useful. #boldJames
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You need more than self-help. You need God’s help though the teaching of the Scriptures. #boldJames
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Our world is not lacking in information; it’s lacking in wisdom. #boldJames
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Ask God for wisdom, trust he’ll give it, seek the wisdom he gives & write it down so you don’t forget it. #boldJames
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Faith is trusting God to give wisdom, then receiving that wisdom to make a plan bc wisdom is about action. #boldJames
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- Steadfastness produces maturity. Your godliness is not in spite of your problem or around your problem, it’s what God will do in & through you & through your problem. #boldJames
- Knowledge provides information, wisdom provides transformation. You can have knowledge without wisdom, but you can’t have wisdom without knowledge. #boldJames
- When a storm comes, you can have fight, “I’m going to get tough;” flight, “I’m going to run for my life;” fright, “I’m going to freak out;” or faith, “I’m going to trust God.” #boldJames
- Faith is not the opposite of planning. Faith gives you wisdom to make the plan. Even trusting the Lord is a plan. I plan to trust the Lord. God gives you wisdom to make a plan. #boldJames
Recommended resources
Frustrating Advice
By Pastor Steve Tompkins
Pastor Steve writes a devotion about James’ advice to “count it all joy . . . when you meet trials of various kinds” and how he went from finding it annoying and “happy-clappy” advice to finding gospel truth is those words.
Why You Can Have Joy in Trials
By Stuart Dean
“James is on the money when he calls trials ‘the testing of our faith.’ Spurgeon also nails some of the reasons to consider trials pure joy. He even speaks of the ‘invaluable blessing’ which is gained by the trial of our faith. What is that blessing? Simply this: trials test and prove our faith.”
Why Does God Allow Burdens?
By Andrew Weiseth
“A quote often attributed to Mother Teresa is, ‘I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that he didn’t trust me so much.’ It’s a clever line. But it’s not right.”
Raucous Joy!
By Bob Kelleman
“Yesterday I was invited by close family friends to attend their son’s elementary school talent contest. Since our children are young adults and since our first grandchild will not arrive until this summer, it has been quite some time since I have been at an elementary school event.”
