1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,240 Not only did we not know that it would be apropos to be going 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,000 through James chapter one over the next seven weeks when we set 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,280 up this series, we also didn't know we would be changing to do 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:20,120 1 service and I get to be the first one to do this now. 5 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:26,360 Thank you. If if you're used to preaching 6 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,440 when you preach 2 services and now you go to 1 service. 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,720 Let me describe for you a little bit what that's like. 8 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:39,200 Those of us who maybe have some familiarity with the game golf 9 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,680 are refer happen to be familiar with the term Mulligan. 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,080 For those of you who don't know, a Mulligan is when a golfer 11 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:57,200 comes up at a new hole, puts the ball down and gives it their 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,640 very best swing. And they look off in the 13 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,640 distance and they don't see the little white ball going away. 14 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,280 And then they look down. It's still on the tee. 15 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,920 And they look to their friends and say, can I have them all 16 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:14,600 again? A do over. 17 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:22,240 I don't get a do over. What happens just happens. 18 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,520 All right, So we're going to be taking a look, as Pastor Daniel 19 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:32,200 mentioned at James chapter 1, specifically verses 2:00 to 4:00 20 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,920 this morning. So I invite you to go there in 21 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,640 your Bibles, whether you're using your phone app or whether 22 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,560 you have a printed copy of God's Word. 23 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,000 We're going to call this message growing pains. 24 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,880 All right, James chapter 1, verses 2 to 4. 25 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:55,000 Let me tell you a story, true story in my own life, and it's 26 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,720 one of those times that I didn't really like James Chapter 1 27 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:02,600 verses 2 to 4. OK. 28 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,440 I was 3/4 of my way through my first year of teaching junior 29 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:15,000 highers at Heritage Christian School and it had been really 30 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:25,600 rough, very difficult. I got called in to my boss's 31 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,360 office, very dear friend of mine, his name is Ken, for a 32 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,640 private meeting. Ken told me. 33 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:40,800 Vance, we have had numerous complaints about you from 34 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,360 parents and also from some of your students. 35 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:49,080 Now, to be honest, that did not surprise me. 36 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,400 But then he said we're going to need to do 2 things. 37 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:02,560 First, for the last quarter of this school year, I am going to 38 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:09,360 take over teaching some of your classes so you can concentrate 39 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,280 on the others. Second, we're going to put you 40 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:17,000 on a teacher improvement plan beginning next year. 41 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:26,840 If you do not improve greatly by mid year, we're going to have to 42 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:33,860 let you go. I was crushed. 43 00:03:35,460 --> 00:03:39,020 I honestly don't remember how I got out of that office and went 44 00:03:39,020 --> 00:03:46,220 back to my classroom. I could lose my job. 45 00:03:47,780 --> 00:03:53,480 I had just graduated from my seminary four years earlier with 46 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:58,200 highest honors, and now four years later I was in danger of 47 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,520 losing my third job trying to serve the Lord. 48 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,760 Now imagine some well-intentioned Christian see 49 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,960 me stumbling out of Ken's office, had quoted to me 50 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,959 immediately these verses. Consider it a great joy, my 51 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:23,320 brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 52 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,760 because you know that the testing of your faith produces 53 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:34,040 endurance, and let endurance have its full effect so that you 54 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,600 may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 55 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:47,440 Seriously, my world is caving in again. 56 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,760 I'm staring down another failure. 57 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,960 I may not be able to support my wife or my young son. 58 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,880 We may lose our house because I seem to keep screwing up. 59 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,360 And you're going to give me something from the Bible that 60 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,440 doesn't make any sense whatsoever. 61 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:17,680 Now reality check. Something doesn't have to make 62 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:25,920 sense to us to be true. The Bible, God's revelation to 63 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:34,000 us, provides solid truth. Now the reason why I wanted to 64 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,240 share that story from my own life is this. 65 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:41,720 Some of us in this room have gone through something. 66 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,600 Maybe you're in the middle of something that's very much like 67 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:52,800 what I experienced. You're in a situation exactly. 68 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,400 Maybe the circumstances are probably different, but your 69 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,080 situation overall is exactly what I described. 70 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:08,000 You feel totally overwhelmed in a crisis, not knowing what to 71 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,120 do, and you can't even make sense of why such a terrible 72 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:23,560 thing is happening now. For all of us, this little 73 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:28,080 paragraph of three verses is a lifeline. 74 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:38,640 It's a solid path to get our feet on moving solid ground when 75 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:43,000 we're struggling. Our main point is simply this. 76 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:52,840 Our pains can be a huge game. Now I emphasize that word can 77 00:06:52,960 --> 00:07:01,440 all right whether they are or not, whether the trials and 78 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:05,640 troubles that we are in the midst of, whether we really do 79 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:13,680 experience it as a gain in our life, it's not up to God, it's 80 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:20,720 up to us. It's a potential possibility. 81 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:29,280 We can make a huge gain from our pains that God is taking us 82 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:37,240 through if we make 2 choices. That's what James is telling us 83 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,160 in these verses. The first choice. 84 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:48,000 It's in verse 2. Choose a radical new attitude. 85 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:54,160 Let's look at it again. James 2 chapter one, verse 2. 86 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:00,480 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever 87 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:06,120 you experience various trials. Keyword there is consider. 88 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:15,200 It has to do with attitude. I like what a preacher by the 89 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,640 name of Chuck Swindoll said about attitude. 90 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,360 So I'd I'd like to read this statement. 91 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:25,720 For us, attitude is more important than our past, than 92 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:31,120 education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, 93 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:35,000 than successes, than what people say or do. 94 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:41,679 We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play 95 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,200 on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. 96 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:53,480 I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, a 90% how I 97 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,560 react to it. And so it is with you. 98 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,320 We are in charge of our attitudes. 99 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:09,280 So James tells us consider it a great joy in the English 100 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,080 standard translation that says count it all joy, Same idea. 101 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:22,320 Basically, what he's telling us to do is we make a decision, we 102 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:29,640 make a decision, we make a choice, and we stick to that 103 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:36,480 choice. Consider it a great choice 104 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,680 whenever you experience various trials. 105 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,520 What does he mean by that? It means that we're walking 106 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,240 along through life, just doing whatever we're doing and 107 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,360 suddenly out of left field, boom, we're hit with a trial, 108 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:55,080 we're hit with a problem, we're in trouble. 109 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,760 It's the same word translated here whenever that when Jesus 110 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:05,720 told his parable about the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke, 111 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:10,080 and he starts off the parable with this man who is travelling 112 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,800 and minding his own business, walking down this road to the 113 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,600 city of Jericho, and he gets mugged. 114 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:19,480 He gets mugged, he gets beaten up. 115 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,360 He wasn't looking for trouble. Trouble found him. 116 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:35,360 That's how it works, doesn't it? We cannot avoid hard things. 117 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,920 Or we can take some precautions to avoid some of it, but there's 118 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,240 other things. They just happen. 119 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,400 They seem to come out of nowhere. 120 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:51,800 That's why, we're told in the book of Job, man is born to 121 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,600 trouble as the surely as the sparks fly upward. 122 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,480 Consider it a great joy, my friends, whenever you experience 123 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:07,920 various trials. Trials come in all kinds of 124 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:13,080 shapes and sizes. For some of us, it's our health. 125 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:16,880 Maybe we're struggling with an ongoing problem. 126 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:18,680 We can't get seem to get the handle of it. 127 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,680 For some of it, it may be family issues. 128 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:25,960 You know, you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your 129 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:26,880 family. Amen. 130 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,320 For some of it, it may be a failures like what I described 131 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:37,040 earlier. Maybe it's job troubles, maybe 132 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,640 it's money struggles. Maybe it's an addiction that we 133 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:49,920 can't lick and we're struggling. When James says various trials, 134 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:58,560 those trials can either be as we know what's going on up here are 135 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,760 in their thoughts. We're really, really good at 136 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:06,480 beating ourselves up up here. So the trial can be what's going 137 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,200 on in terms of our thinking or the trial can be going on in 138 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,200 what's happening in the world around us, what we're 139 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,680 experiencing, what may be a friend of ours, our family 140 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,880 member is experiencing. All of that is trials. 141 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,480 And by the way, what's a trial for one person is not 142 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,320 necessarily a trial for another, right? 143 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:33,160 You know, since my 20s, I have struggled with my weight, 144 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,600 sometimes doing better, sometimes not doing so good. 145 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:44,360 But I have some people that I know that they're slim and they 146 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:53,280 say I can eat whatever I want. I don't like them. 147 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:01,240 And you know when those of you who have come over, when we have 148 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,880 greet the team over here in that little area, you know about the 149 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,920 brownies, right? That's not helping me. 150 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:25,360 The bottom line is this, when trouble comes, and it will, we 151 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:34,040 can choose how we respond. We can choose our attitude. 152 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:37,760 Now let me give you 2 examples of this. 153 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,760 OK, first example, it's right out of the Bible. 154 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:49,080 In the book of Acts chapter 16, Paul and his companions arrive 155 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,240 at a little city called Philippi and they're preaching the gospel 156 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:54,320 and God is blessing their preaching. 157 00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:03,000 And then to help a slave girl, Paul cast a demon out of her and 158 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,960 the slave girls owners got mad. They dragged Paul and his friend 159 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:12,120 Silas up before the local authorities tell a false story. 160 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,840 Paul gets beaten up. His friend Silas gets beaten up. 161 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,480 They get thrown in jail. Not only just any old jail, 162 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:23,080 they're in the inner part of the jail, locked up in stocks. 163 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,120 You know, we've seen pictures of people like this. 164 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:34,600 OK, That's how they are. And then that night, they're 165 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:40,760 singing. They're singing praise songs. 166 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,040 They're singing hymns. Yeah, their back is aching and 167 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:49,760 their wrists and their ankles are chafed. 168 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:58,960 They chose a different attitude. And then as they're giving this 169 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,600 concert and everybody else is listening in, boy, I hope they 170 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,360 could sing good. But it doesn't really matter. 171 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:10,520 God brings an earthquake. All the prison doors fly open. 172 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:13,160 The jailer is ready to kill himself. 173 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,720 Paul yells at him, don't do it, we're all here. 174 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,760 The jailer comes in and asks Paul and Silas this, sirs, what 175 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:28,960 must I do to be saved? Paul and Silas had a different 176 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,560 attitude. Let me give you an example. 177 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:36,680 More recent, lot of us know about Thomas Edison. 178 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,000 We can be thankful for him. He invented the light bulb. 179 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,280 If it wasn't for him, we'd all be in the dark right now. 180 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:47,760 He also invented batteries. He also invented film cameras. 181 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:53,560 But when Mr. Edison was about 60-7 years old, he had this big 182 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:58,720 factory laboratory area with lots and lots of buildings, and 183 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:03,480 the thing caught fire. Over half of everything he had 184 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,920 there was burned up. And in the middle of the fire, 185 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:11,080 in the middle of the night, Edison's walking around, he sees 186 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,840 his son. He comes up to him and says, get 187 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:19,120 your mother and all her friends. They'll never see a fire like 188 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:25,400 this again. After they finally put the fire 189 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:28,600 out, Edison sat down in his chair at his desk and said, 190 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,040 well, we just got rid of a bunch of rubbish, let's start again. 191 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:45,680 Our pain, our pains can be a huge gain if we choose a radical 192 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:50,720 new attitude. The second choice we have to 193 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,080 make is that we focus on the future. 194 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:01,480 Look at verses 3 and 4. Because you know that the 195 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:06,240 testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have 196 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,880 its full effect so that you may be complete mature and complete, 197 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:15,000 lacking nothing. OK, just like verse 2, we kind 198 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,720 of focused on that word consider or count. 199 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:24,560 This time focus on the word no. You see, the consider thing was 200 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:29,160 a one time firm decision. This is not that. 201 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:35,760 No is something we have to keep reminding ourselves of over and 202 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:41,760 over and over again. OK, it's a present tense. 203 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:46,040 We keep this knowledge and insight constantly before us. 204 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,960 Our Lord definitely has a goal in mind why we're going through 205 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:56,240 whatever we're doing. It's an absolute certain future 206 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:58,240 that He's working to bring about. 207 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:08,760 Keep our eyes on His prize. Now this is kind of where some 208 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,440 people think about this particular verse in the Bible 209 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,800 and it's helpful. It's Romans 828. 210 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:21,200 It says there we know. Notice again, no, it's a choice 211 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:26,480 to know and keep knowing. We know that all things work 212 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:32,120 together for the good of those who love God and are called 213 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:38,000 according to His purpose. Now please understand what that 214 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,440 verse is saying and what it's not saying, OK? 215 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:47,600 It's saying it's not saying that all things are necessarily good. 216 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,480 When you go to the doctor and the doctor says you have cancer, 217 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,640 that's not good. OK? 218 00:18:55,640 --> 00:19:05,960 But that never stops the Lord from turning everything that 219 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:10,320 we're going through into something that is ultimately 220 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,200 good for us. You understand the distinction. 221 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:20,480 So let me return to that opening story I shared with you. 222 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:24,400 I might lose my job unless I change. 223 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:33,640 Become a better teacher. That summer I worked my tail 224 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,680 off. I had a dear friend, Mike 225 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:41,680 Bowles, gifted teacher. I went to him for advice. 226 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,520 I read books on teaching. I studied. 227 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:49,920 When that second year started, I gave those kids both barrels. 228 00:19:56,230 --> 00:20:02,360 Mid year I saw a card. In my little teacher box at 229 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:05,960 Heritage, it was from Shelly, our principal, and I kept that 230 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:11,000 card for years. She had written You have 231 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:15,040 improved more than any other teacher on staff. 232 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:24,880 The bad stuff Jesus used for my ultimate good. 233 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:31,560 OK, so we know there's going to be tests. 234 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:37,000 That's part of the process. Tests can often refer to the 235 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,200 idea of refining. You know, imagine in a mine 236 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,040 someplace, they bring out this big hunk of rock, and maybe this 237 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,120 happens to be a gold mine. All right? 238 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,320 And maybe we see little flakes, little traces, little lines of 239 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,320 gold in there. But we have a whole lot of rock. 240 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:56,000 What do we do? We take the rock. 241 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:03,160 We heat it up, we heat it up and heat it up until it melts, and 242 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,000 then all of the impurities, because gold happens to be a 243 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:09,320 very heavy metal. The gold sinks down, the 244 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,640 impurities rise to the surface, and then the metalsmith people 245 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,560 there scraping off the impurities until finally nothing 246 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,240 is left but the gold. And in the ancient world, they 247 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,640 knew they had gotten rid of the impurities when the metal Smith 248 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:29,160 could look down at the molten goal and he or she could see 249 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:38,610 their reflection. That's what the Lord is doing to 250 00:21:38,610 --> 00:21:43,490 us. He's putting us through the heat 251 00:21:43,490 --> 00:21:51,610 of testing so that we become people He can bless and use for 252 00:21:51,610 --> 00:21:57,600 His glory. Now the apostle Paul knew this 253 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:02,120 in one of the most painful letters, if not the most painful 254 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:04,960 he ever wrote. At one point he says this. 255 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:13,120 Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is 256 00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:18,600 being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by 257 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:26,720 day for our momentary light. Affliction is producing in US an 258 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:31,480 absolute, incomparable, eternal weight of glory. 259 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:40,080 So we do not focus on what is seen, but what is unseen. 260 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:48,200 For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 261 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,280 Notice what he's concentrating on. 262 00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:01,680 He's not focused on the tests, and they were hard. 263 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:08,200 They were really hard. That's not his focus. 264 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,840 He's focused on the end result, the test. 265 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,320 He calls those light momentary troubles. 266 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,200 Why? Because in comparison, he could 267 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:25,720 see what God was bringing about in his life and eternal weight 268 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,160 of glory. By the way, glory can also be 269 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:33,800 translated honor. You know what every Christian 270 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,720 should want to hear from the Lord when they finish this life 271 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:38,600 and they're standing before Jesus. 272 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,360 We should all want to hear Jesus say this. 273 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:46,800 Well done, good and faithful servant. 274 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:54,480 Think what that means, to be honoured by the Lord himself. 275 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,920 That's called finishing well. And sadly, a lot of Christians 276 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:06,280 never get there, partly because they're focused on the test. 277 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,600 They're not seeing the process, they're not seeing the future. 278 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,120 Daniel mentioned his struggles. It's the same for me. 279 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:18,920 It's the same for all of our leaders. 280 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:25,440 It's been a hard season, but I can tell you this in the midst, 281 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,880 even though at times, yeah, I, as I've told people I wanted to 282 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:30,480 run for the door, I was looking for it. 283 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:38,680 The Lord has repeatedly strengthened and blessed me. 284 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:45,520 You know, I have a dear friend from my day's teaching at Nueva 285 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,440 High School. And Sergio, my friend, whenever 286 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,120 we were going through a hard time, he'd say, you know, Vance, 287 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,520 he never called me Vance. He always called me Mr. Furtado. 288 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:02,000 But whatever. God never gives us more than we 289 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:07,080 can handle. I would nod my head and then I 290 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:11,440 thought, years later, Sergio, I know you meant well, but that's 291 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:19,520 not really true. God often gives us more than we 292 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,000 can handle. Why? 293 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:24,560 To teach us to handle it with him. 294 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:31,320 What's the purpose of God's test? 295 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,240 Why does He take us through some of the things that He takes us 296 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:41,240 through? Well, verse 4 in this little 297 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:45,800 passage tells us there's 2 results that God is aiming for 298 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:51,800 as a result of the test. The 1st result is where it says 299 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,160 let endurance have its full effect. 300 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,440 English standard version says steadfastness. 301 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:10,600 Jesus doesn't want us to be wussified, Wimpy pushovers. 302 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:15,520 Those are the kind of people that usually give up. 303 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:25,280 Rather, he wants stubborn, determined disciples who will 304 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:32,640 not quit. Now have a picture of 2 trees. 305 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:35,800 Hope the guy Yeah good, the guys were able to get it up OK. 306 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:39,920 The tree that's over on the left, at least that they call it 307 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,280 a tree. That's a bonsai tree. 308 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:49,120 Linda and I were over at Morro Bay celebrating our anniversary 309 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:53,560 part of this last week and, you know, went to a place, saw some 310 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,080 bonsai trees. They're, you know, like this, 311 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:02,160 OK, It's a shrub, but they call it a tree, OK? 312 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:04,800 But they're cute, you know, people trim them and stuff like 313 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:10,360 that and do whatever. God doesn't want us to be bonsai 314 00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:14,000 trees. You sit on a bonsai tree, you 315 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,240 have a dead bonsai tree. OK, that's it. 316 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,680 It's all over. God doesn't want that. 317 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,400 He takes us through trials and tests. 318 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,400 He's not after bonsai trees. He's after the tree on the other 319 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,640 side. That's a white oak. 320 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:35,240 White oaks have some of the toughest, heaviest, strongest 321 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,840 wood of any tree in North America. 322 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:43,640 When they built those old sailing ships of the US Navy, 323 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:45,840 they built them out of white oak. 324 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,560 And like the ship USS Constitution that's still in 325 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,240 Boston Harbor, the British said, hey, we're shooting cannonballs 326 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:59,400 at this thing and they're just bouncing off because the size of 327 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,320 the ship were two feet thick white oak. 328 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,360 They live for over 500 years. They can grow hundreds of feet 329 00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:13,800 tall. That's what God the Lord wants 330 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:25,000 to turn us into, endurance. 2nd result is that we will become 331 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:30,200 mature and complete, lacking nothing. 332 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:44,360 What exactly does that mean? Jesus used the same words in his 333 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,320 Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5 verse 48. 334 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:55,520 Be perfect therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect. 335 00:28:55,520 --> 00:29:07,360 Let me tell you something that does not happen until we stand 336 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:14,280 before Jesus. But in the meantime, what's 337 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:18,560 happening as we grow in our walks with the Lord is this. 338 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,880 Each and every person in this world was created, Scripture 339 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:28,880 says, in the image of God. Now sadly, when sin entered our 340 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:34,120 world, that image was defaced, but it was not erased. 341 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:40,120 And when we become a Christian and we begin to grow and we 342 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:44,160 learn and love the Lord, and we learn to love one another and 343 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,280 we're growing in holiness, God is changing our character. 344 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:52,320 Bit by bit that image of God begins to re emerge. 345 00:29:54,080 --> 00:30:00,280 It will be fully restored when our sin nature is eradicated and 346 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,320 we are standing before Jesus for all eternity. 347 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:12,920 That's why we're told this in John first John chapter 3. 348 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:22,200 We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will 349 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:29,520 see Him as He is. That's the future we need to 350 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,040 focus on. In the meantime, we go through 351 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:34,840 the test, We go through the trials. 352 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,480 God is making us stronger and stronger as we rely and walk 353 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:45,040 with Him. But that's the goal, and the 354 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:50,440 Lord won't be finished with maturing us until He returns. 355 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,840 That's why we're told this in Philippians 16. 356 00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:01,960 I'm sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will 357 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:08,200 carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 358 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:16,840 And by the way, since we're all works in progress, none of us 359 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,320 have arrived yet. What God wants to do in our 360 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,920 lives, we need to cut each other a little slack. 361 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:27,320 Don't you think so? By the way, if somebody sat in 362 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:38,440 your spot, somebody took the treat you wanted, cut each 363 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:46,680 other's slack. We're all growing second choice. 364 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:51,080 Focus on the future. Now. 365 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,560 In conclusion, again, our main point is simply this. 366 00:31:55,200 --> 00:32:05,520 Our pains can be a huge gain. Now, maybe you're here and 367 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:09,040 you're not a Christian. Maybe a friend invited you. 368 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,440 Maybe you just wanted to come on your own and check us out. 369 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,800 And by the way, we're all glad you're here. 370 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:18,840 But let me ask you something, OK? 371 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:26,280 Have you ever noticed that Christians, they respond 372 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,360 differently when they're going through trouble? 373 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,040 Never wondered why? Why are they weird? 374 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:39,880 I mean, they hurt like everybody else, they bleed like everybody 375 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,040 else. But why are they different? 376 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:52,720 There's two things that makes a Christian different #1 they have 377 00:32:52,720 --> 00:33:00,360 a relationship with someone, Jesus, who loved them so much he 378 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:09,800 died to save them #2 the Christian knows who's in charge 379 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:15,720 and where they're going. They don't know the details. 380 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:18,520 They don't need to know the details. 381 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,040 They're trusting the Savior and Lord who laid down his life for 382 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:30,840 them. Now non Christian skeptic, you 383 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:36,480 don't have any of that. You do not have a relationship 384 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,920 with the Almighty God who created you, who loves you, who 385 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,560 wants to have a relationship with you. 386 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:48,440 You do not have that because you have not asked for it. 387 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,960 And secondly, when you're going through hard times and 388 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:59,080 difficulties like we all do, you don't have somebody to walk with 389 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:04,400 you. But you can. 390 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:15,760 Starting today, you can have what every Christian in this 391 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:25,280 room has. If you want a relationship, a 392 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:29,560 loving relationship with God right now through Jesus, the 393 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,960 very Son of God. I'm going to invite you to pray 394 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,080 with me. And by the way, I'd like just so 395 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:39,320 that we don't have distractions, can we all please just close our 396 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:45,800 eyes? OK, again, if you want to know 397 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:52,719 God, to know Jesus, pray this with me, whether out loud or 398 00:34:52,719 --> 00:35:00,120 silently. Dear Jesus, I ask you to come 399 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:05,760 into my life. I ask you to take away my sin. 400 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:13,400 I ask you to give me a relationship with you. 401 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:27,040 Lord Jesus, come into my life. If you prayed that prayer, would 402 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,800 you just raise your hand so that I can see it? 403 00:35:36,550 --> 00:35:43,390 Thank you. We can all open our eyes if you 404 00:35:43,390 --> 00:35:47,830 prayed that prayer. Welcome to the family. 405 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:58,520 If you just asked Jesus to be your Savior and Lord before you 406 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:02,760 leave this room, would you please visit either our table 407 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:07,000 over here or our table over here where we have a banner saying I 408 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:12,680 raised my hand. We want to help you and be with 409 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:14,880 you as you go on your new walk with the Lord. 410 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:21,360 Now, Christians, we need to talk. 411 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:30,640 James is teaching us in these verses that we all have a 412 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:36,920 choice. We can learn whatever the Lord 413 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:40,120 intends for us in our trials and troubles. 414 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:53,240 Whatever's going on right now, we can gain from our pain, or we 415 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:57,240 can choose to ignore what He's trying to teach us. 416 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,640 We don't want to do that. I can tell you by bitter 417 00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:06,080 experience, you don't want to do that. 418 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,000 Because what happens is, is God's going to bring back the 419 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,720 same lesson that He wants us to learn? 420 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,480 And if again we refuse, He's going to bring back the same 421 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:20,800 lesson He wants us to learn. Remember about the people of 422 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,680 Israel wandering around in the wilderness one more time around 423 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:28,320 the same mountain. Don't go there. 424 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:37,800 Ask the Lord this. What do you want me to learn 425 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:45,240 from this trial? What do you want me to change? 426 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:55,960 How do you want me to grow? Now, if we're that honest, that 427 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:58,920 direct with the Lord, you know what He will respond. 428 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:06,880 And when He responds, our part is to obey. 429 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:13,680 Now, as we're wrapping up the service at this point, I'm going 430 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:16,800 to invite the folks in our prayer team to come forward. 431 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:21,120 If you want someone to pray with you, please come down. 432 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:24,880 We'll be happy to pray with you. Whatever you need. 433 00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:29,760 We want to pray with you. You come as the Lord leads.