Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction - The Paradox of Joy

Considering Trials

This evening I want us to look at the the beginning of James.

James contains a lot of practical instruction for us in our lives.

When he begins the letter we see a jarring introduction…

(ESV) — 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Introduction

(ESV) — 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Count it all joy when you meet trials?

Really?

The paradox here in this text is one we see all over the New Testament.

It sets the Christians apart from all of the people in the Old Testament and it is what can set us apart from everyone around us today.

Jesus himself demonstrated the ability to handle all of the trials He knew awaited Him with a joyful outlook as He defeated the devil with such great faith.

That doesn’t mean He enjoyed the pain or that He was happy all the time, but He still had a joyful outlook on His life and the opportunities He had to help those in need.

We see Him weep with those who were weeping and rejoice with those who were rejoicing.

When He hung on the cross we don’t see Him sin and spout off hateful words like the two beside Him, but He instead revealed the love of God in His plea for God to forgive His murderers.

What a paradox!

The book of James contains a lot of practical instruction for us in our lives.

When he begins the letter we see a jarring introduction…

(ESV) — 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Main Point of the Lesson: Why are trials considered a joy to us according to James?

Elaborate on the effect of our trials to make us Steadfast and perfect.

The reason why James is writing the letter is to help the dispersed Christians who are going to have to endure many different types of trials in life and be refined by them.

He is commanding that we consider those trials to be “all joy.”

I want us to consider the full weight of what that means for us.

Trials of various kinds test our faith

Count it all joy when you meet trials?

Really?

The paradox here in this text is one we see all over the new testament.

It sets the Christians apart from all of the people in the Old Testament and it is what can set us apart from everyone around us today.

If we compare how the children of Israel wondered in the wilderness to Jesus’ ability to handle 40 days in the wilderness we can see the benefit of being like Jesus and defeating the devil with such great faith.

Trials of various kinds test our faith

Trials of various kinds test our faith

(ESV) — 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

The reason why James is writing the letter is to help the dispersed Christians who are going to have to endure many different types of trials in life, be refined by them, and he is convinced that we should consider those trials to be “all joy.”

I want us to consider the full weight of what that means for us.

What is the effect our trials have on us individually and how can we respond with joy to those trials?

The reason why James is writing the letter is found right there in the first 4 verses.

Christians are going to have to endure many different types of trials in life, be refined by them, and consider those trials to be “all joy.”

I want us to consider the full weight of what that means for us.

What is the effect our trials have on us individually and how should we respond to those trials?

Various Kinds of Trials

(ESV) — 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

(ESV) — 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

We all face trials of varying degrees and in different areas of our lives.

You may face trials that I have not even considered and vice versa.

When I was working in a cubicle all day the trials I faced were unlike anything I ever imagined.

I sat all day in a chair and stared at a computer screen reading complicated technical documents that had very little interest to me personally.

Give me one more System Safety Specification or Airworthiness Release and I will scream!

Maybe you can relate as you have dealt with jobs that test your faith.

Mundane, monotonous tasks are not as serious as health issues that no one fully understands, the loss of a loved one, personal issues, family issues, financial issues, and trials with people at your work place, but all of these test our faith in some way.

The first thing we notice is that we all face trials of varying degrees and in different areas of our lives.

You may face trials that I have not even considered and vice versa.

When I was working in a cubicle all day the trials I faced were unlike anything I ever imagined.

I sat all day in a chair and stared at a computer screen reading complicated technical documents that had very little interest to me personally.

Give me one more System Safety Specification or Airworthiness Release and I will scream!

Maybe you can relate as you have dealt with jobs that test your faith.

Mundane, monotonous tasks are not as serious as health issues that no one fully understands, the loss of a loved one, personal issues, family issues, financial issues, and trials with people at your workplace, but all of these test our faith in some way.

The first thing we notice is that we all face trials of varying degrees and in different areas of our lives.

You may face trials that I have not even considered and vice versa.

When I was working in a cubicle all day the trials I faced were unlike anything I ever imagined.

I sat all day in a chair and stared at a computer screen reading complicated technical documents that had very little interest to me personally.

Give me one more System Safety Specification or Airworthiness Release and I will scream!

Maybe you can relate as you have dealt with jobs that test your faith.

Mundane, monotonous tasks are not as serious as health issues that no one fully understands, the loss of a loved one, personal issues, family issues, financial issues, and trials with people at your work place, but all of these test our faith in some way.

The first thing we notice is that we all face trials of varying degrees and in different areas of our lives.

You may face trials that I have not even considered and vice versa.

When I was working in a cubicle all day the trials I faced were unlike anything I ever imagined.

I sat all day in a chair and stared at a computer screen reading complicated technical documents that had very little interest to me personally.

Give me one more System Safety Specification or Airworthiness Release and I will scream!

Maybe you can relate as you have dealt with jobs that test your faith.

Mundane, monotonous tasks are not as serious as health issues that no one fully understands, the loss of a loved one, personal issues, family issues, financial issues, and trials with people at your work place, but all of these test our faith in some way.

The trials these Christians faced in the first century are much more serious than my daily struggle to focus on something I dreaded reading.

We read in that they were being drug out of their houses and thrown into prison.

They were having their belongings taken away from them and were forced to pay unfair fines for trying to help people see the gospel.

Their trials were also similar to ours.

Do you think they faced health issues, lost loved ones, had family or financial issues or a different workplace experience because of their faith?

They were likely being ridiculed, outcast, and rejected because of their different beliefs.

Here we sit in the 21st century having some of the same trials as they did.

We feel the pain of being made an outcast because we don’t succumb to peer pressure and we resist the things that all of our friends have accepted as “normal.”

The pressure is growing for us to share the opinions of our culture as all of our peers do and that pressure may affect the way we handle our trials.

All of the trials that we are enduring right now, from the minor to the serious, are doing the same thing for us as they did for Christians in the first century… Testing our Faith.

The trials these Christians faced in the first century are much more serious than my daily struggle to focus on something I dreaded reading.

We read in that they were being dragged out of their houses and thrown into prison.

They were having their belongings taken away from them and were forced to pay unfair fines for trying to help people see the gospel.

(ESV) — 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

But their trials were also similar to ours.

Do you think they faced health issues, lost loved ones, had family or financial issues or a different workplace experience because of their faith?

They were likely being ridiculed, outcast, and rejected because of their different beliefs.

Here we sit in the 21st century having some of the same trials as they did.

We feel the pain of being made an outcast because we don’t succumb to peer pressure and we resist the things that all of our friends have accepted as “normal.”

The pressure is growing for us to share the opinions of our culture as all of our peers do and that pressure may affect the way we handle our trials.

All of the trials that we are enduring right now, from the minor to the serious, are doing the same thing for us as they did for Christians in the first century… Testing our Faith.

(ESV) — 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

When you see the word “test”, think about the testing of metals in a crucible to see what kind of impurities lie inside.

When you heat the metal up to the point where it is a liquid, it separates from the impurities more easily so that there can be a distinction made between what is good and what is bad.