James #1

Northside Church

James 1

4/18/21

Welcome to Northside, my name is Jamey Mills and I am one of the pastors here at Northside. It’s always so good to be with you all.

From time to time, I like to point out that we have these daily readings in the bulletin and online…

One of my major passions is to encourage people to dive into God’s Word… I believe and have experienced that it has the ability to change your life. Each day… Mon - Sat… There are passages that will help you invest in what we are talking about on Sunday’s on your own… which is such a critical part of the development of our faith.

I could never encourage you enough… to invest in your relationship with Jesus… and having a focus… where we are able to look at hard truth… or hard times… over an entire week instead of just an hour… I hope you can hear the benefit.

I’m a huge sports fan, not a fat joke, I just really like sports.

During the super bowl, did ya’ll catch catch Tracey Morgan’s rocket mortgage commercial?

VIDEO ADDED HERE It was my favorite… this family is inside of a home, looking to buy and the wife leans into the husband and says… Do you really think we can afford it, and he says I’m pretty sure we can… and Tracy Morgan butts in … PRETTY SURE… why be pretty sure when you can be certain… and they said, what's the difference.

The rest of the commercial was things like… him cutting down a hornets nest and saying, I’m pretty sure they aren’t the murdering type…

skydiving … I am pretty sure these are parachutes… they were backpacks… and the little one said mine has a sandwich and he said… that's okay.

He has them in a car speeding through an opening drawbridge and he says… I’m pretty sure we can make it… and the faces they make are hilarious…

And then it cuts back to them in the home and they say… yes… let's go with certain… certain is better.

Man that is so true with me… certain… is better, but it got me to thinking about something… Have you ever really considered how much of life doesn’t fit in that box.

And at least the way my mind works… I started to get overwhelmed by just how many things aren’t certain…

What is certain?

Tomorrow… isn't certain.

My health

My job

The way my kids will turn out

The stock market

The balance in my savings account

Whether or not COVID will ever end…

It reminds me of a scene in Rudy…

Rudy keeps fighting… hard to get into Notre Dame… and he’s denied at every turn. Discouraged and ready to give up, he finds himself in a church… and when the pastor comes to him he says… I’ve done everything I can do… can you help me? And the priest says… son, in my 35 years of ministry I am certain of only two facts… There is a God, and I am not Him.

It's accurate but incomplete. There are a few things I’d add.

I believe my life has revealed for certain that God loves me.

And… that I don't deserve it.

I believe that I have learned for certain that God’s redemption has incredible power to change the lives of real people just like you and I.

I believe that with certainty that sin… steals, kills, and destroys everything that is truly good in us and around us… it will rob us and leave us empty.

I believe with certainty that there will be a day… you breath your last… and that there is real value in living with that reality in mind.

and … I know with certainty… that life is hard.

Life is hard… and its actually one of the certainties that Jesus promised.

John 16:33 NLT

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 (NLT)

33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Jesus is saying, it will be hard. Plan on it, prepare for it. He's telling us to keep our eyes fixed on him, to stand strong, and to know… with all certainty… that He is greater.

Today we are going to be starting a new series on the book of James… it's been one of my favorite books or letters in the Bible since I first became a Christain.

The book of James helps us take a step back… and sort of see what faith looks like under fire.

James 1:1–12 (NLT)

This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.

Greetings!

James 1:1 NLT

This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad. Greetings!

Who was James?

This book or letter was written by James, the brother of Jesus shortly after the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus… which is incredibly important… it was written in a time that most of those who saw what happened… were still alive.

The word slave there… is actually the word for bond servant… which means… He willfully puts himself under the Lordship of Jesus. He wasn’t forced…

James tells us it was written to the Jewish christians who became known as the diaspora… which means the scattered ones… specifically, those who had scattered due to extreme persecution… pushed from their homes, families, and jobs… because of their faith. Life was hard… life was changing… facing customs and cultures and temptations and trials… and the pressure and temptation… seemed to be having its way with them.

James’ goal was to remind them and encourage them to stand firm… under all sorts of pressure and temptation…

And keeping that in our minds as we read… will help us understand the heart… the purpose… and the truth God is using James to give His people.

James 1:2–4 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

I remember reading this passage as a new christian… and it rocked my world. Consider it JOY… when life is hard. The word… consider… it's like James is saying choose it… in the face of hardship and discouragement… when you're given little reason to… choose JOY and choose it for the right reason.

Few things reveal the reality of who we are and what's going on inside of us more than temptation and trials.

…. They tend to bring out the rawness in us…

Temptation, hardship, and trials tend to be excellent teachers.

And I feel like James is saying that even though it's not fun or pretty… there is something unique… and powerful… that happens there… that only happens in the fire of temptation, hardship and trying times… they tend to be excellent teachers… humblers… trust builders…

James is saying that temptation and trials… aren’t punishment. They aren’t God’s way of getting even… they aren’t pointless or meaningless… but in ways that only God can, they become incredibly formative… shaping us and molding us… to such a degree that it is a genuine cause for Joy.

McAurthur said the more we learn to see trials as reasons for joy… the more we grow to realize they are privileges not liabilities. They are our benefit and not our harm. No matter how hard, how painful, or how destructive they feel or they are… it is one of the places that God tends to do some of His greatest work in our lives.

And we know it’s true… we have seen this… there is something unique that happens when things are hard…

And it makes me want to ask…

How different would your life be… with this one adjustment? Learning to see your current heartache… your current struggle as joy… in anticipation of what it produces… of the work God is doing in you. How much better would my life be… and how much more I’d gain from having gone through those things.

James is saying there is great value… there is a role that trials and hardship play… in our development… maturation… and even in our endurance.

James encourages them and us to see it's not in vain… to see the value in the struggle… and seeking Him within them…

I think God works in crazy ways… right. Have you ever wondered why almost everything in life is that way… facing resistance or hardship is refining and makes you stronger… it's true in weight training, in school, in relationships, health, sports, careers,

And in all of those places right… they teach you… coach you… to understand a truth that… like all truth… originates with God Himself.

Its a truth that so many others teach that like all truth, orignitated with God.

Trials make us moldable

… in our brokenness and in the face of hardship our hearts are often more raw… teachable… ready to listen and even make changes. To look more deeply inside of ourselves…

Trials have a way of strengthening our faith and bringing humility

… we learn that not only and I’m not the answer to the world’s problems, I am not even the answer to my own… in my desperation and hurt… I realize all over again my need for Him. Humility… is HUGE in allowing trials to produce the fruit in us they are designed to produce.

Trials can help us understand the serious nature of sin… and the brokenness that it brings… and lead us toward repentance…. so much of our trails and heart aches come from sin…

Trails have a way of bringing gratitude

When we keep our eyes on Jesus in the face of trials, they have this way of bringing gratitude… of helping us see the good… that was or that we often overlook or took for granted.

Trails can lead to opportunity

. We can walk with, stand with, care for, and encourage others in the face of their struggle.

Trials make us stronger

... they bring wisdom and endurance. Trials teach us to depend on God and help us lead others to Him too.

James 1:5–8 NLT

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

It’s almost like James is saying… that in the face of struggle and trials.. If you find yourself lost and losing your way… if you’re tempted to give up or give in… cry out to God… asking for His wisdom within it… know that He knows… Trust that He will meet you there… and know… that it's not for nothing.

Hes saying hold on… hold on and look up. Understand that the heat of the hardship is developing within you a strength, and endurance, a maturity… that will serve you, that will serve others… and even allow you to serve Him well.

Struggle… maybe more than any other time in my life… seems to be everywhere. Wildfires, pandemics, isolation, rioting, protesting, politics…

There is so much uncertainty…

Jesus himself said that trouble… hardship… trails… would be here. But there is a reason to take heart… to stand firm… to strengthen our knees and get a firm grip…

God is building in you… working in you… a strength… a maturity… and endurance…

Maybe the silversmith line…

Making us more like HIM… refining us… removing the impurities… moving us toward real freedom… and fullness…

Grounded in a deep faith… clothed with a humility that sees our need for Him… and an understanding that within trails… God is building you… growing you… preparing you… is… reason for joy.

How would your live be different… if you learned to see your current heartache, struggle, persecution... that way.

Communion