James 5:13-20 ESV
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
19My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Testimony of Pastor Chris Eyre
Sunday 14 July
Notice to the church that Pastor Chris Eyre is nominated to be the next Lead Pastor of Koza
Sunday 21 July
Chris will share his testimony of God’s call to serve. Q & A opportunity at 1245 that afternoon
Sunday 28 July
Members of the church will vote by written ballet in each of our services
“Yes” or ”No” for Chris Eyre
Sunday 25 August
Pending the Churches vote, we will plan an installation service for
Pastor Chris.
We will host a Hail (for the Eyres) & Farewell Social for the Reimers.
The Reimers have tickets to fly to the States early in the morning on
30 August
James 5:13 ESV
13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
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Romans 5:1 ESV
1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:2-4 ESV
2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Romans 5:5 ESV
5and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
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Revelation 2:10 ESV
10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Hebrews 11:6a NIV
6And without faith it is impossible to please God,
Finances, Friends, Family, Facebook Page, Freedom(s), …
Time, Talent, Treasure
Positions, Possessions, Problems
1 Peter 4:19 ESV
19Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
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In order to bring us to our senses, C. S. Lewis says,
“God whispers to us in our pleasures,”
“…speaks in our conscience,”
“…but shouts in our pains:
it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Matthew 5:11 NIV
11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
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Pain is a fact of life & a daily reality.
“A Grief Observed”
“It takes courage to live through suffering; and it takes honesty to observe it. C. S. Lewis had both.”
”If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy,
and if He were almighty He would be able to do what he wished.
But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.“ (The Problem of Pain)
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“If God were good, He would make His creatures perfectly happy,
and if He were almighty He would be able to do what he wished.
But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.“ (The Problem of Pain)
Worldly View:
We water down the meaning of goodness. We do this when we view love as merely showing kindness or as seeking other’s happiness.
Happy: Feeling Pleasure, Satisfied, Cheerful, In High Spirits
For God love is “pure giving” and that ultimately for us, love is not about others’ kindness to us, about our happiness, or even about our love for God, but instead God’s love for us as sacrificially demonstrated by Christ on the cross.
“He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.”
“We are…in very truth, a Divine Work of Art, something that God is
making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character.”
Not our Grandfather.
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The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word “love”, and look on things as if man were the center of them.
Man is not the center. God does not exist for the sake of man. Man does not exist for his own sake. “Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the divine love may rest “well pleased“.
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S. Helps Purify & Mature Us
1 Peter 1:6-7 James 1:2-5
S. Keeps World from Being Attractive
We are Sojourners in a Temporary & Painful World
1 Pet 2:11, Heb 13:14
S. Can Bring Out Our Best
“S. ⇒ Perseverance ⇒ Character ⇒ Hope & Hope Does Not Disappoint”
Rmns 5:3-5
S. Can Make Us Appreciative
Good Health, Good Friends, a Loving Family, Food, Shelter, Clothing,
Phil 1:3-8
S. Can Make us Sympathetic
We are better able to comfort others in their affliction.
Rmns 12:15
S. Makes us Dependent on God & Teaches Us to Pray
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.”
James 5:13a
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Philippians 4:6-7 ESV
6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 5:7 NIV
7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Psalm 37:8b NIV
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
Matthew 6:33 ESV
33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
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Worry About Nothing…
…Pray About Everything.
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There is a difference between age and maturity
Do you think about God in ways that Honor Him and that are true to who He really is?
Romans 12:2 The Message
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
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The Final Exam on Maturity is Coming Soon
“Right Belief is exhibited in Right Living.”
ESV Study Notes James 1:19-27
James 1:19-27 ESV
19Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
26If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
“Unless the believer stays close to the truth, he will start to drift away.” Weirsbe “Be Mature” pg 180
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1. Am I becoming more and more patient in the testing's of life?
2. Do I play with temptation or resist it from the start?
3. Do I find joy in obeying the Word of God, or do I merely study it?
4. Are there any prejudices that shackle me?
5. Am I able to control my tongue, or are your words out of control?
6. Am I a peacemaker rather than a troublemaker?
7. Do people come to me for spiritual wisdom?
8. Am I a friend of God or a friend of the world?
9. Do I make plans without considering the will of God?
10. Am I selfish when it comes to money? Do I pay my bills on time?
11. Do I depend of prayer when I find myself in trouble?
12. Am I the kind of person others seek for prayer support?
13. Do I criticize and gossip, or do I seek to restore wanderers in love?
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“Your Love Awakens Me” – Phil Wickham
“Reckless Love” – Cory Asbury
“Is He Worthy” – Shane & Shane
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