John Gunter: With you this morning. I just want to quickly thank the guys for filling in last week. Ryan did a great job, and I know Heath did as well for class. Thank you all for being here today. It's great to see everyone, and you're always missed when we're not here.
So thank you for being you. This morning, we're going to start a new series, it's about a six week series in the book of James. I'm going to use this, use the last lesson that we we had together with me as kind of a jumping off point. And you remember we talked about how in soccer the saying is, a skill is not a skill until you can perform it under pressure. Okay?
And I I think those are words for life. Right? We don't we don't just get everything in the classroom, we have to be able to apply it because if all we have is head knowledge and we don't have any application to our lives, what are we? Bunch of great thinkers? I I don't know.
But we have to be people who are prepared, who are preparing, who are ready to face life's challenges. How many of you have lived long enough to know life is gonna have challenges? If you were unsure about that when you got here this morning, we'll we'll have a time after the lesson, you can talk to some people in here. Right? And so there's no reason to walk through life and just kind of be reactionary.
Right? Reactionary is I wait until something happens to react or anything like that. I want to be prepared. And so that's how our lesson is going to go today, that's how the series is going to go, that as we do this, we want to be proactive. We want to be looking for ways that I can let the word of God penetrate my life in advance of something going on, because we know if for some reason, hopefully not, you find yourself or a loved one in the hospital today, you're going to find God in prayer really quickly, aren't you?
That's great, and we want to turn to God when things happen, but it's even better when all of those things the word of God has already penetrated our lives when those things happen. You see, because that person is prepared. So would you go with me in prayer as we begin this morning? God, I thank you for this day. God, we thank you for a chance to be together this morning.
Lord, for a room full of people who desire to seek you, Lord. Speak to our hearts this morning. Lord, make sure that for each of us, we have open hearts and open minds, that we are ready to encounter your word, God, in a in a way that allows us to grow, a way that allows us to mature, and a way that allows us to prepare for the things that come our way in life. And Lord, more than anything, as those things come our way, Lord, would you be right there beside us. Help us to feel your presence.
Help us to feel your presence right now in this room as we as we do these things, and God, walk with us every step of the way. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. So we began this morning thinking about preparedness. And again, it's it's often that life brings pressure or storms or however you want to look at it, and we are reactionary.
It feels like it's caught us off guard. Right? Everybody know Murphy's Law? If something can go wrong, it will go wrong. And usually that thing is, right when you think you're past everything, right, everything is clear sailing, that's when it happens.
And so, lot of times, we don't prepare, and so faith works the same way, you cannot wait until the storm hits to build your foundation, can you? You need to prepare, and preparation is better than reaction. When I first moved here, I moved from Southwest Arkansas, and we came here, I think, with a healthy fear of hurricanes. And you guys all laughed at us, and said, well, I don't fear hurricanes, I fear tornadoes, because for hurricanes, you remember what you said? You have time to prepare.
Right? You know it's coming, just like the storms of life are coming. We've already said that. Yes? You have time to prepare, hopefully.
But are you preparing? Are you ready? Are you readying your heart, and mind, and soul to face the difficulties of life instead of just being surprised in the moment that I can't believe something is actually happening happening to me? Because faith that prepares today is the one that endures tomorrow. Let me say that one more time.
Faith that prepares today is the one that endures tomorrow because you are ready for those things to happen. You know where to turn. How many of you have gone through a thing in life where all of a sudden a scripture stuck out, or all of a sudden that song from the radio stuck out as a way to guide you back to God? Now, imagine, reimagine if you you need to, being able to prepare for that, to have that in a in a tool belt, that I have places to turn. I know How many of you have a favorite scripture?
I I have a favorite scripture for each different thing that I go through. Right? There's a scripture I go through, and that's how it should be. Right? We turn back to those things that draw us close to God.
We are preparing to go through life. You understand, a lot of places, I was gonna say for whatever reason, but I think I know the reason, just preach that all you should have is health and wealth, and you should pursue that. That God wants you to have that. And I'm still looking for the verse on that. Now, what we know as Christians is that no matter what happens in life, God has you.
And if you are a faithful person, you are going to be blessed, even if it's not in this life. Now, we desire to be blessed right here, right now, go ahead. Every time I pass that billboard, it's got, oh, we're up to a billion dollars now. Oh, John needs to play. And then if I do play, I just donate to whoever wants it, right?
Makes me even madder, right? Okay, well, we need to be people who are turning to the word, that we understand what the word of God says, and unfortunately, it doesn't say what you'll be blessed with is everyone will be blessed with financial wealth here on this earth. Now, if I started preaching that, we'd have more people here because it would sound like a wonderful thing, we're like, yeah. And for those people who aren't blessed right now financially, all I have to say is your blessing's around the corner just to hold you in there and have hope. But would that be faithful to the word of God?
We begin this morning in James chapter one verses two through four. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Now, James is a a book, it's a type of wisdom. It's kind of like Proverbs. Okay?
So it's not necessarily a story, a narrative, but it is more wisdom of life. And notice what he says here, count it out joy my brothers. What's that next word? Is it if? Just in case?
Wish it was. Don't you? But we know, and we've already said we've lived enough of life to know that things are going to happen. When you meet trials of various kind, you're going to meet those. Are you ready for those?
And he says, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And what this says alright. The translation is, God can work through this. God is gonna bring about good things through this. The blessing may not be the thing that happens, right?
Individually, you may not want that at all, but through that bad thing or difficult time, God can bring blessing. The testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect. Let all of that perseverance and work you're doing going through that thing, let it have full effect that you may be perfect and complete. That word perfect is kind of like the idea of maturing. Some of us need to mature more than others, yes.
But you are maturing, okay. You may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing financially. Is that what we're talking about? No. That we are we are being built up into the people that God wants us to be.
People who are following him, people who have weathered the storm and taken our faith with us through it. Do sometimes your your faith feel a little thinner than others? Yes. But we come back to him because we've weathered the storm. You may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
In the next verse, verse five, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God. Well, I don't like wisdom, so I'm not going to ask God. Right? I've already got it figured out, I don't need anything. No.
Alright. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Now, we praise Solomon for asking for wisdom. Right? Then he had all of these other things and made some very bad choices with that wisdom.
Okay? One of the most important things you can have is wisdom, and wisdom to see the way through. Again, this is not a I'm I'm all in it myself, this is a I need to cling to God through this. If you ask God, he gives, what's the word there? Generously.
But, oh, I don't like this. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, he is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways. That's the most difficult part of this verse, this passage. What do you mean no doubting?
Anybody ever have doubts when you pray? Say, yes. Yeah. I understand. Same here.
But has God proven to be faithful in your life? Now again, in the midst of the storm, you may be overwhelmed with all of the things going on, going, what did I do with this? I thought I was faithful. Well, he never said faithful people wouldn't get any of these hard times. But he says, if you want wisdom, you want wisdom to see through all of this, ask God, God will give you generously, but when you pray, you need to believe, you need to have a faith that says, I serve a God who can handle all of this.
That God has me through whatever life is throwing my way. And some of us are sitting in those times right now, aren't we? Not sure how this is going to work out, I'd love it to work out this way, it's not going that way, what do I do? Ask God for wisdom, to give it to you generously as he does. Wisdom is not about knowing everything, it is about applying God's truth to these real life moments.
Again, it's it's the classroom versus the world. Logan is in third grade this year, and he said, dad he told me this week, he said, dad, I hate third grade. I said, okay, why? He said, we take so many CBAs. I said, and that's the test they do now.
I said, well, son, at some point, all of our work, all of our practice has to add up to something to show that you are able to handle what's coming. And that is exactly what we're talking about right here, that we we have to show, okay, it's not just about knowing everything, it's about, okay, God has truth, we we love the words of scripture, the words of God, we have to be able to take those things and not just know them. I love people who can quote scripture, I can't quote a ton of it in big passages. I have the ability told you, one of my professors made us learn the sermon on the mount, Matthew five, six, and seven, but after a while, I'm just doing it every day, it's gone. I love people who just quote it.
But I would rather have a whole church of people who live it, rather than people who quote it. Yes. Because that is a person who knows it, they embody it. They haven't just learned it and learned what the words are, they have decided I'm going to use these words of God and allow it to transform my life into a Christian person. We talked in Bible class this morning, we we kind of forget that when the Bible was written, or the time that Jesus walked around, everybody wasn't walking around with a Bible in their pocket, much less one that I can pull up any translation, which one's your favorite?
Let me pull it up so I can just hit you right in the heart. You know, you want King James? You don't want us to understand most of words? That's fine, I'll read it from there. Yeah.
But to live it, I don't I don't care how you know it, don't care if it's King James, old English, I don't care how it is. I want you to know it, but I want you to live it more than that. That you don't come away from a time like this where we open the word of God, and you don't come away from a time like this unchanged. You go away going, thank you God for the changes that you've made in me. God invites us to ask, and he says, I'll give you generously.
But the double minded person struggles because they trust God one moment, and probably, if we're honest, we trust ourselves more than that the next. It's more, okay, I can handle this, and boy, our culture speaks to that, even living in the South, men, country boy can survive. The song of my life right there. Right? If you kill a buck, can run a trot line.
Almost killed my buddy when we tried to run a trot line one time, but don't do that when the waves are doing this, gentlemen. Let me just tell you that right now. But our culture tells us to kind of handle things, and if what we want to do as Christians is just simply handle things and and take care of it, blow up my britches and tighten my belt, and handle things by myself, that's gonna be one outcome. But if I ask God for wisdom, he gives it to me generously, and that means I'm going to rely on him and come away changed having encountered his word, that's a different outcome. That allows you to pray and not doubt.
That allows you to pray and say, God, not my will, but yours, as Jesus prayed. I don't know I should have the faith to say, I don't know how it's going to to be. You can tell God, God, I really think I ought to have this and this way and whatever, and I think God looks at his children and says, I know. And it may or may not end up that way. Yeah.
But we have the faith to say, God, I don't know how it's going to work out, but I just need your wisdom. Or as we prayed this morning, I just need your grace and your mercy right now. God, maybe that's what someone needs right here in this place this morning. Somebody sitting here beating themselves up for not being this person, God, would you give them your grace and your mercy right now to take that away from their hearts, that we're allowed to come away changed. Proverbs three verses five and six, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Now, this is a verse that can be taken out of context as well, and say, okay, well, this is what I do, I'll acknowledge him, I'll be a faithful person, everything will be just straight, no problems, no bumps, no turns in the road, no nothing. Now, that's the wrong way to read this. The right way to read this, I believe, is that God's got you through everything. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding.
How many of you that's your default? I'm trying to figure it out first. I've confessed that to you too many times to count. That's my default. And sometimes I look, and I've got an issue I'm dealing with, and I feel embarrassed that it's been a while, I've been dealing with it myself, but I have not prayed to God.
I have not taken it to him because I'm leaning on my own understanding. What I think that shows in me sometimes is that my faith is not where it needs to be. My faith is in myself, and my faith needs to make me go, first thing I'm going to do is take it to God. Lean not on your own understanding. But think about how many times we face a decision at work, at home, with family, where we feel unprepared.
I'm a processor. Anybody else in here a processor? So Katie can not like you too. Okay, miss Donna, I appreciate that. Katie wants decisive answer right then, and sometimes it drives her nuts that I'm a processor because some of the not that I take time, but it's seemingly simple questions sometimes, like, let me think about that.
Part of that part of that is my introvert side too. I've got to decide, you know, if I want to sign up for something then not want to do it later. But think about how many times we feel unprepared with these decisions, but preparation really begins with prayer to God, doesn't it? That I wanna pray, and I wanna ask him for wisdom, and I wanna ask for wisdom before the pressure comes. To be able to navigate those things of life that are going to come, and so God really I think God shapes our reaction, he shapes our hearts beforehand if we just ask him.
If you say right now, God, I'm going to give my heart to you, because next time that person cuts you off in traffic, or whatever it is that sets you off during the week that gets on your nerves, prepare for it right now. The next time x happens, I'm going to pray to God and thank him for the person who made that happen. That's a different reaction, that's a different preparation than being reactionary in the moment. You see that? Because if we haven't prepared, something happens and we just instantly react.
We instantly get mad, or upset, or whatever, but if we're preparing for it, we understand things are gonna happen. You know that. We are ready, and we can be prepared with a different reaction. So don't just pray for the storm to pass, pray for the wisdom to navigate through it. Romans five verses three through five, not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and 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.
Do you see the different mindset that you that is in this verse? I can have sufferings and just go into, woe is me, why this? I was faithful, God, why? This is a different thing. We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
God is going to bring something positive out of that circumstance that you're going through right now. I don't know what it is, you probably don't know what it is, but down the road you'll be able to look and say, that's what it is. God was there the whole time, I didn't see it, because I leaning on my own understanding. Right? I need wisdom from God to see what it is.
And through that, I have endurance and character, and through those things, I have the hope that comes from God. Back in James verse 12, Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God can cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
So, this is one of those that smack you right in the face. Right? Because I would love to blame someone else. Wouldn't you? I would love to be able to say, that's the reason why, he's the reason why, they are the reason why.
But what it says is temptation does not come from God, but from our own desires that seem to just kind of come out of us all of a sudden. Because what we have done is we have not adequately prepared, we have not adequately leaned on God, we have been following our own desires. Every temptation follows a pattern. We have desire, we have deception, we have disobedience, and then that leads to destruction, and you see the fallout from these verses right here. First Corinthians ten thirteen, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. Now, there's a way to interpret this verse that would be incorrect, and that is that what you need to do is lean on your own understanding and your own ability. But what you should see in this is that God is faithful. You see that? God is faithful, you lean on him, and with God, you are able to get through and see the way out.
Do you understand that? God is faithful, is he not, church? Awareness is part of preparation, and I think recognizing danger early prevents that danger later. But what I will say is temptation rarely feels dangerous at first. It feels like an easy path, it feels like a way to get ahead, it is the casting crown song, it's a slow fade.
And that that that's temptation most of the time, because most of us, if you're clinging to God or you feel like you are a person of faith, it's not here one day and way over here the next, is it? It is something, some little decision, some little action that continues to take you down the path that you don't realize you've ever left the path until you're down here, And it's a very slow fade, it is a way to get ahead, it's a compromise that you never thought you would make. It's trying to get the next promotion at work by means of not hard work, but trying to just get ahead of someone else. Our temptation is predictable, isn't it? You know that which you struggle with.
Right? I don't. I know my struggles. You know yours. Temptation is predictable.
Preparation makes it beatable. I'm going to rely on God, I'm going to have all of these tools ready in my tool belt of sorts, scriptures I can refer to, songs that I can sing, things that guide me back to God, that I can have a brother or sister in Christ that I can call on at any point to get encouragement and to walk with me. People who share their lives, and that's most powerful friendship and relationship you can have. People with whom you can be open, people who share their struggles, and you don't have to have any kind of facade, or here's the way I want it to look, but here's who I am. I'm a broken person, I'm a sinful person in need of a savior.
And that's what we have gathered here this morning, don't we? In every one of us. And so, I I want to be prepared in that way, in every way that I can imagine that I am ready. Temptation is predictable, but preparation makes it beatable. In verse 16, do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Now, again, every good gift comes from God. Do you give him that praise? Do you give him that glory, or do you take that for yourself?
I put in the work. Who allowed you the energy to put in the work? Who allowed you the the chance to be able to do this? Do we do we give God the glory and the praise? But what I want you to notice here is there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Numbers 23 says in this way, God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? God is faithful. James says, just ask him and he will give generously.
And so trusting God's goodness kind of keeps us steady. Again, just simply saying, God, I don't know how this is going to work out, but I do know that you're faithful, and you've been faithful in my life, and so in that way, we lean on him and not on ourselves. Romans eight twenty eight says, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. And again, that doesn't say that everything in your life will be good. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
And that's why we can read James and understand that all of these things, even bad things that happen in our life, God can bring good things through those, because you are a faithful person leaning on him. So when life feels unfair, it's easy to question God's goodness, isn't it? I want to be fair want to be fair with my kids, and you guys know it's some of the hardest things you can do, whether it's my kids or it's my soccer kids, one kid says another kid did this, and you didn't see either one, and who do I trust? How do I be fair? I love fairness.
So when life feels unfair, it is easy to question God's goodness, but preparation means that we're reminding ourselves constantly of God's track record. We're reminding that he is faithful in our lives, and he has been. So we need to remember God's goodness long before life's storms try to make us question those things. So preparation, as we talk about this series, being prepared, is not a one time decision, is it? I'm not going to ask you this morning to say, hey, let's make a decision to be prepared, and that's it.
A decision to be prepared is going to be an everyday question for the rest of your life until you're no longer breathing air, or some people say fogging a mirror. It's going to have to that's a decision you're going to have to make. Am I going to be prepared? Am I going to lean into God, ask him for wisdom, for his understanding, his wisdom that comes from him, or am I just going to follow my own way? And so we practice wisdom through prayer, through study, through times like this where we get together.
We prepare for temptation through awareness, through setting boundaries, understanding those temptations will come, and we strengthen our faith by trusting God's goodness even when life is hurting. Philippians four, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. If you want to prepare today, take this verse and run with it from the sermon today. I don't know what that was.
Take this, because this is a positive mindset. We are inundated with negativity. Yes. You see it. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things and your life will be changed.
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you, and I need the God of peace with me. And one more time from the lesson two weeks ago, Matthew seven twenty four and twenty five, everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, and the rains fell, and the flood came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. The decision of where to build has to come before the storm does. Are you gonna build your house on the rock or the sand? God is calling us to prepare now, not later.
You may need to ask for wisdom today, and God will give it generously. You may need to renew your trust in God. You may need to take a first step of obedience through repentance or baptism. We're gonna offer a time of invitation right now. We'd love to pray with you, to start that walk with you, to encourage you because we need each other.
We need each other for that encouragement. I love the Methodist Church has has got a very simple theme they're going through right now and it says better together. Amen. So would you come this morning as we stand and as we sing.