June 16, 2025
James: Get 'Er Done
How To Face The Hard Stuff
James gets right down to business! For everyone not currently soaking in a hot tub, suffering is a first order of business. In just a few verses, James explains how trials can grow maturity, how wisdom helps the journey, and how to avoid wasting a suffering experience.
Songs for this week: Spotify
Questions:
James 1:1-8
- Identify a time of trial that you experienced. What were some of the good and not-so-good ways you made your way through that?
- How do you understand the phrase “considering it pure joy when you go through trials”? Is James advocating emotional dishonesty?
- What does perseverance feel like? How would you explain how that works to a young believer?
- What coping mechanisms have you leaned on that, in hindsight, may have pulled you away from moving through suffering in a healthy way?
- Have you ever seen yourself, or even the suffering church, as first fruits? What does that even mean?
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Recent Sermons
Mark 1:35 - Jesus modelled a life of restraint and rhythm, showing us how to live with peace and purpose even amid urgency through the practices he shared.
Luke 6:39-49 - Jesus reminds us that we all have teachers shaping us. Some lead us astray, but when we follow him, we learn to live as we were truly meant to.
Romans 12:1-2 - Jesus’ invitation is to follow him: to be with him, become like him, and do what he did. We surrender control to Jesus, resist the pattern of the world that shapes us, and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit for transformation.
Mark 1:16-18 -We begin our series on Practicing the Way—exploring how Jesus’ rhythms of prayer, fasting, solitude, and Sabbath invite ordinary people to grow in grace and intimacy with God
Acts 17:16-34 -Paul shares the hope of Jesus in everyday language, guiding seekers toward truth and showing where their search for God had gone astray.
Acts 13:1-5 -The first Christians had small groups! They knew, because Jesus modelled it, that we’re much better in groups than we are as individuals. The group that gathered in Antioch was diverse, zoned in on Jesus and figuring out how to be outward-facing. Your own group will want all that and more!
