A Faith That Works Through Perseverance
James 1:2-4, 12
April 19, 2020
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Guide for Home Worship
Time of Reflection Quotations
“The best way out is always through.”
~ Robert Frost (1874-1963), American poet
“I was taught the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.”
~ Marie Curie (1867-1934), French physicist and two-time winner of the Nobel Prize
“One of the most interesting and remarkable things Christians learn is that laughter does not exclude weeping. Christian joy is not an escape from sorrow. Pain and hardship still come, but they are unable to drive out the happiness of the redeemed.”
“The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination, it is the result of God’s faithfulness. We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous, because God sticks with us.”
~ Eugene Peterson (1932-2018), American minister and author
“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy.”
~ Tim Keller (1950-present), American pastor, theologian and Christian apologist
“By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”
~ Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), renowned English preacher and pastor
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
~ Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist and developer of the theory of relativity
“And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin’ on
Like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue.”
~ Bob Dylan (1941-present), excerpt from Tangled Up In Blue
Sermon Passage
James 1:2-4, 12 (NIV)
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything…
12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.