Access Church Pastor Jason Burns

Grow the church.
Grow you.
Who is the author?

James
Camel Knees


Who is the audience?

Jewish Christians


What is the purpose?

Encouragement


What is the central message?

Faith in Action


Truths of Trouble
Trouble comes to everyone
Trouble can be unpredictable
Trouble hurts
Rejoice in Trouble

James 1:1-2  //  James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…


Trials are problems with a purpose
Joy is the key to facing the trials of this life.
Outlook determines outcome
Respond to the Testing

James 1:3-4  //  …because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.


Faith is tested through trials, not produced.
Hupomone - active endurance
Our response to the testing is critical to the outcome of the testing.
Request Truth from God

James 1:5  //  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.


“Knowledge is knowing what to say. Wisdom is knowing whether to say it or not.”
“Knowledge is the ability to take something apart. Wisdom is the ability to put it back together.”
If we request God’s help, He will come through.
Receive and Do What God Says

James 1:22  //  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Philippians 2:15-16  //  …Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.


Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian. G.K. Chesterton
Joy vs Happiness
Joy makes a follower of Jesus uncommon.
How do I Live With Uncommon Joy?
Joy’s Importance

Psalm 51:12-13  //  “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.”
John 15:11  //  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.


Joy is important to us because Jesus proclaimed and possessed it. It points to my salvation
It’s evidence of God’s spirit
It’ll get me through some stuff
Joy’s Improvement
My work is different

Hebrews 12:2b  //  …For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.


My worship is different

Psalm 100:1-5 //  Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.


My witness is different
“I would believe in their salvation if they looked a little more like people who have been saved.”
My well-being is different

Proverbs 17:22 (ESV)  //  A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 15:13 (NLT)  //  A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.


6
5:1
3-5
Joy’s Invitation
The presence of God

Psalm 16:11  //  You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand, there are pleasures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:27  //  Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and joy are in His place.


The Word of God

Nehemiah 8:10  //  Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Uncommon Worship
What do I do with my worry?

2 Chronicles 1:1-4, 15  //  After that, the Moabites, Ammonites and some Meunites went to war against Jehoshaphat. 2 Some people came and told him, “A huge army is coming from Edom to fight against you. They have come across the Dead Sea. They are already in Hazezon Tamar.” Hazezon Tamar is also called En Gedi. 3 Jehoshaphat was alarmed. So he decided to ask the Lord for advice. He told all the people of Judah to go without eating. 4 The people came together to ask the Lord for help. In fact, they came from every town in Judah to pray to him.
15 Jahaziel said, “King Jehoshaphat, listen! All you who live in Judah and Jerusalem, listen! The Lord says to you, ‘Do not be afraid. Do not lose hope because of this huge army. The battle is not yours. It is God’s.”

When you turn your worry into worship, God will turn your battles into blessings.
We all worship something.
Worship is our response to what we value most.
Weird
Theology
Practical
Worship
Lucifer - Worship
Michael - Prayer
Gabriel - Word
Percussion
Strings
Wind
We were made to worship.

Luke 19:37-40  //  When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”


We have a way to worship that we think God likes, but the Bible didn’t describe it like that, traditions did.
Halel – to rave, boast, celebrate.

Psalm 35:18 (NLT)  //  I will thank you in front of the great assembly. I will praise you before all the people.


Yadah – to acknowledge in public.

Psalm 138:1  //  I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart.


Barak – to bless by kneeling or bowing.

Psalm 103:1  //  Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.


 Zamar – making music to God with strings.

Psalm 92:1  //  It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High.


Shabach – to address in a loud tone, to shout.

Psalm 63:3-4  //  Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.


Towdah – to lift hands in adoration.

Psalm 50:23  //  He who offers praise glorifies me: and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.


Tehilah – exuberant singing.

Psalm 34:1  //  I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
Psalm 108:1, 3 // O God, my heart is fixed, I will sing and give praise (zamar), even with my glory... I will praise (yadah) Thee, O Lord among the people. And I will sing praises (tehillah) unto Thee among the nations.
Mark 12:30 // Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.


All your heart and soul”
Expressing my affection to God. What do I love most?
“All your mind”
Focus my attention on God. What do I think about most?
“All your strength”
Use my abilities for God. What do I do most?

Philippians 2:15, 16 (NIV)  //  So that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[c] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky  as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.
John 13:35 (NIV)  //  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.


You before me.

1 John 4:7,8  //  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.


If we don’t LOVE, we don’t know God.
Three Characteristics of Uncommon Love

Uncommon Love is Selfless



Luke 6:27, 28 (NIV)  //  But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.


Uncommon love is serving others daily

John 3:17 (NIV)  //  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.


Uncommon love doesn’t seek recognition, it seeks to bless others.

Uncommon Love is String-Free



John 15:13 (NIV)  //  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.


agapē

Uncommon Love is Sacrificial



John 3:16 (NIV)  //  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.


Worldly love wants to be SATISFIED, God’s love asks us to SACRIFICE.

Philippians 2:15-16  //  Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.


How do I live with uncommon generosity?
For not From
God is GENEROUS.
Generosity is the heart of God.

John 3:16  //  For God so loved the world that He GAVE…
Romans 8:32  //  Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
Matthew 8:11  //  “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
James 1:17  //  Every good and perfect gift is from above.


Generosity is a MINDSET.
Generosity is not about what I have. It is about how I think.
Scarcity vs. Abundance

Proverbs 11:24 MSG  //  The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.


God is after your HEART.

Luke 12:34  //  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
2 Corinthians 5:6-11  //  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” 10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.


God loves a cheerful giver.
Hilaros – joyous, won over, already inclined
Decidedly, non-reluctantly happy
The difference between acting generous and being generous is INTENTIONALITY.
GOD must be first

Proverbs 3:9-10  //  Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.


The TITHE must be first

Exodus 23:19  //  The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 8:17-18  //  You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
Genesis 4:3-5  //  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering.


4 LEVELS OF GENEROSITY:

Giving
Tithing
Offerings
Extravagant Generosity


It Must Be Blessed to MULTIPLY

Malachi 3:10  //  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.


We don’t GIVE to GET.

Genesis 37:5  //  Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
Genesis 37:17b-20  //  So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
Genesis 37:23-24  //  So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing—and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
Genesis 37:28  //  So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Genesis 50:20  //  You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.


When life is unfair, it is to my advantage to:
Recognize God’s Presence

Genesis 39:1-2  //  Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
Joshua 1:5  //  No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.


When life is unfair, it is to my advantage to:

Move Forward



Genesis 39:3-4  //  When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.


Don’t let the bad of a past season create bitterness in your current season.
When life is unfair, it is to my advantage to:

Embrace God’s Redirection



Genesis 39:20-21  //  Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him.


As a follower of Jesus, even haters help make my purpose happen.
When life is unfair, it is to my advantage to:

Choose Forgiveness



Genesis 50:15  //  When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”
Genesis 50:18-21  //  His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.”


Unfair scenarios happen to the best of us, but they don’t have to get the best of us.

Luke 23:34  //  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.