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April 21, 2024
Pastor Ryan Cathers
BC Boardman & BC Warren
Matthew 7:27 “When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash” New Living Translation
Appreciating Pain (Don’t Waste Your Pain)
James 1:2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. New Living Translation
We Choose Joy.
James 1:2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. New Living Translation
Life is a series of opportunities to trust God or trust anything else.
Pain is not the problem.
Pain is not the problem. Pain is an indicator that there is a problem.
Matthew 7:26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” New Living Translation
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. - C.S. Lewis
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. English Standard Version
James 1:16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 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. English Standard Version
James 1:14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. English Standard Version
God is not the source of your trials. He is the Redeemer of your trials.
Don't waste your pain.
People who learn to overcome opposition aren't opposed to opposition.
You may not have an answer why, but don't let it go to waste.
James 1:5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. New Living Translation
Pain is shaped by perspective.
2 Corinthians 11:23b I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. New Living Translation
2 Corinthians 11:26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. New Living Translation
2 Corinthians 11:27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. New Living Translation
2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. English Standard Version