Good morning. This morning we're going to look at the book of James. There is no way that I can do half as good a job as the pastor has done the last few Sundays. Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect results, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Right ... Joy. But it did say consider it joy. It's not going to seem joyful though. Why do we endure? Because the testing of our faith produces endurance. People who run the marathon don't just get up one morning and say "I think I'll run a marathon". They have to start out little, and then build up. They need to produce endurance. Remember the saying, "you can't have a testimony without a test". It's possible to endure but have a bad attitude in doing so. "I'm just suffering for Jesus". That kind of endurance won't have a perfect result. Why do we endure with the right attitude – so that we may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. It says in Hebrews "to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings". And also " and having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation". Jesus was tested in the garden and on the cross. He knew what God's mission was for Himself; and so He endured. He was perfected. What is God's mission for you? What do you have to do to achieve it? What kind of trials will you have to go through to achieve it? Can you endure? Father help the reader discover his/her mission - to endure any trials trying to prevent him/her from achieving it; and to come out perfect in the end!

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