Peninsula Covenant Church
Message Title: Patience
Date: October 25, 2020
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Big Idea: God is on a mission to turn our lives into pearls.
What is patience?
To be patient is to endure discomfort without complaining
What is the counterfeit of patience?
James 5:7-11 NIV
Patient: to be long in anger - the opposite of quick tempered
"The reason you and I don't pray for patience, is because we are theologically sophisticated enough to realize that the very request for patience implies, 'Lord, put me in a situation I don't like.' " --DA Carson, Scandalous
7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until...
9 Do not grumble against one another…
What’s the alternative to grumbling?
James 1:2-4 NIV
We consider trials joy as we trust that God is in the pearl manufacturing business--creating “mature, complete, not lacking anything”
God has a way bigger perspective and battles than our circumstances… he’s out to mature us and to save the world!
James 5:10-11 NIV
Application:
Choose to see your frustration as formation.
God is in the business of creating pearls who through their lives and loops join Him in a global redemption project!
PCC BENEDICTION
May you jump into the arms of Jesus and may He push out into the world. May you be healed as you participate in the healing of others. Not because you must, but because you may. This is why we were born!
BEYOND SUNDAY
The Essentials 9-week series will focus on what it means to reflect the character of Jesus. Each week, we will wrestle with one of the essential characteristics of Jesus with the hope of it bearing fruit in our lives as we become more dependent on the Spirit to lead us. This week our focus is on the third fruit of the Spirit - Patience.
1. Define patience. How do we exhibit counterfeit patience? In what area do you need the most patience right now? With yourself? With others? With God and His timing?
2. This week's speaker and Lead Pastor, Pastor Gary Gaddini, used an illustration of a grain of sand trapped inside an oyster. Over a period of time that grain of sand, with lubrication from the oyster, becomes a radiant pearl. What does this mean to you? How can we apply this to our current series, Essentials, and today's fruit - patience, also translated as forbearance (Read Galatians 5:22-23)?
3. God’s patience with us is repeatedly declared in Scripture. See Psalms 103:8-10. How does this make you feel? How do you respond to the patience of God when there is wickedness and evil in the world? Can you recall times when Jesus demonstrated patience with the disciples? How does He demonstrate patience with us today?
4. In his book, Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit, Christopher J.H. Wright addresses a sobering and not often talked about topic: endurance in suffering. Suffering for us in America is different from many parts of the world, but we know for a fact we will suffer hostility from those who are enemies of God. When this happens how have you, or will you, show Godly endurance as opposed to counterfeit endurance? Jesus is our ultimate example of endurance in suffering.
5. See James 1:2-4. In addition to forbearance, what should our attitude be when that grain of sand is rubbing against us? And what does it produce in us? In addition to bearing with one another, what does Colossians 3:13 say may be necessary on our part? How do you see forgiveness being related to being patient?
6. When the grains of sand rub up against us, Gary challenged us “to see our frustration as formation.” Who are your spiritual heroes that you look up to, and how are they an inspiration for you to walk in the spirit (James 5:10-11)? We cannot be transformed on our own. It is essential to stay rooted in our super-power, the Holy Spirit, and others around us.
Series Daily Prayer:
“Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.
Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.
Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control.”
---John Stott (1921-2011), evangelist and scholar
Actions & Resources
--Make space for God this week. Declare the prayer daily.
--Memorize The Fruit of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23
--Read Chapter 4 (Patience) in Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit by Christopher J.H.Wright
--Join a 9-week Group: Cultivating The Essentials (Men, Women, Coed) - see below
--Join a House Church -- see below
For PCC's Fiscal Year:
June 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021:
Giving Update
Goal: $4,072,337
Giving to Date: $1,091,222
Still Needed: $2,981,155