From September 13, 2026 Sermon – James 1:1-4 NRS
         “1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.  2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”

1) When trials put the squeeze on your life, what things tend to come out?  What is the result?  Consider how those things affect your interactions with other people as well as how you view yourself.  Consider also how they expose your underlying view of God and how you relate to him.

2) Though these are by no means the only examples, the sermon mentioned three particular means by which God re-makes us into the image he designed for us.  The three in the sermon were a) confession of sin, b) battling injustices, and c) classic Christian disciplines/practices.  How have you seen these means at work in your life?

3) How would doing these things with others in community (instead of on your own) affect your experience of them?  Make a plan to try one with someone else with week.