Summer at Bay Chapel | JUNE 28, 2026 Pastor Bria BradshawJames 1:2-4 NIV - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Joy isn't found in the trial. It's found in what God is forming through it.

1. Consider it Pure Joy

James 1:2 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

Ask the Lord - Which trial in my life feels too heavy for me to face with joy?

James 1:3 - because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

2. The Testing Produces Something

1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV - In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

When the heat turns up, what comes up?

Ask the Lord - What hurting places in me are being uncovered through these trials, and how are you healing them?

James 1:4 - Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

3. Allow the Work to be Completed

God is on a mission to restore His fractured people and make them WHOLE.

James 1:12 NIV - Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Ask the Lord - Where am I pulling away, avoiding, or rushing past the work you want to finish in me?

The fire isn’t the end; it’s the beginning of what couldn’t grow before.