The Power Of Patience (2021)

SERMON OUTLINE:

Example #1: The Farmer. (vs 7-9)

Example #2: The Prophets (vs 10).

Example #3: Job (vs 11):

SERMON BODY

Ill:

• A little boy was standing at the end of an escalator.

• His eyes focussed of the handrail.

• The shop assistant asked, “Son are you lost?”

• He replied, “No, I am just waiting for my chewing gum to come back down.”

• TRANSITION: A kid with creativity and patience!

Ill:

• George Mallory was the famous British mountaineer and explorer.

• He may well have been the first person ever to reach the top of Mount Everest.

• In the early 1920’s he led a number of attempts to scale the Mount Everest,

• Eventually being killed in 1924 aged 37 in his third attempt.

• Before that last and fatal attempt, he had said these words:

• “I can’t see myself coming down defeated.”

• Well, sadly for him, he was defeated!

• George Mallory went missing in 1924 and it took 75 years for anyone to find his body.

• His body was found in 1999, 27,000 feet up the mountain,

• It was well preserved by the snow and ice,

• He was just 2000 feet from the peak.

• Give up he did not.

• His body was found face down on a rocky slope, head toward the summit.

• His arms were extended high over his head.

• His toes were pointed into the mountain; his fingers dug into the loose rock,

• Refusing to let go even as he drew his last breath.

• A short length of cotton rope – broken – was looped around his waist.

He had a team of people waiting for him further down the mountain:

• Months later that that team returned to England.

• And a banquet was held for them.

• A huge picture of Mt Everest stood behind the banquet table.

• It is said that the leader of the group stood to be applauded,

• And with tears streaming down his face, turned and looked at the picture.

“I speak to you, Mt Everest, in the name of all brave men living and those yet unborn” he said. “Mt Everest, you defeated us once; you defeated us twice; you defeated us three times. But Mt Everest, we shall someday defeat you, because you can’t get any bigger, but we can.”

• Those words found their fulfilment in 1953 when two climbers.

• Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzig Norgay, reached the top

• TRANSITION: When I read this story this week,

• I was struck by that line of the speech:

• “We shall someday defeat you, because you can’t get any bigger, but we can.”

• As Christians we need to develop patience,

• Otherwise, we remain spiritual dwarves when God wants us to become spiritual giants!

• We CAN get ‘bigger’ in character.

• But there are no short cuts, we need to learn patience!

• Patience, like most Christian characteristics,

• Is one of those character traits that grows over time,

• It is never something we get given to us overnight.

• To help us hang on in there and be patient & endure?

• James gives us three examples of those who were patient and endured.

Example #1: The Farmer. (vs 7-9)

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”

Ill:

• Dairy farmer John Duffield was milking his cow in Shepperton, Surrey.

• He was just starting to get a good rhythm going,

• When a bug flew into the barn and started circling his head.

• Suddenly, the bug flew into the cow's ear.

• Farmer Duffield didn't think much about it, until the bug squirted out into his bucket.

• Duffield said, "It went in one ear and out the udder."

• TRANSITION: One of the great things with the letter of James are his illustrations:

• Unlike my corny jokes, James simple stories are self-explanatory.

• Everyday images that we all understand.

• Verses 7-9 remind us that farming takes time.

• Nature is never in a hurry!

Ill:

• Some of you know that my wife Penny has had an allotment.

• It’s a bit extravagant as they charge £12.50 a year for the plot of land!

• But hey! Sometimes you just have to splash out!

• One thing she has learnt is this:

• You can’t hurry nature!

• Nature is sloooooow - but it is very rewarding to those who wait.