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This morning, Reverend Daniel exhorts us from Scripture that in all times, whether good or bad, to remember God and the community he has placed us within. Let us not grow weary of going to the Lord in prayer, but remain steadfast till we one day meet him face to face.

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So once again, a very good morning to all of you. We are continuing our sermon series. We are towards the tail end of the book of James. And today we'll be looking at somewhat very practical instructions. Uh, what are we to do in in times of uh suffering, in times where we are sick or not well, or in times where we are cheerful and full of joy, what should we do? So the key lesson that I want to uh bring to us uh today is this we must remember God and the community in all our varied situations, in good times and in bad times. God desires that we remember Him and the community, the people He has placed in our lives. So James chapter 5, verse 13 reads, Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. The word uh suffering is the same word being used in James chapter 5, verse 10, just a few verse preceding this. So it's the same word uh suffering that James used to speak of the suffering of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as they suffered for speaking for God on his behalf. Um, in that context, now James uses the same word suffering to denote a different context. And this is uh when we talk about suffering in this instance, it speaks of physical circumstances or personal situations that causes distress to us. And I'm sure if I ask us to lift our hands today, I'm sure quite a number of hands will go out. How many of us have experienced uh times in our lives where we face distressing situations? Can I have a show of hands? How many of us? Okay, almost all of us. Um pressing circumstances, I'm sure most of us have faced such uh situations in our lives. So James is is very practical. He says that whenever we face such situations, distressing situations or in pressing circumstances, we are to pray. We are to look to the Lord in prayer. We are so reminded right at the beginning of the book of James, in James chapter 1, verse 2 to 3, James exhorts the believers to count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. So James wants us to know in his in this practical book of wisdom that in all that we go through, in all the experience, uh varied experience, experiences that we go through in life, we cannot run away from the reality of suffering. In this case, distressing situations or in pressing circumstances. And James exhorts us to pray. This reminds me of the chorus of an old hymn. Um, I only sing it often uh at funerals, but I think it's uh it's a wonderful hymn. I'm sure uh some of us will be able to recall the song. I mean the these two stances of the song.

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It goes something like this Sweet R Swida and this meet my father straw make of my ones and wish no in seasons of distress and grief my soul has an of escape the witness, sweet of rest.

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It's a reminder for us, you know, as I was preparing the sermon today that this chorus just came to my mind in seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief and often escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer. So the Lord calls us, he beacons us in all situations of our lives, especially in times of distress and times of pressing circumstances to press in to God in prayer. For Christians, instinctively, we all know that somehow we ought to draw near to God in prayer when we face distressing situations. But do we, in fact, draw near to Him? Just want to share with you all uh rather my my own journey. Uh just just this week, uh actually from Tuesday to Wednesday, I took a uh one-day retreat uh over at Chungi Cove. Uh try to develop a rhythm of that towards the end of the year uh to set aside time to slow down and also to hear God and to look ahead uh for some of the possible plans for for the church in 2025. So uh so after lunch, I checked in and went to the hotel, I mean to the room, and I decided that before I get into a kind of a doing mode, uh, which will probably uh take on a couple of hours, I felt I needed to slow down because that's what a retreat is, right? You slow down so that God can speak to us. So I felt I needed to slow down to pray and allow God to renew me and to speak. So I didn't hear any uh audible voice speaking, uh, but I felt a tugging deep within me about uh a pressing spiritual need that I felt the Lord was drawing me to, uh, or he is still drawing me into. And I felt that that was a desire within me to rekindle uh my love for Jesus. So I was reminded from Revelation 2, verses 1 to 7, where John went to the church at Ephesus, and uh sorry, where John wrote to the church at Ephesus reminding her of all the good things that the church is doing. I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first. So my mind uh quickly went over and uh it's a preacher's hazard. So I just look at the verse and I quickly did a check and said, uh, what does it mean to abandon uh my first love? So abandon comes from the word afimi, which means to move away. That means for once you were in a certain position or posture, very much perhaps in love with Jesus and rejoicing every day uh in his love and being renewed and recharged in him. But to abandon means to move away, with implication of having a separation, to depart and to leave a place of original encounter. So I thank God for his sustaining grace over uh my life and ministry, uh, over the past probably 17 years of ministry. I'm grateful for his anointing uh many times to care for his flock, uh, to preach and teach, and to lead the church in practical administration. But somehow, as I took the time to seek the Lord, you know, I asked myself this question Have I lost something amidst the daily grind of ministry for God and in service of the church? So the other passage that came to mind is a familiar one. I won't read the whole passage, but I'm sure uh we are familiar with that. It's taken from 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 1 to 3. It's the famous love chapter. So the Lord brought me again to another passage in scripture. Uh 1 Corinthians 13, 1 to 3 says, If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. So the thought of how without love I am nothing and gain nothing, in fact, is a zero-sum game. Right? Uh Paul is very clear here. Uh, regardless of how great a ministry that we can build up in life, or how much we are willing even to suffer for his name or do great things, yet the sum of it all is actually love. So I felt I very much needed to be renewed and strengthened by the love of Jesus. I spent the next hour or more or less uh asking God to rekindle and renew what is so easily lost in the Christian life, which is a first love for Jesus. So I was led again to another passage of scripture, this time to Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14 to 19, where Paul actually prayed. In fact, Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, this is from Ephesians, and when Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, it's the same church. So 20 years ago, the church was vibrant, very much in love with Jesus. In fact, uh, but 20 years later, when John wrote to the church at Ephesus, the love for Jesus have grown, have grown cold. So Paul wrote, and Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus. He says, For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being grounded, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. So, what a wonderful prayer that Paul prayed for them, that they will grow to understand the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ. After some time in prayer, I continued with uh the day ahead uh with some walks in the morning and the evening, and of course, some planning that I needed to get done. So I must say that I came away from the retreat earlier this week, somewhat refreshed, but not having a complete resolution to the issue of my first love for Jesus. I believe this is an inception or something God would want me to seek and long after. By bringing me this awareness of the need to rekindle my first love for Jesus, He desires me to draw near and to be desperate enough for a further experiential encounter with the love of Jesus. So my prayer is, yes, Lord, towards a deeper transformative encounter with the love of Jesus. And I believe for many of us, uh perhaps in the Christian life, we also may need to be rekindled in terms of the spark uh for Jesus, the the encounter of his great love. Because regardless of what we can do or what we are able to do, it is his love that will sustain us. So I'm sharing with you this glimpse of uh what happened earlier uh in the week as I journey with God, just to make the point that sometimes in our life, in our walk with the Lord, no, he doesn't always uh deal with our issues then, then. But he gives us a hunger, then he bits us in uh in a good way, and and and he once he draws us in and he stirs us so that we are able to draw near and hunger and desire him. So sometimes suffering or distressing situations or pressing circumstances have a way of drawing us deep into the presence of Jesus. I'm sure many of us, if I open some up some time here, could come up to testify about how a distressing situation or a pressing circumstance that you go through, perhaps a grief or a loss or a crisis, actually drew you nearer to Jesus. It helped you experience uh experientially and existentially the love of Jesus afresh. Because He never leaves us, He never forsakes us. So, my first point and my first challenge for us today is James here links the suffering to prayer. In other words, when we are going through any form of suffering, be it distressing situations or pressing circumstances, how can that lead us to the point of prayer? How can that lead us to the point of hungering and being desirous of God's uh intervention in our lives? So, what suffering, what distressing situation or pressing circumstances circumstances are you going through? Can you see like how dream see it as an opportunity for you to press in for to God for prayer? So for me, I shared with us this is my so-called distressing situation. It's not life-threatening, but it's important because as a minister of God, I need uh to radiate his love because scripture says without love, you know, we are nothing. So I need to experience uh continually uh an outpouring of his love. So, how about us, you know, in our very situation? What do you need? How can you experience God afresh through prayer? Let me move on to my next next point. James goes on to say uh in James chapter 1, verse 13 Is anyone cheerful, let him sing praise. Is anyone of us here cheerful? Let us sing praise, let us praise the Lord. Here, James is contrasting cheerfulness with uh with suffering. And it's important to note that for James, suffering often does not stand in opposition to joy. A lot of times we think that uh if we are suffering, then we are not joyful, right? Or only when we have no problems in life, when we have no trials or distressing situations, then we have joy. But scripture actually points otherwise, precisely as we go through suffering, we will experience joy. In other words, we can be cheerful, we can be joyful in the context of even going through suffering, because God will give us a song in the night. So suffering could be form could be a form of trial that God wants us to go through, and it can be counted as a joy. We can be cheerful about it, because James chapter 1, verse 2 again reminds us right at the beginning of his epistle, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various of various kinds. And here again, towards the end of the letter, he's saying, Rejoice, be happy as you go through suffering. Sing a song, praise the Lord, because being joyful, having being cheerful is not in opposition to our pain or suffering in life. So, in the context of James, one can be cheerful and in good spirits amidst suffering, and James wants to remind us in such situations, we should not forget to praise God and what he's able to do. Like to share with us uh uh the example of Paul, which perhaps I'm not sure how many of us actually do take some time to read the last few chapters of the book of Acts. There's a lot of uh narration, a lot of a lot of uh chronicling of the journey of Paul, and one of it was in is in actually in Acts 27. So, in this context, uh Paul was sailing towards Rome. He was uh leaving the believers uh and uh he's moving on towards Rome and so that the gospel will will be uh be rooted there. So on his journey there, there was a storm at sea, and Paul was actually he he ended up in a predicament not of his choosing. In fact, uh when he talked to the people there, he had perceived that the voyage, the journey would be dangerous, and there was a real possible injury to all and much loss. But the pilot and the owner of the ship decided to put out to sea because of certain hope of reaching uh a harbor in Crete and to spend the winter there. So they so Paul had to take on uh go on with this ship to journey towards Rome. So he just uh followed along, despite the fact that the timing of the voyage, Paul says is not right. Nevertheless, he followed along. So we get a glimpse of the audio because Luke narrates it for us in Acts chapter 27, verse 13 to 20. So just to give us a glimpse of what they encounter, it says in Luke in Acts, sorry, Acts chapter 27, verse 13 to 20. Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete close to the shore. But soon a tempest wind called the Northeaster struck down from the land. And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. Running under the lee of a small island called Kalda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergrid the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Sartis, they lowered the gear and thus they were driven along. Since we were violently storm tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo and On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being safe was at last abandoned. So it was a dire situation, right? You know, that they had to throw off their anchor, throw off their goods, and basically they were just left in some way to die. Yet Paul could take heart at this situation and he began to encourage those who were in the ship because uh Acts chapter 27 tells us in verse 23 to 24 that at that time Paul received a vision from an angel of the Lord. It says, For this very night, Acts chapter 27, verse 23, there stood before me an angel of the God, sorry, the angel of God to whom I belong and whom I worship. And he said, Do not be afraid, Paul, you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you. So Paul could even stand up to encourage the people in the ship. So despite all that he goes through and a dire situation, the God came through for him. He had a vision of uh from the angel. And we we read actually in Acts 28, uh, the subsequent chapter, that uh when he was on shore, you know, he was bitten by a viper, you know, but he didn't uh he escaped uh without being killed. So truly we see for Paul's life uh again and again, I mean, if he he would have died there, it would be quite a joke, right? After the storm toss journey and then got on land, bitten by a viper, and then he died. You know, but somehow God preserved him from that bite and he incurred no harm to his life. So in his second letter to Timothy, Paul could encourage Timothy by praising God for his help and the timely provision and strength. So in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 17 to 18, uh Paul encouraged Timothy. He says, The Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. So Paul could praise and thank God that in all his situations, in the trials he went through in a seemingly desperate and impossible situation, uh God came, he spoke firmly through an angel, he saved Paul again and again. So, how about our lives today? Do we believe that in times where we are just drawn to desperation, where we are so-called at our week's end, we do not know what to do. As we depend on the Lord, as we continue to hold fast to our faith, I believe we will experience joy and cheerfulness. We will begin to be able to praise God. So as we experience God's provision and strength in our varied circumstances, we should praise God. And definitely for Paul, he recognized that all his life, God has a purpose. And until God fulfilled that purpose, he could be in a storm, he could be bitten by a viper, but nothing, no harm will come to him because it is the Lord that will fulfill his purpose for me. That's what Paul would say. And I believe for all of us, why the Bible chronicles a story, even in the book of Acts 27, it's not just for us to read and say, Wow, so exciting his adventure on a ship, you know, we'll never be there. But it's a way of instructing and teaching us that similarly, if we go through such dire situations, or when we are desperate enough where we really don't have anything left, uh, we are just down to the drakes. God is there, you know, and he will not forsake us. In fact, he will allow us the ability to stand and praise him because he is good in our lives. Because of God's goodness in our lives, we are able to stand and praise God, we are able to be cheerful because God is good in our lives. Let me move on to uh the final section. So James continues in uh James chapter 5, verse 12 to 15. He says, Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. So James is saying very clearly here if anyone is sick, uh, is talking about uh probably someone who is quite sick because sick enough not to be able to come to church. In fact, the elders had to uh go to him and pray and anoint him in the name of the Lord. So James is saying, if one is sick, what do you do? Pray. You know, if you are in uh suffering, pray. If you are in cheer, if you are cheerful because God did uh his good work in you, then praise God. Again, now he comes full circle, he comes back to the the heart of prayer. He says, if you are sick, pray, right? Not that we shouldn't see a doctor or seek help, but a lot of times because of the advance of medical technology, uh um we we tend to, and I'm guilty of that also, we tend to first response is okay, quickly uh see a doctor, right? Uh but as we see a doctor, I think the Bible also exhorts us to pray as we see a doctor, right? So it's quite common sense here. If you are sick, pray, you know, and not just pray, but don't be shy, call the church, call the elders, let them come and anoint you with oil and invoking the name of the Lord. And yeah, and God will raise you up as He wills. If your time is not yet up, He will raise you up, He gives you strength to fulfill His purpose. So it's important to note here that the elders are called not because they are invested with special powers, uh, but because they represent the church. So that was how uh the community was like in the James, in the context in the in the time of James. If you are elder, you are actually representing the church. So their prayers are actually an expression of the prayers of the entire community. You know, that's why uh as we pray, uh Paul says that if one part of the body suffers, all suffers. So the the elders are together in representing the church in solidarity for the brother or sister who is unwell. So the power to heal is invested in the act of prayer by the elders praying over or upon the sick person. So here in James, it gives us a very unique insight, which I believe is not common to us today. Because we see that faith for healing is not just personal, right? It's not just watching a YouTube video of maybe uh uh lighthouse evangelism, uh healing service rallies, and just place your hand and pray in proxy, but that is also possible, right? God can heal through that. I'm not saying, I'm not disputing that, but what I'm saying, James tells us that there is uh something corporate and communal about prayer that it's not just uh uh it's okay, like I suffer in silence. Let me suffer in silence, you know. Don't don't tell the church, don't, don't, don't let too many people know, right? Uh let me just pray and maybe God will heal me quietly. I mean that could happen, but here James says, you know, let the church know. You know, pray in such a way that as the church body gathers to pray, something happens. God can use that to bring about uh healing in the person's life. So here we see that faith or healing is not just personal, but there's a corporate nature of faith through the interrelatedness of the believing community who prays together for healing and forgiveness. And next week we will see that uh it's not just limited to uh praying for those who are sick, but in fact, James will exhort us to confess our sins to one another uh and to pray so that we may be healed. So there's a bodily ministry that somehow I think maybe lacking a bit uh in the modern church where we focus a lot on um our own um ability to connect to God directly, that we we forget that sometimes our faith is communal. It's not just uh me and my God and my relationship with God, but our faith is expressed in communal relationships. So, through the action of the elders in prayer, the anointing of the sick with oil, right? So some some were asked, is it must we always use oil? Can we use water? Can we use wine? I mean, of course, these are some questions, but uh we we take the view that the oil is a symbol of God's blessing, right? Perhaps uh nothing more, it's a symbol uh of God uh using that as a means of his blessing, uh, extending his grace. You know, as you anoint with oil, you know, uh it's a visible sign of God's grace upon the person. So that's what I do also uh as a as a pastor in the Anglican church. Uh we do anoint those who are uh about to die, you know, uh divine unction, you call it. So in the hospital, when I pray for the sick, I do bring all anointing oil to pray uh and lay hands and pray for them. But this is just a way of blessing them, committing them to God, and a way of saying that uh you are with Christ and Christ will be with you to the end of your life, right? And the calling out of the name of Jesus, why is it important? Because John chapter 14, verse 14 tells us, Jesus tells his disciples, if you ask anything in my name, I will do it, you know, because I go to the Father. So praying in Jesus' name uh is something that we all know, right? We close our prayers, we end our prayers in the name of Jesus, uh, just as a way of uh just invoking his name. So the prayer of faith will save the sick person. So, what is this prayer of faith, right? I mean, there are many, many different interpretations uh depending on your inclination, but I like to say uh in a general sense that the prayer of faith is simply a prayer that expresses one's trust in God and flows out of one's commitment to Him. The prayer of faith is just one's uh prayer to commit oneself fully to God, you know. So the posture is important. Uh God in his power is able to raise, but whether he will do it, right, is not within our control. But our control, what is within our control is we offer ourselves fully to God, trusting that He is able to do the healing in our lives, and regardless of uh what happens after that, we leave it to God. But the idea of coming in faith and receiving prayer for some pain in our body or some sickness is biblical because God says, do it, you know. James says do it, come. If you are sick, come, receive prayer. And in and as you come with a posture of trust in God and faith towards God, yeah, you will receive the healing as the Lord uh releases his healing in your life according to his will and desires and purposes for your life. So let me just uh summarize uh the sharing today. The key lesson today is this we must remember God and the community in all our varied situations, good as well as bad. So, in suffering, which in somewhat in a bad situation, uh, distressing situations, pressing circumstances, we are called to pray. We are called to seek the Lord in prayer. The good situations is perhaps the breakthrough that comes to our lives as we experience God's provision and strength in our varied circumstances, we should praise God because God's purposes often come out to our lives through uh challenging situations. And as we praise God, faith builds up and grows in our life. So finally, if we are sick, if one is sick, as James says, he's to do uh three things one, call the elders to pray over him, two anoint him with all, and then invoke the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith, the prayer of trust in God, committing oneself to God, regardless of what happens after that, uh James is able to uh heal us as we yield our lives to God. So this is where in the prayer of sick, the community comes in. We are praying as a community for someone who is ill and trusting that God will raise the person as he wills. So we must remember God and the community in all our situations, good and bad. I just want to uh kind of uh issue a challenge to us. I mean, the past uh couple of years, uh I think uh post-COVID, a lot of us are on uh flux, right? Uh we adjusting our schedules, and uh some churches have um members have dropped out, and uh because members have gone fully online, they are not really connected to the church. But I'm glad for YCCA we have quite a large proportion that are back, and I think uh it's fair enough to say that across the diocese we do have a large proportion or at least 80% of members back in our church. But along with realign priorities, uh can I urge you to make prayer a priority in your life? And personal prayer is good, but corporate prayer is also something which is needed in the life of the church. And uh for the past uh year or so, or even the year before, I think our our attendance at our corporate prayer is uh uh really low. That means not many people are gathering to pray. It could be various reasons, uh, it could be we are really busy, we don't have the time. Uh many, many reasons. So I'm not here to point the finger at anyone to say and and police people to say why you're not praying, right? But the whole point is this you know, prayer is important. You know, are we desperate for God to intervene in our lives? Do we desire to come and just gather as a body to pray? I think that's important because uh James tells us in our varied uh experiences in life, whether good or bad, we need to gather. And somehow when we gather for prayer, we we are able to strengthen that community uh solidity together. Right? So I think for the past year or so, we probably uh I don't think we have more than uh 15 people, right? Less than that, yeah, gather for prayer. So I want to encourage you if you have retired or you have time in the evening, we still gather every once a month only, every last Saturday of the month, right? So uh at 7 p.m. The next one is coming up soon, end of October. We are gathering to pray. So do uh make an effort, you know, to as the Lord draws you to seek him further. Because uh yeah, I think he desires us to pray, he desires us to maintain that posture of uh dependence on him and being desperate enough for him that we would commit at least once a month together to pray as a body together.

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