MONTHLY NEWSLETTER – April 17, 2023

Come Boldly

By Gary Wilkerson

He wants us to ask him anything. He knows we need to.

James understood suffering. 

In Jerusalem, persecution of the early Christians was rampant. 

Many of Jesus’ followers were martyred, causing others to flee across the region. 

What did James say to encourage the church? He wrote, 

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray” (James 5:13, ESV). 

As a minister, I sometimes find it hard to tell people in pain to pray about their sufferings. 

In the last church I pastored, a godly woman lost her husband to an illness. 

About a year later, she lost a son to suicide. 

Soon after that, she lost her other son to suicide. 

Folks from our congregation reached out to connect with her because she wanted desperately to be in church but couldn’t bring herself to come. 

She explained, “I can’t walk inside the doors. 

Whenever I try, I picture my husband and sons sitting with me, and I just start weeping.”

None of us is a stranger to suffering. 

Maybe the worst trial of my life came on a ministry trip with my father. 

I was in a hotel room preparing to preach to thousands when my wife called with terrible news. 

She said our 18-year-old son had been arrested for possession of heroin.