For the week of January 19, 2026
MONDAY
Day One: Rejoice!
Sermon Focus: Rejoice as you face trials, because those trials are necessary to prove your faith genuine.
Truth: 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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.”
Sermon Point: When we truly grasp our identity in Christ and all that it affords us, what else can we do but rejoice?! We’re on the winning team! Not only is eternal life promised to us, but we have been (and are being) transformed right now. We’ve been born again and live with radiant hope. That certainly doesn’t mean that we won’t experience the full spectrum of emotions as we go about our days – but ultimately, regardless of how we’re feeling, we will have a foundational, core sense of exceeding joy and gladness. Why? Because we are part of God’s salvation story.
Sermon Reflection: How can you grow a greater appreciation of the fullness of what is ours in Christ so that genuine joy and gladness mark your life, increasingly each day?
Application: Trials come in all shapes and sizes, all day, every day. Set a reminder on your phone to go off three times today. When it does, take a deep breath and rejoice as you remember that God is with you, right where you are – and He will see you through whatever steaming mess you happen to be in right now!
Kingdom Prayer Focus:
1. Praise God today for the grace poured out on us in Christ – for the hope of eternal life through Him – and that even amid trials, we can rejoice because we are part of God’s salvation story. Ask God to open opportunities to share the hope of the Gospel message with others today.
2. Pray that God will strengthen you to focus your eyes not on your trials but on Him…and that your joy and gladness will multiply as you do. Ask God to make Four Mile a place that exudes exceeding joy and gladness with all those who set foot on our campus or interact with those who are a part of Four Mile Church.
TUESDAY
Day Two: A Little While
Sermon Focus: Rejoice as you face trials, because those trials are necessary to prove your faith genuine.
Truth: 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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.”
Sermon Point: “A little while” may not always seem so little, especially if we must endure hardship. But that phrase – a little while – acknowledges God’s sovereign and providential hand that moves in His perfect timing. The unfolding of every event in the universe happens according to His will and purpose. Here’s the Truth, though: the hardships in our lives only come “if necessary.” That means that if we face a certain trial, God has deemed it necessary for us; He’s ordained it for a purpose. Trials are hard. They’re heavy, often bringing pain and sorrow…but we must never forget – they only come if God deems them necessary.
Sermon Reflection: How does the phrase “for a little while” reshape the way you view your present trials in the larger story of God’s redemption in your life?
Application: Grab a lightweight object (such as a small dumbbell, a jar of peanut butter, or a can of soup) and hold it away from your body for as long as you can (you can even hold one in each hand). After “a little while,” the weight becomes nearly unbearable, doesn’t it? As you drop your hands, utter a prayer of thanks that God only allows trials into our lives that are necessary and serve His purposes.
Kingdom Prayer Focus:
2. Repent of any bitterness, anger, or impatience you may be holding on to because of the trials you have encountered in this life – accept God’s forgiveness – and receive the Holy Spirit’s comfort and strength as you believe that God is using them for your good and His glory. Ask God to call all of Four Mile to greater repentance this week as we turn from self and turn back toward God.
2. Thank God that your trials won’t last forever – that His ways and timing are perfect and His purposes are always accomplished in and through them. Ask God for the opportunity today to help assuage the pain of trials for someone in your life.
WEDNESDAY
Day Three: Is It Genuine?
Sermon Focus: Rejoice as you face trials, because those trials are necessary to prove your faith genuine.
Truth: 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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.”
Sermon Point: Remember, we are saved by grace through faith. Genuine faith, the kind Peter is talking about, involves both right belief and obedient behavior. But how do we know if we have genuine faith? Well, it needs to be tested…by the various trials and hardships God ordains in our lives. They’re necessary, because they test (prove) our faith: will we look to the world to help us…or will we trust in the faithfulness of our Lord and Savior, believing His promises and behaving accordingly?
Sermon Reflection: Why is it important that the genuineness of our faith be tested?
Application: Perhaps one of the ways our trials test us is to see if we will still be obedient to our commission, even when life is hard. Today, choose to be filled with the Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18-21 – give thanks, praise, submit to one another) and put on the full armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-20). And then go – in His strength – and make disciples!
Kingdom Prayer Focus:
1. Ask that God will help you see your trials through the lens of Truth – that they are the means through which our faith (belief and behavior) is tested and proved genuine. Ask God for the opportunity today to help others around you who are also going through trials, to see them as opportunities to prove the genuineness of their faith.
2. Thank God for His unwavering faithfulness to His promises and that we can trust in Him, no matter what.
THURSDAY
Day Four: More Precious Than Gold
Sermon Focus: Rejoice as you face trials, because those trials are necessary to prove your faith genuine.
Truth: 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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.”
Sermon Point: Gold is one of the most precious metals on earth – and Peter says our faith is even more precious than it is! So, if gold must be tested, it makes perfect sense that our faith must be too. That’s precisely why trials are often necessary in our lives – they reveal whether our faith is genuine. Do we jump ship the minute things get hard? Or we do stand firm, rooted in God’s promises and seeking His glory, no matter what comes our way? Ultimately, just as gold is tested by fire, our trials are meant to purify us and make us more malleable in service to the Lord.
Sermon Reflection: What aspects of your faith (which is more precious than gold) do you tend to undervalue; what would it look like to treasure them as God does?
Application: Read this article from Got Questions: https://www.gotquestions.org/tested-by-fire.html How does it encourage you? Is there someone going through a trial with whom you can encourage today?
Kingdom Prayer Focus:
1. Praise God for the incalculable gift of faith that we have been given! Ask God to strengthen the faith of all who are a part of Four Mile Church so that we can go forth and Make Disciples in the Tri-State Region and Beyond.
2. Pray for FM (and the entire invisible church) that every single beloved child of God would cherish the gift of faith and that nothing would matter more to us than what we have in Christ.
FRIDAY
Day Five: The Final Result
Sermon Focus: Rejoice as you face trials, because those trials are necessary to prove your faith genuine.
Truth: 1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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.”
Sermon Point: We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, who none of us have ever seen. That’s the whole point of faith – the “substance of things hoped for…the evidence of things not seen” (see Hebrews 11). But if our faith is genuine, one day, we will see Him! Face to face. And it will be our greatest joy! A joy that will irresistibly compel us to praise, glorify, and honor Him for all eternity because of what He did to bring us salvation. We see it in Jesus’ life, and we must learn it in our own, as well: that both grief and joy mark our lives. Grief in the many trials and hardships that we endure, but joy in the resurrection life we now have in Christ! We simply must accept the fact that our Born-Again lives unfold with grief and joy sitting side by side.
Sermon Reflection: What might it mean for your current struggles to ultimately “result in praise, glory, and honor” – how does that hope strengthen you to persevere?
Application: No matter what trial you are facing this week…this month…this year, rejoice that God is proving the genuineness of your faith through it – and it will result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Lift your heart and voice in praise: Even When It Hurts (Praise Song) Live – Hillsong UNITED OR We Praise You – Bethel Music, Brandon Lake
Kingdom Prayer Focus:
1. Praise God that His sovereign and providential hand is moving in and through every moment of every day – in both the grief and joy – to the eternal praise, glory, and honor of Jesus. Thank God for both the grief and the joy in your life.
2. Pray for those who are walking through a particularly difficult season of trials or grief – that God would open their eyes to the depths of His love for them and His desire to use it for their good. Ask God for to open your heart to grieve alongside those around you who are grieving, and to share the Joy of Christ with them.