People's Church Herbert Cooper

James 1:2-3 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. (NIV)

James 1:3-4 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. (NIV)

James 1:12- 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. (NIV)

Genesis 22:1- Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. (NIV)

Psalm 105:19 Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character. (NLT)

Exodus 16:4-Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. (NIV)

Job 23:10- But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (NIV)

Psalm 139:23–24 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (NIV)

5 Tests You Need To Pass

1. Forgotten test 

1 Samuel 17:15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. (NIV)

2. Failure test

3. Family and friends test

4. Finance Test 

1 Samuel 17:20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. (NIV)

1 Samuel 17:15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. (NIV)

Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (NIV)

5. Fight Test
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (NIV)

James 1:2-4 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. (NIV)

2 Corinthians 8:21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man. (NIV)

Galatians 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (NIV)

1. Distracted by the approval of people
1 Samuel 16:5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. (NIV)

1 Samuel 16:11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” (NIV)

1 Samuel 17:33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” (NIV)

1 Thessalonians 2:4 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. (NIV)

2. Distracted by what others possess

3. Distracted by the harsh words of people 

1 Samuel 17:28–29  When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” 29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” (NIV)
1 Samuel 17:42–44 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” (NIV)

1 Samuel 17:45–47 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” (NIV)

4. Distracted by the requests of people
1 Samuel 17:38–40 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. (NIV)

Galatians 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (NIV)

1. Guard your heart from things that dull your spiritual sensitivity.

Proverbs 4:23 - 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. NIV

Psalm 1:1 - 1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, NIV

Psalm 101:3 - I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. NLT

2. Fill your life with things that align your heart with God’s.

Psalm 119:97, 103 –- Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! NIV

Psalm 119:11 - I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. NIV

Psalm 26:8 – Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells. NIV

Psalm 27:4 - The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. NLT

Psalm 84:10 - One day spent in your house, this beautiful place of worship, beats thousands spent on Greek island beaches. I’d rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin. MSG

Psalm 27:8 - My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. NIV

3. Learn to lead your thoughts.

Psalm 1:1-2 - Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

2 Cor. 10:5 - 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. NIV

Colossians 3:2 - 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  NIV

Romans 12:2 - 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV

Philippians 4:8 - 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ESV

1. The preparation process develops your calling  

2. The preparation process develops your anointing 

1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. (NIV)

2 Samuel 5:10 And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him. (NIV)

3. The preparation process develops your character 

Psalms 78:72- And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. (NIV)

4. The preparation process develops your skills

Psalms 78:72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. (NIV)

5. The preparation process develops your relationships 

1 Samuel 19:1–2 Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. (NIV)

6. The preparation process develops your confidence 

1 Samuel 17:36–37 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” (NIV)

Isaiah 44:2 This is what the LORD says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. (NIV)

Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. (NIV)

Isaiah 49:5 And now the LORD speaks— the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The LORD has honored me, and my God has given me strength. (NLT)

Job 14:5 A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. (NIV)

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (NIV)

Galatians 1:15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased (NIV)

Jeremiah 10:23 LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. (NIV)

Psalm 40:5 Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare. (NIV)

Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. (NIV)

Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (NIV)

1 Samuel 16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” (NIV)
Psalm 75:7 It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. (NIV)
Psalm 22:9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. (NIV)

Psalm 71:6 From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you. (NIV)

Acts 13:36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (NIV)

1 Samuel 16:5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. (NIV)

1 Samuel 16:11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the
youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” (NIV)

1 Samuel 16:13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah. (NIV)

1 Samuel 16:19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” (NIV)

Acts 13:36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (NIV)

John 20:11–14 “Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. (NIV)

3 Obstacles That Cause People To Miss Jesus

1. Your emotions can cause you to miss Jesus

John 20:13 “They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” (NIV)

2. Your disappointment can cause you to miss Jesus 

John 20:15 “He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”  (NIV)

3. Your confusion can cause you to miss Jesus

Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a
mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (NIV)

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (NIV)

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (NIV)

John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). NIV)

John 20:17-18 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.” (NIV)