People's Church Herbert Cooper

James 1:2–4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3  for you know that the testing
of your faith produces steadfastness. 4  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)

1. Problems are a place of opportunity

2. Problems are a place of testing

James 1:2-3 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  3  for you know that the
testing of your faith produces steadfastness. (ESV)

3. Problems are a place for promotion

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,  3  for you know that the
testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  4  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)

Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being
done, the saving of many lives. (NIV)

Psalm 119:156 LORD, how great is your mercy; let me be revived by following your regulations. (NLT)

Psalm 119:25   I lie in the dust; revive me by your word. (NLT)

Psalm 85:6 Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? (NLT)

Psalm 80:18 Then we will never abandon you again. Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
(NLT)

4 Revival Stoppers

1. A fading faith
Revelation 2:3-4 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown
weary. 4  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (NIV)

2. A compromising faith

Revelation 2:13-14   I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my
name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who
was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. 14  Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There
are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin
so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. (NIV)

Revelation 2:19-20 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are
now doing more than you did at first. 20  Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and
the eating of food sacrificed to idols. (NIV)

1. Compromising God’s Word

2. Compromising sexually

3. Compromising relationships

3. A faking faith

Revelation 3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the
seven spirits  of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but
you are dead. (NIV)

4. A lukewarm faith

Revelation 3:15-17 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or
the other!  16  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my
mouth.  17  You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize
that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (NIV)

2 Revival starters

1. A repenting faith

Revelation 2:5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not
repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (NIV)

Revelation 2:22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with
her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. (NIV)

Revelation 3:3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if
you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
(NIV).
Revelation 2:16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with
the sword of my mouth. (NIV)

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. (NIV)
Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing
may come from the Lord,” (NIV)‬‬‬‬

Isaiah 1:27   Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness. (NLT)

Isaiah 57:15 The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and
holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. (NLT)

2 Chronicles 7:14   if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and
will heal their land. (NIV)

2. A Spirit dependent faith

Revelation 2:7   Whoever has ears, let them

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, (NIV)

1. God loves

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, (NIV)

1 John 4:7-8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves
has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love. (NIV)

1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love
lives in God, and God in them. (NIV)

Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever. (NIV)

2. God loves you

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, (NIV)

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. (NIV)

Romans 8:37–39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I
am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

3. God loves you so much He gave

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, (NIV)

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. (NIV)

1 John 4:9-10 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the
world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (NIV)

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

Luke 1:30–31   But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31  You
will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. (NIV)
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
(NIV)

Hebrews 6:18–19 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable
because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great
confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19  This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our
souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. (NLT)

7 Reasons You Lose The Anchor Of Hope

1. You become gripped by fear

Luke 1:30-31   But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
31  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. (NIV)

2. Your life seems out of control

3. You feel alone or abandoned

4. You are grieving a loss

5. You don’t have what you need

Luke 1:34   “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (NIV)

6. You have been deeply wounded by someone

7. You feel defeated

6 Ways You Keep The Anchor Of Hope

1. God is always with me

Luke 1:28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is
with you.” (NIV)

2. God’s favor is greater than any problem

Luke 1:30   But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. (NIV)

3. God fits everything into His plan

Luke 1:30–33 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
31  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32  He will be great and will
be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33  and
he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (NIV

4. God has a greater purpose for my life

Luke 1:38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the
angel left her. (NIV)

5. God has promised to help me

Luke 1:35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. (NIV)
Luke 1:37   For with God nothing will be impossible. (NKJV)

6. With God this is not the end of the story

Luke 1:37 For no word from God will ever fail. (NIV)

Luke 1:45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (NIV)

Acts 3:1-10 NLT
Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer
service.
  2  As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was
put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people
going into the Temple.
  3  When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.
4  Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!”  5  The lame man looked at
them eagerly, expecting some money.
  6  But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the
name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

7  Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s
feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened.  8  He jumped up, stood on his feet, and
began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.
9  All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God.  10  When they realized he was the
lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded!

1. Christmas reminds us our hope is in Jesus.

1 Peter 1:6-8 NLT

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a
little while.  7  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and
purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith
remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the
day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Colossians 1:3-5 NLT

3  We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  4  For
we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people,  5  which come
from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this
expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.

2. Christmas reminds us we can trust His plan.

Isaiah 7:14 NIV
14  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a
son, and will call him Immanuel.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 NIV
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
    and do what is just and right in the land.
6  In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

Zechariah 9:9 NIV
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matthew 13:54-57 NIV
54  Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were
amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they
asked.  55  “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his
brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?  56  Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this
man get all these things?”  57  And they took offense at him.

Matthew 6:25-33 NIV
25  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your
body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  26  Look at
the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  27  Can any one of you by
worrying add a single hour to your life?

28  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do

Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6 (NIV)

23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.