The Purpose in your Pain - Herbert Cooper

♪♪ Yeah! Welcome! Journey Online Familia! Welcome! My name is Ben, a.k.a. Vitas Ben, a.k.a. Uncle Benny. I am here to serve y'all this morning with my brothers. Yeah, the guys are in the studio today. What's up, y'all? My name is Julian. Excited to be here with y'all. And my name is Alistair, man. It's such an amazing Sunday to be here today. I don't know about you guys. I am so excited because it is Pentecost Sunday. It is Pentecost Sunday. If you're excited to be with us on Pentecost Sunday, let us know in the chat where you're tuning in from. Drop a house with some fire. This house is on fire. And it was on Wednesday, too, during Encounter Night. I know we don't have a lot of time to talk about it, but what'd you get from it? For me, worship in the middle. Worship in the middle of your season on the way to where God's taking you. Worship at all times. For me, I feel like it was when he said, don't just talk Christianity, walk it. Be obedient to what God has for you. And that just convicted me so much.

And I know it convicted many of you guys as well. But, you know, amazing word, amazing service, amazing worship. It just filled the room. The presence of God filled the room. 100%. For me, it was the fact that he preached on God is not concerned with where you're going. He's concerned with who you are becoming. And that really, really ministered to me. But like we said, y'all, this house is on fire. I know you can feel it wherever you're watching from. We're celebrating today the birth of the church 2,000 years ago. It happened on this day. And what an exciting day that is. So, Pastor Rich, let's head on down to our Fern Park campus, where Shani is. How's it going down there in the lobby? Hey. Thank you, guys. Well, everybody's getting ready for the word today, but let's reflect. Let's reflect, right? Because that's what it's all about. It's like, did you take this week to actually take it all in? I mean, it all started, if I'm honest, two weeks ago with Pastor Liz, right? She set that volley. She got it prepared. And then, bam, Pastor JJ hit us on Sunday with the heart. I don't know about you guys, but I was convicted, walking, sitting, turning off service on Sunday

because I sat back and I said, okay, Lord, Jesus, reveal to my heart what it is I am still not admitting to. And then I started asking him to please, Lord, heal my heart. And then probably around Monday or Tuesday, I said, Lord, give me your heart because I want to walk like you walk. I want to love like you love. And then, bam! Oh my God, people. Wednesday hit. And I have to say, I mean, if you weren't here, if you weren't watching, it just tells me you need to scan that QR code. Download our app. You need to get onto Journey app. Journey, YouTube, right? Subscribe. Hit the subscribe. Pause. Subscribe. Right here in the right. Right up here. You got it? Okay. Because a few things I took away Wednesday was basically, guys, speed. We know how we live. Speed is not our friend.

Obedience is. Right? Praise? Praise will get rid of all your pride. And oh my gosh, find your altars because you'll recognize God has been walking with us this whole time. Right? This whole entire time. So sit down. Get ready. Let's just take in what today's word has to say because it is amazing. And I'm going to turn it over to my sister in Christ, Raelle, so that she can get our hearts and ourself ready for a time of worship. Raelle? Thank you. Thank you so much, Shani. Thank you so much, brothers. Well, like they said, my name is Raelle, and I have the honor of being the stage host leading you into worship today. And as I was thinking about how to prepare for worship, I came up with this reflection I want to share with you. It's this. That sometimes worship looks like coming before God tired. Sometimes it looks like coming before Him grieving, frustrated, confused, anxious, honestly just not knowing what to say.

And the thing that is beautiful, most beautiful about God is that He's not asking us to perform. He's not asking us to pretend or to manufacture any type of emotion in His presence. He just wants us to be real. In fact, Psalm says that a broken and contrite heart God will not despise. So being honest before God can be a holy moment because it pulls us from religion into relationship. And I found that when I stop trying to sound perfect, when I stop trying to get into worship the right way, when I stop trying to find the right... words to say I find myself presenting God with who I am honestly and he meets me there I can then lift my hands I can then sing the song I can then be present with him and transformation can truly take form and I just want to submit that to you today would you say this with me to yourself whoever you are say this this is a real moment between me and God I'm here fill in the blank I'm anxious I'm tired or frustrated and this is a real moment between me and him he wants to meet you there let me pray for you father God thank you so much for being a part of where we are no matter where we are God we just want to bring to you our very selves we ask that you would help us to come into worship with our honesty Lord God and being a part of a corporate worship that just says to you Lord we we wait for you in this presence we bring ourselves because you know we know you're gonna fill in the gap and we thank you so much for meeting us where

we are we don't have to be perfect because your presence is with us amen let's worship you're ready to worship Jesus together come on let's put our hands together come on hey hey come on we love you Jesus let's worship sin was stained on me shame was running deep love was spilled on Calvary Oh hallelujah I'm clean God how can it be ransomed and redeemed I'm standing in your victory I've been washed in the water washed in the blood Oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water washed in the blood all because of you Oh hallelujah I'm clean It's not what I have done But what you've done for me You've laid it all upon that tree Oh hallelujah I'm clean The love has overcome The mercy is supreme I'm dancing in your victory Oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water Washed in the blood and as good as new Oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water Washed in the blood all because of you Oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water Washed in the blood and as good as new Oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water Washed in the blood all because of you Oh hallelujah Cause you took away my shame And you nailed it to the cross That's right

You got me running out the grave Hallelujah here I come Come on Cause you took away my shame And you nailed it to the cross You got me running out the grave Hallelujah here I come Cause you took away my shame And you nailed it to the cross Come on You got me running out the grave Hallelujah here I come Cause you took away my shame And you nailed it to the cross Thank you God Thank you God Thank you Jesus Come on Hallelujah here I come Hallelujah here I come Hallelujah here I come Hallelujah here I come Hallelujah here I come We love you Jesus So grateful for the price you paid God So grateful, so grateful Hallelujah, hallelujah Hey come on church Hallelujah, hallelujah Come on let's sing it out

Oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood I'm as good as new Oh hallelujah I've been washed in the water, washed in the blood Because of you Oh hallelujah Thank you Jesus Come on give it up for him Thank you God for your sacrifice on the cross today We recognize If it had not been for you you where would we be thank you thank you jesus it's all because of you we are here because of you to worship you god and as we wait on you god we will trust you we will take heart in you god and we will confidently expect you jesus because you know you will come through come on come on how many can believe that how many can believe can the lord will come through and as we wait we will worship you we will not stop worshiping you jesus come on let's raise up your voice in worship oh thank you jesus i don't want to chase the wind but i was born to breathe you in holy spirit come and move again i know you like to make things new so make our hearts an upper room we want to look just like you i'm gonna sing holy spirit you are all i want and all i need come again and fill me with your and your strength i'll wait for you i'll wait for you gift of jesus come on in your powers never known man you are a portion you are enough for us you promise that you pour your spirit out sons and daughters come receive it now you are a portion you are enough for us holy spirit you are all i want and all i need come again and fill me with your power and your strength i'll wait for you i'll wait for you holy spirit you are all i want and all i need come again and fill me with your power and your strength i'll wait for you i'll wait for you i'll wait for you i'll wait for you

those who wait upon the lord will not grow weary will not faint those who wait upon the lord will rise and run renew their strength and i will wait for you come on let's sing this those who wait upon the lord will not grow weary will not faint those who wait upon the lord will rise and run renew their strength those who wait upon the lord will not grow weary will not faint those who wait upon the lord will rise and run renew their strength those who wait upon the lord will not grow weary will not faint those who wait upon the lord will rise and run renew their strength and i will wait for you i will wait for you holy spirit you are all i want and all i need holy spirit you are all i want and all i need ♪ Come again with your power and your strength ♪ ♪ I'll wait for you, I'll wait for you ♪ ♪ I'll wait for you, I'll wait for you ♪ ♪ Oh, we'll wait for you, yes we'll wait for you Jesus ♪ Come on. Amen, amen. I love that song where it says, I will wait for you. Because a lot of times we think waiting is a passive kind of verb where we just sit there and it's not. We actively wait on the Lord. And one of the ways we actively wait on the Lord is in prayer. Here at Journey, we believe that prayer is our first response, not our last resort. We believe in praying first. With that being said, we have some prayer needs, I know all of y'all watching us right now in our church, we've received y'all's prayer requests. So I would love if you would join me right now as we pray for those needs. Father, we thank you today, Lord.

You know the hearts of your people, you know the needs of your people, Lord. Right now I'm praying for you as the God of peace and the God of comfort, Lord God. There are those that are brokenhearted that need your presence right now, Lord God, that are going through something that needs to feel your loving arms around them. So we pray for them and lift them up in the mighty, mighty name of Jesus. We pray that your will will be done in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And if you have a prayer request, we want to pray with you and not just only prayer requests, but also celebrations. We wanna hear your praise reports. So if you have a prayer request or a praise report, drop it in the chat below and we will pray with you and for you. Amen. Yes, absolutely. And we'll do that because we love you because we're family. Family. I don't know if y'all knew that or not, but we are excited that we get to be with you today, which means we should introduce ourselves. Y'all welcome. My name is Julian.

I get the honor of being with y'all today. And my name is Alistair. I get the honor and privilege of serving with you guys today as well. Yes, and I am Ben. Big Ben. Vitas Ben. Vitas Ben. Uncle Benny. Uncle Benny. Here with you, it is my joy to be with you and with my brothers. Let us know where you're tuning in from in the chat. We wanna shout out our online community. We're so glad you are here. I also wanna take a moment to shout out other members of our online team, and that's our online chat moderators. They're the ones that are in you in the comments, talking to you, praying with and for you. So shout out to the team there. And then we got. Pando. Pando. All of our friends, family, currently incarcerated. Thank you for being with us and for allowing us to be your church family and to be a part of the praying with you and for you and walking with you through this season. And we got another special guest, guys.

It's the FTG. FTG, come on. The first time guests, we are so excited that you chose today to be with us. Man, it's an honor and privilege. And I know you guys chose a special day to be here today because it's Pentecost Sunday. So I hope the word touches you. And if you are first time guests, scan the QR code below so we can meet you and get connected with you as well. My brother's preaching up here, let's go. He said, it's Pentecost Sunday. Let them know. Y'all, we love y'all and we appreciate y'all, which means that we also wanna tell you about everything that's going on here and the opportunity to dive deeper. And it's in Next Steps. Next Steps is gonna connect you, not just with what God is doing right here at Journey Church, but also with what he wants to do in your life. If you wanna check that out, go ahead and scan the QR code below for more information. It's a two-step process, completely self-paced for step one. It will truly bless your life. Yes, I love it. Because Next Steps connects you to your gifts and a team. And in those teams, like our online team, you'll find community with folks that have similar gifts to share.

But another place to find community is in small groups. And today, today, oy. I don't know any other language to say today, but small groups have opened. Go to the Journey Church app, register for a small group. I love small groups. You'll find great community there. Shout out Writing Hour. Shout out Bible Talk. Football team. All right. And all the other groups. Shout out your small group in the comments, but definitely join so that you can find community in another way outside of Sundays. That's good. And speaking of community, we want to congratulate all the graduates. Congratulations. Come on, made it through high school and college. Congratulations. We are so excited that you pushed through the hard work and got it done. But we have a special night for you if you graduated, or if you're still in school. It's Journey Young Adults Night. Yes. It's a night, man. It's an opportunity you do not want to miss. So if you're between the ages of 18 and 29,

this is a night for you and you do not want to miss. There's going to be powerful worship, powerful word, and amazing community and friends that you can find here. at Journey Church. So scan the QR code below, register today, so you can find that community and get a movement from God. Ages 18 to 29. Ben's going to be there. Vita's Ben's going to be there because he's 29. Come on, I'm 29 like 13 times. I love it. I love the community. Online family, we also want to tell you about something else that we get to be a part of here at Journey Church, and it's called the Orlando Children's Church. It's something that we partnered with on Saturday mornings, our outreach team, and they get to serve underserved youth in the greater Orlando area. They have breakfast, they spend time with friends and caring volunteers, and they learn more about what it means to follow the way of Jesus. We have a personal testimony from there. Yeah, they shared with us, and it says, we've been greatly blessed by our partnership with Journey Church. From the moment we met Robert and the team, we knew that Journey was an answer to prayer. Come on, somebody. Not content to simply show up and do basic volunteer work, they immediately got to work brainstorming additional ways the group could serve the OCC kids, and it said they showed up, they did more than show up with food packs to send home with every child. There are kids there that knows the names personally of each volunteer because of how present they've been. And they also said the Journey team is fun, creative, and reliable. All amazing qualities in any church partner, but more than anything else, they are fully connected to the heart of God for the Orlando Children's Church kids. When Journey shows up, we can trust that the kids will be encouraged, cared for, and reminded that God's love for them will never fade. Amen. That's the spirit of excellence from the Holy Spirit that's working through those volunteers, and it's made possible by God through your generosity, Journey Church. If you want to partner with us through your giving, scan that QR code below for more information. We would love to partner with you. Absolutely, and as you partner with us in generosity, I invite you to partner with us right now as we go into another moment of worship. Let's worship together. We love you. I'll see you later. Amen. Well, at this time, we want to welcome in all of our locations. Come on, give it up for our church family all around. Orlando, we love you. We see you. We're so glad that you're in the room with us today. And I encourage all of us, Journey Church, would you raise your hands if you feel

comfortable as a sign of surrender to the Lord. God, we welcome you into our hearts, into our lives right now. We remember, God, what you did 2,000 years ago on a cross. We remember in this moment that you alone are worthy of all the praise, of all the glory, of all the honor. We put ourselves in our rightful place in comparison to you. There is none like you. There is none besides you. There is none above you, God, so we worship you today. Come on, let's worship, church. Of all creation, but there's a song of praise that only I can bring. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, Jesus. You are the infinite, God of the ages, and yet you chose to make my heart your dwelling place. You healed my brokenness, showed me your glory. Come on, declare. So I have songs of thanks, not even angels sing. Who else is worthy? Come on, lift up your praise. Who else is worthy? There's none like Jesus. There is no one, only you, Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one, only you, Jesus. ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy of my Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, it's only you Jesus ♪ ♪ It's only you Jesus, it's only you God ♪ ♪ Come on give him worship, give him praise, it's only you God ♪ ♪ The one who was, the one who is, the one who's yet to come my Jesus ♪ ♪ It's only Jesus that's worthy, only Jesus, oh we welcome you God, oh ♪ ♪ You are the Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come, seated on the throne ♪ ♪ You are the Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come, seated on the throne, come on you declare ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, righteous one, who shed his blood to prove to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ be lifted up, he's holy, holy ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, righteous one, who shed his blood to prove to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ be lifted up, he's holy, holy ♪ ♪ Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is to come, seated on the throne, come on you declare ♪ ♪ To prove to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ be lifted up, who else is worthy, who else is worthy? Not but Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus, who else is worthy, who else is worthy? Not but Jesus, who else is worthy? ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus. No one, no one, no one, there's no one, there's no one, there's no one, there's no one, only you Jesus, Jesus, there is no one, there is no one, only you Jesus, there is no one, only you Jesus And it's only you Jesus, only you God, we worship you today Jesus, there's none like you Jesus. Hallelujah, hallelujah, God you're so kind to us, you're so kind to your church, we love you, we adore you today. Church, I was reminded this week of the passage where this song comes from, it's pulled from, if you were at Encounter Night, Nico shared it with us, but I think it's important that we sit in it together tonight, today, because I don't know if you know, today's Pentecost Sunday, that means thousands of years ago, the church at that time was up in the upper room and they prayed and they sought God and he began to move, he began to pour out his spirit and remind the church of who he is.

And so we see that in Revelation, it says, and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll, but no one in heaven and no one on earth and no one under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it, and I wept, and I wept, says the writer, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and look inside. But then this is what the Bible tells us, then one of the elders said to me, do not weep, and I feel like the Lord tells us that today, hey daughter, do not weep, hey son, do not weep, you don't have it, you don't have it in your own strength, you can't do it, but do not weep, because see the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed, he is able to open the scroll and it's seven seals, no one is worthy, you and I do not have it in our own strength, but he is worthy, he is able, he can do exceedingly, abundantly, more than we could ever ask, think, or imagine, he's worthy, come on, would you sing it? Holy, holy, holy, righteous one who shed his blood to prove to us the father's love, Jesus Christ be lifted up, holy, holy, lamb of God, anointed one, ♪ Who was and is and is to come ♪ ♪ Seated on the throne above ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy is the righteous one ♪ ♪ Righteous one who shed his blood ♪ ♪ To prove to us the Father's love ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ be lifted up ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Not by Jesus, not by my God ♪ ♪ Only you Jesus, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, oh, there is no one ♪ ♪ It's only you Jesus, there is no one ♪ ♪ It's only you Jesus, there is no one ♪ ♪ It's only you Jesus, only you Jesus ♪ Come on, give him praise. Give him worship, church, because he's worthy of it. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Praise God. Well, as you find your way towards your seat, I encourage you, give someone next to you a high five and let them know he's worthy. Come on, say he's worthy. He's worthy, he's worthy. Amen and amen. Well, I invite you to turn your heads towards the screen as we continue in worship. Lean in, God is in the room.

Hey, what's going on, Journey Church? Pastor JJ here. And if you didn't know who I was, that probably means you are a first time guest. And we're so glad that you chose to be at Journey Church today. If you're looking for a home church, look no further, we think you found it. I am so excited because today, bringing the word, we have one of my good friends. Sometimes in life, God sends you friendships. Other times in life, God sends you mentorships. And sometimes he will put a mentorship in a friendship and that is Pastor Herbert Cooper from People's Church. I can't tell you how grateful I am for God putting this man in my life. He's such a great preacher. He's such a great pastor. He's even a better friend. He's been leading People's Church in Oklahoma for 24 years. My God, that's why I'm learning from him because my hope here at Journey. So we love him a lot. Hey, will you do me a favor? We believe in honor at Journey. Will you make my friend feel at home? This is his second time preaching. Let's stand up on our feet, put our hands together and welcome to the stage, Pastor Herbert Cooper. Come on, will you put those hands together for Jesus?

Come on, give him your best praise. Come on and lift up your best praise. He's worthy. He's worthy of all the praise. Hallelujah, hallelujah. You can be seated. It's so good to be back at Journey Church. How many know that you're a part of a move of God? I said, how many know that you're a part of a move of God? My special what God is doing here at Journey Church and I love your pastors. Pastors JJ and Liz and their two incredible sons and you're blessed. And I don't say these words flippantly. You are blessed with one of the greatest preachers and leaders in all of the world here at Journey Church. Don't ever take for granted the gift that God's given you. Come on, would you put your hands together for your pastors, Pastors JJ and Liz. I love you all. I honor you. It's an honor to be a part of your life and part of this incredible ministry and this incredible church and really excited about the word that God's given me to share with you today. And before I preach God's word, I have to introduce you to the best part of my life and that's my incredible family. I've been married this year, 29 years to my best friend, Tiffany.

I think you see a picture of my family here. There's my wife, my girlfriend, the hot sauce on my chitlins, the gravy on my biscuits, the syrup on my pancakes. And we've got four children on the far right is Kel. He is a youth pastor on staff with us now at one of our locations. And then the son next to me is Cade. He just graduated from a college and now he's getting his master's degree. He's in a master's program, excited for him. And then my baby girl, she's 19, Karis. And she just finished her freshman year in college. She's in Tanzania Africa right now on a missions trip and she is single She's not even looking for a man, but I'm taking applications so you can submit an application to me It's gonna be hard to get by so you need to pray before you get that application to me because I'm gonna reject most of Them but you can send your application to me and then my baby boy. Mr. Case on the far left He just finished his junior year of high school. He's gonna be a he's gonna be a senior in high school this next year We're about to be empty Nesters and right now all four of my children are still on my car insurance plan Can you pray for your boy right now? I need prayer Deliver me Lord from all of this car insurance Well, I'm excited to preach God's Word. I want to talk to you from this thought for a moment I want to preach to you and talk to you about the purpose of your pain The purpose of your pain, you know when I was a kid growing up in Wewoka, Oklahoma There were sayings that I heard adults say I I heard my parents say that I did not like and I did not Understand. I was confused by these sayings as a kid It wasn't until I became an adult that I understood what they were talking about

like I would hear adults say things like This is going to hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you What you talking about? I would hear adults say things like this is for your own good I Remember my parents telling me one day you'll thank me. I'm like, I don't think so. I don't think so I remember my dad telling me one day boy money don't grow on trees. I'm like, yes, it does I see you pull out that checkbook. I thought money was in that checkbook. I didn't understand how it worked I remember my parents saying I'm not trying to control you. I'm trying to protect you I thought going to bed at 830 at 13 years old feels like control to me You know what I'm saying? Like like I did not understand. I did not understand I remember my parents saying I'm doing this because I love you I'm like, could you love a boy less I could use less love right now And Today, I want to give you a saying that's not fun to hear And not only is it not fun to hear it can be hard to understand But this saying is the truth about life If you embrace the saying that I'm going to give you today this teaching I'm going to give you today It has the power to change your perspective your family your life your future Your relationship with God. Okay journey. Are you ready for today's saying? All right, here it goes. Here it goes. Here it goes. Here it goes. Here it goes pain never stops You're like pastor JJ. Send that boy back to Oklahoma. He's up here talking crazy talk today Pain never stops and I know today that some of you are going through some pain You're going through some marriage pain some Dating pain some singleness pain You're going through some child pain. You're going through some relationship pain. You're going through some health pain You're going through some career and job Pain and I've come with a very encouraging word for you today pain never ends I

Want to take you to James chapter number one Verse number two if you have your Bible you can open it up to James chapter one I want to do some teaching today from James chapter number one And I want to share several verses with you today out of the book of James He picks up in verse number two and he says consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds and in life we face trials of Many kinds anybody else ever feel like me that word whenever feels like it's about every other day There's a trial sometimes it feels like it's every day and multiple times a day There are so many kinds of problems in life that lead to so much pain Life is filled with problems and pain Problems and pain and when you read the Bible we see how God's people Constantly faced problems and pain Scripture is filled with problems and pain Noah faced the pain of rejection people mocked and ridiculed him for building a boat Abraham had the pain of waiting until he was 99 years old Until his wife became pregnant Sarah had the pain of a barren womb Hagar had the pain of rejection from Sarah Esau had the pain of betrayal. He lost his birthright and blessing through his brother's deception I think about Moses he had incredible leadership challenges and pain as he dealt with constant complaining and Criticism and rebellion from the Israelites Naomi had the pain of a broken and bitter heart as her husband and son died Elijah had the pain of depression He struggled with his mental and emotional health Nehemiah had the pain of opposition when he was rebuilding the wall. He faced opposers and haters and threats I think about Job He had the unbelievable pain of suffering as he lost his health his wealth and his children Peter had the pain of failure as he denied Jesus three times

Paul had the pain of constant hardship as he faced judgment, shipwreck, prisons, beatings, floggings and hunger And I could give you biblical character after biblical character who faced problem after problem and pain after pain Sometimes I feel like my one of my top three jobs as a pastor is dealing with problems and pain There's so many problems in life There's so much pain in life James was right when he said trials of many kinds and I think about my my own life I've experienced so much pain in life like many of you I've been through so many trials. I think about The pain of being sexually abused at the age of 13 by a lady Pain life the pain of growing up in a broken and abusive home and watching all of the abuse of my dad and my mom and They ended up in a divorce just pain The pain of my dad telling me when I was a teenager I remember these words when he said you'll never do anything with your life pain the pain of being betrayed by people The pain of people making up stories about me the pain of taking the high road when it would feel much better To sling mud and they get even with people The pain of being misunderstood that the pain of watching people in my church Family lose their job or lose their health or the death of a loved one The personal pain when my marriage was in a bad season the pain of watching one of my children Struggle with their own health and their own emotional health pain And I've just learned in life pain Never stops the day we stop bleeding is the day we stop breathing So so what do we do journey we go through pain. It's Inevitable. How do we respond to pain? How should we deal with pain?

What do we do with pain? I want to talk about that for the next few moments number two pain and the right perspective James teaches us one of the most powerful principles when it comes to problems and pain and that is this a Painful life and a joyful life can coexist. Let's look back at James chapter 1 in verse 2. He says consider it pure Joy my brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many Kinds, it's possible to have problems and pure joy at the same time I meet a lot of Christians who are losing their joy Because they're facing the painful problems of life A lot of Christians have this perspective that I can't have joy if people are talking bad about me I can't have joy if people leave my life. I can't have joy if my dream is not happening fast enough I can't have joy if money is tight. I can't have joy if my family is struggling I can't have joy if I'm dealing with a sickness in my body or one of my family members dealing with a Sickness, but James says that doesn't have to be our perspective James says we don't have to be a victim of our problems and our pain What's happening around us does not have to dictate what's happening in us You can have joy in the middle of the pain The world didn't give it People didn't give it Money didn't give it and they can't take it away. Our joy comes from Jesus Joy is found in the presence of the Lord. You can have pain and joy At the same time name. One of the most joyful people I know is Pastor Scotty Gibbons. He's one of the pastors on our staff at our church. He's on our preaching and teaching team. He's had four to five back surgeries. He lives today with a broken back. He struggles with constant migraines. I watch him preach and lead with a broken back and preach and lead with migraines almost every day. I watch him as he raises his six children. How many of you know that you got a problem when you got one child? Come on, somebody. If you got six children, you got a problem every day, every hour. Come on, somebody. Preach with the preacher today. But he leads with such joy. He's a joy to work with. He's a joy to talk to. He lives out this verse. A painful life and a joyful life can coexist even with a broken back, even with living with migraines. The right perspective is to understand you can have pain and still have joy. Let me give

you another right perspective on pain, and that is pain is a test. James chapter 1 verse 3, that next verse says, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Problems and pain are a test. Some of you will remember watching television from 1978 through 1996, and you'd be watching your favorite team play a sport. You'd be watching your favorite television show, and the station would be interrupted and say, this is a test. This station is conducting a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is only a test. Then you would hear this noise. After the noise was over, it would say, this is a test of the emergency broadcast system. If this had been an emergency, this station would have told you where to tune in for news and official information. This concludes this test of the emergency broadcast system. I was like, why do you do that? I did some research on why they did those tests. I found out they had to ensure that the system was functional and reliable for national level emergencies, such as natural disasters or attacks on the nation. They had regular tests from authorities to check the system's operational readiness, to identify technical problems, and confirm that the government can effectively alert the entire country when necessary. God allows tests in our life to check our readiness. He uses tests to reveal inside of us what's keeping us from our destiny. God allows tests to change us, to grow us, to develop us. God uses pain as his gym and testing as our trainer. He wants to grow us. He wants to mature us. Your problem is not just a problem. Your pain is not just pain. It's a test. Every test has a question waiting to be answered. When we were in school, and some of you are still in school, tests came in the form of a question. If we answered the question correctly, we got promoted from sixth grade to seventh grade. But if we answered the questions incorrectly, we got held back. Not because the school was being mean to us. No, they knew we needed to grow. Every test has a question that reveals where we are. Think about this. Life is a series of tests to reveal where we are. Eye test, ear test, driving test, personality test, ACT, SAT test, IQ test, all aimed at answering questions about where we are in life. God gives us tests, but God does not test us to fail us. He tests us to reveal to us where we are. Your problem and your pain is simply a test revealing where you are and where you need to grow. Let me ask you a question today. How are you doing? On the test that God is allowing in your life When things don't go your way

How's your attitude? Are you positive or are you negative? It's a test. How do you respond to pressure when life is squeezing you? It's a test How do you respond to challenging situations and challenging conversations? It's a test. Can people count on you to do what you say you're going to do and to be on time even when it's hard? It's a test. Do you follow through and Do what's asked of you? Even when it's very hard. It's a test when life is Challenging and throws you curveballs. Do you find yourself with the victim mentality or do you take ownership of your life? Or do you just find yourself making excuses? It's a test. How do you respond when people hurt you? betray you Reject you it's a test. Are you Approaching difficult days with doubt or with faith. It's a Test, how are you handling God's delays in your life? Do you trust God you see trials test whether you trust God's character or just his calendar It's a test How are you handling working for that boss? Who's a jerk for that co-worker who gets on your last nerve? It's a test your problem is not just a problem It's a test your pain is not just pain It's a test God is trying to reveal something to you so you can grow correction today Prevents collapse tomorrow. We must allow pain to expose where we need to grow. I Tell myself frequently I say Herbert Lee Cooper jr. Anybody else call yourself by your whole name sometimes Like I talk to myself sometimes Herbert Lee Cooper jr. You better remember. This is just a Test that person is a test that situation is a test that trial is a test that pain is a test This is just a test. It's only a test of the emergency God Broadcast system. This is only a test Herbert respond correctly to the test Why? Why? Should we respond correctly to the test that God's allow allows in our life number four pain always produces something in you

Let's go back to the text James 1 verse 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance 100% of the time problems and pain produce Something in us. Here's the question. Here's the question journey What are you allowing pain to produce inside of you when you respond incorrectly to pain it produces impatience frustration anger bitterness a victim mentality sinful behavior worry fretting Complaining but when you and I respond correctly to pain it produces scripture says Perseverance it produces this steadfastness it produces this faithfulness on the inside of us We must be patient and allow pain to produce something good inside of us Journey church, if you rush what God is refining in you You'll forfeit what God is forming for you So when you face pain don't ask why me ask, what are you trying to? Develop in me. What are you building in me? God is trying to produce something good Inside of you over the years. There's a revelation for you. That is from my own life I've learned this it just became a revelation to me over the years. I've learned to change my relationship with pain Let me be transparent with you. I hated pain. I used to despise painful season I Hated dealing with pain and problems and I used to respond incorrectly, but

Here's what I've learned about life. If I respond correctly to pain pain is actually my friend Because it produces something good in me. So when I feel squeezed, it's not the devil defeating me It's God trying to develop me and today here's a word for somebody Somebody in this place today. You need to change your relationship with pain You you got a wrong perspective on Pain, you keep asking God God do something big through me and God says I will when you let me do something big in you You have to change your Relationship with pain when God allows heat in your life is not to burn you down But to burn away was holding you back the pain you're experiencing is for one purpose God wants to produce something good in you But you have to allow pain to develop you journey Don't waste painful seasons I See a lot of people that waste painful Seasons don't curse it. Don't hate it. Don't run from it. Don't get better You don't get bitter get better. Let it develop something good Inside of you number five number five. I'm gonna land the plane on this fifth point right here I'm not one of those pastors that pull the plane back up. I'm gonna land this bad boy I'm gonna land this bad boy. Go ahead and tell your neighbor just tell your neighbor right now None of those points were for me. I hope it helps you. Would you let them know that? Yeah Yeah, go ahead and let them know they were None of this message is blessing me today Number five, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Number five number five number five pain is the Vehicle that takes you to your next level Pain is the vehicle Some of you are not experiencing what God has next for your life because you keep failing the test pain

proceeds Promotion promotion in your marriage promotion in the relationship promotion in your career and your finance and promotion in your ministry Notice what James says James chapter 1 verse number 4 me me and your pastor pastor J We love preaching and but we can either preach this one word right here. Let Let perseverance you gotta let you gotta allow Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking Anything when you respond correctly to pain it builds you it develops you it matures you so you're not lacking Anything that you need for your next season of life Pain is the vehicle that gets you from where you are to where God wants you to be Every painful test is God's way of saying I'm preparing you for what I prepared for you Sometimes unanswered prayers are not God's punishment. They're his preparation God's painful not yet protects you from not ever God is trying to mature you so you get ready for what he has Next for your life. You must embrace this pain and this problem You must pass the test James teaches us that maturity comes when perseverance Finishes its work if you shortcut the process you short-circuit the promise Because half finished faith never reaches full potential Perseverance must finish its work So you are complete not lacking anything that you need you cannot become who God wants you to be While staying who you are you have to let pain grow you you gotta let it push you out your comfort zone You gotta let it develop you you gotta let it build you you gotta let it mature you James has a lot Perseverance finish its work that that means that means don't you quit? Let it finish. Don't you give up because it's painful And let's be real sometimes the pain feels unbearable You feel like you can't take anymore I've been there on multiple occasions. I Don't know how much more I can take When I was being sexually abused by that lady at the age of 13, I Don't know how much more I can take

The pain of struggling with an addiction. I don't know how much more I can take Sometimes life's been heavy When my marriage was in a bad season When one of my children was struggling with their health, I don't know how much more I Don't know how much more I could take But I'm so glad I did not give up. I'm talking to somebody today I know it's painful don't you quit let Appearance finish its work My life verse is Galatians chapter 6 in verse 9. It's my life verse Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time in due season You will reap a harvest if you do not Give up. I know you're weary. I know you're tired. Don't you quit? Don't you dare give up? God's producing something. He's developing something he's building So don't you quit? He's building he's building. He's building. He's developing. He's producing He's he's building. He's producing. He's developing he's building He's producing he's the fact he's building something. He's building something Don't you give up in the middle of the pain? Joseph went through so much pain for 13 long years. He was sold into slavery. He was falsely accused He sat in the prison before he ever sat in the palace But he did not give up 13 years later after pain the prison forgotten about He didn't give up and God produced something good in him and he became second in charge of Egypt. I think about Job He lost everything He lost his kids his wealth his health the support of his wife the support of his friends. It was painful But Job did not give up and God developed something good in him and got him ready for double the blessing Job 42 verse 12 says the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former

Part and Job got double for his trouble God will bless the latter part of your life more than the former if you steward pain Well, God's gonna bless your life But you gotta let pain grow you God's gonna bless your life more than ever before but you gotta steward pain Well, God's gonna bless your marriage your relationship your kids your family more than ever before But you gotta let pain grow you he's gonna bless your career and your money and your future more than ever before But you gotta let pain grow you he's gonna bless this church. This church is not done. There's more campuses to be started There's more people to be reached. There's more people to be set free God's not done But you gotta let pain grow you Job said in Job 13 and verse number 15 when he lost it all He was sick he was his health was gone His wife was acting crazy. His kids were all dead and Job said though he slayed me Yet will I trust him and Somebody gotta throw up both hands right now and say though he slayed me yet Will I trust him in the middle of this pain? in the middle of the struggle in the middle of the problem in the middle of the chaos In the middle of what I'm going through. I trust you. I trust you. I trust you. I trust you. I trust you Lord, I pray right now for your people Touch them in the name of Jesus. Come on, if you're dealing with problems and pain, it feels overwhelming right now Come on, would you throw up both hands right now? Let me pray for you Lord. Come on Lord You see your people right now hands are going up around this building Lord. There's pain and there's problems and Lord We simply say we trust you right now. You're trying to build something in us You're trying to develop us. You're trying to mature us. Oh God right now. We say yes. Yes. Yes Yes to your will. Yes to your way We say yes God develop what you want to develop in us build what you want to build in us Mature us Lord get us ready for what you have next and in the middle of the pain We simply say we trust you We trust you We trust you. We trust you have your way in Jesus name

His eyes are closed and heads are bowed. You're locked away with Jesus I'm talking to somebody who does not know Jesus as your Lord and your Savior I'm talking to somebody today Life's been hard You're mad at God You're like why would God allow The pain and the problems into my life Why would I go through what I've been through if God cared about me? The truth is we live in a sinful broken world Sinner sin entered in way back in the book of Genesis There's a real devil. There's real chaos. There's real problems. There's real sin. There's real pain But there's a good God who loves you And he has a plan for your life Would you surrender to him? Would you say yes to him? Would you let him wash away your sins forgive? If you, he wants you to step into the purpose he has for your life. There's somebody else today that needs to rededicate your life back to the Lord. You used to serve God and live for God, but problems and pain pushed you away from your Savior. And today's your moment to rededicate your life to the Lord and say, Lord, I surrender all. I come back home. Forgive me and wash me. I want to step into your plan and purpose for my life. If that's you, as I count to three, would you just shoot your hand high in the air? And I want to lead you in a prayer to say yes to Jesus. One, two, three.

Just lift it high and say, Pastor, this is me. I see hands going up. Thank you so much. Thank you. See your hand? So awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Church, would you just pray this prayer with him? I'm gonna ask everybody to pray this prayer. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Would everybody pray this prayer with me right now? Just repeat this. Heavenly Father, I turn from my sin and I turn my life over to Jesus. I confess Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and I will live for Jesus the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen. Come on and somebody give God all the praise. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Amen. All my family, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time, or if you're coming back to Christ and you believe that he is your Lord and Savior,

I just wanna say congratulations and welcome home. We are so proud of you, happy for you that you made that decision. It's the best decision you will ever make in your life. Do me a favor and scan that QR code because we wanna meet you. We wanna talk to you, walk with you, pray with you because we're not meant to do this journey with Christ alone. He has called us into community and that is your next step. Amen. Scan that QR code below and listen, sit with this word today. It's been so powerful, tough to hear and it's resonating in my heart that a lot of us might hear this message and think, okay, well, I'm just gonna have to take my pain and just go ahead and quickly find the lesson and he's saying, no, present it to God because by the power of the Holy Spirit, he's gonna show you how he's gonna use it. Our pain is not in vain when we walk with God. So I encourage you to slow down, let pain be present. Don't try to escape it because God is gonna do something if you let him and that's what I took from this message. We're gonna go to the studio and see what my brothers have to say about this message and until next Sunday, be blessed. Amen.

Amen, Rael. Rael, come in with that power. She preaching after the preaching and I love that. It's the dessert. Yes, the spirit is just flowing and I wanna bounce off what you said because I love what you said, Rael. There's a point in there in the message. He said, if you rush what God is refining in you, you forfeit what he's creating for you and that really ministered to me because there's a purpose to this pain as it plays out in James 1, 2. There is a purpose to all of this. That's good. What about you, gentlemen? Yeah, you know, it brought me to Galatians 6, 9. You know, do not become weary in doing good for at the proper time, you will reap a harvest if you do not give up. And I feel like persevering through pain is so important because a lot of times we experience pain and then stop fulfilling what God has for us or stop doing what God has called us to do. So I think it's just so important to persevere through pain. Yeah, that's good, the perseverance through the pain. And he said, there's one line that kind of highlights that if it's like, if you're bleeding, you're breathing. So as long as you got blood in the veins and it's moving,

you got air in your lungs, you persevere. You persevere, those painful seasons is growth. There's a reason it's called growing pains as you grow. And so that was just so powerful. I'm so encouraged. You made me do the face after that. Yeah, that was the receive it face, receive it. Thank God he brought that word to us today. We really appreciate that. Let's head on down to the lobby. Shani's down there in the lobby at our Fern Park campus. What about you down there? How did you receive this message, Shani? Well, I have to say, guys, that hit me again. It hit me hard. There was a lot that conviction happened again during that. But the one piece of the message that I took back from that is basically give me the pain. Give me the pain. Because the joy comes with walking with Jesus, okay? So just give it to me, wash me over with it. I am fine with that. Because again, Jesus is my joy. Can I get an amen, please? Can I get an amen? Okay, so if you're wondering, Journey family, what's next? Next steps, guys. Scan that QR code. Find out what your next step is to come with us, enjoy with us, right?

And then if you find it in your heart, if you feel called from a standpoint. day to give the many different ways that you can. Scan our QR code for generosity. That will let you in on how you can serve, how you can give to Jesus. And I want to say, guys, it's not just Sunday. It's not just Sunday, it's every day. So my interpretation of what Jesus is trying to tell us, walk with me, talk with me, pray with me, and come back next Sunday and hear the word. Thanks, Journey family. See you next week. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪