Christmas Eve

There’s a big wood sign that says JOY in huge white letters when you enter our neighborhood.

It is first when you come in or out

We don’t know everyone in our neighborhood but we know alot

People driving past that sign we know.

There’s alcoholics and spouses in ICU. there’s people wondering how they are gonna survive parenting and marriage. There are people with seats at the table once filled by loved ones and are empty this Christmas.

Real Life drives past a big joy sign everyday.

Jesus says in John 15:11

John 15:11 CSB

“I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

You can learn a-lot about a word by learning what it isn’t

Joy does not mean happy all the time

The opposite of joy is not unhappiness

The opposite of joy is fear, grief, and dismay

When we sing Joy to the world we aren’t singing “kittens and puppies to the world”

That version of joy doesn’t matter to the lives of my neighborhood

Joy to the world we sing says : “In a world where you know fear and grief I have made a way to Joy undeserved because I have come to rescue you”

Christ says himself he has come that we can finally have what we long for in a world that isnt how its supposed to be

He says he has come to give it....and his joy unlike any other is complete

It needs no add ons or adjustments or human effort to earn or keep

In this Jesus is the only complete joy in the cosmos

His Joy is the answer to every longing of the human heart

Pastor Matt Smethurst says: “Joy is not an accessory to the Christian life, a perk for shiny saints who can turn their frowns upside down. Rather, joy is tenacious. It fights. It grips the promises of God and won’t let go. Joy is not a simple good mood; it is an anchor in our storms, an immovable rock to stand on when the waves of life come.

His JOY changes everything for every moment of everyday

His mission from birth was to wage war on our fear, our grief, and our dismay by taking it all on his body

The Joy of Christmas is the most scandalous message in the universe

God looked at the mess we made

He saw the fears, the what ifs, the regret, the tears, the why’s, the dismay, the exhaustion that we made

And he said I love you so much…none of this is my fault but I will take it all put it all on my son so you can come home

You can lay the counterfit Joy down. You can stop the exhausting effort to forget the mistakes, or numb the pain, or hope someone else makes you whole

John 15:11 CSB

“I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

He knows He cares and He has taken it all on His Body from the day he was Born to do for us what we could never do for ourselves

I say this all the time at our church ....because it is the Joy only the Christian Message offers.

At the end of the story one character Sam thought he was dead…he sees Gandolf who he thought was dead...

He looks at him in amazment that they are alive and asks is everything sad going to come untrue

The answer of the Christian Message is YES....

TIm Keller says “Everything sad will come untrue and will somehow be better for once being broken”

We drive by that JOY sign too

And I worship and remember the scandal of Joy every time I see it

We long to see every person in our neighborhood know what it means

The Joy you have longed for has a name and it is Jesus

We want to introduce you to Him today…

Come up to Stephen or Myself right now or after the service and let us show you how to become His…you are why He came

------------------------------------------------------

Would the candle ushers please come up as we continue

They are going to pass down each side of the aisles and light the candle on the end

please light the candle next to you…if you don’t know them its a great way to meet people by burning your hand....thats how morgan and I met....