Joy Came
The Night Everything Changed • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today as the third Sunday we remember joy as we consider the first advent of Jesus in anticipation of his second advent.
When I considered Joy in preparation for today there was this one Christmas which came to mind. picture of pedal firetruck with ladders and pushing my sister out and Grandpa filming - develop this memory
Today in our text we are reminded of rejoicing in God and the soul being joyful.
Chair Bible pg. 496
8 For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their reward, And make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.
10 I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a groom puts on a turban, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth produces its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.
Are you ready for the message God has for us today?
Cool, let’s dig in!
Words and Passages on Joy
Words and Passages on Joy
In our text at verse 10 is the short phrase “will be joyful.”
This Hebrew word means to shriek ecstatically, shout with joy, to run in a circle, to feel happiness.
Kind of like when I got the pedals fire truck for Christmas
This is an emotion that is expressed and is more than a smile on your face.
It actually sounds like fun.
This word appears through out the Old Testament and now we see that to have joy is to express it audibly!
1 The wilderness and the desert will rejoice, And the desert will shout for joy and blossom; Like the crocus
This verse pics up on the expressing of joy.
23 So shout for joy, you sons of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has brought down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before.
These are just a couple of examples of having this kind of joy that just comes out of us!
There are New Testament passages that also pic up on this idea.
17 yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
The word “gladness”- joyfulness, rejoicing, delight, much leaping or dancing, exultation!
46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
“gladness” - the utterance of sounds of great joy!
16 Rejoice always,
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
Both of these passages are commands to find reasons to rejoice always. At all times, and on every occasion!
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
“greatly rejoice” — to feel extreme happiness, rejoice exceedingly
“joy” — the emotion of great happiness and pleasure
“inexpressible” — Defying expression or description
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, mend your ways, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Again “rejoice” here is command. In fact this whole verse is an emphatic command!
So all of this means that to have joy is to have a feeling that we can only express with a shout and sounds of joy!
The Application of Joy
The Application of Joy
Why so often are we commanded to rejoice?
To begin to answer this consider the antonyms of joy: regret, lament, weep, and grieve.
How easy is it for us to stay constantly in and get overwhelmed by these emotions?
Those are emotions that can distract and if allowed take over our lives.
We lose our ability to find joy and rejoice.
I’m not saying that there is not place for lament, regret, or grieving.
With the command to rejoice always, means don’t dwell there to long.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
I will say when put with the teaching in the New Testament the time of rejoicing is well, always!
When I think of rejoicing and finding joy in Jesus I go to this picture of my friend Amy!
The feeling of joy in salvation and rejoicing in the victory we have in Christ should never go away.
God wants us to have joy and laugh.
In 1525 two students bound for pastoral training stopped at an inn in Germany and encountered a knight who was holding his sword as he read the Psalms in Hebrew.
He invited the young men to join him at his table and have drink, He advised them to study the original languages. They told him they were excited that they’d soon be meeting the professor who had started the whole Reformation movement.
Upon reaching Wittenberg and meeting Martin Luther, they recognized him as the knight from the inn. Luther loved good humor and made a daily practice of sharing his joy with others.
Do we embody such fun loving joy?
Randy Alcorn, “There is nothing that robs our joy faster than hopelessness. There are days and even seasons that can be dark, but hope and joy can light those dark times.”
In the New Testament the Greek words for Joy and grace interestingly come from the same root word.
So really we cannot separate joy from grace.
It becomes apparent then that our joy matters to God.
Joy came in a manger, in a small town called Bethlehem and that night everything changed.
Conclusion:
I remember today the example that Carolyn she shared a couple of weeks ago when she lost her joy.
We see on the table that she found her joy!
Yet those words ring true, do we allow other people to take our joy?
Do we get so overwhelmed with all the negativity that our joy disappears?
As a command we make the conscious decision to rejoice and find the joy in life, to not get distracted by those negative emotions that can consume and over whelm us!
Benediction Blessing
May the Light of Jesus the Son of God Shine upon you and scatter the darkness from before your path; and the blessing of Almighty God be among you and remain with you always.