Advent 2023 - Part 4 - The Promise of Joy!
Notes
Transcript
GREET EVERYONE-
Good Morning loved and adopted ones!
If I have not had a chance to meet you; My name is Scott and I am a follower of Jesus and have the privilege of serving Jesus as the Lead Pastor among the people of Stonewater Fellowship.
ANNOUNCEMENTS-
1 - Tonight Christmas Eve Candlelight 5:30
2- Kairos Jan 6th
3 - Small Groups
a- Texas Country Estates and 4-Winds
b- Deep Dive Jan 11th
c- ReEngage Jan 25th
Manna For the Nations
Manna For the Nations
LETS GRAB OUR BIBLES IF YOU HAVE ONE AND-
Open it to Hebrews 10 as we as we continue our Annual journey of exposing the impact the arrival of Jesus has had and currently has on this world, cultures and people all through history and all around the world.
What we hope to do in this season is Expose to our minds and hearts, through the open Scriptures, all that God promised to bring and and all that He is bringing into our life, as the arrival of God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus is celebrated and remembered.
This dynamic impact and the promises of God not only happened 2000 years ago but continues to happen every day to millions of people around the world through the proclamation of the Gospel, in the power of the Holy Spirit by the faithfulness of the Church is done.
Loved ones, the promises that God brings to us in the Child in the manger and the impact of his arrival;
in reality is something that God came to have all experience, All who have been made new by the regeneration of the Spirit.
He wants us to know these and experience these each and every day as the Gospel of Jesus is renewed again and again in our hearts and minds.
Lets read some Texts this morning as Today we celebrate the Advent of JOY.
TRUTH-
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
PRAY-
ENGAGEMENT-
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Some of you might be saying “Pastor you certainly are not taking on the declaration of Independence are you?”
Nope not going to do that -
But here is what I am going to do -
I’m am going to talk about the pursuit of happiness.
When the declaration of Independence was written there was this underlying foundation that God was at the center or at the very minimum a part of the pursuit.
and what life liberty and the pursuit of happiness meant to them was
Freedom to worship God - Freedom to have and possess the Bible - The Ethics of Jesus being a part of HOW we pursued that happiness.
Here is the interesting part - Happiness has always been a part of the human experience.
Happiness has always been achievable - Here is why -
There are so many circumstances which happiness can come -
There are so many sizes in which Happiness can come
and there are so many variances in which Happiness can come.
Even today -
What is the Framework by which we declare happiness -
Here is the framework - it MAKES ME happy.
You could be happy watching a sunset -
You could be all alone -
You could be worshiping or watching or wondering and that can make you happy.
Here is the problem - and I am not for one minute taking away any idea that we all have the right to pursue that which makes us happy.
The problem is that happiness is the result of some outside influence or outside stimulus that triggers a chemical reaction in your brain that causes you to feel happy.
That chemical in your brain that is released is Saratonin.
Here is the interesting thing - We live in a culture that has taken the Idea of pursuing Happiness to a whole new level.
We have truly adopted the framework that it is our right to pursue the things, circumstances, events or activities that cause our brain chemistry to change and “MAKE US HAPPY”
Because we really want to avoid the things that cause some of the other 7 emotions like anger, disgust, Sadness, Fear.
We want to avoid those things.
SO in this pursuit of that which makes us happy and to push away from that which causes those other emotions -
What we have done, and it is something we all struggle with.
We have pursued the 4 idols of our culture -
COMFORT, CONVENIENCE, SAFETY and SECURITY but we have seemingly done it in a more and more crazy way.
WE have centralized all of those idols and this pursuit around the one thing that used to be so taboo -
We have centralized those idols around SELF -
We have taken the trip inward -
WE discover and create and define ME
and Listen - It seems cool - TO become SELF ACTUALIZED - TO BECOME SELF IDENTIFIED -
Usually the form that takes is to Un-teather ourselves from - Tradition, From the past from our heritage from current older influence.
and it seems exciting - To reject the religious or practical patterns of our past and to discover something new.
and what is going on is this false narrative that says ultimate comfort come when you are comfortable with your self.
So what we have seen our culture do is turn to the Ultimate Idol of Self to pursue the happiness that is driven by comfort.
We used to call that Selfishness we used to call that narcissistic.
and in our pursuit of Happiness - Convince is ultimately achieved when turned to the God of others that affirm the self that we have come to Identify and become so comfortable with.
So we surround ourselves with the people who not only will like us but will affirm us and not cause us any friction - becasue friction is uncomfortable and actually allowing objective truth to enter into our thoughts and contemplation well that is way too inconvenient and really doesn't work for me.
And as we come to the Idol of Safety - We reject and push away people that might not affirm the self that is of my own making - because in any conflicting conversation I don’t feel safe -
and in order for us to be secure we cancel, negate or eliminate those who would disagree with any attribute of self that I want affirmed. no matter how dysfunctional - dysphoric - dis jointed or destructive.
You see when Jesus came it was told to the Sheppard by the angels “We have come to bring you GOOD NEWS that will make you Happy”
NOPE - The Angels said “We have come to bring you GOOD NEWS - of GREAT JOY”
Here is the interesting contrast - Happiness is something we pursue - Joy is something we can possess.
The scriptures give us examples of what Joy really looks like and what Joy really does.
Loves ones, Joy is something, that when we look at the Scriptures, is was definitely not caused by an outside stimulus but was something possessed deep inside and was seemingly unmovable and unshakable.
It is The Joy that arrived With the Child in the Manger - This is the Joy that arrived with Jesus.
Lets look at
40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
Here is whats happening in Acts Chapter 5 -
Peter and some of the other apostles are making disciple - They are doing what Jesus told them to do -
they are going into the world and they are making disciples from among lost people.
They are teaching Jesus - And the Jewish governing leaders arrested them and told them not to teach anyone Jesus -
That is a problem if you are a fisher of men as Jesus said you would be if you are following Him.
These leaders arrest Peter and the Boys - Tell them not to do this again and Peter stands up and says “We must obey God rather than men”
and then He proclaims the Gospel to these guys.
They get angry and want to Kill Peter and the Boys.
They throw them in prison - One of the Jewish leaders convinces the other ones not to kill them. and then they beat Peter and the Others and tell them not to do it again.
Here was the result -
These guys are beaten and just out of prison - Probably still bloody and hurting form the beating - And what are they doing “Rejoicing” they have they possess JOY in the midst of what very well could have been very painful circumstances -
But look at what they were rejoicing at -
There were rejoicing over the fact that they had been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for THE NAME.
What is THE NAME?
THE Name, THE ONLY name under heaven and on earth by which people can be saved?
Jesus!
That’s what the rest of that story is - That EVERY DAY - not some times not occasionally not just when no one was looking - But Every day -
In the Temple and from house to house - They did not cease teaching that Jesus is the Anointed one.
The Holy one of Israel, The Promise of YHWY -
Lets Look at Hebrews 10:34
34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
WHAT???
Most of us who claim to follow Jesus can have some level of compassion on those in prison, although I think there may be some people who claim Christ do not.
But this text is not talking about prisoners of crimes, and we certainly should have compassion on them.
and if for some reason you struggle with compassion for criminals who are imprisoned then come with me in April to Prison.
But what this is talking about is the people imprisoned for their faith.
Here is what the writer of Hebrews has just said -
You not only had compassion for them - You JOYFULLY Accepted the PLUNDERING of YOUR POSSESSIONS.
Here is what the word plunder in the original language means.
to forcefully take something away from someone else, often with the implication of a sudden attack—‘to rob, to carry off, to plunder, to forcefully seize.’
So in acts we kinda understand the Apostles being joyful when they are beaten and they consider it joy to suffer for His name.
After all they are professional ministers - They are Apostles - And Jesus had warned them! .
So no Surprise!
The writer of Hebrews is not making mention of Apostles or Pastors or Deacons or any person who would be considered a leader in the Church -
No: what the writer of Hebrews is talking to and about are normal every day people who are steadfast, faithful witnesses of the Lordship of Jesus Christ and they join others in their suffering and that includes joyfully having their possessions forcefully taken away by a sudden and unexpected attack.
WHY were they Joyful at the forceful theft of their possessions -
Because they NEW that they themselves had a better possession than anything this world has to offer.
This is how God through His word defines JOY -
They had Jesus, Nothing else mattered, They had all that needed and wanted.
They had Joy - Jesus is the expression and the Embodiment and the personification of Joy.
The Scriptures in writer of Hebrews demonstrates this for us perfectly in
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
WHAT - FOR the JOY that was set before him endured the Cross -
How in the world could JOY have been set before Jesus when He knew the cross was coming?
How in the world was JOY before Him?
How did the Cross represent Joy to Jesus in any form or fashion?
Well we need to Look Back at the Proclamation made by the Angels all the way back to His birth -
Here is what the angels proclaimed - Good news of Great JOY for ALL people!
What was the news of great JOY that is for Everyone?
A Savior
to you and for you - That is what “unto you” means.
Given to you and sent For you is a Savior -
Christ the Lord!
You see Jesus is LORD - and Here is what the Joy that was set before Jesus through which He Endured the Cross -
HE was doing the work of Saving People - He was being Savior - He was accomplishing the very reason He was sent into this world. He was doing the work that would allow ANYONE who would receive Him as lord and who would trust in His finished work on the Cross of Calvary to be saved.
He was being the Savior that HE IS!
In in the baby in the manger that was sent as God and By God into this broken messed up world - He personified and embodied and was the very essence of Joy as savior.
Not savior of a few - Not savior for the high and might -
But savior for those who are near and those who are far off -
Look at Matthew 12:1-12
Here we have at His very birth the travelers from the East -
People who are into Astrology -
They weren’t Jewish - they didn't worship YHWY - They didn't know Abraham Issac and Jacob -
These guys were in to all kinds of spiritual stuff
Here is what happens - We read the story -
They see the star - Know that something big and important is happening -
Pack up and head west into Jerusalem and the are looking for the Savior - This one they say is born King of the Jews -
Here is what happens - The Current religious leader wants to kill Jesus and he thinks he can use them to Find Jesus but the Spirit leads them home a different way -
The Spirit leads them, in a dream, away from death and towards life -
and they go home another way. Back to the east.
The Spirit Saved them - In a very literal way and in such an allegoric way for all who read the narrative.
You and I this morning we must ask the question of the Proclamation of the Angels -
Who said - The Good news of Great Joy is that a savior is born to you!
Savior from what - Saved from What?
Easy to say the Consequences of Sin and the reality of Death.
Maybe it easier to for us this morning to say “Darkness and the destruction of Spiritual Ambiguity” or maybe saved form the Idol - the false god of Self that in reality is living to our own desires and our own truth as we see fit.
Listen to the Text this morning
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
This is the salvation of Jesus - This is the Joy of Jesus.
Listen - Everyone look up here - Everyone in this room - We are either dead in our trespasses and sin and following the course of this world that is set out by the prince of the power of the air - The Devil -
and Listen We all walked in that
or we have been made alive in Christ.
Look - How many of us in this room have at one time in our life made a decision - Made a choice that blew everything up -
Hurt a lot of people =
Caused our world or someone in it to go completely upside down?
ANYONE?
Look around - We all have done it.
All of us walked according to the Spirit that is now at work in the people of disobedience -
Listen you may be walking as I did - Thinking as so very many do today -
All road get there! Everybody is on a journey -
After all Jesus drew circles not Lines -
Listen - I scoffed when Steve and Sherry told me I was a sinner -
I laughed and responded I'm a good person -
I actually told the pastor of A baptist church - I don't believe in Hell.
I thought we will all find our own way -
That was until the Holy Spirit - what CS Lewis calls the Hound of Heaven - - Chased me down through the relentless effort of people -
and he captured me and he saved me.
This is what the Spirit did - He open my heart and He opens my ears so that the Trust of Jesus would permeate and change me and save me in an ongoing and ever increasing way.
Listen friend this may be you this morning - I don't know - You may be young and just ancing to untie yourself from the traditions of the past, from your parents, from the religiosity of what you have been raised up in and seek your own way and know thy self - and discover for your own what you think.
You may be old and you have just settled in your own mind what you have surmised how all this works and you push away from the Identity of Christian becasue you have assimilated that into this Idea of Religion - and you know as well as I do that religion doesn work -
But in your reasoning you just say - Well I’m Spiritual and not religious and so I don’t really need Jesus. because we all on this journey.
I don’t know where you are in any of this - Here is what I want to say to you my friend -
I love you enough to tell you Jesus is for you!
The Good news that is of great Joy is that this savior was given to you as well.
He was given for you and He was given to you.
You might be saying to me this morning - Pastor you don’t know what I’ve done -
That is why none of this Jesus stuff works for me.
listen my friend -
Don’t let these pretty faces that are sitting next to you this morning fool you there are people in this room including me - that have out sinned you 10-1
Listen The bible is filled with people that have out sinned you.
I love the Way Matt Chandler put it - The People in the Bible that this verse is talking about - None of them are getting hired here at this church.
No -
Moses - anger issues and kills people with his bear hands -
David - King David - Man after God’s own heart - Not hiring Him, Have you seen my wife - Brandi is a beautiful woman.
Paul - The Apostle Paul - The one that actually wrote this -
He is not passing any background checks here - You pull his criminal record - Serial Killer - and not just any old one - Serial Killer of Christians and was one of the guys leading the genocide.
Listen - God loves you and He sent to you from His very heart a savior - Jesus
one more
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
You see in Jesus we have redemption. We have the forgiveness of our sins - Our debt to God has been paid off by the blood of Jesus.
You wanna know where Joy comes from?
The kind of Joy that is Steadfast Joy - The Kind of Joy that Sticks - The Kind of Joy that is possessed deep inside the very being of who you are?
The kinds of Joy that permeates Every circumstance no matter how dire.
The kind of Joy that being us all to the place where our possession can be forcefully taken from us and we have Joy knowing that we we have a better possession - Redemption, Reconciliation with God - Regeneration to knew life By God - complete and total forgiveness of our sins and eternal relief from the consequences of that sin?
The Kind of Joy that would be evident becasue we would be filled with Joy becasue if we were imprisoned, or beaten or arrested or actually martyred for our faith, being found worthy by God to suffer for the name of Jesus-
We would have JOY in our hearts that would overwhelm any and every circumstance becasue we are His and nothing can separate us from the Love we have IN Christ Jesus.
Listen - Way way too many times People who claim Christ would not be characterized by JOY - Rather they characterized by Rage - Anger - hatred basically crusty people.
If this is you, Im not gonna say “your not saved” but I would encourage two things - ONE test yourself to make sure you are of the faith and TWO we have missed something in your maturing and growing in the knowledge and grace of Jesus.
Joy comes from unity with Jesus -
Joy comes from knowing that we have been redeemed and forgiven and released from the consequences of our sin -
joy comes from knowing that we have delivered from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus - the Beloved one, in whom we have redemption the forgiveness of our sin
Joy comes from the Child in the Manger -
Joy comes from Jesus.
You see loved ones - when you respond to the Holy Spirit, The hound of Heaven that has brought you here this morning - and you surrender to Jesus -
You will know that Jesus changes Everything so know that Jesus is for you.
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