Not Just On Christmas | Because of Jesus, there is always joy.

INTRODUCTION

Advent = preparing for the arrival of Jesus (hope, peace, joy, love).

1 - Today’s focus: Joy.

Common confusion: Joy vs. happiness. We often think joy is just another step to happiness.

Happiness = finding $5 → Joy = finding $20.

Happiness = assignment extension → Joy = assignment cancelled.

Joy is not just “more happiness”—it’s something deeper.

Snowglobe Illustration

Glitter - the good, happy stuff that happens in life

the gifts, fun times with friends, good grades, exciting moments.

Happiness = reaction to circumstances

You had a good experience

You get a good grade on a test.

You have a prayer answered and a circumstance work out

You get some good quality time with your friends

You receive an amazing gift

Or you entered the exciting Christmas season

All of these things are great. But they aren’t exactly joy.

SHAKE - it eventually settles.

I remember when I was a kid, counting down the days until I get presents. That day would come, it would be exciting for like a couple weeks or so, and then that excitement would settle.

Just like presents, that fun doesn’t last forever. The moment eventually passes. Then what?

Happiness isn’t necessarily joy. Joy is different.

Water - Even when the glitter settles, there’s still water in the jar. The water is always there, steady, even when the glitter comes and goes.

That’s joy - it’s not about everything always being exciting or perfect. Its about something deeper that doesn’t disappear when circumstances change.

TENSION

“Choose joy” can sound exhausting/fake—like:

When life feels hard, put a smile on your face and say “it’s alllll good.”

Acting like everything is fine.

Ignoring the bad stuff in your life.

That sounds impossible and totally fake.

Real joy is deeper than that :

Lasts beyond circumstances.

2 - Doesn’t ignore the hard stuff in life, but joy doesn’t let the hard stuff determine how you feel.

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus chose to come and live a life as a human. He could have just come appeared and died for our sins really quickly and went back to Heaven.

But He loved us so much that He came down to experience what we experience. Every high and every low. All of the good moments, and all of the hard moments.

We have multiple accounts where Jesus wept, cried out to God, flipped tables in anger.

And yet, as he his time was winding down before he was getting arrested, he says, in John 16:

“you will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again, and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete through me.”

So how can we follow Jesus example of what it looks like to carry joy while going through the ups and downs of life?

How do we experience joy when life is hard?

Do we just wait for it? Or is there a way to find it no matter what?

That’s what this passage in Luke is all about :

Joy that lasts, because God with us.

TRUTH

Luke’s Gospel highlights Jesus as Savior for everyone—not just religious insiders.

Details of Jesus’ birth: born in a manger, to a young unmarried girl who was a virgin, she would have been shamed in her society.

3-4 - Luke 2:8–12

“Fear Not!” - Hollywood angels vs. real angels

Angels appear to shepherds → “Good news of great joy for all people.”

Shepherds (considered unimportant overlooked by society) = first to hear good news → shows joy is for everyone.

5- God’s good news wasn’t just for a few. It was for everyone, Jewish, Gentile, rich, poor, struggling and strong.

Luke goes on :

6-7 - Luke 2:13-18

The shepherds didn’t just want to take the angel at his word. They wanted to experience it for themselves. Their whole lives, they’ve been considered as an afterthought, unclean, unholy, unimportant, left out, overlooked.

And yet God chose to share the good news with them first.

Joy isn’t tied to power or comfort—it’s possible for anyone, even in hard times.

8 - Hebrews 12:1–2 —

Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before Him.”

Joy was what sustained Him through suffering.

Jesus knew that the cross would be where he would he would suffer

And yet, knowing that the true love of God would be made clear, CLEAR AS THIS WATER, through His suffering on the cross, that gave Him joy.

When we experience this love of God, that’s the key to our joy.

God never changes, therefore, the love of God never changes.

9 - God is with us, and because of Him, real joy is possible.

The cross wasn’t the end—it was the beginning of better things. It was the beginning of ETERNAL, EVERLASTING JOY.

APPLICATION

10 - Challenge in this season to those around you : Where joy is missing, bring it.

It might feel like finding joy is impossible right now, that’s okay. I promise you, it is possible!

What would it look like to find joy in Jesus in this season?

Pray for joy.

Ask God to shift your perspective

Listen to worship, songs that speak the truth about who God is.

Spend time in God’s presence.

12- Remember: the pain you experience isn’t the whole story.

Jesus endured the cross, but the cross wasn’t the end.

The thing that feels difficult now may end up bringing you a sense of purpose or understanding later that you didn’t think was possible.

Joy isn’t passive—it’s rooted in God’s presence and perspective.

LANDING

· Reflect: Where do you need joy in your life? What would it look like to experience joy—even if nothing changes?

· Bringing joy doesn’t mean faking it. It means:

o Being light in dark places

o Choosing contentment over comparison, gratitude over grumbling.

o Encouraging others, serving without being asked, sharing laughter.

· This season: Don’t just seek joy. Share it. Choose it daily. Carry it wherever you go.