Seeking Joy

Mission and Vision

We are continuing our Advent series on seeking

Say Seeking

We’ve talked about what it looks like when we are seeking Hope in the world and how that hope is ultimately found in Jesus Christ

Last week we talked about what worldly peace looks like vs what the Shalom of God looks like

TOday we are talking about seeking Joy

Say Joy!

This is a hard topic to preach this time of year

Because anytime you highlight something you automatically highlight the opposite

When you see the hallmark movies and you see hear the jingles about it being the most wonderful time of the year… you begin to see the discrepency in your life

Its during these moments where you hear of people celebrating the holidays around the fire with cups of coco… all in their picturesk PJs… and you look at your real life… you see the that what everyone is saying life is like is not what life is really like for you

Its during this season where depression kicks in, we miss our loved ones who have gone before us,

Christmas time is the hardest time of the year for a lot of people

So when we talk about Joy, for some its a distant concept

Its difficult to reconcile how we can live in this mood/mode of joy when we don’t feel it

When the weight of the world and the pressure to provide the perfect christmas is on you, when the external pressure to measure up to live into the identity that the world wants to put on you… How do you live in Joy when family is falling apart, when the bills are stacking up, when nothing seems to go right

We’re going to have a conversation that, if you’ve been in the church for any amount of time, you ‘ve heard this

The difference between joy and happinness

RIght? We’ve all heard this at some point?

But stick with me because I think theres some more to it than what we usually get at

Joy vs Happiness

Happiness is circumstantail

Joy is internal

They both have to do with feelings of contentment and pleasureable feelings or satisfaction

In our day and age we live in such an instant pot society that we are seeking the deep internal joy but we want it now… that leads us to seek for joy in something that we can control.

That causes us to seek worldly joy… or momentarily happiness

Seeking worldly Joy in this life looks like

Seeking after pleasure

seeking after the thing that helps in the moment without considering the deeper longing

If you break a bone, it may feel better to take a pain pill in the moment… but if that’s all you do and you never go and see what the deeper issue is… you will never experience the Joy of full restoration

Pleasing people

It feels good to have people like you

It

following your heart

This is the root of no fault divorce

They didn’t make me happy

This is the root of “you can’t tell anyone what they do is wrong”

You might make them unhappy if you confront them with the truth

But if someone is living and walking in the truth they will find deeper joy

following your heart leads you to all sorts of stupidity

God never tells you to follow your heart. Your heart is sick and blind

You’re trying to follow a busted GPS because it feels better and its easier and has less commitment than following what is right

Cutting corners

spouse not making you happy… adultery

Job not making you happy … theft

life not making you happy… substance abuse

All of these things that people look to in order to fill the void of Godly joy in their life leas them back to the the same pain, just to wash and repeat

But what if your life isn’t about being happy all the time but about a deeper joy that can take root in your life that can sustain you

1 Peter 1:2–9 ESV

according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Our Joy has to come from something more substantial than filling our bellies

Our joy has to come from something more substantial than finding momentary happiness

Our joy has to be rooted in the reality of Jesus Christ. His birth, his death, his ressurrection, and his coming again

This is why the ADvent wreath is so awesome

You can’t have the JOy of the Lord if you don’t have an eternal hope, if you don’t have a Shalom, If you don’t have the Love of God found in Jesus Christ

You have to seek Christ.

When you are seeking al lthe things that are supposed to bring you happiness you are really longing for the joy that is found deeper than then next pleasure

You are seeking pleasure in the place that Pleasrue is truly found, in a living breathing relationship with the Son of God, our only hope and savior Jesus christ

Seeking Joy in Christ looks like

When you seek Joy in Christ Jesus you have a joy that is rooted not in a situation but in the finished work of Christ on the cross

A lot of people aren’t filled with Joy because they are expecting Christ to get them something else

Jesus is simply the mechanism that they use to get what they truly want to bring them Joy

Joy is about doing what is right even if it is uncomfortable because you have a hope and a joy that goes beyond the momentary affliction

When situations occur and they don’t have anything but Jesus and they are sitting around bitter … it’s because they are not content with Jesus

Jesus isn’t their all in all

Seeking Joy in Christ looks like sabbath

No matter what the world says, you need to choose to enjoy the life that Christ has given you.

Nehemiah 8:10 ESV

Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

This tells me that we have a choice whether or not to be joyful or to be grieved

If we didn’t have a choice then scripture wouldn’t tell us to make a decision to be joyful