Gift of Joy - Regalo de Alegría
Gifts of Christmas • Sermon • Submitted
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· 21 viewsThe Gift of Joy as part of the Gifts of Christmas series - El Regalo de la Alegría como parte de la serie Regalos de Navidad
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Sermon 3: The Gift of Joy
Sermon 3: The Gift of Joy
The first in the Gifts of Christmas, was
the Gift of Hope
the Gift of Love
Today, we are looking about the gift of Joy.
We have heard about Joy every year in songs like “Joy to the World”.
Football example:
Two teams
Both want to win
Both don’t want to lose
Both do their best and hope to have a winning outcome
The games are full of High Energy cheers
Go Team!
Go - Fight - Win!
In Church we have cheers too:
God is Good? > All the Time!
All the Time ? > God is Good!
Cristo > Vive
You win some - You lose some
Elijah’s team was on a winning streak
Game after game, we chanted our cheers
We celebrated that joyful feeling of winning the game
Last night, we drove two hours to the final playoff game before the championship game
We are so proud of the hard work Elijah’s team put in the game
We cheered and screamed and chanted with the cheerleaders
In the end, the other team won and our streak of winning was over
Sometimes, that is how we treat joy
We treat Joy like happiness
Something we have in the good times
Something we don’t have in the bad times
We treat Joy like it is temporary (That Joy lasts only as long as our victory)
We attach Joy to our emotions & experiences
When we are sad or disappointed or angry or depressed, we believe that Joy has somehow vanished from life.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
The gift of joy offered to us in Jesus this Advent season is one of deep and abiding joy.
It is a joy so powerful it can hold its own in a dark and hurting world—and in the midst of all our troubles and struggles.
We will talk a little bit later about how we experience joy through the Advent season,
but for now I encourage you to come in a spirit of honesty.
You don’t have to cast aside your worries to unwrap this gift of joy, which Peter called inexpressible and glorious: Go with me to
8 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,
8 Ustedes lo aman a pesar de no haberlo visto; y aunque no lo ven ahora, creen en él y se alegran con un gozo indescriptible y glorioso,
But the question that nags at many of us so often is:
What if you just don’t feel joy this season?
How can you receive this gift of joy even in the midst of suffering, loneliness, pain, grief, busyness, stress, or boredom?
Let’s look together at how we can understand, own, and choose joy.
1. Understand Joy
1. Understand Joy
Let’s go to Luke 2:10–11
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
10 Pero el ángel les dijo: No temáis; porque he aquí os doy nuevas de gran gozo, que será para todo el pueblo:
11 que os ha nacido hoy, en la ciudad de David, un Salvador, que es CRISTO el Señor.
According to the Lexham Bible Dictionary, JOY is defined this way:
“Closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice. One of the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22–23). Having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian.”
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
22 Mas el fruto del Espíritu es amor, gozo, paz, paciencia, benignidad, bondad, fe,
23 mansedumbre, templanza; contra tales cosas no hay ley.
Have you ever met a really negative person? I mean they are negative all the time! They are never happy, everything is hopeless, and you want to find something to cheer you up once you’re done talking to them?
Then, they tell you they are a “Spirit-filled” Christian. You are trying to find what fruit of the Spirit is overflowing in their life. I am not saying that person is NOT a Christian. I am saying they don’t UNDERSTAND JOY (or the fruit of the Spirit altogether).
Christians should have Joy pouring our of them. Christian, you should have Joy pouring out of you!
If you don’t, ask the Holy Spirit to give you joy for Christmas this season.
We read the Lexham Bible Dictionary definition - I would like to give you my definition of Joy:
Joy is a result of our faith/belief in Jesus, and the eternal victory He secured through His death and resurrection
Joy is a result of our faith/belief in Jesus, and the eternal victory He secured through His death and resurrection
That means we cannot have joy if we don’t really understand what Jesus did for us on the cross.
We wonder what Christmas is about, when we don’t understand the importance of why Jesus came.
We feel left out when others sing, dance, and shout before God and we don’t understand why.
WHEN JESUS CAME - LOVE CAME. Love to save us for Eternity
WHEN JESUS CAME - HOPE CAME. Hope for Eternity
WHEN JESUS CAME - REAL PEACE CAME. Peace because we secure in HIM for Eternity
WHEN JESUS CAME - JOY CAME. Joy unspeakable and full of glory.
When you realize how sinful you are -
How you would be ETERNALLY separated from God
How hopeless and loveless and peace - less to realize without a SAVIOR, we die in our sin
THEN comes the song -
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world, in sin and error pining
'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees
O hear the angels' voices
O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night divine
Hear the JOY in that announcement. I bring you GOOD TIDINGS of GREAT JOY for ALL PEOPLE!!!!
Understand the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus - and you begin to understand JOY.
2. Recognize Joy
2. Recognize Joy
The wisemen sought out the SAVIOR of the world by looking at the prophecies and by waiting expectantly.
So many others saw the star as they went their way, and it was no different than any other star.
For those seeking the Savior, it caused great joy
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
10 Y al ver la estrella, se regocijaron con muy grande gozo.
11 Y al entrar en la casa, vieron al niño con su madre María, y postrándose, lo adoraron; y abriendo sus tesoros, le ofrecieron presentes: oro, incienso y mirra.
2. Getting to Jesus was no easy task
They had to travel a long way
There were times they could not see the star
The evil king Herod sought to deceive them and kill Jesus
They were overjoyed at the star even though the journey was rough and hard
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
2 Hermanos míos, tened por sumo gozo cuando os halléis en diversas pruebas,
3 sabiendo que la prueba de vuestra fe produce paciencia.
We need to Recognize the things that are Joy-worthy and let them point us back to Jesus
3. Choose Joy
3. Choose Joy
The idea that we can choose joy is a little deceiving. We can’t just close our eyes and focus really hard and somehow conjure up joy. In fact, that often leads us away from joy. Joy is a gift. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. So we can’t just create it by trying harder—but we can choose to live in the ways that God says bring joy.
The concept is similar to physical health. We can’t get stronger by thinking about and mentally choosing to be stronger. We have to exercise and build the muscles that make us stronger. While we can’t just concentrate hard and choose joy, we can choose to give thanks. We can choose to obey. And we can choose to abide. When we do these things, we open ourselves to the gift of joy.
Let’s look a little closer at those practices.
Choose Gratitude: Try it. When you don’t feel joyful, give thanks. Try it out loud, naming three reasons you have to be thankful—or five or ten. Or write them all down. You’ll be surprised how long your list actually gets pretty quickly.
It’s counterintuitive—when we don’t feel joyful, we would rather gripe and complain, but giving thanks opens our hearts to joy. That’s why Paul instructed the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18).
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
16 Estad siempre gozosos.
17 Orad sin cesar.
18 Dad gracias en todo, porque esta es la voluntad de Dios para con vosotros en Cristo Jesús.
Gratitude goes a long way, and it leads us toward joy. When you don’t know what to do, when you feel overwhelmed by the season, when you feel anything but joy, give thanks.
Choose to Obey: In John 15:11 Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” So what did He tell His disciples? What was that secret to joy? Obedience. In John 15:10 He told His followers to obey His commands. We often want joy to just appear from out of nowhere, but Jesus said it comes from obedience.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
11 Estas cosas os he hablado, para que mi gozo esté en vosotros, y vuestro gozo sea cumplido.
Like gratitude, obedience is a practice. It’s a process of seeking to follow God’s ways and to put them into action. We don’t always get them right. But the more we align ourselves with God’s Word to understand His ways and then choose actions that align with His Word and His wisdom, the more we open ourselves to experience the good fruit of those choices—and the more we prepare ourselves to encounter and receive His joy.
Choose to Abide: John 15 also tells us the second part to the secret of joy—and it’s a love triangle! Jesus said that just as He remains in His Father’s love, we remain in His love, and our joy is complete. This is not an immediate, quick-satisfaction concept. It’s the idea of continual love and relationship with Jesus that brings the gift of joy into our lives. Jesus used the metaphor of a vine in the John 15 passage because He was describing a process of ongoing growth and nourishment that produces good fruit.
The same is true in our relationship with Him, and our joy is made complete by imitating Christ’s love and obedience. Let this season of Advent be a time of gratitude, obedience, and abiding in His love as we anticipate the joy He brings this Christmas.
Understand Joy - Recognize Joy - Choose Joy
Prayer: God, thank You that in this season of Advent we can receive and unwrap the gift of joy. Help us to anticipate, recognize, and choose joy as we give thanks, obey, and abide in You. Lead us into joy as You lead us into deeper relationship with You. Give us the courage and strength to rejoice no matter what circumstances we face. And make our joy complete in You.
Benediction: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
4 Regocijaos en el Señor siempre. Otra vez digo: ¡Regocijaos!