The Joy that is Jesus
Notes
Transcript
The Joy that is Jesus
Good morning everyone
So my name is CH Cannon, or Josh
I’m with the 15th EN BN
Or currently the task force
That has been sent here to help set up the camp for the travelers
Now before you ask
I have no idea how long we are going to be here
I have no idea when we are leaving
Thats just part of the experience
I know I get to call home every night and tell my daughter
Daddy has no idea when I am coming back
The life of a soldier
It’s definitely not without surprises
But I enjoy this mission
This one is different
This one feels different
It tastes different if you know what I mean
I am so used to going somewhere and conducting a mission of
Destruction
War
Killing
To conduct a mission where we are truly saving lives
It’s such a blessing
And I don’t know if you’ve been on that hill or not
There are so many kids
Your heart just goes out to them
I mean can you imagine
Running away from everything you know
Everything you have
As a father
Can you imagine grabbing your family
Your kids
Your wife
Leaving everything behind
To trust strangers to get you to safety
Not knowing whats next
Not knowing what the future holds
Not knowing if you will be able to care for your family
Or if you have even doomed you children to death
Brings a whole new perspective to the picture
But its the children that I truly enjoy
You see them up on the hill playing
Playing soccer
Playing Catch
Tossing the football around
Then you have our soldiers also playing with them
I remember the first night we got travelers
SPC Campbell was chasing
3year old around and around the picnic bench
Little kid was laughing and running
It was something great to see
And its that excitement of the kids that I want to bring to your attention
That joy
That anticipation of the unknown
That smile that comes from receiving the unexpected
The happiness of being on the receiving end of kindness
The happiness of finally getting what you so desperately hoped for
And that’s that it
That’s what I want to focus on this morning
The joy of John in 1 John 1:1-4
Because as we go through this I want you to see
The joy
The happiness
The excitement
The pure inexhaustible anticipation of hope
And as I was thinking up this sermon
I couldn’t think of a better example than that of Christmas morning
I’m sure you remember,
Going to bed Christmas eve night
Knowing that Santa was coming
Knowing that you were about to be bombarded with everything you wished for
Everything you hoped for
Everything your heart had desired
And then remember waking up?
I know in my house you couldn’t really come down until about 7
Other wise you got in trouble
But I remember not being able to sleep
Watching the clock
then BAM 7AM hits and you rush downstairs
Full of Joy
Full of Hope
Full of Happiness
and Love
and anticipation
and expectation
Then suddenly there it is
The tree
Surrounded by gifts
Surrounded by everything your little 5 year mind could imagine
Can you remember that?
Maybe you have lived through that watching your own kids
But wow what a feeling
And that is exactly how John opens up his letter
Full of Joy
Full happiness
anticipation
exaltation
purpose
hope
drive
motivation
everything positive you can think of
That’s John in these opening four verses
I know sorry for the long intro
But I want you guys to get this
So please turn with me to the book of 1 John
And I am going to be reading out of the NLT version today
For those that don’t know me
I study out of the NKJV
But I read out of the NLT
We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
I love how John opens up this letter
Why?
Not only because of the joy he feels
The excitement
But because it literally goes against everything
We are being told about Christianity in today’s society
It counters the mentality
The thought process
The idea of what Christianity is
See in today’s society we view Christianity as a set of morals
A set of values
Maybe even a culture
Or a mindset
We don’t see Christianity as the answer to our sin
As the answer to our depravity
As the only way to God
Don’t believe me?
Walk around our formation today,
Just talk to a few soldiers
Ask them if they are Christian
When they say yes
Then ask them what Jesus means to them
Ask them about the cross
Maybe ask them why He had to die
Ask them about verses like
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Ask them about the exclusivity of Christ
You’ll find out like I did
That the majority know very little about the faith
As a matter of fact one recent study
Said that nearly 83% of professing Christians
Don’t understand how they are saved
That means they don’t know who Jesus is
They don’t know the truth about the cross
They don’t know the truth about their sin
They don’t even know the truth about why His blood was spilt on that cross
And Tell me if I’m lying
but
The majority only come to God in times of trial
Only come to God when things get tough
You know how I can confirm
You know how many soldiers came to me
The day of this deployment
Suddenly asking if I had a Bible to give them?
The majority view Christ as a personal thing
Only to be touched in my private life
Only to be touched at my convenience
Only when I need Him
Never to be shared with anyone else
Never to be worshiped unless I feel comfortable
***John doesn’t do that here***
His statement transcends all of these things
Look at the first statement,
“We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning”
Jesus is eternal
Get that!
Let me stop right there for just a second
What is it you really believe about this Christianity stuff
Ask yourself today
What do you really believe?
Who is Jesus
Its an important question
And one that needs to be asked
Because it leads to the devotion
To the purpose
To the hope
That is brought out in this letter
Turn with me to John 1:1-4, and notice here we are going to substitute the Word Word for Jesus
I don’t have time today to explain why,
You’re just going to have to trust me
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
and to really hit this point home
Turn again with me to Colossians 1:15-20
This statement right here folks
This is it
This is some of the best stuff in the Word of God
Are you ready?
Listen up
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Christ is also the head of the church,
which is his body.
He is the beginning,
supreme over all who rise from the dead.
So he is first in everything.
For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
What do you believe?
Are you starting to see why John was so excited
Are you starting to understand
God Himself in the person of Jesus
Had come and actually spent time with John
Spent time with the apostles
Spent time with His people
Look at Johns statement here in 1 John
We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.
I can imagine him writing this
Like
Guys God in the flesh came to me
The promised Messiah
The one we have all been waiting for
The one we've been waiting for, for thousands of years
I walked with him
I talked to him
I heard him speak
I saw him with my own eyes
I touched him with my own hands
I watched him perform miracles
I watched him raise people from the dead
The one that was promised to bring us into God’s perfection
The savior of the world
The creator of the world
The fulfillment of all prophecy
I was there!
Thats whats going on here
Thats the source of John’s joy
Think about it
Every faith
Every religion
Every belief system
Has one thing in common
A desire to know how to get on the right side of God
John is screaming here,
The answer is Jesus
He is here
This is it!
It’s so contrary to what we are taught today
Notice he didn’t say
He was such a down to earth guy
He had such amazing insight into moral enlightenment
Non of that new age Christian stuff we hear and read about these days
I found the creator in human form, the savior of the world and its Jesus.
That’s huge
Why?
Because it draws a line in the sand.
It forces you to ask the question
Who is Jesus to you?
I believe it was the famous Christian apologist
Oxford trained
Brilliant man
Who said Jesus is either one of three things
He is either an incredibly skilled liar
He is either an lunatic on the level of a poached egg
Or He is God
Who is Jesus to you?
Which leads me to my next point
Look with me at verse 2-3
This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
First off you cannot get around the fact
That the seen and heard implications are repeated here in verses 1 and 2
John was excited to say the very least
But notice what John does here
We proclaim to you what we have seen so you can have fellowship with us
***Transition to fellowship point**
How many us here today have heard the statement
Yea I’m a christian
I just don’t do the church thing
Maybe
I worship on my own
Maybe
I watch something online every Sunday
I just don’t see the need to be with other people
My faith is a personal thing
You know whats incredible here
Is that the more you study the book of 1 John
The more you dive into his thought process
His motives
You’re going to see that he is going to test that mindset,
Even to the point where he is going to ask the question
Are you really a believer if you don’t enjoy the fellowship of the saints?
Are you really a believer if you enjoy the fellowship of the world
of non-believers
over the saints
fellow brothers and sisters in Christ
Are you really a believer if you hold hatred in your heart against another believer?
Look at chapter 2 verses 9-11
If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
Dr. Steve Lawson
Well renowned Bible teacher and pastor
Argues this is the ultimate test of saving faith
Do you love your fellow believer?
Jesus mentioned this explicitly in
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
You simply cannot claim
To be a follower of Christ
And harbor hatred in your heart
For someone you are going to spend eternity with
Now I am not going to get into the argument of whether or not
You can lose your salvation,
Thats a topic for another day
But this is a check point,
A deep look within
Something i like to call a self inventory
There is a reason why John mentions the word
Love 48x
and
Love one another 13x
In a single book
Its as if you were never meant to do this church thing alone
Its as if God gave us
Handed to us
a hand made community
shaped by His love
His purpose
His motives
The more you read
The more you study
Everything in the Bible Screams
Love and community
You cannot do this alone
We are the body of Christ
A church
Dedicated to our savior Jesus Christ
United by the cross
Sealed with His spirit
and each one of us
will share our spot in eternity
with Him
Together
Christianity was always meant to be done in community period
Last but not least is that
Line in the sand I talked about
This book is what some call the test
You want to know if you’re saved or if you’re fooling yourself
Read the book
There are some bold statements in here
that will force you
to internalize
to analyze
your view of what we believe.
I encourage each of you today
Take this book
Read it daily
In its entirety
Its only 5 chapters
take you 15-20 minutes
This book is apologetic in nature
its real
its forces you to ask the hard questions
its will give you that perspective of truth
Truth that is so absent in many teachings today
As we leave today
Find that joy in Jesus
Find that happiness that John was talking about
I once heard a theologian say
If you got to heaven and Jesus wasn’t there
Would you be ok with that
If your answer is yes
Then I urge you to check your faith
Jesus is everything
Everything to our faith
He is our first love
He is the only way to the Father
He is our eternal king
Our merciful high priest
Our Lord and Savior
And the reason we love one another
Reach out today,
Share the love of Christ to someone
Share the Gospel with them
Even if they claim to be a Christian
Share the good news
And put that joy on display.
Let’s close in prayer.