Joy in Action

O My God, I humbly implore you to prepare our Souls to worship you today acceptably, with Reverence and godly Fear; fill us with that Fear which works by Love; purify my Heart from all vain, and worldly, or sinful Thoughts; fix my Affections on Things above, all the Day long; and, O Lord, give me Grace to receive thy Word, which I will hear this Day, into an honest and good Heart, and to bring forth Fruit with Patience.

Hear me, O God, for the sake of Jesus my Savior. Amen, Amen.

Thomas Ken

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It is an amazing reminder today that we are saved by grace alone through our faith alone in Christ alone according to the Scriptures alone all to the glory of God alone.

Me:

Worship is an active thing, so is expressing joy

I am not good at this.

In difficult situations many of us may struggle rejoicing in the Lord. Some of the people we think are always happy simply have joy in the Lord.

We:

Do we act out our joy

starting today

Let us always rejoice in the Lord

God:

Today before we look at rejoicing in God, let us go to him in prayer

Pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my mouth be pleasing in your sight our rock and our redeemer.

Philippians 4:4–7 ESV

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Rejoice Always

Rejoice Always

Immediately restated

This is an important idea

Continually rejoice. It is an act.

A time we rejoice in God

From the same word in Greek as joy. We can see it as the action of joy.

See the concept of rejoicing elsewhere

See it as a greeting

Matthew 28:9 ESV

9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

It is an enjoyable, joyous greeting

We see it in a salutation

2 cor 13:11

2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

A joyous ending

We do not see that much in our culture.

We should be excited to see each other.

Church members at walmart

Especially as brothers and sisters in Christ our response coming together is always a joyous time, because we have our faith in common.

Regardless of if we know them

Korea

Let us always rejoice in the Lord

The Lord Is At Hand

Phil 4:5 “5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;”

(Reasonableness Known)

A selfless act

Not known by believers, it is known by all

We have joy because the Lord is at hand. The Lord is our joy and he is near.

What does this mean, “The Lord is at hand”

He is coming back

He is with us

Prayer

I believe this is both. We have joy even in trials because the Lord is at hand. He is returning which means all of this is moving to his kingdom, AND we have joy because he is ever present, and in a special way for believers

Peace of God

Peace of God

As we have the Lord at hand we have peace and joy with him.

Joys connections

Lament - Joy and faith

In Christ - Joy and love

In action - Joy and peace

In Lament - Joy and faith

In Christ - Joy and love

In Action - Joy and peace

In this we will have the peace of God we will be protected

Guard the Heart

Protection like soldiers

Gives the sense of military action.

In this, we can always rejoice in the Lord

You:

Rejoice in the Lord

Seek the Lord in Prayer

Joy is Active

Joy is an active thing. We seek it in Lament, we find it in abiding with Christ, and we act it out in rejoicing.

Let us always rejoice in the Lord

We:

Reformers joy

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.

— John Calvin

Christians rejoice even while they truly sorrow - because their rejoicing is in the hope of heaven… While joy overcomes sorrow, it does not put an end to it. - John Calvin

May we always rejoice in the Lord

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