Sermon Transcript Tone Analysis

Are you today Lord?

We pray that.

You will just be with all these concerns that we've raised.

Lord, we think of those who have just recently, lost loved ones.

Lord, like the Taylor family.

Lord like the Schwartz family.

Difficult enough to lose a loved one but to lose one.

So close to the holidays.

But I think of my cousin Clyde losing yet another child Lord.

I pray that you will be with him and give him wisdom during this time and Lord, just give him traveling mercies as he travels to where his son was living.

And Lord, we won also lift up the hardest.

He's to you nor is it sounds like they have a number of people in their family, dealing with illness right now.

Lord.

We just pray, your blessing upon the Lord.

We pray that you would bring them healing and Lord help them to be able to enjoy the holidays together.

The Lord, we just lift up that prayer for so many, as we gather together to start celebrating Christmas, Lord, that you would keep everyone safe as they travel to chew to keep her health strong and Lord that you would bless this time together with family.

The Lord is we listen to your word today.

I pray that you would help us to quiet our minds and Lord not be thinking about the presents.

We have yet to buy or the food.

We need to prepare yet today, but Lord to focus on your word and what you have to say to each and everyone of us.

We pray this in your most.

Holy name.

Amen.

And I forgot to send the kids out.

So Bryce is up there waving at me.

So if you want to go out to children's church, first through fifth grade, you can go.

And just a reminder, the kids have been practicing a song for a couple songs.

Actually every time they're out there and they are going to be singing those songs on Christmas Eve at the beginning of the Christmas Eve service.

So they here on Christmas Eve at 10 p.m.

To listen to those songs.

So, we've been working through the fruit of the spirit and like, said I kind of moved a few of them around so that they would coincide with our Advent themes in this week is Joy.

That's the whole reason I pulled out my Christmas Kitty coat, you know, was to hopefully, bring joy to someone that likes cats, which I really don't.

So it's kind of funny that this is what my kids bought me, you know, but what happens So, little bit of crowd participation here.

What brings you Joy?

Sunshine, my wife would agree with you on that.

Children's laughter.

What else brings you Joy?

Family, not that shrill little scream.

They do down there on Wednesday nights, right?

Canino Pam like that one, but

The stars in the Moon.

What gauge?

Tackling someone.

It wouldn't be a sibling with it.

Yeah, I understand that any other sources of joy.

Rainbow.

That's a good one.

I think most of us would easily associate Joy with Christmas, right?

That's probably one of the themes.

That's pretty easy to associate.

Since we always do these Advent things.

It's just natural that we do it.

But you know, it can also be easy this time of year to get focused on all of the other things that go along with this season that can rob you a little bit of that Joy, you know, if you're thinking about all of the work that you're going to have to do, you know, buying gifts, preparing food, wrapping, those gifts, doing, all these things, then sometimes it can get a little tedious that can get tiring.

They can even get stressful, which I think is the exact opposite of what Christmas is supposed to be.

But it can happen.

But if we're focused on Christ, and the reason that God sent him here, the whole entire thing that we're supposed to be celebrating, then Joy is only natural.

you know, if you look through the New Testament, we see the word Joy used at least Seventy Times throughout their And whatever its use, it's always used to signify a feeling of happiness that is based on spiritual realities.

Not physical material reality.

True Joy.

This is a definition.

I found in one.

The commentaries.

Is it true?

Joy is a deep down sense of well-being.

That a bar in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord.

I really enjoyed that definition of joy, that explanation of it that true Joy is based off our relationship with the Lord.

You know, it's not an experience that comes from favorable circumstances in your life.

That's not what it's based off of.

It's based off of your relationship.

You know, when?

Everything's going our way.

It's easy to get that feel-good Vibe going that, you know, hey, this is pretty nice.

You know, this is a really good day.

Puts us all in a little bit better mood when things happen that way.

But that's not the type of joy that scriptures referring to here.

Yeah, that is simply just a feel-good, human emotion.

It's not something lasting and enduring.

We all know that that sort of joy is always temporary.

There always comes a point or something else that happens.

But shut that down.

But, you know, I believe the joy is one of God's greatest gifts to believers.

You know, the temporary joy that we get from those favorable circumstances, you know, pales in comparison.

I think to the joy that God really wants us to experience what they're really referring to when we sing Joy to the World.

The Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah said, go and enjoy Choice, food, and sweet, drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.

This day is Holy to.

Our Lord.

Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Yeah, I want us to kind of ponder the last part of that verse for a little bit.

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Yeah, doesn't say favorable circumstances.

Are your strengths?

It doesn't say that you'll only have strength when everything goes your way.

When everything happens.

Just how you want it to.

You know, Joy is a part of God's very nature and being of who he is and he wants every one of his children to experience that same enjoy didn't so vital to who he is.

He wants us to experience the fullness of it.

He doesn't want us to just experience these brief little temporary.

Spurts of Joy.

He wants us to have that whole new level of joy in our lives.

The sort of joy that can only happen when were dwelling in the spirit, when we were walking with the Holy Spirit and everything that we do.