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The Heart of Christmas Brings Joy in all Circumstances
11 Plays8 days ago
John 1:14, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9
Recommended
Transcript
Seeking More Joy
00:00:01
Speaker
So I'd like to begin this morning with just a simple pole. A simple raising of hands and keep your hands raised. If I were to ask you this morning who could use a little more joy in their life, would you raise your hand, keep it raised. I'm gonna give you permission, look around, look at your neighbor, look at their hands raised. Okay, second question, keep them up, keep them up.
00:00:32
Speaker
Now, how many of you guys are experiencing that on a day-to-day basis?
00:00:38
Speaker
Now, look around. Why is that? Why is it that we want so much joy? You can put your hand down. there There's a few people that were following the rules here right now.
00:00:52
Speaker
Why is that that what we really desire is this ongoing joy in our lives, but yet we don't seem to have it on a day-to-day basis?
The Transience of Situational Joy
00:01:04
Speaker
Friends, I think it's largely because that joy that we so desire is largely connected to our circumstances. What do I mean by that? Well, when things are going great, you feel great. When things aren't going so great, you don't feel so great.
00:01:21
Speaker
But friends, that's not the type of joy that we're talking about. We're not talking about a joy that comes and goes with the seasons. It's not a joy that comes and goes based upon our situation that we're in right now. Imagine, if you will, what it would look like if you woke up tomorrow and all day long you experienced nothing but joy.
00:01:45
Speaker
I believe this is attainable. I think.
Enduring Joy Through Jesus
00:01:51
Speaker
Jesus coming here in the manger that we're gonna celebrate here in just a few days, gives us this real desire, this hope, this ability to have this joy and not fluctuate based upon our environment. It's when we focus on him and keep our eyes and our heart upon him, we can experience this day in and day out joy.
00:02:20
Speaker
If you want more joy in your life, say amen. If you need more joy in your life, say amen. If you think you can have more joy in your life, say amen.
Reading the Gospel of John
00:02:30
Speaker
All right, well then let's begin in God's word where it tells us how to find that joy. And friends, that is in the Gospel of John. What I like about the Gospel of John, especially if you're a new believer, this is normally where I steer you. If you're somebody who's brand new to the Bible,
00:02:48
Speaker
ah Quite often and the natural go-to is I want to go to the beginning in Genesis, and I want to start reading, and which is great, but many of you have told me as you sat under our entire Genesis teaching, by the end of Genesis, you were exhausted. And I said that there's a reason for that. The Genesis story builds this critical foundation until which it describes what is this ongoing journey through the rest of the Bible. But as a brand new believer, I send them to the Gospel of John and because the Gospel of John is is unique and in its perspectives of certain things. One of those perspectives
00:03:26
Speaker
is the birth of Jesus. And what I like about John, I think John is writing to men in particular. And why do I say that? Well, because he leaves out a lot of details. He just gives us the the big picture. This is what's going on with Jesus in Bethlehem. And he goes right into it. Look with me here, jen or John chapter 1,
00:03:56
Speaker
um' ah I'm gonna ask you just to bear with me here this morning. You're gonna do just a little bit of flipping. I know it's not normally what we do, but I'm gonna have you flip around just a little bit today. Probably one of the most familiar verses in John is John 1-1, right? In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was... Let's pray that again. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was Right. Interesting enough, if you just look at in the beginning and then in verse 1, chapter 1, you flip back to Genesis all the way at the very beginning, Genesis 1, 1. This is interesting to me. It starts with, in the beginning, in the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.
00:04:47
Speaker
to which Moses writes to inform a former people that in the beginning, God was at work. And then we flip to John 1.1, which says, in the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God. He always existed. Who's the Word?
Incarnation and Personal Connection
00:05:06
Speaker
Yes, Jesus. And he tells us this, he says, Jesus was with God in the beginning well before time, outside of space. He was with God, jumped down to verse 14, probably the very next and more important verse in John, John chapter 1 verse 14 says what?
00:05:26
Speaker
Oh, this one's one you can just sit and read day in and day out if you really want to. And the Word which is Jesus, which is God in the heavens, became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Oh, we're gonna get to those two words in just a minute. John's describing here the incarnation. This is the Latin word where we get carne.
00:05:57
Speaker
flesh. This is God putting on flesh, stepping down out of heaven to come down to you and me in the person of Jesus. Born in the manger, he would live this perfect life among his people. Make no mistake, friends, he's fully God and also at the same time, you'll hear this often, fully human.
00:06:25
Speaker
I had a professor one time swear that I would never say that. Don't you ever say that from the pulpit. He says the better version of that is fully God and perfect humanity, right? He's never sinned, not once. And it's very important for us to remember this, that God stepped out of heaven in the person of Jesus and put on carne, put on skin, flesh and bones, and he sat among you and I And I put, why is this important for joy in this season? Why is that important that God would step down out of heaven, walking on earth in flesh and bones in the person of Jesus? Well, you'll notice in your outline, it says right there at the very beginning, we have joy because indeed God came to us.
00:07:17
Speaker
It's important in this season that we remember this, friends, and I think there's a great misconception, if you will, that people tend to carry around is that they they think that somehow for them to be united or reconciled with this perfect holy God that they simply have to keep working really, really hard. You know how I know this? Because I'll talk to people who have yet accepted Christ and they'll tell me this, pastor, I'm really trying to get my life together.
00:07:50
Speaker
I'm really trying to get it all together because then God will what? He'll accept me because I've become more like Him. Friends, if you're under that misconception this morning, let me tell you your joy that you should be having will be robbed from you because you're constantly battling to try to keep up and do better and be better.
00:08:18
Speaker
I simply put, at this time of year we need to remind ourselves that we are fallen broken people living in a fallen broken world and we do fallen and broken stuff not only to ourselves but to other people. We make mistakes, we hurt people, we live selfish lives.
00:08:37
Speaker
And if somehow you're relying on your own ability to gain favor with God, you're going to be greatly disappointed when and when instead this season should be one of joy. You should be experiencing joy. I like the New Living Translation here in verse 14. It says, so the Word became human and he made his home among us. Doesn't that sound great?
00:09:04
Speaker
The God of heaven who created everything has come down to you and to me. Does that not blow your mind? I think quite often, friends, we can almost become numb to that reality. The God who created everything, the universe, the stars, the sun, the moon, he created you intimately woven in the womb. He knows you intimately.
00:09:34
Speaker
And he's come down into a very messy situation to provide us a way out. Paul Thigpen, who is a theologian and an author, he he writes about this encounter he has with his little daughter, and I think it's apropos here this morning. He says, I remember
Finding Joy in Messy Moments
00:09:54
Speaker
coming home one afternoon from work to discover that the kitchen I had worked so hard to clean the night before was a disaster zone. He said, my young daughter had been cooking.
00:10:11
Speaker
For hours on end, there was flour all over the floor, all over the countertops, dirty bowls, dirty dishes, utensils everywhere. Needless to say, I was not feeling joy.
00:10:26
Speaker
He said, it as I felt the anger well up within me, I noticed a small, tiny note on the countertop that was scribbled in clumsy writing and smeared with chocolatey fingerprints. And it simply read this short message. I'm making something special for you, Dad. Signed, your angel.
00:10:52
Speaker
And he said in the midst of that disarray and all that mess, and despite my irritation, joy suddenly welled up with inside of me. In my heart I felt joy, pure and sweet and innocent joy. He said the attention that I had so wrongly looked at and focused on in the mess was suddenly redirected to my sweet little angel. He said as I encountered her in this brief little note, I took delight in her.
00:11:23
Speaker
And with her simple goodness and focus, I could take pleasure in her handiwork.
00:11:30
Speaker
Friends, the same is true for our joy that we find in God. Many times, life can look very messy from our perspective. It can be hard for us to find a reason for joy in our current circumstance. However, if we look closely, we might just see God coming near to us.
00:11:52
Speaker
just like he did on this first Christmas night, and letting us know that he can make something of our lives when we are tempted to feel utter hopelessness. See, friends, the opposite of joy is hopelessness. When we focus on Jesus and not on the mess,
00:12:16
Speaker
we can experience this joy. I put here joy is at the heart of Christmas because knowing that we could never make it to God, he chose to step down to you and I. My old pastor used to use this word, he said, God condescended to us. And I used to think to myself, I don't even understand that word. That sounds bad that he's condescending, right? You've ever heard this word condescending? It really means he's stepping down out of heaven down to our messy situation in the person of Jesus. And he's doing something, friends, that no other world religion would ever consider. And I want you to listen real closely as I list off these other world religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, even Judaism, are all works-based systems.
00:13:16
Speaker
They're all something that tells humans you must do something to make yourself right before God.
00:13:27
Speaker
Boy, is that exhausting.
Grace vs. Works in Religion
00:13:28
Speaker
That's what I put as a note here. If you're trying that this morning, you're trying to do something to make yourself better so that God will accept you. Let me tell you friends, that is not Christianity. It's not a due religion.
00:13:43
Speaker
It's a done religion. It's not what you can do for God, it's what God has already done for you in the person of Jesus. So if you're here this morning and you're bending yourself up, trying to get it right, and trying to fix yourself, let me tell you, you're robbing yourself of the joy that you could experience. My prayer for you, if that's you this morning, is that your eyes will be open to the truth of what God has to say about who you are in his eyes.
00:14:10
Speaker
that you're not saved, you're not made right by anything that you can do in and of yourself. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul tells us here in Romans 5.8, if you'll put that verse up there, please. What I love to remind myself in the season is to go back to Romans 5.8 because 5.8 says, while we were yet, say it. While you were enemies of God.
00:14:40
Speaker
while you were in full rebellion, while you were dead in your trespasses, which if you're if you're over 60, you understand what that word trespasses means. You you you young folks, y'all have no clue what that means. You were dead in your sin. You were dead in um immorality. You were dead in the life that you were living outside of Christ, unable to do anything to rectify that situation.
00:15:08
Speaker
So friends, the good news is God stepped down while we were yet sinners and it says he showed his great love for us by sending Jesus to die.
00:15:27
Speaker
I like Chuck Swindoll, he says this, in the Christmas season we often think of the naughty list and and the good list right when it comes to Santa Claus. He says, Paul knows nothing of a naughty list or a good list. He says it's all about God's free gift. And in this Christmas season, friends, this is we should understand this word, grace. We've taught it here from the pulpit. We taught it in Bible study classes. Grace is what? Getting something you don't... Oh, some people are listening. That's great.
00:16:02
Speaker
Right, grace is this free gift. As soon as you attach some type of cost to that gift, some type of you have to pay something to get it, friends, it's no longer a free gift. Grace is what Paul is saying here, this great gift, this great free gift freely offered that we could not pay for, that we could not afford on our own. While we were yet sinners, God came to us
00:16:33
Speaker
and because of that we should have great joy. It's why you see the shepherds in the field, why you see Simeon in the temple, why they are so joyous because finally this long-awaited Messiah that's been prophesied in the Old Testament has now stepped down out of heaven in the person of Jesus and He's come to rescue and that should bring you great joy. The second reason that we can experience joy on a day-to-day basis is not just because—and I like that you'll see this in your second heading here. I didn't come up with this heading, by the way. I'm going to tell you who did.
Transformative Love and Joy
00:17:15
Speaker
This is, God loves us just as we are and too much to leave us that way. It's my good buddy, Adrian Rogers.
00:17:23
Speaker
He loves you so much just the way you are, just as broken and deprived as you are, that He's willing to meet you where you're at, but He loves you enough not to leave you that way. Have you ever thought about that? He loves you just so much that Jesus' arrival fills us with joy because He wants to come close to us.
00:17:52
Speaker
I put here, I want you just to do me a small favor. Close your eyes. I know in church, I hate when pastors used to do this. Would you just close your eyes? I want you just to focus on my voice just for a second. I'm not gonna hypnotize you, don't worry. I just wanna read something and I want you to listen. Do you realize that you are loved by God? Truly loved.
00:18:22
Speaker
not just tolerated or put up with, but truly deeply loved by the creator of the universe, not some impersonal God million miles away, intimate God who created everything, including you, who knitted you in your womb and who loves you intimately.
00:18:50
Speaker
Brothers and sisters, you are loved by God that much. All right, open your eyes. No more napping. He loves you like a father loves children.
00:19:03
Speaker
Father's those of you who have kids, those of you who have grandkids, you know exactly how much you love those little ones. This is the God of the universe, who loves you that much that he's unwilling to leave you in that fallen state, that not only has he come, he's come to reconcile you, but he's also come to then transform you. And this is why I like the end of John 1.14, hopefully we can bring that back up. It says there at the very end,
00:19:33
Speaker
We have seen his glory, glory of the only son from the father, full of grace and, everybody say it, true truth. Truth is this word of Aletheia here. This is a divine reality that's revealed to humanity. Straightforwardness is another word for this for this term. And I want you to listen closely because you'll hear this all the time in the world today.
00:20:03
Speaker
Well, that's just your truth. That's not my truth. That's your truth. You've heard that, haven't you? Friends, I just want to let you in on one small secret here that the Bible reveals to us today. There's only one truth. It's not your truth. It's not my truth. The truth, the capital T truth is Jesus.
00:20:31
Speaker
And he loves you enough, and the truth is he wants to not only reconcile you, but he wants to transform you by the power of the Holy Spirit to look more and more like him. And it's that journey of transformation that you and I get to experience that really brings great joy in our lives. I love looking back.
Embracing and Extending Grace
00:20:49
Speaker
Kim and I went and visited our old Bible study in Houston on Friday. One of our old pastors, they got recognized for being there 18 or 19 years in this class.
00:20:58
Speaker
And they showed all these old pictures and all these old memories, and we were all laughing, oh, I remember those times. But but you think back to yourself, wow, what was I like 15 years ago? For some of you young ones up here, you weren't even born yet.
00:21:14
Speaker
15 years. Think about where you were 15 years ago in your spiritual walk, in your spiritual journey. Have you grown? Has God shaped you? Has he transformed you? If he has, friends, it's because he loves you that much. This should bring you great joy.
00:21:34
Speaker
I put down a buddy of mine that I went to seminary with. He is a Houston police officer. and I had a great great opportunity to but to sit and and talk with him. He's an African-American gentleman, and he come came from a Pentecostal background, and so we had a great time talking about the differences between what they believe, what we believe, and the practices and all that. But he told me something one time, and he was famous. for He had this fantastic, like, Barry White voice, deep,
00:22:06
Speaker
baritone voice and I just I'd love to listen to a preach I said you could almost preach anything and I would listen to you your voice is so great but I wrote a note in my Bible and he had put this he said when you embrace grace you can experience joy when you embrace God's grace you can experience joy and I thought to myself this week am I robbing myself of joy because I'm not extending that grace to other people That same grace that God showed me and is showing me on a day-to-day basis, am I giving that away freely to somebody else?
00:22:48
Speaker
I just put grace does not erase the offense. That's not its point. But it does acknowledge it and says, I choose to do something differently. I choose to respond differently. I very easily could be upset at this situation when somebody offends me, but instead I'm gonna show grace. I'm gonna respond differently.
00:23:07
Speaker
And when I do that, friends, we can experience joy.
00:23:13
Speaker
We can experience joy no matter the circumstance in our life because we can be confident in knowing that God is with us and He is for us. It is both grace in one hand and truth in the other that guides us in this Christmas season, if you will, that allows us to experience joy not just when things are going great, but all the time.
00:23:40
Speaker
If you want to experience more joy, say amen. If you think you can experience joy, say amen.
Joy as a Comforting Medicine
00:23:48
Speaker
Listen to the famous words here of our late Charles Spurgeon. He says, there's a marvelous medicinal power in joy. He says, isn't it so funny that medicines are often distasteful? But this one, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste and comforting to the heart.
00:24:12
Speaker
This Christmas, may you find joy, a deep abiding joy because of the love and the sacrifice that God has made.