Episode 11
People of Joy (North OC)
Jesus gives His followers the chance to have divine joy which is more powerful than happiness.
Transcript
And now we're gonna have a sermunion from Marcel.
Speaker:Aw, let's give it up for the one.
Speaker:The only, the Marcel Hall.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Man, that's funny.
Speaker:That's funny.
Speaker:I appreciate that.
Speaker:I appreciate that.
Speaker:Come on now.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:That's why you, okay, I see what you be doing.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:I appreciate that.
Speaker:I need that when I walk into my house.
Speaker:. Well, my kids know I'm home.
Speaker:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker:. Yeah.
Speaker:Pops is here.
Speaker:Act right.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Be respectful to your mama.
Speaker:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Well, uh, it is been a good morning so far, hasn't it?
Speaker:Uh, so encouraging to acknowledge those.
Speaker:We've been working hard.
Speaker:So cool to meet Britney.
Speaker:I know if you're like me, you thought she was, uh, she had a little sister,
Speaker:sister in her, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They're like, oh, you're Indian.
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So, uh, that makes sense.
Speaker:Cause the way she was singing, I thought she had some sister soul in there.
Speaker:Well, she's, uh, she's Indian, so I guess, you know, they got some
Speaker:sister soul in a different way there.
Speaker:grateful to be able to deliver a message from God's word this morning.
Speaker:We started the year, um, with this statement, when you, when we truly
Speaker:know who we belong to, we will believe God's plans and purposes and will
Speaker:become who we were created to be.
Speaker:And so we broke up our year into these three parts in which we focused on
Speaker:first belonging and, and really walked through many layers and facets of that.
Speaker:And we talked about believing.
Speaker:And for last trimester here we've been talking about becoming.
Speaker:And over the last couple weeks we've been talking about how because of
Speaker:Jesus, we can become people of hope.
Speaker:And then last week we talked about because of Jesus, we can become people of peace.
Speaker:And today we're gonna be talking about how because of Jesus,
Speaker:we can become people of joy.
Speaker:And so let's go ahead and let's say a word of prayer.
Speaker:Father in heaven, God almighty, king of kings, and Lord of lords.
Speaker:God, when we are able to think about the words that we're singing, when
Speaker:we're able to think about the treasures and the blessings that we have in
Speaker:Christ, it does something to our souls.
Speaker:Father.
Speaker:It ignites something in us.
Speaker:It allows us to draw closer to you.
Speaker:It allows the in inner turmoil or whatever is going on inside
Speaker:to be redirected to your will and God, we want to acknowledge you.
Speaker:We want to praise you.
Speaker:God, we want to lift your name high and Father, I pray that your word, your holy
Speaker:word, the word that that is breathes from you, God, it will transform us today.
Speaker:God, it will enlighten us.
Speaker:It will engage us.
Speaker:It will draw us to greater faith and greater conviction about who
Speaker:you are and who we are in Christ.
Speaker:And the opportunity to join you in your redemptive work here
Speaker:on Earth in the name of Jesus.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:I want to ask you a question.
Speaker:What brings you joy?
Speaker:What brings you joy?
Speaker:Let's get some people to answer what brings you joy?
Speaker:Let's get a couple people to answer what brings you joy.
Speaker:Yes sir.
Speaker:Street tacos.
Speaker:Street tacos.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Street tacos.
Speaker:You know, I was having a conversation with a buddy of mine and I appreciate
Speaker:your faith right there cuz you know there's some other things on the
Speaker:street that I see that are really popular and I refuse to purchase one.
Speaker:I I just don't have the faith, Kyle, you know what I'm saying?
Speaker:But I appreciate that you get joy from street tacos.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:I saw another hand on this side.
Speaker:Yes, sir.
Speaker:Hugs.
Speaker:Hugs.
Speaker:Hugs.
Speaker:Give.
Speaker:Give that man a hug right now.
Speaker:Can he get some joy?
Speaker:Hey man.
Speaker:Elijah, you give him a hug too.
Speaker:That's double joy right there.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:In the back there waving your hand.
Speaker:Yes, she right there.
Speaker:Two sons.
Speaker:What'd you say?
Speaker:Two sons.
Speaker:My two sons.
Speaker:How old are your two sons?
Speaker:Two and six.
Speaker:Enjoy it now.
Speaker:. Two and six.
Speaker:Royal.
Speaker:Oh boy.
Speaker:Wait till they're 12 and 16.
Speaker:I wanna hear that same thing.
Speaker:. Come on.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Time with my friend.
Speaker:Time with my friend.
Speaker:Then she goes over here and touches their friends there.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Who's that?
Speaker:Marty?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Prayer.
Speaker:Prayers being answered with, yes.
Speaker:Prayers are always answered, but we love when God says yes.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Doca being here Sunday morning.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Being here Sunday morning, praising God with all of you.
Speaker:Come on.
Speaker:Dork was an, a student right there.
Speaker:Huh?
Speaker:She was like, what does the teacher want to hear?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Come on.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:Be Corey.
Speaker:Go ahead.
Speaker:Uh, I'd say can also being here, but the church of, um, coming back the
Speaker:second round from the very first time I came, he says music and then also
Speaker:bringing, coming back to our church here.
Speaker:He used to come a long time ago and now he's been coming back to our church here.
Speaker:Come on.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:All right, let's go one more.
Speaker:Eric.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Um, quality time with other people.
Speaker:Quality time with other people.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:One, one more.
Speaker:Bobby.
Speaker:Yes, go ahead.
Speaker:Bobby.
Speaker:His wife.
Speaker:That man got into an argument earlier.
Speaker:He's trying to make up for it.
Speaker:Uh, yes.
Speaker:My wife, she gives me great.
Speaker:I'm just playing.
Speaker:I'm just playing.
Speaker:Bobby, so good to see you.
Speaker:Please keep praying for Bobby.
Speaker:As many of you know, Bobby has a lot of health challenge, but, uh,
Speaker:man, it's so good to see Bobby.
Speaker:He had a, he had a heart attack, uh, just about a week and a half ago.
Speaker:And, uh, so he had a heart attack during the middle of the
Speaker:week and was here on Sunday.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:So if you have an excuse, you better go talk to Bobby.
Speaker:Oh, my toe hurts, man.
Speaker:That man had a heart attack and he was here.
Speaker:. I want to hear that.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Come on.
Speaker:The wife giving him joy.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Well, let's go ahead and let's talk about joy.
Speaker:And in fact, what I want us to do here is get a biblical sense of joy.
Speaker:And so, uh, I know a good friend of mine, Chris Colossi, loves the,
Speaker:uh, the, the Bible project videos.
Speaker:And so they have this cool Bible project video and I want us to
Speaker:go ahead and play that right now.
Speaker:Let's go ahead and do that.
Speaker:Being in a good mood is really great, and most languages have lots of
Speaker:words to describe the experience like happy, cheerful, joyful, and so on.
Speaker:The same goes for the languages of the Bible.
Speaker:In ancient biblical Hebrew, there's a variety of words like or Gil.
Speaker:In the Greek New Testament, there's EU or asis.
Speaker:Each word has its own unique nuance, but they all basically refer to
Speaker:the feeling of joy and happiness.
Speaker:Now, what makes these biblical joy words interesting is noticing the kinds of
Speaker:things that bring happiness, and also seeing how joy is a key theme that runs
Speaker:through the whole story of the Bible.
Speaker:Let's start with sources of joy.
Speaker:On page one of the Bible, God says that this world is very good, and so naturally
Speaker:people find joy in beautiful and good things of life, like growing flocks
Speaker:or in abundant harvest on the hills.
Speaker:The poet of Psalm 104 says A good bottle of wine is God's gift
Speaker:to bring joy to people's heart.
Speaker:People find joy at a wedding or in their children.
Speaker:There's even a Hebrew proverb that compares the joy that perfume
Speaker:brings to your nose with the joy a good friend brings to your heart.
Speaker:However, human history isn't just a joy fest.
Speaker:The biblical story shows how we live in a world that's been
Speaker:corrupted by our own selfishness.
Speaker:It's marked by death and lost, and this is where Biblical faith
Speaker:offers a unique perspective on joy.
Speaker:It's an attitude God's people adopt, not because of happy
Speaker:circumstances, but because of their hope in God's love and promise.
Speaker:So when Israelites were suffering from slavery in Egypt, God raised
Speaker:up Moses to lead them into freedom.
Speaker:And the first thing that Israelites did was sing for joy.
Speaker:Even though they were in the middle of a desert, they were vulnerable.
Speaker:The promised land was still far away.
Speaker:They rejoiced.
Speaker:Later, biblical poets looked back on this story and they remembered how
Speaker:the Lord caused his people to leave with joy, his chosen ones with shouts
Speaker:of joy, this joy in the wilderness.
Speaker:This was a defining moment, a way of saying that the joy of God's
Speaker:people is not determined by their struggles, but by their future destiny.
Speaker:The theme appears later in Israel's story, when Israel suffered under the
Speaker:oppression of foreign empires, the prophet Isaiah looked for a day when God would
Speaker:raise up a new deliverer like Moses.
Speaker:That's when those redeemed by the Lord will return to Zion.
Speaker:With glad shouts, with eternal joy crowning their heads, happiness
Speaker:and joy will overtake them.
Speaker:And while the Israelites waited, they chose joy to anticipate
Speaker:their future redemption.
Speaker:This is why it's significant that when Jesus of Nazareth was
Speaker:born, it was announced as good news that brings great joy.
Speaker:We're told that Jesus himself rejoiced and gave thanks to God his father, when
Speaker:he began to announce the kingdom of God.
Speaker:He even taught his followers the same joy in the wilderness saying, when
Speaker:people reject you or persecute you for following me, rejoice, be very glad
Speaker:because your reward is great in heaven.
Speaker:After his death and resurrection, Jesus commissioned his followers to
Speaker:go out and announce the good news that he was the risen king of the world.
Speaker:And as they did so, the early Christian communities were
Speaker:known for being full of joy.
Speaker:Even when they were persecuted, like when the Apostle Paul was sitting in a
Speaker:dirty Roman prison, he could say that he's chosen joy even if he gets executed.
Speaker:He called this the joy of faith or joy in the Lord.
Speaker:He believed it was the gift of God's spirit.
Speaker:A sign that Jesus' presence is with you.
Speaker:Inspiring hope in the midst of hardship.
Speaker:And when you believe that Jesus's love has overcome death
Speaker:itself, joy becomes reasonable in the darkest of circumstances.
Speaker:Now, this doesn't mean that you ignore or suppress your sorrow.
Speaker:That's not healthy or necessary.
Speaker:Paul often expressed his grief about missing loved ones or
Speaker:losing friends or his own freedom.
Speaker:He called it being full of sorrow and yet rejoicing as he acknowledged his pain.
Speaker:He also made a choice to trust Jesus that his loss wouldn't be the final word.
Speaker:This is very different from the trite advice.
Speaker:To turn that frown upside down, Christian joy is a profound decision
Speaker:of faith and hope in the power of Jesus' own life and love, and that's
Speaker:what biblical joy is all about.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:It's really cool that we can talk about joy in the biblical sense.
Speaker:And how we as again, God's people because of Jesus, we can have joy and
Speaker:as joy can be sustained can happen even in the midst of trial, even in
Speaker:the midst of turmoil, we can have joy.
Speaker:Let me ask you this here.
Speaker:Have you ever had some joy in God?
Speaker:Have you had joy in the Lord?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I want you to go ahead, let's do this for a quick second.
Speaker:If you, if Jesus has ever brought some joy in your life, wait.
Speaker:Lot of you said Jesus brought some joy in your life.
Speaker:Is that what you just told me?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:We're gonna do something, man.
Speaker:I haven't done this since I've been here in Orange County and it's a risk.
Speaker:He said, oh, you know what I, after I said that, I said, oh, I don't
Speaker:know if I should have said that.
Speaker:Can I walk it back?
Speaker:Here's what we're gonna do.
Speaker:Again, show me some hands here.
Speaker:Show me some hands if, if you've ever had some joy because of Jesus.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:Can we have some people share how Jesus brought you some joy?
Speaker:Oh, now we got some hands all the way.
Speaker:Come down.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:All right, here we go.
Speaker:Here's what we're gonna do.
Speaker:All right, gene, come on up.
Speaker:All right, here we go.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Marty, you can come on up here.
Speaker:I saw some hands over here from some young folks, and now y'all getting quiet.
Speaker:Savannah, come on up here.
Speaker:All right, come on up here.
Speaker:All right, here you go.
Speaker:We're going to give you, all right, here we go.
Speaker:We're going to give you just uh, you have 60 seconds.
Speaker:Oh wow.
Speaker:That's because if you go longer than 60 seconds, I'm gonna have the guys come up
Speaker:here and start playing music again, . And we're gonna treat it like it's an award
Speaker:show, , and we're gonna pull you to the side and then the sermon's gonna go long.
Speaker:And we know how much everybody loves a long sermon.
Speaker:So look, you clap it.
Speaker:So here you go.
Speaker:We want you to share in 60 seconds or less how Jesus has brought joy to your life.
Speaker:Say your name first and then go ahead.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I'm Jean Alexander and I.
Speaker:The first thing I thought of was when I became a disciple.
Speaker:I was, uh, very unhappy with my life, and I praise.
Speaker:I prayed to God, where are you?
Speaker:And the next week I was invited out to church and I started citing the Bible and
Speaker:one of my best friends still to this day.
Speaker:In fact, I found the picture 25 years ago.
Speaker:I got baptized and then I thought of my, um, my son's baptism
Speaker:and my daughter's baptism.
Speaker:And it's amazing . It's so nice to have a family that's all disciples
Speaker:and I, it brings me a lot of joy.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Um, my name's Savannah Carillo and I think the biggest moment was when
Speaker:my whole family became disciples.
Speaker:We have a lot to participate in the same love and joy that.
Speaker:Jesus gave to us.
Speaker:So yeah, that was cool.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Uh, many times I've had, uh, questions.
Speaker:I needed answers and prayers needed answered, and sometimes, uh, a sermon will
Speaker:come up and give me an answer for what a problem I'm having or read the Bible.
Speaker:Uh, also read a devotional.
Speaker:And sometimes, uh, brothers and sisters like you will come up
Speaker:and give me some exhortation.
Speaker:Say, Hey, what about this, this, and that?
Speaker:And that's God following up, uh, things I need to have done, spirit.
Speaker:And that brings me joy.
Speaker:Thank you all.
Speaker:Hey, man, give it on up.
Speaker:They all were under 60 seconds.
Speaker:Where they, Kyle?
Speaker:Did you time them?
Speaker:Kyle was on them there.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Man, that's a lot of pressure, huh?
Speaker:On the preacher after what you just said.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:I gotta, I gotta say something to meet and need right now.
Speaker:Huh?
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Well, here's what we're gonna talk about here.
Speaker:We're gonna talk about how Jesus gives us divine joy.
Speaker:Jesus gives us divine joy.
Speaker:We're gonna take it up in John chapter 15.
Speaker:In John chapter 15.
Speaker:We're gonna read here and we're taking it up.
Speaker:We were in John 14 last week, and so this is called, you know, a lot of scholars
Speaker:call this the farewell discourse.
Speaker:Jesus just finished his last supper with the, uh, uh, with his
Speaker:followers before he's going to get, uh, arrested and then crucified.
Speaker:And so he gives this discourse, they're having this conversation,
Speaker:and again, he gives some rich theology for us and he answers some
Speaker:questions and it starts to make a little bit of sense to the apostles.
Speaker:And at the beginning of John chapter 15, he starts off by
Speaker:saying that he is the vine and that his followers are the branches.
Speaker:And so there's this idea that he keeps saying throughout verses
Speaker:one through eight of remain in me.
Speaker:And so again, there's this imagery that the branches, in order to be fruitful,
Speaker:have to remain in the vine, and so that's the context in which we take it up.
Speaker:In verse nine, the Bible reads, it says, as the Father, this is Jesus speaking
Speaker:again to his followers, as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
Speaker:Now remain in my love.
Speaker:If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love.
Speaker:Just as I have kept my father's commands and remain in his love.
Speaker:I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Speaker:We'll stop right there.
Speaker:It's interesting to note here right at the beginning, just like we talked
Speaker:about last week, that this peace, this love, this joy, there's this connection
Speaker:between a relationship with God and also our keeping of Jesus' commands.
Speaker:Did you see that?
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:He says it clearly look, remain in my love.
Speaker:He says, keep my commands and you will remain in my love.
Speaker:Not that God won't love us, but we won't have this loving relationship
Speaker:in which we're designed for if we defiantly, if we intentionally
Speaker:go against his will and his word.
Speaker:And so we always have to remember that this is a relationship, but we play a
Speaker:role in this relationship and part of our role in keeping this loving relationship
Speaker:is to keep the commands of Jesus church, or you understand what I'm saying?
Speaker:And so we won't spend much time, we talked about it last week and how fitting,
Speaker:we talked about the umbrella of peace.
Speaker:And boy, oh boy, we need some umbrellas today, don't we?
Speaker:We need some umbrellas of peace, but we can see, even hear the umbrella
Speaker:of joy when we have the joy of Jesus.
Speaker:Now here's what's interesting.
Speaker:He says, so that my joy may be in you.
Speaker:He didn't say, I just want you to have some joy in your life.
Speaker:Yeah, I want my joy to be in you, and then your joy will now become complete.
Speaker:Now, Jesus must have been a joyful person in order to say this, because if he wasn't
Speaker:joyful and he says, Hey, I want you to have my joy, that would've been a bummer.
Speaker:That's like being around the grumpy person, the critical person.
Speaker:And he goes, yeah, if you follow me, you could have my joy . That's okay.
Speaker:So some of us said that they, Jesus was all serious, or he was
Speaker:a man of sorrows, and he was that.
Speaker:But obviously he had a lot of joy because this would've brought
Speaker:them comforts when he said this.
Speaker:So being around Jesus wasn't a joy, kill or kill joy?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:He obviously exuded and had a lot of joy, says, Hey, this joy that
Speaker:I have, I want it to be in you again, not just a type of joy.
Speaker:Not just joy, but he wants us to have his joy.
Speaker:And so as disciples of Jesus, we get a chance to become a people of joy when
Speaker:we're, when we remain in his love.
Speaker:You know, there's this really cool verse in Romans 14, the, the Apostle Paul wrote
Speaker:this letter to the church in Rome, and he says, here he is talking about a number of
Speaker:different things, but this is really cool.
Speaker:He says, for the kingdom of God, it is not a matter of eating and
Speaker:drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirits.
Speaker:That means true Christianity doesn't result in a stale,
Speaker:sad, or lifeless existence, but it results in peace and joy.
Speaker:Who doesn't want that?
Speaker:But again, as God's people, we get a chance to experience this, but we
Speaker:get to become people of joy again.
Speaker:But let's talk about this type of joy because we can confuse it with
Speaker:maybe what we think is divine joy.
Speaker:Because again, he says, or we've stated here, Jesus gives us
Speaker:divine joy because it's his joy.
Speaker:Jesus is divine.
Speaker:So the joy that he gives is what divine joy.
Speaker:You guys get what I'm saying here.
Speaker:And so this divine joy is different than happiness.
Speaker:Divine joy is different than happiness.
Speaker:Let's go ahead and let's break this down.
Speaker:You see, happiness is a status update, but joy is a state of being.
Speaker:You see, happiness is a status update, and we've all done that, haven't we?
Speaker:All of us on social media there, we, we go over here and let's put our feeling in.
Speaker:That's what happiness is.
Speaker:But divine joy is a state of being.
Speaker:You see, happiness is a feeling.
Speaker:While joy is an attitude and choice, happy, happiness is a fleeting feeling.
Speaker:It's an emotion just like sadness, jealousy, fear, but it's fleeting.
Speaker:You might be happy about something, you might be happy about those street tacos.
Speaker:You might be happy about that hug.
Speaker:You might be happy about whatever it is that we mentioned.
Speaker:But what happens, it won't sustain you, will it.
Speaker:It doesn't last forever, and you can't be continually happy forever
Speaker:by those things that we mentioned.
Speaker:But they're awesome, but they bring happiness.
Speaker:But what Jesus brings is divine joy.
Speaker:Divine joy sustains us when happiness eludes us.
Speaker:You see, divine joy makes happiness more than a fleeting feeling.
Speaker:You see, happiness is based on happiness, while divine joy
Speaker:is based on the eternal one.
Speaker:You see a lot of things that we think of when we're thinking of what makes
Speaker:us happy are based on circumstances, often what beyond our control.
Speaker:Kyle gets that street taco and it doesn't taste too good.
Speaker:He doesn't bring divine joy, does it?
Speaker:Now?
Speaker:He's discouraging.
Speaker:I seen Kyle when he doesn't get the food that he likes in.
Speaker:It's not a pretty sight
Speaker:and so we can see here happiness is based on circumstances that
Speaker:we're not even in control of.
Speaker:Think of the things that you mentioned that you were thinking of.
Speaker:Most of it is outta your control, isn't it?
Speaker:My friends, will they be with me?
Speaker:Oh, I can initiate, but will they reciprocate?
Speaker:A lot of these things, and these aren't bad.
Speaker:We're not knocking happiness.
Speaker:God, I do believe, wants us to have some happiness, but that's
Speaker:not his aim and goal in life.
Speaker:It's to form us back into his image, but he provides and brings divine joy.
Speaker:You see, divine joy is more stable because it's based on the
Speaker:unchanging, unwavering love, power, and sovereignty of the Almighty God.
Speaker:It's based on his unmoving, unchanging word that is powerful, that's
Speaker:so powerful as life and death.
Speaker:You see, divine joy starts with the choice and leads to a long lasting
Speaker:state of being, but the problem that you and I can have is when we either
Speaker:seek or expect from God to be happy.
Speaker:. You guys know what I'm talking about.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:We seek happiness.
Speaker:We seek this feeling, however, it's fleeting or we expect, well, God,
Speaker:you're supposed to make me happy.
Speaker:And then when we are in the midst of troubles or trials or our relationship,
Speaker:we're trying to wrestle it out, we're like, well, this doesn't make sense.
Speaker:Well, God didn't promise happiness.
Speaker:He wanted to give us divine joy.
Speaker:And so many times then after we have this struggle, we have the wrong perspective.
Speaker:We can get discouraged.
Speaker:I don't know if this Christianity thing really works or it's not fun anymore.
Speaker:. I had a, a, a, a a person send me a text message.
Speaker:They told me that they wanted to leave God, and, and, and, and,
Speaker:and this was several years ago.
Speaker:And they said, you know, I've been through some hard times.
Speaker:And, uh, and what'd they say?
Speaker:I, I, I, I read it the other day.
Speaker:And, uh, they said, you know what?
Speaker:It's just not bringing me any more joy.
Speaker:And it was heartbreaking, really.
Speaker:He didn't have divine joy.
Speaker:Divine joy had had evacuated.
Speaker:He was talking about the happiness that he was expecting wasn't there in his life.
Speaker:So therefore, I might as well leave God.
Speaker:You see, we get in trouble when we seek or expect happiness, when
Speaker:what's available is divine joy.
Speaker:You see, if we're not experiencing divine joy, it's probably
Speaker:because our perspective is off.
Speaker:And or we're not remaining in Christ.
Speaker:Our relationship with him is fragile and or we are defiant
Speaker:when it comes to his commands.
Speaker:Instead of keeping his commands, we defiantly intentionally
Speaker:give it the Heisman.
Speaker:Oh, there you go.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:Hi, USC Heisman Trophy.
Speaker:It just came.
Speaker:The spirit flows.
Speaker:. If you don't know uscs quarterback won't.
Speaker:The Heisman trophy yesterday.
Speaker:Hey, I didn't even have that in my notes, Brian.
Speaker:It just comes, it just comes.
Speaker:The spirit's moving baby.
Speaker:The spirit's moving.
Speaker:Don't stop him.
Speaker:. That does bring me some happiness.
Speaker:And you know what?
Speaker:Somewhat joy, but it brings me anger at the same time.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Sorry, I'm getting, I'm getting distracted.
Speaker:Here we go.
Speaker:. We get joy from what Jesus says and remaining in his love.
Speaker:We get joy from his word.
Speaker:I appreciate Marty saying, you know what, when God has a message
Speaker:for me in my niece, it changes me.
Speaker:It gets me focused.
Speaker:And it what he said, it brought him joy when he remained in Christ, when
Speaker:he started to keep His commandments.
Speaker:This divine joy comes from when we obey.
Speaker:You know what?
Speaker:Oh man, if I just, I'm struggling, but when I do the
Speaker:right thing, guess what happens?
Speaker:This divine joy starts to take place and you go, this is good.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:I'm gonna remain here.
Speaker:I'm gonna, I'm gonna continue this divine joy.
Speaker:Yes, there's happiness in this, but it can happen.
Speaker:Even as we saw from the video in the midst of chaos, they can be heartache
Speaker:and pain all around us, but yet there's this weird transcendent, this, this,
Speaker:this unexplainable joy that we can have in that moment that can sustain.
Speaker:Again, yes.
Speaker:We have times of sorrow.
Speaker:We have times at which we mourn in grief.
Speaker:We saw that on Wednesday.
Speaker:There's a time for everything, but joy can happen.
Speaker:Divine joy is available for you and me as the people of God.
Speaker:Church, are you with me this morning?
Speaker:I wanna share a couple more observations about divine joy.
Speaker:You know, as followers of Jesus, we have divine joy because we have
Speaker:been forgiven of all our sins.
Speaker:Look at what it says in Romans chapter eight.
Speaker:It says, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Speaker:Jesus because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set
Speaker:you free from the law of sin and death.
Speaker:There is no condemnation if you are in Christ Jesus.
Speaker:Did you hear what I just said?
Speaker:Sir, there's no condemnation if you are in Christ Jesus.
Speaker:Have any of you sinned?
Speaker:Just once it looked like Sosa's never sinned.
Speaker:He looked at me like, mm, I ain't never sinned.
Speaker:, you sinned before Sosa course.
Speaker:Oh, oh, oh, now it's the course.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Anybody sin?
Speaker:Uh, a lot.
Speaker:Some of y'all like, man, I've been sending a whole lot this week.
Speaker:You should, you know, ask, ask my spouse.
Speaker:, you sin the lot, haven't you?
Speaker:If you're like me, you sin.
Speaker:Maybe send on the way up here.
Speaker:Maybe sin when you got up in here.
Speaker:But guess what the scriptures say?
Speaker:If you're in Christ Jesus, there's no condemning, no sentencing, no penalty,
Speaker:no death, no fear of hell or execution.
Speaker:There's no fear.
Speaker:I don't have to worry about it.
Speaker:Some of us, we get worried, oh no, I don't know if you're in Christ
Speaker:Jesus, you are not condemned.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:You have been forgiven, not of 1, 2, 3, but of all sins.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:And that was through Jesus on the cross.
Speaker:I don't know about you, but boy, boy, when I think about it, I'm like, hallelujah,
Speaker:sir, that I've been forgiven a sin.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Because boy, oh boy, if I wasn't forgiven a sin, I'd be in some trouble.
Speaker:Or you with me church.
Speaker:Oh, I'm sorry.
Speaker:Maybe you're the type who hasn't sinned.
Speaker:Yes, you have.
Speaker:You just raised your hand.
Speaker:There's no condemnation, no condemning from the God Almighty.
Speaker:He says, you are forgiven.
Speaker:When that settles in.
Speaker:What does that do?
Speaker:It produces some joy.
Speaker:I'm a free man.
Speaker:Even if we have some bad days, there are a couple things that we could do.
Speaker:We can say, one, the tomb is still empty.
Speaker:Yes, sir.
Speaker:And we can say, hallelujah, that there's no condemnation for me.
Speaker:I had a, I had a conversation yesterday with a relative of mine who, uh,
Speaker:who, who, who's, he was in some hard times and he was calling me and
Speaker:he was sharing some things there.
Speaker:And, uh, he had been in prison for, for about 14 years.
Speaker:And as we're talking, he said, man, you know what?
Speaker:But least I'm not in prison anymore.
Speaker:We can always say that spiritually, you know, man, there's some
Speaker:things going on in my life.
Speaker:I've done some, I've made some mistakes, but hallelujah.
Speaker:I'm not in spiritual prison anymore.
Speaker:I am not condemned church.
Speaker:We should always have a reason to say amen in hallelujah.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:There's another reason, another observation that I have as dearly
Speaker:loved children of the most high God.
Speaker:We have divine joy because of the second coming of Jesus.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:First Thessalonians for says, for the Lord himself will come down from
Speaker:heaven with the loud command, with the voice of the arch angel, and
Speaker:with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Speaker:After that we who are still alive and our left will be caught up together with him
Speaker:in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
Speaker:And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Speaker:Therefore, encourage one another with these words.
Speaker:He says, Jesus is coming back.
Speaker:Not a possibly, not a maybe.
Speaker:It's a fact.
Speaker:Jesus will come back and you and I, those who are in Christ, Jesus
Speaker:will be what The Almighty God.
Speaker:Forever the faith will become sights.
Speaker:The Lord that you are worshiping in sing it to today.
Speaker:You will now have eternal life with him and all of his people.
Speaker:Can I get an amen?
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:I don't know about you, but I like this world, but boy oh boy, I
Speaker:really don't want this to be my end.
Speaker:It says Jesus is coming back and he's gonna bring us home with him.
Speaker:That's fantastic.
Speaker:We have something to look forward to.
Speaker:As my friend Steve Stevenson says, he always says, what
Speaker:the best is yet to come, sir.
Speaker:Why?
Speaker:Because it's true.
Speaker:No matter what happens, the best is yet to come because one day we'll be in heaven
Speaker:with our creator and maker, God Almighty.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:We have something to look forward to that the world unfortunately doesn't have.
Speaker:Again, we always have hope in Christ.
Speaker:We have peace and we have a joy because we know what's ahead and where we're going.
Speaker:You know, it's like kids, it's, it's Christmas and what happens?
Speaker:Kids get excited about.
Speaker:What about presents?
Speaker:I had my daughter come up to me the other day and she says, pops, uh,
Speaker:what are you getting me for Christmas?
Speaker:I looked at her and said, girl, you know nothing.
Speaker:You know, I don't give you no gifts.
Speaker:Tell me y'all looking like, man, that's a bad parent.
Speaker:I was just playing.
Speaker:Okay, , we get one gift.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And she was excited.
Speaker:She was like, what?
Speaker:And so there's been packages coming in, right?
Speaker:Karina, she's had these packages coming in, and some of these are gifts.
Speaker:Some of them, she's sneaking in some shopping stuff, you know?
Speaker:I'm like, girl, what you doing ? What's this box?
Speaker:This guy?
Speaker:No, we ain't got that many gifts to give this year.
Speaker:, what is this box?
Speaker:Oh, I just got a couple things.
Speaker:. Sorry again.
Speaker:I'm digressing.
Speaker:Forgive me Brian, and forgive me.
Speaker:It just comes out.
Speaker:And so she's excited.
Speaker:She's looking for these gifts, man, I can't wait.
Speaker:What it's gonna be like.
Speaker:And that's what we have spiritually.
Speaker:We have someone to look forward to.
Speaker:The Lords coming back.
Speaker:The greatest gift of salvation is coming.
Speaker:What's it gonna be like, man, I can't wait to see.
Speaker:Can we talk with, with the, with the ancients and the faith, what's
Speaker:it gonna be like to meet Moses?
Speaker:What's it gonna be like to see the Lord?
Speaker:To see the angels to sing out and cry.
Speaker:It's gonna be amazing.
Speaker:They said, man, this Christians said there's gonna be no
Speaker:tears and no pain, no sorrow.
Speaker:Ooh, I wanna see that day.
Speaker:You see, we have something to look forward to because of the second coming to Jesus.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So here's what's really cool.
Speaker:It hit me.
Speaker:I was like, wow, this is so cool.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And so we, we, we get this joy from the past, right?
Speaker:Because of what Jesus did in the past, because he forgave our sins.
Speaker:We get this joy from the past.
Speaker:Then we think of the second coming, and we have joy for the future.
Speaker:So we have this joy from what happened in the past, and then
Speaker:we have this joy for the future.
Speaker:And then what does that lead to?
Speaker:That leads to what?
Speaker:Joy in the presence.
Speaker:How awesome is that?
Speaker:We get to look back and go, wow.
Speaker:Hallelujah.
Speaker:And then we get to look forward and go, man, I can't wait.
Speaker:This is awesome.
Speaker:And that leads us to right now having the joy of the Lord, can
Speaker:I get a hallelujah for that?
Speaker:I don't know about you, but that fires me up.
Speaker:It gets me going.
Speaker:I'm excited.
Speaker:Because why?
Speaker:We're grateful.
Speaker:God, you've done so much.
Speaker:God, I can't wait for the faith to become sight and have eternal life.
Speaker:And so it brings us joy again, no matter what the circumstance
Speaker:is, it could be spiritually and mostly reigning all around us.
Speaker:But because I look back and I look forward, I now have joy
Speaker:in the midst of the moments and that joy could be sustained.
Speaker:So what should we do in response to this?
Speaker:Well, I think it's easy.
Speaker:Let's look back and look forward.
Speaker:Let's look back and let's look forward because that will help us to remain
Speaker:in Christ that will help us to in our relationship with God Almighty.
Speaker:And this will help us to make the right choice to keep his commands in the
Speaker:moments you see when we're thinking of what we've been forgiving of.
Speaker:Man, I don't wanna commit that same sinny mistake anymore.
Speaker:When I know what I'm going toward, man, I want to do what's right now.
Speaker:And so we have this joy, we remain in the vine and we keep his commands and we have
Speaker:this cool cycle that starts to take place.
Speaker:So we need to look back and we need to look forward.
Speaker:So let's get real practical action steps this week, not, not this month,
Speaker:not, hey, maybe brothers and sisters, I want to call you to write this down.
Speaker:Take a picture, whatever it is that you do, whatever's your flavor there.
Speaker:And I want you to go ahead and join me in this.
Speaker:And first off, the first thing is to meditate on the forgiveness of
Speaker:sins and second coming of Jesus.
Speaker:Just one day this week, one day this week.
Speaker:Just go ahead and have some time in which you meditate, you, thank you, reflect upon
Speaker:all that you've been forgiven of and all that you will enjoy when Jesus comes back.
Speaker:And then secondly, join me in this.
Speaker:Let's pray every day, just this week, not asking, pray for the rest
Speaker:of your life this, but every day, this week for the church family, us
Speaker:right in here to become people of joy by remaining in Jesus Christ.
Speaker:We're praying for all of us, not just individuals, but that all of us can truly
Speaker:experience and become people of joy.
Speaker:So maybe you need to put that in as a, as a, a, a reminder on your phone there,
Speaker:or whatever the case is, maybe have a prayer app or whatever you need to do.
Speaker:But let's pray for all of us to experience and to become the people
Speaker:of joy by remaining in Christ.
Speaker:And if you're visiting here with us, whether you're online or you're here today
Speaker:and, and you're not sure if you are in Christ, I wanna encourage you today set
Speaker:up a time to study the Bible so you can understand what does it mean and how do
Speaker:I actually become a person in Christ.
Speaker:How do I get this forgiveness of sin?
Speaker:And how can I experience this joy that was mentioned today?
Speaker:Right now we're gonna take communion.
Speaker:This is where we take the emblems representing Jesus', sacrifice
Speaker:upon the cross, the juice, and the bread representing this blood and
Speaker:this body that was broken for us.
Speaker:And as we take this, we can remember the joy and the opportunity that
Speaker:we have to become people of joy.
Speaker:And that this joy is not happiness.
Speaker:This joy is divine joy.
Speaker:And that all of this joy, all of this peace, all of this hope comes
Speaker:through the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
Speaker:It says in Hebrews nine, verse 28, just as people are destined to die
Speaker:once and after that to face judgment.
Speaker:So Christ was sacrifice once to take away the sins of many and he will appear
Speaker:a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting.
Speaker:For him.
Speaker:Let's pray.
Speaker:Father in heaven, thank you so much for Jesus.
Speaker:Got all that we have.
Speaker:All of us in the here who are in Christ Jesus, all of us who are in
Speaker:the vine got every single blessing we have is because of your son Jesus.
Speaker:Thank you for your plan of salvation.
Speaker:Thank you that now your spirit dwells within us.
Speaker:God, that we can have the hope, that we can have the peace, that we can
Speaker:have the joy that comes from you.
Speaker:And God, we know that it came at a cost Father, in order for us to have
Speaker:all of our sins forgiven and came at the cost of Jesus dying on the cross.
Speaker:And God, we are humbled and we are grateful.
Speaker:And God, we're so grateful that the hope comes from the resurrection of
Speaker:Jesus, him raising from the dead.
Speaker:Now that we have hope in two one day, we will raise and be with you.
Speaker:And so God, we are so thankful.
Speaker:That Jesus chose, that he persevered, that he was sinless
Speaker:and that he followed your will.
Speaker:God, may we follow his example following your will grateful,
Speaker:humbled, and be united with you in the moments before everlasting.
