Advent – Joy “I’ve got the joy!” We need joy but we seek after happiness. The world is selling happiness. Happiness is an emotion in response to the current outcome. Jesus offers something better than happiness. Jesus offers joy. Joy is spoken of many times in the New Testament and the common link in everything about joy is Jesus. It starts at the birth announcement of Jesus; Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. John 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 16: 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. I love how He just says that their sorrow, their disappointment, and their grief will be upended and turn into joy. At the resurrection of Jesus there will be joy, the kind of joy no one will be able to take away. Permanent joy. Abiding joy. Again, Jesus and joy are connected John 17:13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. Whose joy is it? It belongs to Jesus. And where is he going to put it? In us. And so, if happiness is simply an emotional response to my current situation, what is joy? Joy is a good feeling in the soul. It is a permeating gratitude and hopefulness that is rooted in the unchanging person of Jesus. We might just say that joy is a good feeling in the soul because we know that Jesus is up to something. Now, all joy is rooted in Jesus because he is the unchanging outcome in everything. The Bible in 1 Peter 2:6 calls Jesus “the cornerstone.” 1 Peter 2:6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” The imagery of a cornerstone means that Jesus will never move He will always stand He will never falter He will never crack up He will hold everything up He will never shift or move He is solid and sure and unwavering and secure. Joy is a good feeling in the soul. It is a permeating gratitude and hopefulness that is rooted in the unchanging person of Jesus. JOY STEALERS… Psalm 137:1 Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. 2 We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. 3 For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” 4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land? Have you hung your harp (and joy) on the branch of a tree? Maybe it is the grief tree. Maybe it is the gripe tree. Maybe it is the grudge tree. Maybe it is the wishing tree. Maybe it is the worry tree. Maybe it is the fear tree. Or the regret tree. Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! 5 For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. What is the root of such joy in this Psalm? 3 Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 5 For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. It is that He is God and that He is good. That is the unchanging outcome. That is the cornerstone. He is God and He is good. Six rules of joy… I will walk with Jesus every day. I will be grateful and live every day to the fullest. I will bless my family with words, pictures and videos. I will invest in my team for their good and God’s glory – not mine. I will not give up and run out the clock. I will let people love me. Let’s see what GOD can do! Pastor Brian Harrell