The Joy of the Lord
November 15, 2015 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: Your circumstances, whether good or bad, doesn’t affect the joy you have in Jesus!
Focus Passage: Nehemiah 8:5-10
Introduction: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliott
I. Joy in Salvation
a. Circumstances don’t matter; nothing can take your salvation away.
b. and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. (John 10:28-29 NASB)
c. "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44 NASB)
d. "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25 NASB)
II. Joy in Service
a. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. (Psalms 100:2 NASB)
b. For a day in your house is better than a thousand. It is better to be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to be living in the tents of sin. (Psalms 84:10 BBE)
c. There is a paradox; those who don’t serve have no joy, and those without joy don’t serve! Break the cycle and start serving.
III. Joy in Sharing
a. Gospel
i. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete. (1 John 1:4 NASB)
b. Possessions
i. And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." (Luke 3:11 NASB)
ii. and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. (Acts 2:45 NASB)
Application/Invitation: Find joy in God, not in possessions. Find Joy in God, not in circumstances. Find joy in sharing and giving, not in keeping.
