“JESUS, MAN OF JOY!”
September 1, 2002
ROCK POINT CHURCH
PRIMARY SCRIPTURE TEXTS
John 15:11
“These things have I spoken to you that MY JOY may remain in you, and that YOUR JOY may be full!”
PSALM 100!
THINGS YOU NEVER HEAR IN CHURCH
1. Hey! It’s my turn to sit in the front row!2. I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon went 25 minutes over time! 3. Personally I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf!4. I’ve decided to give our church the $500 a month I used to send to TV evangelists!5. I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the Junior High Sunday School class!6. Forget the denominational minimum salary, let’s pay our pastor so he can live like we do!7. I love it when we sing worship songs I’ve never heard before! 8. Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign!9. Pastor, we’d like to send you to this Bible seminar in the Caribbean! 10. SINCE WE’RE ALL HERE, LET’S START THE SERVICE EARLY!
WE’VE HAD SOME BLUNDERS IN OUR BULLETIN AND ON THE POWERPOINT BUT NONE LIKE THESE BULLETIN BLOOPERS
Don’t let worry kill you--let the church help.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick OF our church and community.
Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. there will be an ice cream social. All ladies GIVING milk will please come early.
This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and LAY an egg on the altar.
Thursday night--Potluck supper. Prayer and MEDICATION to follow.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.
"Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands". Next Sunday is the family hayride and bonfire at the Fowlers’. Bring your own hot dogs and GUNS.Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Bill’s sermons. The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their GIRDLES for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning. MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE BULLETIN BLOOPER:Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa will be speaking tonight at Calvary Memorial Church. Come tonight and hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.
A CHRISTIAN BEAR
A country preacher decided to skip services one Sunday and head to the hills to do some bear hunting. As he rounded the corner on a perilous twist in the trail, he and a bear collided, sending him and his rifle tumbling down the mountainside. Before he knew it, his rifle went one way and he went the other, landing on a rock and breaking both legs. That was the good news. The bad news was the ferocious bear charging at him from a distance, and he couldn’t move. "Oh, Lord," the preacher prayed, "I’m so sorry for skipping services today to come out here and hunt. Please forgive me and grant me just one wish . . . please make a Christian out of that bear that’s coming at me. Please, Lord!" That very instant, the bear skidded to a halt, fell to its knees, clasped its paws together and began to pray aloud right at the preacher’s feet. "Dear God, please bless this food that I am about to receive!"
MY ALL TIME FAVORITE…THE THREE ELDERLY SISTERS
Three elderly sisters were discussing the travails of getting older. One said, “SISTERS, sometimes I catch myself with a jar of mayonnaise in my hand in front of the refrigerator and can’t remember whether I need to put it away, or start making a sandwich.”
The second sister chimed in, “Yes, SISTERS, sometimes I find myself on the landing of the stairs and can’t remember whether I was on my way up or on my way down.”
The third one responded, “Well, I’m glad I don’t have that problem; knock on wood.” “IS THAT THE FRONT DOOR OR THE BACK DOOR?”
IT’S GOOD TO LAUGH, ISN’T IT!?!
Proverbs 17:22….MY LIFE VERSE!
“A CHEERFUL HEART is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones!”
LAUGHTER
Sometimes we respond to life in a very peculiar way.
When we LAUGH, our body performs "rhythmic, vocalized, expiratory, and involuntary actions." Fifteen facial muscles contract and there is electrical stimulation of the zygomatic major muscle in particular. Currents of varying intensity, produce a wide range of facial responses. The respiratory system is upset by the epiglottis half-closing, so that air intake occurs in irregular gasps, rather than calm breaths. Under extreme circumstances, the tear ducts are activated, so that while the mouth is opening and closing and there is a struggle for a sufficient amount of oxygen intake, the face becomes moist and often red. Noises often accompany this odd behavior "ranging from controlled snickers, escaped chortles, and spontaneous giggles, to ridiculous cackles, noisy hoots, and up-roarious guffaws."
A HEALTHY DOSE OF LAUGHTER
A child laughs 400 times a day on the average, while an adult laughs only 15 times each day. Which is puzzling since laughter feels so good and is so good for us!
You may know the benefits of laughter on the mind and spirit, but are you aware of how much a good laugh can help you physically?
NORMAN COUSINS used to say that laughter is so beneficial for your body that it is like "inner jogging." He healed himself of a major chronic disease with LAUGHTER THERAPY.
Mayo Clinic reported that laughter aids breathing by disrupting your normal respiration pattern and increasing your breathing rate. It can even help clear mucus from your lungs.
Hearty laughter is also cardio-protective! It’s good for your heart. It increases circulation and improves the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues throughout your body.
Laughter stimulates your immune system to fight off disease by increasing the concentration of immunoglobulin A in your saliva and by increasing the activity and number of T cells and Natural Killer Cells, and IgM and IgA, and Gamma Interferon in your blood. Laughter decreases epinephrine and cortisol (the stress hormones) levels. It’s also good for allergies. And it helps control pain by raising the levels of our brain’s natural endorphins, which are 50-100 more potent than morphine itself.
Furthermore, it is a natural STRESS RELIEVER. Have you ever laughed so hard that you doubled over, fell off your chair, spit out your food or wet your pants? You cannot maintain muscle tension when you are laughing!
IT’S ALSO BEEN PROVEN…PEOPLE WHO LAUGH LIVE LONGER! There’s a definite link b/t a CHEERFUL OUTLOOK and LONGEVITY due to release of cytokines! Melancholy people, however = higher levels of cortisone = stress hormone = damage people’s ability to fight disease.
LAUGHTER IS JUST GOOD MEDICINE!
THERESA OF AVILA, A SPANISH NUN WHO FOUNDED THE ORDER OF THE CARMELITES IN 1562
“SHE WHO LAUGHS, LASTS!” She used to look for novices who knew how to LAUGH, EAT AND SLEEP. She believed that if they ate heartily they were healthy, if they slept well they were more likely free of serious sin, and if they LAUGHED, they had the necessary disposition to survive a difficult life.
JEWISH PROVERB
“What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul.”
MARK TWAIN
“LAUGHTER is the greatest weapon that we humans possess and it’s the one we use the least!”
ABRAHAM LINCOLN said, “If I do not LAUGH, I should die!”
UNKOWN AUTHOR
“Love may make the world go ‘round, but laughter keeps us from getting dizzy.”
Good, all-around, sideshaking, sidesplitting laughter is healthy for everybody!
Don’t you love that? Almighty God has said all along that a JOYFUL heart is good medicine! He’s given us a PRESCRIPTION for JOY! All need to do is fill the prescription! Because I’m a Pharmacist, too, I am going to help you do just that today!
JESUS’ OPEN SECRET
Today…share with you about a man who LAUGHED AND PLAYED AND HAD FUN….and that’s my JOYFUL JESUS!
2000 years ago, Jesus appeared on this planet and brought astonishing change in the quality of human life. He was unique! It set Him apart! He was fascinating! Remarkable actions were attributed to Him! He had universal appeal! He was very special!
The world has never forgotten Him and His name is spoken every second of time! In fact, time is dated from His birth! Millions of us follow Him today!
But He had a SECRET…an OPEN SECRET, spread throughout the entire N.T.! It’s a SECRET that explains the grip that Jesus Christ has had on His followers for over 2000 years!
SECRET OF JESUS was – and is – HIS INNER JOY! The NEW TESTAMENT is loaded with passages showing us that while in our midst, Jesus had a CHEERFUL disposition and a MERRY HEART that came from His father!
Luke 10: Jesus sent out the 72, two-by-two, and when they returned, they “returned with JOY…(v.17)” and “At that time Jesus, full of JOY through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…”
Bruce Marchiano, In the Footsteps of Jesus:
Yes, Jesus smiled; yes, Jesus laughed. Jesus smiled wider and laughed heartier than any human being who has ever walked the planet. He was young. He radiated good cheer. Jesus was a man of such merriment, such gladness of heart, such freedom and openness, that He proved irresistible. He became known throughout Galilee for His genuine strength, the sparkle in His eyes, the spring in His gait, the heartiness in His laugh, the geniuneness of His touch; His passion, playfulness, excitement, and vitality: His JOY! He made a dazzling display of love. He set hearts afire. He was an elated triumphant young man with an incredible quality of life….…so different from the solemn religious types He constantly encountered.
We, too, express the JOY OF THE LORD in smiles and laughter and shouts and good cheer, and experience His JOY through WORSHIP, PRAISE, PRAYER AND SONG, in WITNESSING, in HELPING OTHERS, in FELLOWSHIP and DISCIPLESHIP…ALL THE PURPOSES OF THE LOCAL CHURCH.
SOURCE OF JESUS’ JOY
HUMAN PERSPECTIVE
Mother Mary = Hebrew = joyous, singing, festive people! See O.T.!
HEBREWS = PARTY! PARTY! PARTY! Israelite people enjoyed their festivals! A very MERRY people!
SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
He had a more profound source = HEAVEN! Where else, but heaven!
SOURCE goes back to eternity…to creation!
Revelation 4:11 GOD created all things for His PLEASURE! His JOY!
Deep within the heart of God is a JOY expressing itself in His mighty acts of creation! And He created us in His image and likeness! He did it all for His own PLEASURE, because He desired to do it! Not for power, not for glory, but for JOY!
GOD CREATED THE SMILE AND HE CREATED LAUGHTER!
Scripture is very clear that God is infinite, eternal, immutable, illimitable, immortal, all-wise, all-knowing, all-goodness, spiritual, holy, sovereign, righteous, gracious, merciful, loving, true and HE IS JOY!
And when Jesus came to dwell on earth, He drew upon that JOY in becoming our Redeemer! Our Savior! Our friend!
JESUS, MAN OF JOY!
Jesus wept AND JESUS LAUGHED!!!! He was God! He was Man!
And LAUGHTER is characteristic of the kingdom of God!
Romans 14:17 “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and JOY in the Holy Spirit,”
Genuine HUMAN JOY naturally expresses itself in MERRIMENT! Playful expressions of people making light of the bumpy circumstances of life and having fun with each other!
FUN REFLECTIONS ON LIFE!
1. I’m not into working out. My philosophy is no pain, no pain.
2. I’m in shape. Round is a shape.
3. I’ve always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.
4. Ever notice when you blow in a dog’s face he gets mad at you, but when
you take him in a car he sticks his head out the window?
5. You have to stay in shape. My mother started walking five miles a day
when she was 60. She’s 97 now and we have no idea where she is.
6. One out of every three Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of two of your best friends. If they are OK, then it must be you.
Jesus Himself, a Man of JOY, had a MERRY outlook on life. He was witty and He had a keen sense of the absurd. He had the ability to see the comical side of many a human situation or predicament. His good-natured approach to life was ROOTED IN A GREAT INNER JOY!
When they called Him a “wino,” He laughed it off (Matthew 11:19).
When they reproached His disciples because they did not fast, He said they couldn’t because they were part of a wedding party (Matthew 9:15).
When they accused the disciples of violating the Sabbath by plucking ears of grain, He took delight in pointing out that David once violated the same law by eating the sacred bread which was reserved for priests, and then passing it out to his troops (Matthew 12:3-4).
What was the attraction? Why did the Galilean fishermen leave their nets and follow Him? Why did Levi abandon his booth and cash box to join His team?
Jesus was a man of such JOY, such MERRIMENT, such GLADNESS of Spirit, such FREEDOM and OPENNESS that He was irresistible! People wanted to be near Him, to catch His bright spirit, to learn His SECRET, to share His JOY and join in what He was doing.
Dr. Michael MacIntosh, The Tender Touch of God:
The JOY OF THE LORD was at the tomb of the resurrected Lazarus, overshadowing the sadness and disappointment of the dead man’s sisters.
JOY was there when the leper returned to thank Jesus.
JOY was there when a woman caught in the very act of adultery was forgiven and released from her sin. (I PREACHED ON A FEW WEEKS AGO!)
JOY was there when the deaf heard, the blind saw, and the lame walked. JOY was there on the mountainside as the multitudes listened to the profound teachings of Jesus.
JOY was there when the little children flocked to Jesus!
JOY was there when the boy gave Jesus his lunch so that HE could work a miracle and feed the thousands.
JOY was there when Jesus forgave Zacchaeus for abusing his authority. JOY was there when Jesus stood up in the boat and stopped the storm. JOY was there when dawn broke and the women knew that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
EVERYWHERE JESUS WENT, THERE WAS JOY!
Why do MOST RENDERINGS show Him serious and mournful and weeping and grim and resolute. A MERRY Jesus seems to be offensive or sacrilegious!
Billy Graham, The Secret of Happiness:
“We never hear of Jesus laughing, though I am sure He did.
I AM CONVINCED JESUS LAUGHED, because there is so much JOY “in Christ!”
Jesus even told disciples that after He left them “your grief will turn to a JOY that no one will take away.”
Peter declared that the Christians to whom he was writing “are filled with an inexpressible and glorious JOY.”
DON’T YOU THINK HE HAD A TWINKLE IN HIS EYE WHEN:
He told his disciples, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, Your heavenly Father knows what your needs are.”
He answered Peter about John’s future, “What is that to thee? Follow thou Me!”
“Be of good cheer!” He told his disciples. “There are tribulations in this life, but I have overcome the world (John 16:33) .”
Look how He conducted Himself with children. Actually rebuked disciples for being killjoys and interfering when the children climbed on His back (as they probably did) and tugged at His beard and kissed Him! What a MERRY time! Don’t you think they sat on His lap? Don’t you think he smiled and laughed with them? They were children!
JESUS HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR
The JOY of Jesus was evident too by His great sense of humor!!!!
Gospels abound with evidence! ( Matthew 23:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 11:39, Matthew 1`2:26-28, Luke 6:39, Matthew 8:22, Luke 6:44, 8:16, Matthew 7:3-5)
He described the teachers of the Jewish law as straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.
He said it was “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
He described the care with which the religious leaders washed the outside of their cups before drinking from them, but left the inside soiled.
He pointed out how ludicrous it was to claim that He was casting out demons by the power of the head demon himself.
He talked about blind men attempting to lead to blind men, about dead people burying dead people, about picking figs off a thistle, about hiding a lamp under a bed.
He laughed at people who were quick to point out the speck of dirt in someone else’s eye while they had a two-by-four plank in their own!
WATCH! VIDEO CLIP: THE VISUAL BIBLE VOL. ONE
MATTHEW 7:1-5
JESUS WAS FUNNY! HE WAS A MAN OF JOY!
D. Elton Trueblood, “If Christ laughed a great deal, as the evidence shows, and if He is who He claimed to be, we cannot avoid the logical solution that there is laughter in the heart of God.”
Look at the way He summoned His disciples in Matthew 4:19. He visited some fishermen along the shore of the Sea of Galilee and said to them, “Follow me.” Not their first encounter with Him. Wasted no time, dropped their nets and took off after Him! What attracted them? Commanding appearance? Impressiveness of His voice of authority? Tempting prospects He set out for them? Poor conditions in the fishing industry? Something else?
What did make Levi the tax collector leave his booth and cash box and follow Jesus? Did he think Jesus was a rich man? A seer with second sight? An angel from God?
Only one answer! Jesus was a man of such GLADNESS OF SPIRIT, such FREEDOM and OPENNESS and MAGNETISM in His attitude, that He was irresistible! They wanted to be near Him! To catch His spirit! To do what He was doing for other people! To learn His SECRET!
Mark 12:37: Great crowds of “common people” heard Him “GLADLY,” and many accepted the GOOD NEWS of the kingdom that He preached without realizing who He really was!
Billy Sunday: “To see some people TODAY you would think that the essential of Christianity is to have a face so long you could eat oatmeal out of the end of a gas pipe!”
SOME CHRISTIANS NEED PROPS: MAYBE YOU NEED A SMILE ON A STICK OR RED NOSE!
WHAT IS JOY?
JOY is the enjoyment of God and the good things that come from His hand!
If our freedom in Christ is angel food cake, JOY is the frosting!
If Bible gives us the wonderful words of life, JOY is the music!
If the way to heaven turns out to be a steep climb, JOY is the chairlift!
JOY is an attribute of God Himself! With it comes PLEASURE, GLADNESS AND DELIGHT! JOY is MERRIMENT, HILARITY, and MIRTH! JOY radiates ANIMATION, SPARKLE AND BUOYANCY! It is MORE THAN FUN, yet it HAS FUN! It expresses itself in LAUGHTER and ELATION, yet it draws from a deep spring that keeps flowing long after the LAUGHTER has died and the tears have come. In a world gone gray with grief and worry, JOY remains CHEERFUL!
JOY is NOT just a sentimental word! It has a bite to it! It’s a fresh breeze! Makes life more carefree! It’s more than happiness! JOY moves us to a different dimension! It’s the JOY OF SALVATION, the exultation of God’s Spirit in us, “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over (Luke 6:38)!”
Our fulfillment will never be complete without JOY! JOY becomes the ecstasy of eternity when we’ve made peace with God and are ready to do His will!
JOY IN GOD’S WORD
The other SOURCE of the JOY OF JESUS: God’s written Word!
13 Hebrew ROOT words and 27 SEPARATE words for JOY in O.T. alone!
Nehemiah 8:10: “The JOY of the Lord is your strength!”
PSALMS (Jesus loved and quoted often) are spilling over with GLADNESS at the GOODNESS of God! We see various forms of words JOY, JOYOUS, ENJOY, DELIGHT, GLADNESS, EXUBERANCE AND JUBILATION.
105 times in the Psalms alone = hymns of praise and thanksgiving!
“Shout for joy!” “Praise Him with the clash of cymbals” “Praise Him with tambourine and dancing” “Make music to Him” “Praise Him, sun and moon” “Extol the Lord” “My heart leaps for JOY” “In Your name I will lift up my hands” “The hills are clothed with gladness” “The valleys…shout for JOY and sing.”
Proverb 15:13: “A MERRY heart makes a cheerful countenance.”
Proverbs 17:22: “A CHEERFUL HEART is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones!”
Eccl. 2:26: “God gives wisdom and knowledge and JOY to a man who is good in His sight.”
Isaiah: Sparkles with JOY! “Shout for JOY, O heavens; REJOICE, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!” “I will make you…the JOY of all generations!”
Zephaniah: “The Lord…will REJOICE over us with singing!”
N.T. = full with the JOY OF THE LORD TOO! You will find people laughing, skipping, leaping, shouting, singing, dancing, playing instruments and celebrating.
Luke: Jesus came into Galilee after His baptism filled with the Spirit and preaching the kingdom of God…a message of good news and JOY!
John 15:11: “These things have I spoken to you that MY JOY may remain in you, and that YOUR JOY may be full!”
There was JOY at Jesus’ resurrection and JOY at His ascension.
Acts: During the days after Pentecost, the “disciples were filled with JOY and with the Holy Spirit (13:52).” Having such a good time that people thought they were drunk!
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE SO JOYFUL, SO FULL OF THE JOY OF THE LORD, THAT PEOPLE THOUGHT YOU WERE DRUNK?
Everything the apostle Paul did was done with JOY!
List goes on and on!
Genesis to Revelation: 542+ references to JOY! 105 in Psalms alone!
Chapter after chapter! Psalm after Psalm! Proverb after Proverb!
Over and over in scripture, the message of salvation in Christ, THE GOSPEL, is a message of love, bathed in JOY!
Gk. gospel: “good news, glad tidings”
Bible (ISAIAH): even the rivers and trees of the forest clap their hands in praise to God!
Many churches today = hand-clapping is seldom practiced. IN FACT, SOME OF YOU WOULD RATHER THE RIVERS AND TREES DO THE CLAPPING!
Isaiah says put on the GARMENT OF PRAISE, instead some of us have turned the garment inside out! Some of us can’t even find ours, and some of us don’t put it on when we do find it!
JOYFULNESS, LIGHTHEARTEDNESS AND JUBILATION seem out of order in many churches today!
Billy Graham (Decision, IN OCTOBER 1968!): “One of the desperate needs among Christian young people is exuberance and vitality in their loyalty to Christ. People go to a football game today (I WAS JUST AT MY SON’S FRIDAY NIGHT, RIGHT OUT THERE!) and shout their heads off, or go to a circus and cheer act after act. They become enthusiastic about everything conceivable, but when it comes to spiritual matters they think we are supposed to become sober and quiet, and wear black, and never have a good time or enjoy a religious event.”
Obviously, it is inappropriate to approach the throne of God with a frivolous or flippant attitude! A sense of awe before the Shekinah Glory of God is an expression of true worship! Not talking about that!
The problem is the SUPERSANCTIMONIOUS SMOG we spread over our lives!
WHEN WE SHOULD BE THE MOST JOYFUL PEOPLE ON THE PLANET! ! AMEN?
Many church services today are, frankly, boring! What happened to the radiant, overflowing, inner JOY that Jesus brought to earth and shared with His followers?
It’s NOT just jolliness and being funny either, although FUN AND LAUGHTER cannot be ruled out of the kingdom. Jesus brought a CLEAR, BUBBLING, UNPOLLUTED DELIGHT IN GOD AND HIS CREATION, HIS REDEMPTION, HIS NEW CREATION, AND HIS PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE!
Are we reflecting the tone of the church Jesus founded?
Are we conveying the JOYFUL spirit of the early Christians?
Where have we lost out?
How did we drift so far from THE JOY OF THE LORD?
How did we get cut off from the HOPE of the very thing that brought us to the Lord in the first place?
WHERE’S THE JOY???????
GOD’S WORD is alive with JOY and bright with CHEERFULNESS, filled with love and excitement, yet for many of us it remains a black-covered Book that tells people how bad we are! Sits on shelf between Sundays!
Even for some of us who DO open our Bibles, we fail to find THE JOY OF THE LORD? Why? Not full of the H.S. of God! And we’re not full because loaded up with negative attitudes (hostility, resentment, fear, antagonism, bitterness, envy, revenge, arrogance, self-love, etc. etc.) that monopolize all of our time and energy!
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with love.
Love is the FIRST fruit of the Spirit, and the second is JOY!
To feel His love and know His JOY, WE NEED TO WALK OUT OF THE JUNKYARD OF OUR MISERY AND SHUT THE GATE!!!
Oh the JOY that comes when we realize that we don’t have to be “religious” with God, we don’t have to be sanctimonious, we don’t have to be anything or do anything except repent and believe the GOOD NEWS!
All the BLESSING OF THE FATHER, THE LOVE OF JESUS AND THE JOY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT are ours for the taking!
But, many of us are a million miles from what Jesus meant by “MY JOY.”
Unless we fully understand THE JOY OF JESUS, we will never understand THE JOY OF HIS SALVATION!
We may accept the Bible as truth and even commit ourselves to belief in God, without realizing that He wants us not just to believe in and worship Him, but to ENJOY Him intimately! To DELIGHT in Him!
Joseph Marmion, “Joy is the echo of God’s life within us!”
Why is it so difficult to accept what Jesus offers, even when we find that nothing else works for us. It’s why we come to Him in tears – despairing, wrestling with ourselves, and losing!
When we confess our sin and ask Jesus to help us turn from it, He touches us and says, “Be of GOOD CHEER!” He says, “Your sins are forgiven and your faith has made you whole; welcome to the kingdom of God.”
In one word, Jesus says, “JOY!”
He says, “These things have I spoken to you that MY JOY may remain in you, and that YOUR JOY may be full!”
What is it that we really want in life? What will bring us JOY? Jobs? Better Jobs? Houses? Cars? Boats? Spouses? Children? Fixed incomes? Health? Security? Entitlements? Fame? Notoriety? Adventure? Achievements? Wardrobes? Jewelry? Travel? All = remain outside the heart of what we REALLY want!
What we all want is LOVE and the JOY it brings with it!!!
It is more than simply human JOY we are seeking; we seek the JOY OF KNOWING JESUS!
C. S. Lewis, “It is not so much THE JOY OF THE LORD we are seeking as THE LORD OF JOY Himself.”
For me, I want JESUS, THE MAN OF JOY! I WANT TO BE A MAN OF JOY! I want to see the bunting of Heaven, to experience the full ecstasy of the deliverance from my sins at the cross of Jesus Christ, to feel the elation of victory over the devil and all his motley crew! I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to sing and dance for JOY, to join up with the saints in the halls of heaven as they pass by the throne, and to sing a song of triumph with them. I want to express my love for our wonderful Lord right here on earth! That’s what I want!
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you know how much God loves you?
Are you aware of the strength there is in the radiant JOY OF THE LORD?
It is like nothing else on the face of the earth!
Don’t desire happiness, its staying power is weak!
Don’t even desire JOY itself, but instead DESIRE HIM WHO IS JOY!
Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself also in the Lord,” Why? “and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
“Delight” means “Take JOY!” “ENJOY!”
Fall in love with Him! Worship Him! Talk with Him! Listen to Him! ENJOY Him! Desire Him, long for Him, yearn for Him and when you have found Him, DELIGHT in Him and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Here’s the catch! Once you begin, “delighting yourself in the Lord,” something’s going to happen to a lot of those goals you had, that you THOUGHT were the “desires of your heart!” God will purify and reshape our desires!
What end are we really looking for? The real end is JOY!
JESUS CAME TO BRING US JOY! And it was for FUTURE JOY that He went to the cross.
Hebrews 12:1-3 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”
I wonder sometimes whether the whole church, instead of being the bride of Christ, has actually become like the “party pooper” older brother in the Prodigal Son Parable!
I’ve heard Christians say that Christianity is about suffering, not JOY! Because Jesus suffered and died on the cross. But what made Him suffer? Our sin! We put the crown of thorns on Him and whipped Him! We punished Him on the cross for something He didn’t do!
But …He is no longer on that cross! The tomb is EMPTY! AMEN?
His very first word He spoke on Easter morning to Mary (Matthew 28:9) as He came out of the tomb – “Take JOY!” or “Greetings!” He was on His way to JOY! When he ascended into the clouds, His disciples didn’t weep, they were filled with JOY!
SHOUT FOR JOY TO THE LORD
CAN’T TALK ABOUT JOY WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT THE SHOUT!
Bible: God Almighty expressed Himself with shouts, and so did His Son Jesus!
Shout of JOY = song sung loudly, an acclamation or a proclamation, or simply an ecstatic crying out!
WE EXPERIENCED THAT IN SONG, EARLIER IN THE WORSHIP SERVICE!
There comes a time when, due to the GOODNESS OF ALMIGHTY GOD, we simply have to burst forth!
The JOY OF THE LORD sometimes gets so exhilarating that it simply cannot contain itself!
Psalm 47: Describes a magnificent Israelite victory celebrated with great jubilation. People clapping their hands! Exalting the Lord Most High! Verse 5 “God has ascended amid shouts of JOY” Amazing! Imagine God shouting for JOY! When we SHOUT FOR JOY, we are acting like our God!
Joshua 6 SHOUTS OF JOY that brought down the walls of Jericho!
The GREATNESS OF GOD shows forth in His SHOUTS OF JOY!
JOY is not an isolated or occasional consequence of our faith. It is an integral part of our whole relationship to God!
The JOY OF THE LORD rises above circumstances and focuses on God!
THE JOY OF THE LORD isn’t momentary! It is constant! It stays and weathers the shocks of life because God also stays!
HOW JOY EXPRESSED?
Bible says… Laughing! Dancing! Singing! Clapping! Leaping! Foot-stamping! Feasting! Celebrating! And SHOUTING!!!
Deuteronomy 16:15 commanded: “You shall be altogether JOYFUL!”
Luke Christmas story: Angels appeared to shepherds and SHOUTED FOR JOY! “Glory to God in the highest, and peace among men of His good pleasure!”
Luke on Palm Sunday: Jesus’ disciples SHOUTED JOYOUSLY, “Blessed is the King!” as He descended from Mt of Olives.
Mark 5 Days Later: Jesus Himself SHOUTED twice, once in agony (“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”) and once in victory (“It is finished!”).
I Thess. 4:16 When Christ returns, He will “descend from heaven with a SHOUT, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God!”
Psalmist: “SHOUT for JOY to the Lord, all the earth!” “Shout aloud. Sing for JOY. Wake up, SHOUT IT ALOUD, don’t hold back. SHOUT FOR JOY, O heavens. SHOUT ALOUD, O earth beneath!”
OVERJOYED
And sometimes God chooses to send an EXTRA PORTION OF JOY into our lives!
Ever been OVER-JOYED? Wedding day? Baby’s birth? Born-agains?
I remember being OVER-JOYED at seven years old when at a CHILD EVANGELISM GOOD NEWS CLUB lead by my Cub Scout Den Mother in a park, I asked Jesus into my heart!
I remember being OVER-JOYED when the next day my older brother Richard and my younger brother Ronnie both accepted Christ too!
I remember being OVER-JOYED when my mom would walk my two brothers and I to church every Sunday!
I remember being OVER-JOYED when, after begging him and begging him, week after week, and praying that his boss would give him Sundays off, my Dad was finally able to go to church with us!
I remember being OVER-JOYED a few months later as I watched my Mom and Dad go forward in church one Sunday morning and give their lives to Christ!
I remember being OVER-JOYED when my whole family got baptized together the same Sunday morning!
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 12 when my Pastor’s Wife trained me to be a Vacation Bible School teacher of young children!
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 17 when my parents adopted my little sister Becky (now 23) and brought her home for the first time! She changed my life forever. I put my medical school plans on hold and stayed in Stockton..went to Jr. college..got job at Payless…to Pharmacy School…met Bob Lehman….spiritual gifts….ministry!
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 20 when the Lord used me for the first time to lead someone to the Lord and put a calling on my life for His ministry.
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 24 when Bethany was born to my first wife and I.
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 27 when I met and fell in love with and married Dena!
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 29 when I adopted Jennifer, Jaye and Jared on Valentine’s Day.
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 30 when Randy Jr. was born to Dena and I!
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 35 when my sister-in-law Roseanne came forward and accepted Christ at Saturday Night Church at First Baptist in Stockton, while Dena and I were leading worship.
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 36 when the Lord called me to give UP my six figure Pharmacy Administration Career and go to South Shores Church and we moved to beautiful Dana Point, CA on the ocean and I started my first full-time pastorate as their Executive Pastor!
I remember being OVER-JOYED at 39 when God called us to Gilbert Arizona to help plant Rock Point Church with Bill & Carrie and Todd & Sonja and Bill & Pat!
I remember being OVER-JOYED when we started the Sunday Night Bible Study over at the Power Ranch Clubhouse and Rachelle Spychala was the first person to ever walk through the door! Somebody actually came!
I remember being OVER-JOYED, sitting in Pastor Bill’s and Carrie’s living room one evening after dinner and watching Joe & Celina Utley give their lives to Christ!
I remember being OVER-JOYED the first Sunday that Arnie & Reachal McCue (I work with Reachal at Osco) came to Rock Point! I am so proud of you two and your growth in the Lord!
I remember being OVER-JOYED, sitting in their home, and watching Alfonso & Esmerelda Marquez, who had been married and divorced, pray and give their lives to Christ and then later to re-marry each other!
I remember being OVER-JOYED when I met Tim and TRISH Stefaniak, who had also had been married and divorced and God put their lives back together and I got to re-marry them a few weeks ago on the pier at Power Ranch Lake!
I COULD JUST GO ON AND ON, BUT IF I DID, I’D JUST EXPLODE!
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WERE OVER-JOYED by presence of the Lord in your life?
THE JOY OF THE LORD is not something we DO, it’s something we RECEIVE and to which we RESPOND. A gift of grace! Through H.S.!
JOY is something God wraps up in the gift of His grace! It’s everywhere! In the eye of a child, the smile of a sleeping baby, the twinkle in the eye of a grandparent, the touch of your spouse, the hug of a lost teenager who’s come home, the passing of one of God’s beloved into His presence.
BUT YOU CANNOT KNOW THE JOY OF JESUS UNTIL YOU KNOW THE JESUS OF JOY!!!
BAND BACK UP & PLAY DURING PSALM 100!
PUT ON YOUR GARMENT OF PRAISE AND LET’S SHOUT IT TOGETHER AND MAY HIS JOY BE UPON YOU! Bible says there is a time to laugh and a time to dance! I SAY THE TIME IS NOW! It’s time to start smiling and laughing and singing with fervor and SHOUTING and behaving so that the world learns what it really means to know the JOY OF JESUS!!!!!!!! HERE WE GO…….Psalm 100!!!
“SHOUT FOR JOY TO THE LORD, ROCK POINT CHURCH!
CLOSING UPBEAT PRAISE SONG!
