I want to dismiss our children, pre-K through fifth grade, if you guys will follow Mr. Chris and Mr. Jeremiah. Oh, no, he's just going there. Wow, Chris, you got your hands full today. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

I wanted to speak briefly about the baptism. One of the things that we've been doing for quite some time is celebrating. Peyton, will you shut that door when you go through there, please, sweetheart? Thank you. I didn't expect her to shut it any other way, did you? One of the blessings that we've been able to have is being able to provide

baptism down at the beach and be able to do that. And we usually get a handful of you guys who come out fairly faithfully to celebrate that and go through that celebration of baptism with a lot of the folks in our church. We have three individuals right now that are seeking baptism and waiting baptism. It's really, really cold at the beach right now, okay? And one of the things that we've been praying about, we just, we, the inception of our church, we didn't have a need for baptism because we happened to have a need for baptism.

We have a family who lived in the neighborhood right over here who had a swimming pool. It was heated and it had a big area and it kind of worked out really well. But one of the things that we are wanting to do, and we believe that this is the place where God is going to have us be until he moves us, so why not put something that's permanent in our facility here to celebrate baptism so that we could still have the option for the beach, but during the cold winter months and other times, we can celebrate baptism right here.

Mr. Lonnie Cawthorne has been a real blessing to our church and he's given us some ideas of some things that we can probably build out ourselves, but we're going to have to order some things so that they don't leak, like the fiberglass inserts and all that good stuff.

And so what we're wanting to do, just to let you know, is we're going to close off that door right there and we're going to use this as the ingress, egress children's door. We're going to frame that up and sheet rock it and we're going to put in the corner right there, we're going to build a nice size

heated baptism in there. Now what that's going to take, we have Vision 21, you've heard us talk about that, that's our three year ministry plan. Here's one of the things that we didn't plan on in the three year ministry plan.

We didn't plan on financially having to build, that's a great problem to have. So what I'm asking you to do is to pray about it. We have a little bit of money that's left over from this year's,

this year, at the end of the year's budget, a little bit that we can put towards this. But we're asking if the Lord move on your heart, where we've calculated we need about $4,000.

I think we have someone who might help with some of the lumber costs on it, that'll bring it down. We're trying to get that cost down a little bit more with some other,

better prices with some of the inserts. But for about $4,000, we can have that thing built and in place within the next probably, what do you think, Lonnie, month?

We can have that done and we can, pardon me? Six weeks. There you go, six weeks. And we'll have it inserted in there and we'll tie into the plumbing and that wall.

We'll do it all ourselves. And so just pray about that. And if that's you and you'd like to help, then just put that extra whatever you want to write and put it in the offering and just write baptism in there on the check or your PayPal or however you do it.

And just pray about that. Just want to put that. We never ask here at the church, if you're here visiting, we don't ask for things over and above.

We just ask you to be obedient. But this is something that we didn't plan on. It's a great problem to have, but we feel like we want to be able to celebrate right here with everyone on Sunday mornings the joy of walking in obedience with baptism.

Okay. So this morning, I think that's all the announcements I had to make was that Joe on that. Okay.

Um, this morning we have, um, I told you that I always, I don't, I don't dislike Christmas messages. I like them, but I hesitate because you've heard the stories, you know, about the magi, you know, about the star, you know, about the manger, you know, about the show.

So it's always, you know, how do you, you know, it's all been done. It's all been done. So last week I gave you some things on Mary, the five attributes of Mary, trying to, you know, waken, letting you see the godly aspects of Mary.

And maybe you've learned something new and all of that. But this morning we've got today's message is entitled the gift of joy, the gift of joy.

And we're going to get into this this morning a little bit, but as we, as we, as we start on this, the gift of joy, I think about when I was, uh, maybe you can think.

Unless you see the sun up, you don't come wake us up.

You know, that never worked because you'd always sneak in there

and you'd try to get the peak of the tree.

I bet that's mine.

I bet that's mine.

How many of you allow your parents, your parents allow you

or you allow your kids to open a present on Christmas Eve?

When did that ever start?

You know, I never got that.

It's like, no, it's Christmas.

You wait until Christmas, you know, this whole Christmas Eve thing.

But, you know, you can always remember those Christmases

where you're waiting for certain things

and you got to the tree or whatever

and it was more than you expected.

You ever had that?

It's like, wow, I never thought I was going to get this for Christmas.

What? Just the anticipation.

Back in the day when I was really little,

my parents were really into bowling, okay?

And when your dad's stationed in North Dakota in the wintertime,

there's nothing else to do but go to the bowling alley

and spend all day because there's 15 feet of snow out there

and it's minus 30 degrees outside.

But I remember I got my first bowling ball that was going to be my ball

and I was so excited, but the problem is there was no holes in it

because it was going to be specially fit for me, okay?

So I had to, so it was like, it was great,

but I was like really mad.

How am I supposed to, you know, I can't go out.

Well, the guys, if they're not open to a Christmas break,

you got to go get fit.

Oh, it's weeks before you ever get to use it, okay?

So I just remember just the anticipation of Christmas turning out

and getting more than you ever expected.

And whenever I think about Christmas season, I can't help it.

You were reading from Galatians earlier, weren't you?

Galatians 4.

That passage always washes over me.

That in the fullness of time, in the right time,

the Scripture says,

God sent forth His Son, His Son to redeem us in the fullness of time.

I love that passage of Scripture, you know, and to redeem us.

And the reality is that when you have Jesus,

you have more than you ever expected.

You have more than you ever expected.

And today I want to talk about the gift of joy.

We're going to look at a few passages.

Not just happiness.

Not just happiness, but joy.

And I know we play with these words a lot.

But happiness depends on happenings.

All right?

And joy is something different.

And I think that's basically true.

And we're going to talk about what this gift of joy looks like

coming from Jesus.

Joy to the world.

Joy to the world.

The Lord has come.

Let earth receive her King.

Heaven and earth and nature sing.

What precisely is joy?

And you know, before I get into this this morning,

I will say that for me, this Christmas

is more than I could ever have expected.

I've already been blessed by the Lord.

My daughter got married, you know,

and so we have a new son-in-law.

You know, and that's more than I could ever expect.

I'm just grateful for their happiness.

And just, you know, as a parent,

you're grateful for that.

And you're grateful for, as we said during the wedding,

that I can now hand over the financial responsibility

of that over to Caleb.

Have fun with that.

Bless you.

But in this whole realm of, also in the whole realm of,

I know most, some of you on social media,

and you're aware, but in the whole realm of foster care,

Jill and I entered this whole realm of foster care,

what, two years ago, two and a half years ago?

So, um, just with, we just know that there's a need.

And, uh, this has nothing to do with the sermon,

so you have to bear with me.

I believe it's, I believe it's in Matthew 18.

Maybe it's Matthew 19.

I don't know, Katie, you actually wrote me the,

in the scripture in your, in your card.

What is it, Matthew 18?

18.

18.5.

You know, we were praying about foster care,

Jill and I did, and in that, in that passage,

Jesus says, whoever of you welcome a child,

Thank you.

At the altar of resultado,

Thank you.

So we started fostering. And, uh, it's, uh, sometimes it can be heartbreaking situations, but we're called to love these children because, you know, James lays it right out there for us that, you know, pure and undefiled religion is this, to care for the orphans and the widows and keep oneself unstained from the world. So there's a mandate from the Lord right there to care for the orphans and the widows and keep oneself unstained from the world.

And so we began this process. And in this process, um, we began to love on, uh, baby girl. And, uh, so a Christmas gift that I could never expect came about because we have, we've had a long, we've had a long battle because we've had to fight, fight on her behalf of the court system.

And some of you are aware of some of these things. I'm not going to go into all of that right now, but we've had to fight for what's right for her.

And it is, it was probably, um, I share with the elder body and some of you, it's probably the hardest, uh, thing we have ever done emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually. We would do it all over again.

And as of last Tuesday, Tuesday, um, judge signed the paperwork and we now having, she is now our baby girl. We have adopted her. Amen.

Amen. I got this Christmas more than I could ever expect, more than I could ever anticipate.

And a joy, not a happiness, but a joy wells up inside of me in this.

And I want, I want to talk about this and, but let's, what precisely, we're going to get into Luke chapter two, turn, turn right there and wait on me for a second.

Because what precisely is joy? And as I'm preparing for this message, I discover that joy is a very difficult thing to define.

It really is. We can describe it, but it's hard to define. It's a lot like trying to define faith, you know?

Well, no, the scripture tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.

That's not so much a definition as it is a description. Okay?

It's a, it's a, it's difficult to define faith. It's difficult to, to define joy.

And I don't have a particular definition of joy, but I do have, I do, uh, uh, um, I do have a description of joy I want to give to you this morning.

I like to say that joy is anchored in something that is immovable.

Anchored in something that's immovable.

A powerful, pleasing emotion that is a reality.

It's an emotion that's lodged in a reality.

It's a, it's a security that cannot be affected.

It cannot be affected.

That's what joy is. It can't be messed with.

It can't be taken away from you.

You might think, well, wait a minute, you know what?

Sometimes I feel like I lose my joy.

Well, we'll get to that in a minute.

But it cannot be affected.

Happiness is tied to a large degree to our circumstances.

You have a goal.

You accomplish that goal.

You, you, you, you walked down the aisle.

You got that diploma.

You, you made that goal.

You, maybe your goal, you had to, you wanted to get married.

And you're trying to find that right person.

You started working on that.

You, you met that one, that one person.

And now you, you, you're married and all that.

That day is full of happiness.

It happened.

You accomplished it.

Okay?

And, and that's, that, that's a wonderful thing.

Happiness can be that wonderful thing.

But the problem with happiness is by its very nature, it's elusive.

Happiness is, it's not permanent.

We had that experience.

Now I have to have it again.

If that's what I'm chasing.

Okay?

And so by its very nature, it, it moves.

And, and it slides.

While circumstances can validate our joy.

Listen.

While circumstances can validate our joy.

Circumstances cannot define our joy.

They cannot define.

I remember a valuable lesson as a young boy.

The, the lesson was for my good friend.

It actually wasn't for me.

I just happened to be sitting in the room with him while all this was taking place.

what was actually said to him but something was something very racist was said to my friend Kevin at school and his heart was broken and I remember his dad came into the room to console Kevin and I remember what his dad said to Kevin and it's something that I took to heart but he said he said Kevin son let me tell you something I need you to remember this nobody nobody can determine your dignity and nobody can take it away from you because it's it's not

theirs to give to you and it's not theirs to give to you and it's not theirs to give to you and it's not theirs to take away from you either. He said so son it ain't what they call you it's what you answer to.

And I was like I didn't know what all that meant as a fifth grader I was like I was you know but I I I couldn't process it all but I I I lost it in my heart and I began to think on the on those things.

And but so it is with joy joy is a permanent thing it's not tied to our circumstances joy is tied to an eternal perspective.

It's tied to an eternal perspective. I know we have moments these joyful moments down here and we'll use the words happiness and joy interchangeably but joy is lodged into something that's immovable and we're going to see that today.

It's beyond ourselves. True joy is beyond ourselves. You know Christians all Christians have joy but not all Christians choose joy.

Not all Christians choose joy. The the joy has not moved. Okay. You moved away from the joy. You didn't lose your joy. You moved away. You moved away from it.

And that's just not some motivational double talk you know because joy is permanent. It's it's in our hearts and in our lives. Ultimately our pursuit of happiness is really a longing for joy.

When we say that you know I see people in all different stages of their life chasing one thing after the next thing. One relationship after another relationship. One job after another job. One experience after another experience.

And they're perpetually unhappy. They're unhappy. Because what they're really looking for is not the experience. They think they are. But they're not looking for. What they're really looking for is joy. That deep soul enriching joy.

Joy. That's really what they're chasing after. And so no human being can ever give you that. No human experience. No experience period can ever give you that.

No amount of money could ever give you that. And no amount of money can give you that.

Because this world can't give you that. This world can't give you that. Because this joy is not lodged in the transient. Joy is not lodged in the temporal.

That's the reason why materialism and consumerism is so stinking foolish. You know. How long can you love a house? Seriously.

Some of you are. I'm just in this house to build the next house. How long can you love a car? Really. How long can you love those clothes? Really.

Until the memory fades. And then you've got to go back and do it again. You've got to do it again. So the pursuit of happiness is really a pursuit of joy.

And I would even. I would ultimately say that the pursuit of joy is really the pursuit of God.

When people are hungry for happiness what they're really saying is that they are hungry for God.

God. Now we'll get to the scriptures this morning. All that just to lead you up to this this morning.

I want to give you three big frame ideas from the scripture that would summarize or kind of frame this whole idea about joy.

And we could do we could do a complete series on joy if we wanted to again on this.

We're not going to we're not going to do that this morning. I promise.

But I want to give you three three big context if you will on joy.

And the first thing I want you to understand is that our joy listen our joy is anchored in our salvation.

It is anchored in our salvation.

Since this.

shepherds out in the field keeping watch over the flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were filled with great fear and the angels said to them fear not for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. There are three phrases in this first section that I want to lift up here.

three phrases that represent the cause of joy. Three phrases that represent the cause of joy. Alright? These represent the cause of joy. Good news for all people and a Savior. Alright? First one is good news. Good news. Joy is found in being found. Joy is found in being found. What were you born for? What was I born for? Ultimately

you know what do I need? What do I need? What do I need? Okay? That's the question. So the expression there's good news. Good news. Throughout the book of Luke salvation is associated with rejoicing and joy. And I'm just going to give you three kind of big things three snapshots in one text in Luke chapter 15. And because Jesus tells these stories back to back to back. Alright? And the first story is that of the lost sheep in Luke chapter 15.

the lost sheep. And in Luke chapter 15. The lost sheep you have the hundred sheep and he loses one and he leaves the ninety-nine and he goes after the one. Right? We all understand that story. The next story is about the lost coin. He tells that story and the coin is lost and this individual turns the house upside down. The world stops until that coin is found. And then famously we have the prodigal son where the youngest son spends everything that he has and he leaves the father's house and

really he's in the pursuit of happiness. And really he's in the pursuit of happiness. He's trying to find something that makes himself happy. He spends his inheritance. He's out partying. And he thinks that all this is going to be his aha moment. Okay? And when he spends everything and he's down to nothing. He realizes that all this stuff was never sustainable to begin with. Okay?

And so he says what was I thinking? And he returns home. And when he returns home the father throws a banquet. He throws this big party.

And with all three of these stories what they have in common is there is great rejoicing. There is great joy in being found. There is great joy in being found. So have you

found what you've been looking for? Have you found what you've been looking for? Did that relationship really satisfy you? Did that money really satisfy you? The real joy

is found here in the good news. You are reunited. Emmanuel. God with us. God has come. You are now reunited with the one who created you. That's good news.

Jesus. That is good news. That is good news. And so that's the reason why believers, all of us who are believers, you should never get over your salvation.

Never get over that. Because our joy is anchored in that. Our joy is anchored in that. The second phrase is all people. For all people.

And what's interesting to me here is that the announcement of Jesus' birth is given by an angel to anonymous shepherds. And we could trip all over this this morning.

But you need to still ask the question, why did the angel announce us to shepherds? Okay? Why didn't he just go to the Pharisees?

Or why didn't he go to the people who were the religious leaders of those days? And, you know, it would have made sense.

These guys know the Old Testament promises. They know all the scriptures. All these things.

And it would make sense that if you're trying to get people aligned with what you're doing, you would go to the leaders of the day first. Okay?

And, you know, when you consider the shepherds, I know that we glamorize this a little bit.

You know, King David, he was a shepherd. And we read the story about the shepherds and the birth and all this stuff.

And we sort of glamorize this.

But the reality is these shepherds, they had to wait weeks and weeks and weeks before they could ever go to the temple and worship.

Because they were ceremonially unclean.

They were unclean.

But I think that the reason why...

It was for everybody. It was for everyone. It's the expression of God's grace. And it goes beyond anything we could have ever expected. Emmanuel, God with us, the King has come. We just sang that. We just sang that. It's for, Jesus was for, is for, and this joy is for all people. Third phrase of Savior. God didn't send a soldier. He didn't send

He didn't send a judge. He didn't send a judge. He didn't send a reformer. But He sent a Savior. He needed to send a Savior because that met our biggest need. It met our biggest need. And that's the reason why it's great joy. But also herein lies the problem.

In order to experience joy, here's the paradox. In order to experience joy, you have to humble yourself. Joy is a byproduct of surrender.

You have to come to a place where you cannot make yourself happy. The place where you understand that you cannot make yourself permanently joyful. The bedrock of our joy is not in human ingenuity. The bedrock of our joy is not in our abilities, not in our resume.

But the basis of our way. But the basis of our joy is at the foot of the cross. That's the basis of our joy. The basis of my joy is when I give up the struggle and I give up the fight and I acknowledge I need a Savior. I don't need an assistant. I need a Savior. You need a Savior. You needed a Savior. That's why it's good news. It's for all people. And guess what God sent? A Savior.

Your greatest need. My greatest need. I acknowledge my lostness. I acknowledge my spiritual bankrupt. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. I realize that even now, even though the foundations of my life can be shaking, God may be whispering in my ear and just saying,

I know your life is shaking, I know your life is shaking, Curtis, but stop it. Just stop, because I'm trying to get your attention. He goes, I don't need your help with this, Curtis.

I don't need your help. I need your obedience.

Sometimes our struggle with joy is not a struggle with joy. It's the declaration of pride.

Pride. The declaration of pride. And we won't, and we won't be joyful because we want joy on our own terms.

That's the issue. We want it on our terms. But our joy is anchored in the salvation.

But also joy springs forth from the shared life of Christ.

This is, this is big. Turn with me to 1 John. I love the way the 1 John writes this.

John is like, just kind of right in your face. And John just kind of jumps right out of the, out of the box.

Here's why I'm writing to you guys. And here's all my cred. Here's, here's the credibility that I have and everything.

And as to why I'm about to say what I'm about to say. 1 John chapter 1, he starts off.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have looked upon,

which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon,

and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

The first thing he wants you to know is, listen, I have had a personal encounter with Jesus.

I have seen him. I have touched him.

I have heard his words. So I'm telling you about a personal encounter that I've had.

Now I'm, I'm getting ahead of myself just a little bit.

But anyone, anyone who has had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ,

that eclipses any other encounter or any other experience that you have ever had in your life.

It eclipses everything. It eclipses all the pain.

It eclipses all the problems. It eclipses all the hassles.

And when you know him for yourself, when you know him for yourself,

that personal encounter means everything to you.

Everything.

That joy.

He begins the second verse in 1 John chapter 1. He says, the life that was made manifest. Let's stay right there. The life that was the life. The life. Not a life. Not a life. The life that was made manifest. And the inference here is that life the way it was meant to be lived. Life the way it was meant to be lived. Manifested means fully displayed. It was fully displayed. It was fully displayed. It was fully displayed.

fully displayed for us.

I saw the life.

The life that was made manifest.

We have seen it and we testify to it

and proclaim to you the eternal life

which was the Father

and was made manifest to us.

We'll get back to that in just a second.

But the eternal life.

I touched Him.

I saw this unforgettable expression

of life the way it was meant to be.

I saw Him.

I saw Him.

And then He makes this unbelievable statement.

He says that all of this was given to us

that we might have a shared experience.

Look at verse 3, all of it.

That which we have seen and heard

we proclaim to you

so that you too may have fellowship with us.

And indeed our fellowship is with the Father

and with the Son, Jesus Christ.

The word fellowship there,

if you've studied any of the Greek,

you know the word fellowship there

is the word what?

Koinonia.

Okay, koinonia.

You've heard that used a lot of times.

A lot of times we trivialize word

and we sort of use fellowship

as kind of a catch-all umbrella type word.

And we sort of use fellowship

that any time Christians get together

and they talk about anything

that isn't necessarily sinful,

then that's fellowship.

All right?

We just had fellowship

because we didn't talk about anything bad.

So that was fellowship.

You know?

But that's not true

how the Bible depicts it, okay?

The word fellowship in the Bible

is more specific in its inference.

The word means a partnership.

And whenever it's used,

it means to share

that which we have in common

with the view toward becoming

more Christ-like.

And so that's what true fellowship

is all about.

And true fellowship means

that we share what we have in common,

koinonia,

with the view toward

helping us become

more Christ-like.

So John says,

that which I have seen,

that which I have heard,

that which I have touched,

was fully expressed in front of me

and I'm declaring to you,

okay?

And he goes on to say,

so that you too may have fellowship with us

and indeed our fellowship

is with the Father

and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And I don't want to get too granular here,

but that which we have in common

is first of all vertical.

Okay?

What we all have in common,

brothers and sisters,

it's first of all vertical.

Then it's horizontal.

But the horizontal has to do

with the vertical shared life.

That's where it has to start.

Our fellowship,

first of all,

is this way.

We all have had that common experience.

We all have been to the cross.

We all have experienced Jesus Christ.

We've experienced the transforming power.

And that is the focal point of our Christianity.

And we have discovered

that that's the real meaning of life.

So when we gather together

as the body of Christ,

we literally experience

the shared life of Christ.

That's what this gets to.

And this passage is like one big funnel,

okay?

And it's not deductive.

It's inductive.

And he's driving to the main point

here in verse 4

that we are writing these things

so that our joy may be complete.

There's the joy

that it's in the shared life of Jesus.

In the shared life of Jesus.

Don't miss this.

That's the reason why

when you're suffering

and you're going through things,

you should never separate yourself

from other believers.

It's the shared life of Jesus.

That's the reason why

when you're going through a hard time,

you don't withdraw.

You don't know why

You...

Thank you.

joy. It brings joy. And by the way, in the New Testament, there is no spiritual maturity apart from community. No real spiritual maturity apart from community. It's the shared life of Jesus. And I would say that our joy may be complete when He says that. That implies a lot of things, but at least these three things. First of all, that our joy comes from

the shared life of Christ. But also, our joy is tied to the spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters. You hear me on that? Our joy is tied to the spiritual well-being of our other brothers and sisters. Experiencing that joy. And you might think I'm contradicting myself because I said that this joy is permanent. Yes, it's permanent, okay? Joy is permanent. But the experience of joy can be elusive.

The experience of it. The experience of it. And we experience that joy within the community of one another. The community of one another. And our joy is tied to the spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters. And notice this. He says, when He says hour, I take the hour, as He says in there, as not being an editorial hour. I think what John is saying is that, look, my joy is made complete.

When you are doing well. When you are doing well. When you are doing well. My joy is made. It adds to the richness and the wonderful experience. I saw Him. I heard Him. I touched Him. Okay?

But I know. But when I know. But when I know you are doing well. I mean, because later on, He's going to write another letter. He says,

I have no greater joy than to see that my children are walking in truth. No greater joy. Okay?

And so, I think all of this is tied together. And I say this as a little bit of, as being a pastor. But when I hear some of your stories, and how you're doing, and that you're doing well.

And I know what you've, some of you have gone through. And you say to me, you know what? We're doing well. God has met me. God is meeting me. You know?

There is something inside of me that happens to me when you are doing well. It is a joy that wells. It has nothing to do with me.

But there's a joy that wells up inside of me. That makes my joy complete.

That's why we care for each other. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.

There is power in the unity of the brothers and sisters when we draw together like this.

Some of us don't let each other in well enough to know when you're doing well.

Or when you need to be prayed for.

That would be a great time for me to call up Brandon and talk to you about home groups now.

Alright?

And the value of that. Getting to be known.

And to know.

But also, I think in this, there is the answer, there is the answer to the emptiness

and the hollowness of life in this passage as well too.

Because I see people, and even in this church at times,

they're just running from one experience to the next experience,

chasing the next thing after the next thing.

You know, and I just want to say to you sometimes,

just stop.

In the name of Jesus, what are you running from?

What are you running to?

Aren't you tired yet?

Stop.

Sometimes, the more stuff we cram into our lives,

the emptier we are.

So our joy springs up in the shared life of Christ.

But finally, our joy is in the strength of our hope.

Don't miss that.

Just turn a couple pages to your left at 1 Peter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye.

And Peter's going to meet with them. And Peter's even going to tell them. He's like, hey, guys, listen. You were born again into a living hope. He's going to say things like that to these exiles. But he says, chapter 1, verse 8. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled.

With glory. With glory. He's saying that hope and joy are tied together. Hope and happiness are not tied together. Matter of fact, there are contradictions in terms. But biblical hope is confidence. Biblical hope is confidence. Happiness has to do with circumstances and things that are always changing. Peter is saying that behind your confidence,

behind that confidence that you have. Behind that confidence, okay. It's kind of like me going to the bank and asking the bank for a loan. And the bank says, well, we want to get behind you. But do you have anybody who will stand for you? Any collateral who will back you up? Well, I got my friend Warren Buffett. I got a really good friend Warren Buffett. You're good. You're good, right? And you can come on in. Done deal. But behind your hope,

behind your hope is a rock solid reality. Behind your hope is a rock solid reality. That's what Peter is saying right here. The rock solid reality is the strength of your hope. And your joy, your joy makes your hope resilient. Your joy makes your hope resilient. Peter is saying this is not some hocus pocus stuff. You didn't talk yourself into this. You didn't talk yourself into this.

I mean, how do you explain that? I mean, how do you explain that you love him yet you've never seen him? How do you explain the fact that you believe all this stuff is true but you've never seen him? Because you know that because you have really experienced him. You've experienced Jesus Christ. That's how you know. It's self-authenticating. It's self-authenticating.

And I understand all the apologetics. And I've had those debates before about the hope that is in you and all that stuff.

But at the end of the line, at the end of the game, you can argue with order. You can argue with design and the intelligent design.

You can go all this through this stuff that is wonderful. But I'm telling you, you cannot argue with a changed life.

You cannot argue with a changed life. That changed life brings about the fruit to the realization you have come in the presence of the living God and your life has changed.

I see that. I see that. But I've never met Jesus. I've never seen him.

But there's a reality that is brought about in my life because I have come in contact with the living God.

He has met me. He has met you. Don't ever lose sight of that. That's the resilience that we have in our life.

It's proof positive that our experience, of our experience and the transforming power of the Savior that's in our life.

That's what Peter is talking about here.

You know, even though you haven't seen him, you love him.

You love him. Even though you haven't seen him, there's this assurance of faith that you have.

And that's the reason why we rejoice.

And it's a joy that's inexpressible and filled with glory, it says.

Inexpressible. I can't even tell you about it. I can't explain it.

I can't explain it. It's inexpressible.

And the expression filled with glory is not to be taken as some climactic throwaway line here.

I think Peter, what Peter meant when he said filled with glory is because it's the origin of this joy that I have.

It's where it comes from.

It doesn't make sense.

But this joy that I have is lodged back here in eternity.

It's in eternity and it's full of glory.

It's full of glory.

The glory because...

I'm alive in Christ. It's... It's... This joy is unaffected by your circumstances. Your circumstances aren't gonna... So it's a joy that we rejoice and we can't articulate. I just can't articulate it. I just can't tell you. Paul, why are you and Silas singing in prison in the middle of midnight? Don't you know that they're coming for you? I don't know, but I just can't stop singing.

I can't stop singing. I can't stop singing. Paul, why are you taking the time to write a letter to young Timothy when you know in a matter of days they're coming to take your head off? How can you do that? And yet you're gonna write, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have finished the race and I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory. But not just for me, but all who would love the Lord Jesus. I can't explain it.

I can't explain it. It is an inexpressible joy. It's inexpressible. I can't... I can't... Well, explain to me. I can't explain it. I'm just welling up with the Lord Jesus. All I'm doing is inviting you to come along with me. Come along with me. It's a joy that's inexpressible, but we need each other. It's the shared life of Christ that reveals that as well too.

And when I get news from Miss Pauline that her health is better, God is answering our prayers, removing any concerns of cancer, and we're saying amen and amen, there's a joy that wells up inside of me. I don't have those issues going on in my health, but I rejoice and it strengthens my joy because I see how the Lord is blessing her.

We need each other. We need each other. We need each other. We lose sight of that as a church. We get so, so busy. Churches get so busy with programs and this and that and the other and we're doing this and this, that and the other.

And so, well, this would have been a good message today, Curtis, if you wouldn't have stopped and asked us for money for a baptism because everything...

No, you're missing the point. You're missing the point. It's inexpressible.

I could give you $15 theology class words on this thing, but it won't change your heart. It won't change your life.

What will change your life is if you've ever had a true encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.

If God has met you and you have met with the Lord, you know that you are His.

You know that you are His.

There is a quote from C.S. Lewis' book, Mere Christianity. If you've never read Mere Christianity, you can get it as a paperback, really inexpensive. Go to Amazon, buy it for everybody here in the church.

Okay, there you go. It's Christmas gifts for everybody.

So when everybody gets Mere Christianity, you can thank me for it.

It's a great, great read.

Some of the pages you might have to read four or five times to understand what C.S. Lewis is saying in his brain.

But he has a quote in there.

I wrote this down. I want to misquote this.

But C.S. Lewis says, the Christian says,

Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists.

A baby feels hunger.

There's such a thing as food.

A duckling wants to swim.

Well, there's such a thing as water.

If I find myself,

if I find in myself a desire

which no experience in this world can satisfy,

the most probable explanation is

that I was made for another world.

If what you've been looking for is not making you happy,

what you've been trying to fill that void in your life with

is not making you happy,

have you ever really considered that maybe you were not made for this world?

And to the Christian.

vis-a-vis the prosperity gospel, or you'll become very angry and bitter because God didn't do things the way you demanded Him to do. When you understand that you were not made for this world, there's a very interesting paradox that takes place. When you understand that you were not made for this world, you will enjoy life far more than you have ever

enjoyed it before because it doesn't own you. It doesn't own you. This baby that we celebrate this time of year came down and paid a price that you and I could never, ever pay in order that God could say, I paid the price, therefore I own you. You are bought and paid for by my blood.

I'm just asking you to recognize my beautiful Son. My beautiful Son. And we'll get to that gift next week as we talk about the gift of love. And we're only going to just go through John 3.16 next Sunday as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the answer, joy to the world. The Lord has come.

Let earth, let Ramah Community Church, let all who are sitting within these walls this morning receive her King.

What about you?

Are you walking in true joy?

Or do you tend to still chase happiness?

Trying to make yourself happy and fill in the blanks with these things that are going to make me happy.

And that once we achieve this, then that's the thing that's going to make me happy.

You know, I want to say this too, that the Lord wants you to have happiness in your life.

God is not a killjoy.

He says, you can't have any fun now.

You know, you've got to turn off all your TV and you only watch the Waltons and there's anything else.

Some of you don't even know what the Waltons are, okay?

There you go.

Ask your mom and dad.

Ask your grandparents.

There you go.

That's not where I'm going.

But some of you continue to chase all these things down the highways and byways of life.

And you wonder why you continue to be miserable.

I mean, it's the definition of insanity, isn't it?

You're doing the same things over and over again, waiting for a different result.

And thinking it's going to bring you a different result.

None of these things.

Well, what about your relationship with your wife?

Doesn't that make you happy, you same relationship?

Yes, it does.

But there are days when I do not make my wife happy.

I'm just telling you.

There are days that my wife does not make me happy.

But there is a joy.

There is a joy in our marriage.

Because our marriage is founded in Christ.

And the covenant that we have made was, first of all, with God.

It was His idea that we did that.

And it's in that covenant that in the midst of our turmoil,

in the midst of our arguments,

in the midst of our hard times,

in the midst of the last year and a half,

when we wept and didn't know why, God, are you making us walk through this situation in life right now

with this baby that we've had since she was eight weeks old.

Why are you doing this?

I don't understand.

In the midst of it all, God gave us a joy and a hope.

I don't know if our hope was...

I don't know if our hope was...

I don't know if our hope was...