The Joy of Advent (3 of 4)
Series: Advent
Josh Malone
Romans 5:2-5a, 11
Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love - Themes throughout Rom. 5:1-11. Theme of the week is JOY.
Joy is probably the most obvious theme we see celebrated at Christmas. It's a joyous celebration. We see that word plastered everywhere. We sing ''Joy to the World.'' We say ''Merry Christmas.''
Yet we people don't always seem joyful when they shop for Christmas presents and fight Christmas traffic. They don't always seem joyful if they are fighting with loved ones over Christmas dinner.
In Jesus we are offered a joy that goes beyond anything the added pressures of a holiday season can rob. We are offered never ending, eternal, deeply rooted joy.
True joy, Christian joy, is steadfast. Some have a superficial joy rooted in superficial things, temporary things, fleeting things. So as things go, so goes their joy. The question is what is our joy ROOTED in.
ILLUS.- If you visit the wave pool at SW people are bobbing up and down all depending on the movement of the water. However, the ladder on the side does not move. It's attached to something, its not depending on the water. What the water is doing does not effect its movement. -- In Christ we can have a joy that's attached to Him, not our circumstances, this enables us to have lasting joy.
Joy is a FRUIT. It's a product, so it must be rooted in something. Joy has to have a CAUSE or a REASON. If the cause, the reason for your joy is superficial so will go you joy.
If you want joy that is unshakeable can't be taken away then it must be rooted in the unshakeable, it must be rooted in something/someone that can't be taken away.
The only joy that is eternal is the joy that is rooted in God through Christ. When our joy is rooted in Christ, when he is the source of our joy, that means our joy is in the unshakeable, in One who cannot be taken away.
If you know Christ today you have been given the joy of the Lord. If yo ...
Series: Advent
Josh Malone
Romans 5:2-5a, 11
Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love - Themes throughout Rom. 5:1-11. Theme of the week is JOY.
Joy is probably the most obvious theme we see celebrated at Christmas. It's a joyous celebration. We see that word plastered everywhere. We sing ''Joy to the World.'' We say ''Merry Christmas.''
Yet we people don't always seem joyful when they shop for Christmas presents and fight Christmas traffic. They don't always seem joyful if they are fighting with loved ones over Christmas dinner.
In Jesus we are offered a joy that goes beyond anything the added pressures of a holiday season can rob. We are offered never ending, eternal, deeply rooted joy.
True joy, Christian joy, is steadfast. Some have a superficial joy rooted in superficial things, temporary things, fleeting things. So as things go, so goes their joy. The question is what is our joy ROOTED in.
ILLUS.- If you visit the wave pool at SW people are bobbing up and down all depending on the movement of the water. However, the ladder on the side does not move. It's attached to something, its not depending on the water. What the water is doing does not effect its movement. -- In Christ we can have a joy that's attached to Him, not our circumstances, this enables us to have lasting joy.
Joy is a FRUIT. It's a product, so it must be rooted in something. Joy has to have a CAUSE or a REASON. If the cause, the reason for your joy is superficial so will go you joy.
If you want joy that is unshakeable can't be taken away then it must be rooted in the unshakeable, it must be rooted in something/someone that can't be taken away.
The only joy that is eternal is the joy that is rooted in God through Christ. When our joy is rooted in Christ, when he is the source of our joy, that means our joy is in the unshakeable, in One who cannot be taken away.
If you know Christ today you have been given the joy of the Lord. If yo ...
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