THE SECRET LIFE OF FORGOTTEN (1 OF 3)
by Craig Smith
The Secret Life of Forgotten (1 of 3)
Series: Joy to The World
Craig Smith
Luke 1:5
I. Introduction
Welcome to all of our campuses and Merry Christmas. I know I've already said that a couple of times, but it's legal now, right?
So today is the start of our December series, Joy to the World, which is not just the title of a familiar Christmas song. It's a promise from the Word of God. The angel who announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds said this. He said, ''Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.'' (Luke 2:10)
Joy is at the very heart of the Christmas story...which means that it's at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus. We're supposed to be people of joy. But joy is not always easy. And I think the main reason for that is we often misunderstand the nature of joy. See, we confuse joy with happiness and they're not the same thing at all. Happiness is how we feel about our circumstances. Good things happen, we feel good. But joy transcends our circumstances. Joy isn't rooted in our circumstances, it's rooted in our relationship with God. Unfortunately, sometimes we allow how we feel about our circumstances to drive us away from God. And not only does that mean that our circumstances can steal our joy...it means that we're allowing our circumstances to drive us away from the only one who can really change those circumstances.
What I want to do today is to look at the story of a couple who chose not to let their joy be rooted in their circumstances. Why don't you go ahead and grab a Bible and make your way to the Gospel of Luke. We're going to start almost at the very the beginning, in chapter 1, verse 5.
II. Main Body
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea... (Luke 1:5a)
So right off the bat, what Luke is telling us is that these are hard times in Israel. Herod was not a good king. He really shouldn't have been king at all, because he wasn't even Jewish. ...
Series: Joy to The World
Craig Smith
Luke 1:5
I. Introduction
Welcome to all of our campuses and Merry Christmas. I know I've already said that a couple of times, but it's legal now, right?
So today is the start of our December series, Joy to the World, which is not just the title of a familiar Christmas song. It's a promise from the Word of God. The angel who announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds said this. He said, ''Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.'' (Luke 2:10)
Joy is at the very heart of the Christmas story...which means that it's at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus. We're supposed to be people of joy. But joy is not always easy. And I think the main reason for that is we often misunderstand the nature of joy. See, we confuse joy with happiness and they're not the same thing at all. Happiness is how we feel about our circumstances. Good things happen, we feel good. But joy transcends our circumstances. Joy isn't rooted in our circumstances, it's rooted in our relationship with God. Unfortunately, sometimes we allow how we feel about our circumstances to drive us away from God. And not only does that mean that our circumstances can steal our joy...it means that we're allowing our circumstances to drive us away from the only one who can really change those circumstances.
What I want to do today is to look at the story of a couple who chose not to let their joy be rooted in their circumstances. Why don't you go ahead and grab a Bible and make your way to the Gospel of Luke. We're going to start almost at the very the beginning, in chapter 1, verse 5.
II. Main Body
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea... (Luke 1:5a)
So right off the bat, what Luke is telling us is that these are hard times in Israel. Herod was not a good king. He really shouldn't have been king at all, because he wasn't even Jewish. ...
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