Mandatory Joy
God WITH Us • Week 2
The joy found in Christ is not momentary happiness based on earthly experiences. Joy in Christ is rooted in the power of the Christmas story and the promised return of Christ. Adam Barnett explores this in week 2 of our Advent series, God WITH Us.
MESSAGE NOTES
Mandatory Joy
God WITH Us | Week 2
December 6, 2020 | Adam Barnett
--
Psalm 98:1–9 ESV
Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
The foundation of our joy is in the story of Christmas, and in the promise of Christ’s return.
Joy is the deep settled conviction that God is for us.
C.S. Lewis //
“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with things of this world, when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
For the Christian, joy is mandatory.