Good morning.
I am so delighted to be able to share with you guys today
a message on joy.
When Pastor Greg asked if I would give the message,
I prayed about it.
And I just thought, well, I can't do this by myself.
I need my people, my kids in Treehouse,
to come up and share this message with me today.
And before I invite them to come up,
I just would like to begin with scripture.
In Luke chapter 1, starting in verse 26,
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
to a virgin pledge to be married to a man named Joseph,
a descendant of David.
The virgin's name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, greetings,
you who are highly favored.
The Lord is with you.
Do not be afraid, Mary.
You have found favor with God.
You will conceive and give birth to a son,
and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High.
In verse 34, Mary says, how will this be,
since I am a virgin?
And the angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come on you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have her child
in her old age, and she who was said to be unable
to conceive is in her sixth month,
for no word from God will ever fail.
And with that, treehouse kiddos,
why don't we take our places?
Come join me, come join me.
All right, so yeah, it's really my pleasure
to work with these guys.
What a joy they are.
There is Adley, there is Quinn.
So I mean, kids are such a sense of true joy
that I just thought it would be nice
to get their perspective on joy.
We can all learn different things from different people,
so let's hear what the young ones of the church
have to say about joy.
Adley, we're gonna start with you,
and can you describe for us what you think joy is?
Joy is something that makes you want to smile
and gives you kind of a shiver all over your body.
Yes.
Joanna, how would you describe joy?
Happiness.
Yes, you wanna hand it over to Quinn?
What do you think about joy?
Laughing, you're happy being with family.
Yes, so go ahead and keep that microphone.
So what brings you joy, Quinn?
Family.
Your family.
Joanna, what brings you joy?
Being together with my friends.
Yeah.
Something that brings me joy is art and my best friend, Sky.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Adley, what does the Bible have to say about joy?
Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit.
The Bible also says that the joy of the Lord
can't be taken away like happiness
and that joy is our strength.
Very good.
Quinn, what do you think the Bible says about joy?
Angels said, do not be afraid to the shepherds.
I bring you good news that will bring joy to all people.
Yes, okay, we got one final question here.
Can you share a time that you felt the most joy?
Mostly Christmas, we see family, we give presents
and watch them open them.
Yeah, do you think it's better, Quinn,
to give a present or receive a present?
Both.
Laughing.
That's a good answer, that's a good answer.
Joanna, do you have a time that you felt really joyful
that you could share with us?
Got a new Barbie house.
Mm, yes, something that you were waiting for
and then it arrived.
How about you, Adley?
I was practicing my flute
and then my mom told me to come to her
and she told me that I was Tessie and Annie
and I was jumping up and down full of joy
and today, December 15th, is our last show.
Yes, you've been working on that show
and then you got to perform that show
and so it's kind of bittersweet today, huh?
Yeah, she told me this morning that she cried a little bit
because today's her last day to perform it
and she was so looking forward to it and now it's over.
Yes, thank you so much, ladies.
Round of applause for their bravery
coming up and talking.
You guys can have a seat.
Thank you, thank you.
Take it, keep it, either way, either way.
We could just kind of stop there
because, boy, kids are a great example of joy, right?
They welcome it, they exude it,
and they freely share it with everybody that's around them.
So what better way to kick off the conversation
than to just see an example of it?
It is my privilege to serve as a teacher
and the Children's Ministry Director here at the house.
To those parents that are in here,
thank you for bringing your children to church.
I think you guys are doing an incredible job.
We have amazing kids and keep up the good work.
It's my mission as the director
to remind them every week that God loves them
and cares for them and to give them the tools to use
to seek after God and to build up their faith.
One thing that we've been really working on this year
is learning memory verses each week,
and it is so cool to see these kids
developing the tool of reciting scripture.
And that's what I have to say to us today.
We need to hold the word of the Lord
in our hearts and in our minds.
We need to be ready for when the distractions
of the world attack us and try to steal our joy.
And memorizing God's word and holding it
in our hearts is essential.
I recite them when I start my day.
I recite them when I'm confused or I'm lost.
I recite them when I'm joyful
and when I need to be comforted.
So this morning, I just wanted to share with you
some truths about joy that I have learned from the Bible.
In Psalm 16, I say to the Lord, you are my Lord.
Apart from you, I have no good thing.
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup.
You make my lot secure.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices.
My body will also rest secure
because you will not abandon me.
You make known to me the path of life
and you fill me with joy in your presence
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
I was lucky enough that I grew up going to church,
going to Sunday school and being involved
in all of the youth group events.
It was right out of high school
when I really gave my life to Jesus
and wanted to follow him fully
and bought my first study Bible,
which was so cool because in the back,
it has words where I can look up joy
and then it's gonna give me verses and it was so cool.
And I still have, when I first got this,
I had a sticky note and I wrote a prayer on the inside
and it's still there.
Jesus, as it would please you,
bring me someone today whom I can serve.
And that is still a prayer of mine today.
I know that my purpose in life
is to share the light and love of Jesus
with those who are around me.
And I find abundant joy
when I just simply live out that purpose.
In Matthew five, Jesus says,
you are the light of the world.
A town that's built on a hill cannot be hidden
and neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
Instead, they put it on its stand
and it gives light to everyone in the house.
So in the same way, let your light shine before others
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in heaven.
So earlier this year, I was fortunate enough
to go to an entrepreneurial boot camp.
I started a business, but I didn't know what I was doing.
I was just kind of following what God told me to do.
So I had a resource to go and to learn
and it was 80 other entrepreneurs.
And so there was some imposter syndrome
because I really wasn't sure what I was gonna do.
And I walked into that place with just that prayer
of Lord, I just want your light and your love to shine.
Whoever these people are, let your light and your love shine.
And that was my prayer walking into it.
That was my prayer every day.
And it was so cool because people could actually see it.
People said to me, well, you have such a light about you
or wow, thank you for encouraging me with your smile.
And it was undeniable.
And it wasn't me.
It wasn't for my glory.
It was God, it was him and it was all his glory.
I find that my best days are the ones that start
with a conversation between me and my maker.
So then regardless of how my day unfolds,
when I walk it with Jesus,
I can smile without fear of the future.
And I love to smile to God.
I love to just close my eyes and just give him my smile.
It's simple.
It doesn't require words of eloquence.
I just offer him up my smile.
The Bible repeats one truth over and over again.
Do not worry.
We don't wanna worry
because it will diminish the joyous light.
And we have a lot of doubts and worries
that race through our minds, right?
Ever thought that your prayer was not going to be answered?
The parents of John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zachariah,
were losing hope that they wouldn't have a child
because they were both very old.
Zachariah questioned the angel
when he brought the good news
that they would not only have a child,
but the angel said,
"'He will be a joy and a delight to you,
and many will rejoice because of his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.'
Faith is trusting in what we cannot see,
trusting that he is there.
And God said,
"'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"
It means we're never alone.
We can trust his words
because as the angel Gabriel said,
"'No word from God will ever fail.'"
So what if, what if instead of feeling down
and stuck in the muck,
we look forward with anticipation
the reward that is waiting us on the other side?
Book of James chapter one, it says,
"'Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith
produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work
so that you may be mature and complete,
not lacking anything.
If any of you lacks wisdom,
you should ask God who gives generously to all
without finding faults,
and it will be given to you.'"
I've learned that when we walk through those valleys,
those difficult times,
and we keep our eyes fixed on him,
we remember his truths, we recite them,
we put our faith over our fear,
that's when we find hope, peace, and joy
in new, refreshing, and tangible ways.
Now, instead of having to open my Bible
to remind myself of God's everlasting faithfulness,
I actually have a story of my own that I can tell.
I can share how I was sick and he carried me through it.
Not only did he carry me, he revealed new truths to me,
he deepened my faith, he was closer to me
than I ever thought was possible,
and now I can feel it in my heart.
I feel where he touched me in my hour of need.
My faith is stronger, and my tears of joy pour out of me,
and I'm full of prayer and praise and thanks to my God.
Psalm 28, praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength, the Lord is my shield,
my heart trusts in him and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy with my song I praise him.
The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation.
I do live a richly blessed life.
Could I find things to complain about?
Absolutely, every day I could find something
I wanted to complain about.
But what benefit is there really to dwelling
on the negativity, the what ifs, the fear?
There is tremendous benefit when we fix our eyes
on the things above and not on the things of this world.
The waiting often feels overwhelming when we forget
that the Bible tells us, for my ways are not your ways.
We can lose sight of God and his purpose
in our lives sometimes.
We've all faced that time, and if you haven't yet,
you will, or you wonder, is God here?
Doesn't he hear my cries?
But when you read the stories in the Bible,
this appears to be standard human behavior.
Our minds cannot know all that God knows,
and our concept of time is so limited.
So the conclusion is that he's always there.
Love is there, acceptance is there, hope is there,
because God is all these things.
And listen, if you're stuck in your muck of negativity,
you can train your brain.
Second Corinthians, chapter 10, it says,
for though we live in the world,
we do not wage war as the world does.
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
Verse five, we take captive every thought
and make it obedient to Christ.
I don't know about you guys, I love reading my Bible.
I always have, ever since I was in college,
it's just something that I found helpful, right?
It helps me.
Knowing all of this scripture,
I don't always know where it's from,
but it's all in my brain because I just keep feeding it.
I just keep feeding it.
So there's always a reason to be thankful.
Lifting up our thankfulness to God in praise and in prayer
reminds us of him and it refocuses our minds
off our worldly problems and hardships
and puts it into focus with our Lord God,
our creator and our King, who loves us beyond measure.
Being reminded of him brings peace,
which leads to joy, which leads to freedom
from the cares that bind us
because we know we can trust in him.
There is joy in surrender,
and if you don't believe that yet,
hear me when I say there is joy in surrender.
There is a weight that is lifted off from us
when we lay our burdens down
and simply just let God take control.
Jesus came to earth and he died to set us free,
so the job's already been done.
There's no reason to delay in receiving his goodness.
Joy is Jesus.
Jesus is the word who became flesh.
He made his dwelling among us
so that we may have all the fruits of the spirit,
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness and self-control.
He wants our joy to be made complete in him.
And I just wanna finish by saying
what a blessed group of people we are.
I have learned all these things by being a part of the house.
The last 10 years being here
has been immensely full of growth and strength for me.
The people that come up and share God's message with us,
Pastor Greg, Pastor Jen, Cindy,
excuse me,
Eric and Scott and Marissa and Tony,
I just want to thank you for faithfully serving us,
giving us the tools to move forward,
whether we find ourselves on top of the mountain
or down in the valley.
And thank you for giving me an opportunity to share as well.
I would just like to end with a prayer.
May you, the people of the house,
be strengthened by the joy of the Lord today and every day.
Amen.