WEBVTT 00:00:02.880 --> 00:00:05.440 Good morning, everyone and welcome to this week's 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.699 episode of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. I'm 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:11.619 Britton. Naraya. Good morning. My name is Bill. 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:15.060 And we're here to continue chatting about Advent, 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:18.100 this season that prepares us to celebrate the 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:20.780 birth of Christ. And today we get to light three 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:23.620 candles. One, two, three. So first candle, hope. 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:26.940 Second candle is peace. The third candle is joy. 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:29.320 And just to make it extra fun, the third candle 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.890 is pink. Love it. Yeah. It's actually my favorite 00:00:32.890 --> 00:00:37.549 color. This is awesome. Um, yeah, I don't actually, 00:00:37.549 --> 00:00:39.890 I meant to look up why this candle is pink and 00:00:39.890 --> 00:00:41.810 then I neglected to do that. Oh, is it like purposely 00:00:41.810 --> 00:00:45.490 pink? Yeah, the joy candle is always pink. Yes. 00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:48.270 Oh, you know. Okay. It is, uh, it's, it's meant 00:00:48.270 --> 00:00:52.149 to, uh, um, most of the candle or most of the 00:00:52.149 --> 00:00:56.530 time of an event is, is a time of, um, uh, repentance. 00:00:57.690 --> 00:01:00.549 But the week that we talk about joy is meant 00:01:00.549 --> 00:01:03.490 to be a time of exuberance. So part of representing 00:01:03.490 --> 00:01:06.750 that is the pink color of the candle. OK, there 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:08.750 we go. See, I didn't need to look it up. You 00:01:08.750 --> 00:01:12.129 were here to provide all of the knowledge. Exuberantly 00:01:12.129 --> 00:01:15.849 joyful, really joyful. This is awesome. OK, so 00:01:15.849 --> 00:01:19.549 then when we think about joy, other than exuberance, 00:01:19.849 --> 00:01:22.370 are there other words or sort of ideas that come 00:01:22.370 --> 00:01:27.590 to mind for us? a deep sense of happiness. It's 00:01:27.590 --> 00:01:29.489 not just, you know, happiness is like, oh, okay, 00:01:29.489 --> 00:01:33.709 I'm happy. I got a cup of water. Yeah. Or my 00:01:33.709 --> 00:01:36.209 tea or coffee. Bill is slightly more happy because 00:01:36.209 --> 00:01:38.950 his cup has coffee. I have tea. I have tea. I 00:01:38.950 --> 00:01:42.909 am slightly more happy than her. But like joy 00:01:42.909 --> 00:01:45.890 is like, it runs deep. It's like, it's almost 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:48.709 like as if it's coming out of your belly. That's 00:01:48.709 --> 00:01:51.609 how deep I feel. Okay. Yeah. Belly explosion 00:01:51.609 --> 00:02:00.680 of joy. I won't even say what I'm thinking. This 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:03.659 is just a very joyful conversation already. We 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:07.340 just say joy and snap. So when I think of joy, 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:10.460 I think of my own experiences of joy. For me, 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:13.240 I think that when I've been the most joyful is 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:16.500 probably the birth of my children. It's been 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:21.699 kind of an explosion of joy for that. And ups 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:25.659 and downs since then, as is the case with everybody. 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:29.460 But joy, I mean, incredibly joyful, the birth 00:02:29.460 --> 00:02:32.099 of a child and raising a child and seeing them 00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:35.400 grow up and stuff like that for sure. And then 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.439 because it's Advent and we're talking about the 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:42.000 coming of Jesus, And Advent is the anticipation 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:46.800 of Jesus' birth. So if I think, how joyful was 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.919 I at the birth of my child, then God must be 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:55.439 super joyful at the coming of the birth of Jesus 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:58.199 and the joy to the world and what that's going 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:04.340 to mean. And I know lots of people have... gender 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:07.419 reveal party. So I'm just imagining, you know, 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:10.180 what a gender reveal party would be for God or 00:03:10.180 --> 00:03:12.620 for Jesus. But in his case, it would be more 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:14.960 like a messiah reveal party, right? And when 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:17.419 you think about it, think about the Christmas 00:03:17.419 --> 00:03:21.000 story, right? What an incredible messiah reveal 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.509 party is that? He put a star in the sky. You 00:03:24.509 --> 00:03:27.550 know, he had angels, choirs of angels singing, 00:03:27.830 --> 00:03:30.990 you know, angels appeared to the shepherds and 00:03:30.990 --> 00:03:33.870 the wise men and the three kings followed the 00:03:33.870 --> 00:03:36.370 star to find Jesus and all this kind of stuff. 00:03:36.509 --> 00:03:39.289 I mean, that incredible Messiah reveal party. 00:03:39.550 --> 00:03:42.289 That was the story of Christmas. Yeah, for sure. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:44.379 Yeah, what about for you, Bert, when you think 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:46.860 about joy? Well, I looked for the definition, 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:48.319 which I feel like maybe this is going to be a 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:50.300 segment now. What does Oxford Dictionary say 00:03:50.300 --> 00:03:55.219 versus what does the Bible say? OK. And it says 00:03:55.219 --> 00:03:57.840 a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. OK. 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.979 Which is true, which is true. But I guess when 00:04:01.979 --> 00:04:04.680 we get into the text, we'll debunk it a little 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:08.520 bit. Yeah, for me, I feel like joy is like happiness 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.159 is a moment, right? It happens based on maybe 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:13.620 circumstance or like there's a moment in time 00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:15.759 where you you feel like a great sense of happiness. 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:19.480 But joy to me has always been a hard word to 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:23.540 define. Sure. Because it feels almost inexplainable. 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:26.759 But when you when it happens, like the birth 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:29.079 of your child, when it happens, it's like, whoa. 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:32.139 And it's like that explosion, but a good explosion. 00:04:33.100 --> 00:04:36.740 Yes, yes. So when I think about Joy, OK, and 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:39.920 the the Sunday, the Joy Sunday of Advent is a 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:41.879 particularly special Sunday for me because it 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:47.220 was on Joy Sunday that I was baptized. And it 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:51.420 was this like. Kind of as you said in explainable 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:55.199 feeling of joy Yeah That I was like like not 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:57.660 expecting at all and like going into this day 00:04:57.660 --> 00:04:59.759 So I was baptized like when I was like 13 and 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:01.680 so it was like a process that I sort of went 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.079 through and then had to like share my Testimony 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:05.519 a little bit in front of the congregation. So 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:08.279 it's like a nerve -racking kind of experience 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:12.180 but then to be followed up with this In explainable 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:16.019 joy and the sense of like okay all is well um 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:18.939 even if it's not all well but like yeah just 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:20.959 that that feeling yeah that's funny because i 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:24.160 was yesterday my dad was in a play that just 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:26.379 so happened to be taking place at the church 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:28.720 that i was baptized and it was similar to you 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:30.699 like i went through this process and decided 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:34.040 to be baptized yeah and i was just looking at 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:38.420 the baptismal spot um that's there it's blocked 00:05:38.420 --> 00:05:41.160 by a screen but i could still feel the essence 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:44.110 of it And I remember that feeling, like I remember 00:05:44.110 --> 00:05:45.970 going through the hallway after I got dunked 00:05:45.970 --> 00:05:52.089 and just being dunked into the water. Yes. There 00:05:52.089 --> 00:05:55.350 was something, yeah, like what do you dunked 00:05:55.350 --> 00:06:00.970 on? Like basketball, baptism by shots. But no, 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:03.670 like when that happened, it was it was inexplainable. 00:06:03.670 --> 00:06:05.870 Yeah. And whenever I step into that building, 00:06:06.250 --> 00:06:09.620 it's it's. There's something that happens to 00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:12.120 me. Like, I feel like I'm teleported into being 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:15.560 a child in that moment. And it's just such a 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:18.000 unique experience. It's inexplainable, though. 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:22.899 Yeah. Yeah. Joy. It's a pretty cool thing. So 00:06:22.899 --> 00:06:25.120 we sort of alluded to this. Like, there's a bit 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.439 of a difference, I think, between joy and happiness. 00:06:28.459 --> 00:06:30.600 But if you were like to try and, like, pull those 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:33.240 two things apart, like, what would you say makes 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:37.139 them different? Um, I think like the similarities 00:06:37.139 --> 00:06:39.399 is obviously like there's like, it's a positive 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.420 sort of feeling. Um, but like, I think you talked 00:06:42.420 --> 00:06:44.819 about it, like joy being a little deeper, much 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:47.180 deeper because like when you're happiness, I 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:48.540 mean, when you're happy, you're kind of like, 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:51.240 okay, yeah, I'm happy about whatever is happening. 00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:54.240 And it's like more circumstantial. Sure. Whereas 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:57.470 joy is like, It's like so deep rooted, like it's 00:06:57.470 --> 00:06:59.769 part of your character almost. Right. Or like 00:06:59.769 --> 00:07:02.029 how the, you know, when we're talking about the 00:07:02.029 --> 00:07:04.129 fruit of the spirit, joy is one of them. Right. 00:07:04.389 --> 00:07:06.649 So like your character, your personality, it 00:07:06.649 --> 00:07:09.750 has it with it. Right. Right. And then even when 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:12.290 we're looking at scripture, all throughout Psalms, 00:07:12.350 --> 00:07:15.829 you see sing for joy, shout for joy. Right. And 00:07:15.829 --> 00:07:18.860 those are like. again, explosive expressions. 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:21.139 Whereas happiness is a little more like downplayed. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:22.819 We're like, yeah, I'm really happy about this. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.259 Right. That's how I see the difference. I feel 00:07:25.259 --> 00:07:28.240 that the Bible talks more about joy than happiness. 00:07:28.540 --> 00:07:31.360 But I think as a culture, we talk more about 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:35.800 happiness than joy. And I think they're on the 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:37.720 same side of the equation. Joy and happiness 00:07:37.720 --> 00:07:40.480 are similar in some ways. I think one is a subset 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:42.819 of the other. I think happiness is a subset of 00:07:42.819 --> 00:07:46.319 joy. You can contain happiness in joy, not the 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.800 other way around. But in a way, I think they're 00:07:49.800 --> 00:07:51.800 separate and unique from each other. The Bible 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:55.740 talks about happiness and joy in the same sentence, 00:07:55.879 --> 00:08:00.689 same verse. So that for me is a hint that there's 00:08:00.689 --> 00:08:02.709 some difference between the two, that they're 00:08:02.709 --> 00:08:07.209 not synonymous. And I think, like you, I think 00:08:07.209 --> 00:08:11.350 happiness is kind of more of a feeling, but not 00:08:11.350 --> 00:08:16.449 as... not as big and as strong and as deep as 00:08:16.449 --> 00:08:21.189 joy is. And I think that also in terms of our 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:25.350 Christian faith, I think we're promised joy, 00:08:25.410 --> 00:08:29.529 but not necessarily happiness. So I think that's 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:33.649 a huge distinction. When most people in our culture 00:08:33.649 --> 00:08:40.610 are trying to be happy and some... Most? I don't 00:08:40.610 --> 00:08:43.730 know. I might not be achieving it. Sure. Right? 00:08:44.629 --> 00:08:47.950 That's hard for people where happiness is your 00:08:47.950 --> 00:08:51.970 goal. Right. But if joy is your goal as a promise 00:08:51.970 --> 00:08:57.850 of God, a promise from God, then when you're 00:08:57.850 --> 00:09:01.340 not happy or as happy, You know, you're you you 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:03.379 realize that the end goal isn't to be happy. 00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:05.960 The end goal is to experience the joy of God. 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:09.039 Right. And that can get you through those times 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:11.480 of unhappiness. Right. I think so. There's a 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.480 huge difference. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:17.860 agree with what both of you said. And in thinking 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:21.299 about it, like joy isn't circumstantial. I think 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:24.500 happiness has like a very clear roadmap as to 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:28.210 how you became happy. Um, but joy is something 00:09:28.210 --> 00:09:32.129 that truly is a gift from God. Um, and it's, 00:09:32.129 --> 00:09:33.929 it's like, I was thinking of, I don't know if 00:09:33.929 --> 00:09:36.389 this might not be like my Grammarly moment, but, 00:09:36.429 --> 00:09:40.870 um, like you can't say happy full. You say happy, 00:09:41.169 --> 00:09:44.149 but you can say joyful, you can say peaceful. 00:09:45.230 --> 00:09:48.230 Right. So to be full of. Yeah. Yeah. So it's 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:49.789 something that you receive. That's interesting. 00:09:49.929 --> 00:09:54.350 You can't be full of happy. Yeah. I am full of 00:09:54.350 --> 00:09:57.309 happy today. No, but yeah, but maybe maybe there's 00:09:57.309 --> 00:10:00.129 a connection there. I don't know. Yeah, maybe. 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:05.210 I have to go back to my Oxford dictionary. So 00:10:05.210 --> 00:10:07.750 then like this leads me as I think about like 00:10:07.750 --> 00:10:09.909 the difference between joy and happiness to think 00:10:09.909 --> 00:10:12.190 about like what do these things like look like 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:17.490 in the world? And I think happiness is like fairly 00:10:17.490 --> 00:10:19.970 obvious in what it looks like. Like if someone's 00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:21.509 happy, they're like smiling. They're like having 00:10:21.509 --> 00:10:26.370 a good time. I think one can be joyful and not 00:10:26.370 --> 00:10:30.000 be like. exuberantly joyful. Right. Like I think 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.179 there's such a thing as like a quiet joy, maybe 00:10:34.179 --> 00:10:38.240 where like we we feel like, OK, this is good. 00:10:38.379 --> 00:10:40.379 There's something good that we're like building 00:10:40.379 --> 00:10:45.840 towards. But it makes space for the fact that 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:48.299 like not everybody is like feeling that in the 00:10:48.299 --> 00:10:52.840 moment or like the moment itself is not the cause 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:55.340 of the joy, I guess. I don't know. Yeah. Like, 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:57.750 does that make sense? I think, yeah, it does 00:10:57.750 --> 00:10:59.889 because like when, you know, when we say like, 00:10:59.909 --> 00:11:02.730 oh, I'm enjoying this song. Right. We're not 00:11:02.730 --> 00:11:06.029 like completely like dancing about and like singing 00:11:06.029 --> 00:11:08.289 the lyrics or whatever. We're enjoying it just 00:11:08.289 --> 00:11:12.690 in our own space. Sure. Right. And I also think 00:11:12.690 --> 00:11:17.169 that when it comes to joy, like how you were 00:11:17.169 --> 00:11:18.450 saying, like obviously we were talking about 00:11:18.450 --> 00:11:20.149 it being explosive and everything. Yeah. And 00:11:20.149 --> 00:11:24.850 I think it can be. It can be. But When you have 00:11:24.850 --> 00:11:27.929 that deep sense, like even when the circumstance 00:11:27.929 --> 00:11:31.429 seems like it's completely terrible. Yeah. Right. 00:11:31.809 --> 00:11:34.870 Like I think I mentioned this way before, but 00:11:34.870 --> 00:11:36.889 like about the book of Philippians, it's like 00:11:36.889 --> 00:11:39.710 the happiest book or the book of joy. Right. 00:11:40.230 --> 00:11:42.450 And what was his circumstance? He's in he's in 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:45.049 prison. His future looks like as if, you know, 00:11:45.149 --> 00:11:48.309 death is around the corner. But he's just so 00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:50.830 happy to be serving the Lord and like knowing 00:11:50.830 --> 00:11:55.120 that he's reaching out to the people. that he's 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:58.179 just in that joy. Right. And it's a quiet joy. 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:00.480 And the only way he's expressing it is through 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.759 words. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That makes me think 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:06.159 that in a lot of cases, when you're talking about 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:08.980 being happy, it's more of a personal me thing. 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:11.620 Yeah. It's my feeling. Yeah. And when you're 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:13.799 when you're talking about joy, it is more of 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:23.720 a communal or even global idea. The. For me, 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:27.460 the difference between happiness and joy, go 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:29.480 on a Christmas analogy, is like the Christmas 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:35.460 tree, the stand and the tree is joy. It's sturdy, 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:43.139 stable. Hopefully. It's done right. Just having 00:12:43.139 --> 00:12:46.509 your tree up. You know, that is a great indicator 00:12:46.509 --> 00:12:49.990 of the Christmas season. Yeah. But the it's the 00:12:49.990 --> 00:12:52.269 it's the decorations, the lights, the tinsel, 00:12:52.409 --> 00:12:56.029 the the ornaments. And that's for me, that's 00:12:56.029 --> 00:12:58.870 happiness. And that's that's the that's the icing 00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:03.009 on the cake. It's the ornament on the tree. It's 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:05.710 the happiness that covers, you know, that that's, 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:07.990 you know, is the bubbling up of joy or something 00:13:07.990 --> 00:13:11.990 like that. Right. Yeah. Oh, that's solid. Yeah, 00:13:11.990 --> 00:13:17.340 I think like joy. It is something that, how do 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:22.139 I say this? It's not circumstantial. I think 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:26.580 with joy, it shifts your perspective. I was reading 00:13:26.580 --> 00:13:30.639 Philippians this morning and hearing Paul talk 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:34.080 about the circumstance that he was in and also 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.620 the circumstance that the Philippians were in. 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:36.840 He was thanking them for all the things that 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:40.710 they did for him. but also saying, like, I know 00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:43.009 those things are not recognized. Right. Be joyful. 00:13:44.490 --> 00:13:47.210 So like folks might not there might not be a 00:13:47.210 --> 00:13:48.870 reason like people are not giving you a reason 00:13:48.870 --> 00:13:52.870 to be joyful. Yeah. But through Christ, you have 00:13:52.870 --> 00:13:55.769 this joy, despite what other people might think, 00:13:55.809 --> 00:13:58.409 despite of what you're going through. Even Paul 00:13:58.409 --> 00:14:00.649 talks about his own circumstance and he's like, 00:14:00.669 --> 00:14:04.269 well, life's kind of rough right here. But I 00:14:04.269 --> 00:14:07.350 consider it all joy because he sees what God 00:14:07.350 --> 00:14:10.340 is doing. And I think that changes if we were 00:14:10.340 --> 00:14:12.559 to apply it to our own lives. I think there is 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:15.240 joy when you're given that gift of joy. It gives 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:17.820 you an opportunity to see the world differently, 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.980 to see your own circumstance differently. And 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:24.139 that in itself is a reason to rejoice. It's not 00:14:24.139 --> 00:14:26.899 like when you get something tonight, you have 00:14:26.899 --> 00:14:29.200 this, you know, I'm happy about this because 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:30.879 I got something. He actually talks about the 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.720 fact that like it's. It's not something that 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:36.580 we can attain ourselves. Like, it's not like 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:40.500 there's no merit points for it. Yeah, for joy. 00:14:40.659 --> 00:14:43.220 Like he was talking about, um, it's like, you 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:46.200 know, I have a reason to boast in my own merits 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.460 and the things that I've done. Like I and he 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:51.899 lists off how Jewish he is, um, and how he's 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:54.360 practiced all these things. And he has, he has 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:58.110 all these reasons to be. to be boastful, but 00:14:58.110 --> 00:15:01.149 he's not boasting in that. He's boasting in Christ. 00:15:01.330 --> 00:15:02.870 Right. He's boasting in what Christ has given 00:15:02.870 --> 00:15:05.909 him. So, yeah. So regardless of what people are 00:15:05.909 --> 00:15:07.330 going through. And I think for me, like that 00:15:07.330 --> 00:15:09.629 was one of the things in my Christian journey 00:15:09.629 --> 00:15:13.710 that has held me fast. It's not it hasn't been. 00:15:14.490 --> 00:15:18.450 all the stability around me, but it's Christ. 00:15:18.629 --> 00:15:20.929 And it's Christ being the anchor, regardless 00:15:20.929 --> 00:15:23.009 of what we're going through, regardless of what 00:15:23.009 --> 00:15:27.149 is seen or unseen, Christ is there. And in that, 00:15:27.370 --> 00:15:30.009 that's reason enough to be joyful. Sure. Yeah. 00:15:30.169 --> 00:15:31.870 Yeah, I totally agree with that. I actually want 00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:34.889 to add, it reminded me of when I first started 00:15:34.889 --> 00:15:37.990 my journey as a Christian, sometime like around 00:15:37.990 --> 00:15:42.370 2019, something like that. I would claim myself 00:15:42.370 --> 00:15:46.549 to be a Christian, but I would see people on 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.049 TikTok or YouTube, and they're talking about 00:15:49.049 --> 00:15:50.830 Christ, they're talking about some of the words 00:15:50.830 --> 00:15:53.669 that God has given them, and they would seem 00:15:53.669 --> 00:15:58.110 so happy. And I'm like, here I am, I'm actually 00:15:58.110 --> 00:16:01.970 happy with where I am, but that's a different 00:16:01.970 --> 00:16:05.110 kind of happy. What are they doing that I don't 00:16:05.110 --> 00:16:10.580 do? And when I first started, developing my relationship 00:16:10.580 --> 00:16:14.440 with Christ. Right. I was like, hey, so you promised 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:17.419 peace and joy. How come I don't have it in that 00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:21.620 deep sense? Right. And because they all seem 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:24.220 like they're really joyful, even though they're 00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:26.139 like, you know, they're crying and some of those 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:28.200 videos are like, oh, my gosh, this is happening. 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:31.120 But God is so good. Yeah. And I'm like, how is 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:35.019 that? Why? How? It's not laughing for me. And 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:39.690 and then like. By 2020, when I finally got into 00:16:39.690 --> 00:16:43.330 my word and dove deep and I was like, God, I'm 00:16:43.330 --> 00:16:45.950 trying to surrender to you. I want to fully understand 00:16:45.950 --> 00:16:48.649 what this is and what it means to be a Christian 00:16:48.649 --> 00:16:52.370 and be your ambassador. And that was when I felt 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:54.509 joy for the first time and then eventually got 00:16:54.509 --> 00:16:58.220 baptized. So, yeah, when you were talking about 00:16:58.220 --> 00:17:00.480 like how it's like given kind of thing, I was 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:02.779 like, oh, my gosh, yeah, like I saw it with these 00:17:02.779 --> 00:17:04.960 Christians who surrender their lives. Right. 00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:07.160 And they were like, you know, despite everything, 00:17:07.259 --> 00:17:09.519 they were like, we have this knowing that God 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:13.220 is so good. And so I feel this joy. Yeah. Yeah. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:19.160 Yeah. So when you talk about joy and what is 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:23.039 joy, I think the Bible talks about joy. There's 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:28.690 a. passage in John 15, it's, you know, the verses, 00:17:28.910 --> 00:17:31.269 I have told you that this is, I told you this 00:17:31.269 --> 00:17:34.789 so that my joy may be in you and that your joy 00:17:34.789 --> 00:17:36.869 may be complete. It's giving me a sense that 00:17:36.869 --> 00:17:39.509 there's, there's some understanding, there's 00:17:39.509 --> 00:17:47.680 some essence. that is joy that John experienced 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:50.299 and had in his life and he wants to communicate 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:53.480 this to us so that we may experience this joy 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:56.740 and in fact it may be complete in us and the 00:17:56.740 --> 00:18:00.690 passages before this is the vine and the branches. 00:18:00.930 --> 00:18:06.329 So Jesus talking about that He is the vine and 00:18:06.329 --> 00:18:10.750 the Father is the gardener and just kind of being 00:18:10.750 --> 00:18:14.890 in Him and all this kind of stuff. And later 00:18:14.890 --> 00:18:18.470 on, He says, as the Father has loved me, so have 00:18:18.470 --> 00:18:21.829 I loved you, now remain in my love. If you keep 00:18:21.829 --> 00:18:23.990 my commands, you will remain in my love, just 00:18:23.990 --> 00:18:26.390 as I have kept my Father's commands and remain 00:18:26.390 --> 00:18:30.670 in His love. There's remain in me, it's a big 00:18:30.670 --> 00:18:33.910 part of that and there's love there. And then 00:18:33.910 --> 00:18:36.769 that's when he has the verse that I've told you 00:18:36.769 --> 00:18:40.609 this so that. you may so that I may pass on my 00:18:40.609 --> 00:18:43.849 joy and your joy might be complete. So you look 00:18:43.849 --> 00:18:47.670 to those earlier verses as a sense of what joy 00:18:47.670 --> 00:18:51.970 is and understanding, you know, who Jesus is, 00:18:52.309 --> 00:18:56.789 who God is, our relationship to Jesus, to God. 00:18:56.950 --> 00:19:01.210 And then you get a sense of what makes up true 00:19:01.210 --> 00:19:04.029 joy for us as Christians. Sure. Yeah, but it 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:07.109 is. very much connected to that, like, abiding 00:19:07.109 --> 00:19:10.029 in God, being in God, spending time with God 00:19:10.029 --> 00:19:12.690 and God's people and all of these things, right? 00:19:13.029 --> 00:19:16.569 Because I think that's really helpful for us 00:19:16.569 --> 00:19:18.509 to think about, like, how do we cultivate joy 00:19:18.509 --> 00:19:21.069 and, like, what does joy look like? Because joy, 00:19:21.890 --> 00:19:24.190 like I said, as we've all sort of said, can be 00:19:24.190 --> 00:19:25.990 this, like, really big exuberant thing, but it's 00:19:25.990 --> 00:19:32.880 built in community. Like I think one of the challenges 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:35.700 that sometimes comes up with joy is that we think 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:38.380 that it means that we need to be like super exuberant 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:41.279 and happy all the time and that we then like 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:45.440 sort of Bypass, you know the hard stuff and we 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:48.119 serve say ah, well sure life sucks right now 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.160 But the Bible says always be joyful and God says 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:53.539 here's some joy. So I just need to pretend it's 00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:58.900 all good But like that's not joy joy allows for 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:01.990 the hard things brings them to God, brings them 00:20:01.990 --> 00:20:05.890 to community and says, there's still good happening 00:20:05.890 --> 00:20:09.470 here, I think. I can't remember if it's spiritual 00:20:09.470 --> 00:20:11.509 bypassing, but it sounds like what you're describing. 00:20:11.930 --> 00:20:15.329 Yeah. And I think that's an easy thing that we 00:20:15.329 --> 00:20:19.130 tend to jump to. We tend to think like if I'm 00:20:19.130 --> 00:20:23.589 going to be like a good Christian, if I'm going 00:20:23.589 --> 00:20:27.430 to show that like God is good, then I need to 00:20:28.730 --> 00:20:31.490 ignore all the bad things. And that's challenging 00:20:31.490 --> 00:20:36.089 when if we're at church and a church member comes 00:20:36.089 --> 00:20:38.910 to you and says, hey, my life is really garbage 00:20:38.910 --> 00:20:41.029 right now. I'm going through a really difficult 00:20:41.029 --> 00:20:44.940 time. the thing that we'll jump to is say, well, 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:46.900 you know, God is good. And you just like you 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:49.319 kind of ignore it. Sure. Let's just let's just 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:51.640 jump away from it. And I don't think that's what 00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:55.380 Paul was doing in Philippians at all. And I don't 00:20:55.380 --> 00:20:57.039 think that's what God calls us to do. I don't 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.900 think God calls us to ignore the difficult times. 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:02.559 But I think what it does like it's what God is 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:04.960 calling us to do is to tap into the source. Right. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:08.359 to happen to the source, recognize that we're 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:12.599 a part of this vineyard that is being nurtured, 00:21:12.740 --> 00:21:14.700 that is being sustained, not on our own merits, 00:21:14.859 --> 00:21:19.099 not on our own good deeds, but by God. And God 00:21:19.099 --> 00:21:23.099 promises to continue to do that. So I think it's 00:21:23.099 --> 00:21:25.880 not necessarily ignoring the bad things, but 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:28.200 calling them out. I think if we call them out, 00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:34.599 God will be there for us. I think it's easy for 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:36.539 us to think if I'm going to maintain a sense 00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:40.980 of joy, then I need to ignore all the hard things. 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:46.339 Paul talked about being in prison. And then there 00:21:46.339 --> 00:21:48.819 was lots of other moments we see in the New Testament, 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:51.559 the Old Testament of really terrible times. The 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:54.690 Psalms is a great place to go. David and a lot 00:21:54.690 --> 00:21:57.670 of the Psalmist talked a lot about the difficult 00:21:57.670 --> 00:21:59.529 things that they were going to, and they wrote 00:21:59.529 --> 00:22:02.970 songs about those things, not to bypass them, 00:22:03.049 --> 00:22:06.009 but to say, you know, God, you promised me this 00:22:06.009 --> 00:22:09.549 thing. You promised me joy. You promised me peace. 00:22:10.509 --> 00:22:13.680 And I know that if I tap into you. I can find 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.319 it and I can sustain. I can sustain what I'm 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:19.000 going through in that time. So I think that's 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.740 the best of circumstantial switch that we should 00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:25.519 tap into that sets us apart from from the world. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:28.980 Sure. Yeah, I think I think I agree completely. 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:31.880 I think instead of ignoring the troubles or I 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:35.180 think we should we should embrace them. I think 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:41.339 the Bible. calls us to be joyful in your trials 00:22:41.339 --> 00:22:44.619 and tribulations, right? Rejoice when bad things 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:50.500 happen to you, basically. I think part of that, 00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:54.500 I believe, is because... when we can strip away 00:22:54.500 --> 00:23:00.900 the outer layer of happiness, the veneer of happiness, 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:05.240 and trials and tribulations and bad stuff happening 00:23:05.240 --> 00:23:10.480 to us will make us less happy. It will tear away 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:13.400 that veneer of happiness. And I think when we 00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:17.450 do that... I think it's part of God's plan for 00:23:17.450 --> 00:23:20.829 us to understand and experience true joy, right? 00:23:20.970 --> 00:23:26.130 Where the human feeling of happiness that, you 00:23:26.130 --> 00:23:28.569 know, sometimes we have, which is great when 00:23:28.569 --> 00:23:32.670 we have it. But when that is taken away, then 00:23:32.670 --> 00:23:38.289 what we have left is the joy that God has gifted 00:23:38.289 --> 00:23:43.200 us. you know, with the happiness away, we can 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.700 spend time in the joy part. We can experience 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:50.980 and understand more of what it means to be part 00:23:50.980 --> 00:23:55.680 of that joyful community. And apart from, you 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:58.619 know, our own good feelings, right? I mean, to 00:23:58.619 --> 00:24:01.720 experience God's blessing and love through trials 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:05.660 and tribulations. is a blessing. Sure. Right. 00:24:05.900 --> 00:24:08.779 Yeah. And and so there is good in that. And I 00:24:08.779 --> 00:24:12.559 think that good is being experienced, being bathed 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:16.099 in joy. Sure. Yeah. And relying on that as opposed 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:18.380 to, you know, feelings of happiness, which can 00:24:18.380 --> 00:24:24.019 be elusive. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think I 00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:27.119 want us to sort of end on a practical note as 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:30.720 we think about like what joy is, as we sort of 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:33.529 talked about it. So then like Two questions, 00:24:33.690 --> 00:24:35.849 I guess one is like, how do we cultivate joy? 00:24:36.049 --> 00:24:38.970 And the other is like, so what does that like 00:24:38.970 --> 00:24:42.490 look like? How do you know that you're like cultivating 00:24:42.490 --> 00:24:47.190 and leaning into a sense of joy? Well, scripture 00:24:47.190 --> 00:24:50.390 kind of goes like, you know, I mentioned this 00:24:50.390 --> 00:24:52.970 in the previous this one as well, where it's 00:24:52.970 --> 00:24:56.339 like, oh, we're supposed to rejoice always. And 00:24:56.339 --> 00:24:59.700 then whenever we do pray and like give up our 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:01.859 prayers and petitions, we're supposed to bring 00:25:01.859 --> 00:25:06.900 it with gratitude, with thanksgiving. And at 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:09.799 first, I never like, I kind of would ignore that 00:25:09.799 --> 00:25:11.400 part about Thanksgiving because I'm like, I'm 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:14.539 not really grateful right now. Sure. So, Lord, 00:25:14.759 --> 00:25:16.259 yeah, you're going to have to fix this mess. 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:22.349 Right. But once I started like. trying to practice 00:25:22.349 --> 00:25:25.970 that at work or at home or with anything. Like, 00:25:26.170 --> 00:25:28.450 imagine like waking up at like 6 a .m. to the 00:25:28.450 --> 00:25:32.509 kids yelling, I don't know, baby shark, all the 00:25:32.509 --> 00:25:34.970 time for like 15 minutes straight. It's hard 00:25:34.970 --> 00:25:37.670 to be grateful when you're like, no, I want a 00:25:37.670 --> 00:25:39.630 little more sleep. But at that moment, I'm like, 00:25:39.730 --> 00:25:41.509 you know what, I'm actually glad that I'm surrounded 00:25:41.509 --> 00:25:43.789 by kids because they're so joyful and like happy 00:25:43.789 --> 00:25:46.460 and innocent. And this is like the most beautiful 00:25:46.460 --> 00:25:48.420 time for the family as well, because that's like 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:51.240 that period that all the family like enjoys that 00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:54.660 age. Sure. And so I'm like, OK, Lord, I'm actually 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:57.160 really grateful that I got to experience this 00:25:57.160 --> 00:25:59.759 in a different way. Like I'm not part of that 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:03.740 family, but I'm grateful that I get to see their 00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:07.039 happiness together. Yeah. Yeah. And then even 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:09.099 at work when I'm like struggling with like a 00:26:09.099 --> 00:26:11.319 problem has come up, customers come something 00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:13.279 saying something and I'm like, oh no, what do 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:15.920 I do? And I'm like, you know what Lord, I'm happy 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:18.059 that I have this problem and I'm going to be 00:26:18.059 --> 00:26:19.599 able to get through it because you're giving 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:21.420 me the wisdom, you're giving me the strength. 00:26:22.299 --> 00:26:26.579 And so once I started practicing that great gratitude, 00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:32.339 I felt like a shift in the way that I was joyful 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:36.500 at work or joyful at home or any other circumstance. 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:39.380 And everybody is like, people like outsiders 00:26:39.380 --> 00:26:41.440 would be like, oh, you're always so happy. Like 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:43.880 what's going on? And I'm like, that's Jesus. 00:26:45.539 --> 00:26:51.960 Jesus did that. That's not me. I think joy is 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:55.059 a gift that's promised us from God. So I think 00:26:55.059 --> 00:26:59.819 a simple answer is we can ask for it. Sure. And 00:26:59.819 --> 00:27:03.160 and that's, you know, it's promised us to have 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:05.700 that sense of joy in our life. But I think there 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:08.180 is also a part for us to play. I think we like 00:27:08.180 --> 00:27:09.779 a lot of other things that we've talked about 00:27:09.779 --> 00:27:14.980 before. It is it's also a skill or an attribute 00:27:14.980 --> 00:27:18.220 that needs to be developed within us. So we so 00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:20.200 that so there needs to be like an intentional 00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:25.339 effort to to. to grow that sense of joy in us 00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:28.359 so they become a more prominent part of who we 00:27:28.359 --> 00:27:31.519 are and our characters. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:34.339 sure. Maybe this is maybe a bit of a formula, 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:38.420 but just going back to Philippians four, starting 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:40.539 at verse four, it says, rejoice in the Lord always. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:44.579 I will say again, rejoice. Let your gentleness 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:47.880 be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be 00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:50.160 anxious about anything. But in every situation, 00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:52.740 by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:55.299 your request to God. And the peace of God which 00:27:55.299 --> 00:27:56.960 transcends all understanding will guard your 00:27:56.960 --> 00:28:00.839 heart and your mind. So the call is to rejoice, 00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:06.000 to be joyful. I think the way that's shown to 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:11.660 the larger surroundings is by being gentle, making 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:14.990 sure that's evidence. and to be anxious about 00:28:14.990 --> 00:28:17.990 nothing. You're putting your cares, carrying 00:28:17.990 --> 00:28:20.549 your cares to God. So it's the reality that it's 00:28:20.549 --> 00:28:23.369 not that things are going to be smooth, but it's 00:28:23.369 --> 00:28:25.569 that you know that when things get rocky, that 00:28:25.569 --> 00:28:28.690 you have a shelter. You have someone that's going 00:28:28.690 --> 00:28:32.910 to be there for you in Christ. And then also 00:28:32.910 --> 00:28:34.470 just like putting that on. So like, yeah, when 00:28:34.470 --> 00:28:37.289 things get messy. You know who to turn to. You 00:28:37.289 --> 00:28:39.410 know that you can you can pray to you can pray 00:28:39.410 --> 00:28:41.990 to Christ. You can and you can bring those requests 00:28:41.990 --> 00:28:44.730 to God and God will will take care of those things. 00:28:44.730 --> 00:28:47.650 And I think that's the perspective shift that 00:28:47.650 --> 00:28:49.849 we need to have, because there's going to be 00:28:49.849 --> 00:28:51.450 things that are really challenging, like there's 00:28:51.450 --> 00:28:52.250 going to be things that we're not going to be 00:28:52.250 --> 00:28:55.329 able to turn around and to look at in a positive 00:28:55.329 --> 00:28:57.490 light in our lives. I think about the horrible 00:28:57.490 --> 00:29:00.509 abuses that people face. Yeah. What what is the 00:29:00.509 --> 00:29:03.160 how do I turn that around and say, God? This 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:06.339 is why like there's there's not going to be all 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:08.359 those those opportunities for us to be able to 00:29:08.359 --> 00:29:12.099 turn those things around. But even in those those 00:29:12.099 --> 00:29:14.579 terrible circumstances, we know that we have 00:29:14.579 --> 00:29:17.759 someone to turn to, right? Who promises to fill 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:20.640 our cup, who promises to protect us? Because 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:23.910 at the end, it's it's saying that God will. guard 00:29:23.910 --> 00:29:27.569 your heart and your mind. Right. And that protection 00:29:27.569 --> 00:29:29.970 is something that is inexplainable. And I think 00:29:29.970 --> 00:29:32.970 that's why when when Christians truly experience 00:29:32.970 --> 00:29:36.269 joy, it doesn't make sense. Right. Doesn't make 00:29:36.269 --> 00:29:40.150 sense when you see people going through terrible 00:29:40.150 --> 00:29:42.369 things and you see them with this different perspective, 00:29:42.410 --> 00:29:45.140 not that they're happy and jumping around and 00:29:45.140 --> 00:29:47.579 being like, yay, I had this persecution today. 00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:51.200 Like, that's not I don't think that's what like 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.440 reality. That's not what people are doing. Yeah. 00:29:53.619 --> 00:29:57.680 But that perspective shift is just knowing of 00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:01.819 the tomorrow, knowing of the savior of that that 00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:05.839 Advent experience, I think is is different. Yeah. 00:30:06.019 --> 00:30:08.279 Yeah. Maybe that's the formula. Maybe. Maybe. 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:11.240 Yeah. I feel like it's a good start. Trust the 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:15.640 trusted source was from Paul. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 00:30:15.640 --> 00:30:18.819 I think that connecting it back to this season 00:30:18.819 --> 00:30:22.900 of Advent, right, that we get joy through Christ 00:30:22.900 --> 00:30:26.099 and and as we sort of said before, through Christ 00:30:26.099 --> 00:30:28.740 in spending time with God, but also through Christ 00:30:28.740 --> 00:30:31.279 in the community of Christ in the church and 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:33.779 spending time with other believers. Right. That. 00:30:33.779 --> 00:30:37.549 Yeah. Joy. is a personal experience, but it's 00:30:37.549 --> 00:30:40.549 cultivated communally and in the supporting of 00:30:40.549 --> 00:30:43.630 one another and getting through all of life. 00:30:44.390 --> 00:30:47.529 I also I would also say just to kind of end things 00:30:47.529 --> 00:30:51.910 off in my own thinking is that joy is very evangelical. 00:30:53.259 --> 00:30:56.700 It's something that God has gifted the world. 00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:00.140 The coming of Jesus, joy to the world, the Lord 00:31:00.140 --> 00:31:03.859 has come. It is a present, it is a gift, not 00:31:03.859 --> 00:31:07.220 just for Christians. It is a gift to the world. 00:31:07.339 --> 00:31:13.319 It's meant to heal the world. I mean, God has 00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:17.180 given us that gift in the world, that gift in 00:31:17.180 --> 00:31:21.279 Christ. And I think we as Christians are meant 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:24.420 to go out into the world and extend that joy 00:31:24.420 --> 00:31:28.700 anywhere and everywhere that we go. Not just 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:32.099 being happy or being unexplainably, you know, 00:31:32.099 --> 00:31:35.200 happy or joyful. And people looking at us weird. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:38.720 You're a little obnoxious right now. What's that 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:46.349 guy on? And we say, Jesus! But to bring joy into 00:31:46.349 --> 00:31:51.190 the world is more practical, like you were saying. 00:31:51.950 --> 00:31:54.829 It is helping to respond to the needs of those 00:31:54.829 --> 00:31:57.730 in the community that are going without. Bringing 00:31:57.730 --> 00:32:01.009 joy to the world is helping to feed hungry families. 00:32:01.470 --> 00:32:05.829 It's helping to house homeless people. It's bringing 00:32:05.829 --> 00:32:08.970 services or making services available to those 00:32:08.970 --> 00:32:12.339 who are going through mental health issues, you 00:32:12.339 --> 00:32:16.619 know, it's it's it is being that that bridge 00:32:16.619 --> 00:32:20.200 to responding to some of the, you know, kind 00:32:20.200 --> 00:32:24.079 of the physical or earthly needs that often get 00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:27.839 in the way for people to understand who God is 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:30.180 in their life. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Like it 00:32:30.180 --> 00:32:32.460 goes back to the angels who visited the shepherd 00:32:32.460 --> 00:32:34.680 said that they've come to bring you good news 00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:39.789 of great joy for all people. We all get it. You 00:32:39.789 --> 00:32:41.710 get some joy, and you get some joy, and you get 00:32:41.710 --> 00:32:43.730 some joy. Like Oprah? Yeah. You just all get 00:32:43.730 --> 00:32:48.150 it. I was having her Oprah moment. Yeah. I get 00:32:48.150 --> 00:32:51.970 a check under my chair. Do I get a car? No, no 00:32:51.970 --> 00:32:53.970 car. Unfortunately not. But the good news is 00:32:53.970 --> 00:32:56.069 you don't need a car to be filled with joy. Amen. 00:32:56.329 --> 00:33:00.509 Although a car would help. Destroying everything 00:33:00.509 --> 00:33:03.990 we've talked about in the last half hour. Joy. 00:33:04.269 --> 00:33:07.609 Joy. We all get that. Yeah. Thank you so much, 00:33:07.710 --> 00:33:11.869 folks. It's a very joyful conversation, but also 00:33:11.869 --> 00:33:15.589 I think a really helpful sort of angle to take 00:33:15.589 --> 00:33:19.329 on this, right? That joy is contentment, joy 00:33:19.329 --> 00:33:22.170 is this positive feeling that we feel, but it's 00:33:22.170 --> 00:33:24.329 also something deeper and it's also something 00:33:24.329 --> 00:33:27.930 that sustains us, right? Through all of the ups 00:33:27.930 --> 00:33:32.329 and downs and who knows what of life. Yeah. Thank 00:33:32.329 --> 00:33:35.190 you for tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity 00:33:35.190 --> 00:33:38.309 Talks. I hope that wherever you are, you can 00:33:38.309 --> 00:33:41.609 find some spaces of joy, whether you are cultivating 00:33:41.609 --> 00:33:44.089 that for yourself or cultivating it in a sense 00:33:44.089 --> 00:33:47.690 of community. May you have a very joyful Christmas 00:33:47.690 --> 00:33:49.430 season and we'll see you again next week.