Citywide Baptist Church
The Candles of Advent: Joy
Matt talks about what makes for joy
Locations & Times
Citywide Baptist Church (Mornington)
400 Cambridge Rd, Mornington TAS 7018, Australia
Sunday 10:00 AM
We all want joy and part of the reason Christmas is so important for us is that it promises joy, and that’s also why it can be so painful…
“Looking for joy in the Christmas trappings and traditions is like opening a beautifully wrapped package with a tag that reads “Joy Inside,” only to find the box empty. That’s because our Christmas traditions don’t so much house joy as much as they point to joy. If we want our joy voids filled, we must look less at Christmas and more through Christmas to where indestructible, unspeakable [true] joy really is.”
John Bloom
John Bloom
Joy is a deep and precious human experience that we find it hard to put words around.
What does joy mean to you?
We can know how important Joy is by the number of marketers who try to attach their product to it:
What does joy mean to you?
We can know how important Joy is by the number of marketers who try to attach their product to it:
BMW makes Joy
https://youtu.be/ji1rDlt4m60Walmart and coke let you stock up on joy
https://youtu.be/AXXPIk4v6awGlade lets you feel joy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw3HfRMruC8Amazon lets you make joy
https://youtu.be/EKtTlEx_NjwApple lets you share joy
https://youtu.be/CzuTKDHaxAsMarketers tap into deep human needs, and actually want to take away your joy by getting you to be dissatisfied without their product.
Comparison is the thief of joy - Theodore Roosevelt.
Joy is profound it is a foretaste of the world we are built for
Comparison is the thief of joy - Theodore Roosevelt.
Joy is profound it is a foretaste of the world we are built for
We don't find joy by pursuing it, but by looking for the "kingdom moments" in our lives.
Brene Brown: an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation.
Joy is a wholehearted appreciation of the beauty of a moment.
Joy is a wholehearted appreciation of the beauty of a moment.
A picture of joy
Joy is different to happiness
Happiness: feeling pleasure often related to the immediate environment or current circumstances. - Brene Brown
Happiness is when happenings are going the way your ego wants them to go.
We can have joy when happenings are not going the way our ego wants them to go, depending on where our focus is.
Happiness: feeling pleasure often related to the immediate environment or current circumstances. - Brene Brown
Happiness is when happenings are going the way your ego wants them to go.
We can have joy when happenings are not going the way our ego wants them to go, depending on where our focus is.
It possible to have joy in the face of challenges, because God can use those challenges to grow us to be more like Jesus and also because of the incredible future we look forward to.
Looking at the brokenness of the world and even in our families can lead to sorrow, but looking to God’s story in the brokenness leads to joy.
Being joyful is an act of resistance to the death and destruction in the world. It is a choice to focus on life and not death.
Being joyful is an act of resistance to the death and destruction in the world. It is a choice to focus on life and not death.
In the Old Testament, Joy was a feeling, but it was also expressed in community, often through a celebration of some sort.
Paul often spoke about Joy, but it was almost always an expression of his gratitude and love for other people.
It’s not possible to have joy without also being open to sorrow. Joy requires vulnerability.
Given that I study emotions like shame, fear, and vulnerability, I hardly expected to one day be telling you that exploring the construct of joy turned my professional and personal life upside down.
But it’s true. In fact, having spent several years studying what it means to feel joyful, I’d argue that joy is probably the most difficult emotion to really feel. Why? Because when we lose the ability or willingness to be vulnerable, joy becomes something we approach with deep foreboding.
This shift from our younger self’s greeting of joy with unalloyed delight happens slowly and outside of our awareness. We don’t seem to even know that it’s happening or why. We just know that we crave more joy in our lives, that we are joy starved.
Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly (pp. 117-118).
Given that I study emotions like shame, fear, and vulnerability, I hardly expected to one day be telling you that exploring the construct of joy turned my professional and personal life upside down.
But it’s true. In fact, having spent several years studying what it means to feel joyful, I’d argue that joy is probably the most difficult emotion to really feel. Why? Because when we lose the ability or willingness to be vulnerable, joy becomes something we approach with deep foreboding.
This shift from our younger self’s greeting of joy with unalloyed delight happens slowly and outside of our awareness. We don’t seem to even know that it’s happening or why. We just know that we crave more joy in our lives, that we are joy starved.
Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly (pp. 117-118).
Joy cannot be grasped by itself. It always comes as a result of being thankful for something else.
“The root of joy is gratefulness...It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”
― Brother David Steindl-Rast
Joy can be a place we live from if we adopt the spiritual practise of recognising the moments of grace in our lives.
I believe joy is a spiritual practice we have to work at. For me, that means appreciating everyday moments: a walk with my husband, fishing with my kids on the Gulf Coast. It means not living in fear of what I could lose, but softening into the moments I have.
Brene Brown
To En/Joy is a choice to focus on what is right with the world.
“The root of joy is gratefulness...It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.”
― Brother David Steindl-Rast
Joy can be a place we live from if we adopt the spiritual practise of recognising the moments of grace in our lives.
I believe joy is a spiritual practice we have to work at. For me, that means appreciating everyday moments: a walk with my husband, fishing with my kids on the Gulf Coast. It means not living in fear of what I could lose, but softening into the moments I have.
Brene Brown
To En/Joy is a choice to focus on what is right with the world.
Joy is the result of choosing to be think about and appreciate what (or who) is right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy in your life.
They are God's gifts to you, an echo of what is to come.
They are God's gifts to you, an echo of what is to come.
Love is the key to Joy... and Jesus is what love looks like.
The more we love, the more we will discover the truth of his words. The more we love Jesus, the more we will be able to love in the face of darkness.
Some Christians end up living joyless lives because they feel like they need to keep focussing on the darkness. Jesus encourages to lift our eyes and learn how to love.
God made this world good, and there are always seeds of light in the midst of darkness. Darkness wants us to fear it, but joy is always available if we can allow ourselves to love and be grateful.
There is no safe way to love. Real love comes in the shape of a cross, but real love is where life is found.
We will be talking more about love next week but for now, do you want more joy in your life? Let Jesus lift your eyes from the darkness and teach you to appreciate the light.
The more we love, the more we will discover the truth of his words. The more we love Jesus, the more we will be able to love in the face of darkness.
Some Christians end up living joyless lives because they feel like they need to keep focussing on the darkness. Jesus encourages to lift our eyes and learn how to love.
God made this world good, and there are always seeds of light in the midst of darkness. Darkness wants us to fear it, but joy is always available if we can allow ourselves to love and be grateful.
There is no safe way to love. Real love comes in the shape of a cross, but real love is where life is found.
We will be talking more about love next week but for now, do you want more joy in your life? Let Jesus lift your eyes from the darkness and teach you to appreciate the light.
Small Group Questions:
1)Talk about a time where you experienced Joy. What was happening? What did it feel like?
2)Talk about a time where you experienced a celebration that you really enjoyed. What about it was enjoyable?
3)Have someone read Phil 4:4-9. What are the things or people in your life that are right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy? How could you enjoy them more.
4)What do you enjoy about your relationship with God?
1)Talk about a time where you experienced Joy. What was happening? What did it feel like?
2)Talk about a time where you experienced a celebration that you really enjoyed. What about it was enjoyable?
3)Have someone read Phil 4:4-9. What are the things or people in your life that are right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy? How could you enjoy them more.
4)What do you enjoy about your relationship with God?