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Happiness:fleeting feeling of uncontained excitement, usually accompanied by giddy laughter and contentment due to a favorable or desired experience.



Joy: a continual, supernatural sustaining of our souls in seasons of heartache, injustice, and sorrow.

The Lost Sheep
(Luke 15:1-7) NKJV Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” So He spoke this parable to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

The Lost Coin
(Luke 15:8-10) NKJV“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Lost Son
(Luke 15:11-24) NKJV - Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,’ “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants”. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son’. But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”

(Luke 19:10) “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

The contrast of loss and joy.



Joy: a continual, supernatural sustaining of our souls in seasons of heartache, injustice, and sorrow.



Progression of Loss
· The shepherd faced a loss of identity
· The woman faced a loss of significance
· The father faced the loss of honor

Progression of Participation
· The shepherd leaves
· The woman searches
· The father prepares

Progression of Celebration
· The shepherd invites his friends
· The woman invites her friends and neighbors
· The father invites his entire household,servants, and community.

The greater the loss,
the greater the participation,
the more profound the joy.



(Isaiah 40:31) “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”


Wait = ‘qavah: “to intertwine”


Mount Up=’alah: “to go up, ascend, to go up over a boundary”

How do we participate with God in loss?
1. Leave
· Resist denial
· Resist isolation
· Resist negative self-talk



QUESTION: To experience joy, how will I prepare?

How do we participate with God in loss?
1. Leave
2. Search



(Psalm 13:3) NLT - “Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.”



QUESTION: In a season of loss, what do I need to search for to experience JOY?

How do we participate with God in loss?
1. Leave
2. Search
3. Prepare for joy



(James 1:2-4) NLT - My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.


QUESTION: In a season of loss, in what ways can I prepare for JOY?

(Luke 15:25-32) NKJV“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.


And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’But he was angry

So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.
(NS)
But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”





Response Verse –
Psalm 13:3 // NLT “Look on me and answer, Lord my God.Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep indeath.”

GIVE US ONE YEAR OF YOUR LIFE.

1 PETER 1:17 // MSG

You call out to God for help and He helps - He’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, He’s also a responsible Father and won’t let you get by with sloppy living. Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God.