The Heart Of Christmas Is Joy Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD?

www.mycrossway.org

Watch this message at: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/episodes/171848

It can be easy to get lost in all the gifts, decorations, and parties and miss the central focus of Christmas. Jesus was born to bring the gifts of hope, peace, joy, and love, and that is the real reason for this season. The first week we learned we are offered hope in the middle of our circumstances because of God’s faithfulness. Last week, we looked at the wonderful gift of peace that Jesus’s sacrifice makes available to us. We are made right with God, ourselves, and others because of Christ. This week, I want to introduce one more piece of the heart of Christmas: a joy that is ours no matter the circumstances or situations we are facing in life.

Which one of these scenarios would bring you the most joy? Are you ready? If this would make you joyful, stand up. If not, stay seated. [INCLUDE GRAPHICS]

1.) You go through the drive-thru of your favorite coffee shop, order your triple-shot, soy, peppermint mocha, with whip and discover the car in front of you paid for it.

2.)You wake up Christmas morning and find that it snowed four inches overnight. Now have to shovel it.

3.) Your child or grandchild makes you some Christmas cookies and a homemade card

4.) You water your Christmas tree enough so it doesn’t become dry and crispy and drop needles all over your floor. (This illustration needs to introduce the idea that our joy often is connected to our circumstances.)

Maybe some of you saw these situations as reasons for joy. This week’s sermon is so important because, for many of us, our joy is reflective of this illustration. Our joy in life is largely connected to the circumstances in our lives. When things are going well, we feel good. When things are going poorly, we feel bad. Our joy ebbs and flows. But for the believer, Jesus came so that our joy would not fluctuate with our circumstances, but could remain steady as we fix our eyes and hearts on Him.

There is a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is based on circumstances. It is fleeting. Expensive gifts and good food and parties and celebrations and Christmas lights can bring happiness. But they are only temporary.

Joy comes from within. It transcends what happens to us. Good things that God blesses us with that cause our joy to swell in our hearts. Like the ocean. Have you ever been on the ocean when there are swells from a storm? Large sections of the water rise up and burst off the side of the boat. It is amazing and you are in awe of the sense of power.

Joy has the same capacity if not more so. It swells when God pours out His blessings on you. It overflows onto others. It spills out of your heart in showers of praise and gratitude. Yet, while happiness is often fleeting and disappears when circumstances change, joy remains constant even in the darkest times. Joy is there while happiness has run away.

This is the joy of Jesus. This is what Christ brings to us when he comes. It is the joy of forgiveness. It is the joy of grace. It is the joy of love. It is the joy of mercy.

Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ birth from similar perspectives. As John began his gospel letter, he gave a different perspective on the birth of Jesus. Rather than tell us his iteration with the shepherds, magi, and manger, he gave us a big-picture explanation of what took place in Bethlehem. What John wrote is a cause for joy no matter what we face in life.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

What John described is known as the incarnation. Coming from the Latin word carne, which means flesh, the incarnation was God putting skin on and becoming one of us. Verse 14 says the Word became flesh. He is called the Word (the Logos) because he perfectly embodies all of Scripture in human flesh. When Jesus was born in the manger, he was Immanuel, God coming to live among us.

This passage gives us two reasons for joy that does not have to change with the seasons or shift with our situations. It can be a constant in our lives and a grounding attitude in the face of all the world has to offer.

WE CAN HAVE JOY BECAUSE GOD CAME TO US

A common misconception people carry around with them is that to be reunited with God in the right relationship with him, we must earn His acceptance through good works. One of the greatest joy robbers in our lives is thinking we can never be good enough. We are broken and flawed people who hurt others, we make mistakes, and we live selfish lives. If we are relying on our abilities to earn a connection with God, we will always be disappointed.