Make Our Joy Complete Series

INTRO.- ILL.- The University of Notre Dame has a new tip for a catering employee they mistakenly gave a $29,000 gratuity check: Give it back. A lawsuit filed by the Indiana university claims Sara Gaspar used the accidental check to pay bills and buy a new car, MyFOX Chicago reported.

Notre Dame claims the check, which was supposed to be for $29.87, not $29,387, was issued on April 17 and alleges caterer Gaspar never notified university officials about the blunder.

Gaspar claims when messages she left regarding the check went unreturned, she assumed the amount wasn’t a mistake. She also said her supervisors told her the check was legitimate and they would pass on her messages to the human resources department, MyFOX Chicago reported.

"I guess because it was there and I was in a bad situation, I went out and spent it," Gaspar told the South Bend Tribune. "I was so excited ... I thought, I could pay some of these bills."

Her attorney claims that because the funds were listed as "gratuity" and not "wages," Gaspar did nothing wrong.

Wow! Wouldn’t that be awful to happen to you? You thought you were being blessed beyond measure and turns out it was all a mistake. At least, Sara Gaspar tried to check it out BEFORE she cashed that big check! Money is the name of the game to many people in life.

I Timothy 6:9-10 "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

ILL.- Comedian Jay Leno once said, “They say John Kerry was the first Democratic presidential candidate in history to raise $50 million in a three-month period. Actually, that’s nothing. He once raised $500 million with two words: ’I do.’"

We all know that money and material possessions are the great goal of many people in life. We often gauge how a person is doing by the size of their bank account, the size of their house and the accumulation of their possessions.

What will make our joy complete, full, abounding? A new car? A big bank account? A new house? A bigger house? A baby? A better job? A raise in salary? A great doctor’s report? A great vacation? John gives us a lowdown on what will make our joy complete. What is it? Basically, it’s that which is from the beginning. IT’S JESUS! With Jesus, we have all we need!

PROP.- Let’s note what John is saying about Jesus who can make our joy complete.

1- He was from the beginning

2- He was seen and touched

3- He was sent for a purpose

I. HE WAS FROM THE BEGINNING

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

ILL.- Little Johnny’s new baby brother was screaming up a storm. He asked his mom, “Where’d we get him?” His mother replied, “He came from heaven, Johnny.” Johnny says, “WOW! I can see why they threw him out!”

ILL.- When Smiths went to get their son William checked in a hospital, the doctor told them, "You have a cute baby." Mr. Smith said, "I bet you say that to all new parents."

"No," he replied, "just to those whose babies really are good-looking." "So what do you say to the others?" asked Mr. Smith. The doctor said, "He looks just like you."

Brothers and sisters, we all had a beginning but there is one who never had a beginning. WHO’S THAT?

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

It’s hard to understand not having a beginning but it’s true!

Genesis 1:1 1 "In the beginning God....created the heavens and the earth."

Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

John 1:1-2 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."

The "beginning" referred to in this text, of course, was the beginning of time as we know it. However, the text is not talking about the beginning of God or of Jesus because HEY HAD NO BEGINNING!