“The Gift Of Joy”
The Gifts Of Christmas – part one
SHOW – The Grinch Video Clip….(when he thinks they will be sad on mountain about to push over toys – new Grinch)
“maybe Christmas means more…”
As your pastor – I felt the need as Christmas 2001 shifts into high gear – to talk about, to remind you, to remind me, to remind us, of what the true meaning of Christmas really is. Now I don’t really expect to tell anything you don’t already know… I’m just trying to do what Peter did in his second letter;
“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them…I think it is right to refresh your memory…” 2 Peter 1:12,13
This morning, we kick off a 4 week sermon series, I’m calling, ‘The Gifts Of Christmas,’ During the next 4 weeks, we will talk about the gift of significance, the gift of joy, the gift of Christ, and the gift of seeing Him.
TODAY – I want to begin with the gift of joy… AND I want to talk about joy for 2 reasons. #1; because it is most definitely one of the gifts of Christmas… Luke records the following words in the second chapter of his gospel;
Luke 2:8-11
“I bring you good news of GREAT joy…” CIRCLE – “great joy….”
Now, the word ‘great’ is the Greek word ‘megas’ it’s where we get our English word mega. I like that… LISTEN – the good news the angels proclaimed was not just the good news of ‘joy’ – NO it was the good news of MEGA joy… Mega joy for all people, mega joy for me, mega joy for you…
The second reason I want to talk about joy, as we begin this series, is because for many – Christmas is NOT a joyful time…
SURE – we sing, “Joy to the world the Lord is come” “O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant” “repeat the sounding joy” and “Tis the season to be jolly” - BUT joy – real joy seems to elude so many. BUT I am sure that is not news to you – hey we have all heard the statistics (maybe we’ve been part of them, a time or 2) statistics, of how the Christmas season is a time a great depression for so many, statistics of how the suicide rate goes up this time of year…
AND LISTEN – it’s not only those out in the world who feel this way, I’ve seen people, even people who belong to Christ – people who attend church, people who sing songs of praise - go around this time of year looking like the Grinch and sounding like the scrooge… They are; stressed out, worn out, burnt out and joyed out…
UNDERSTAND - it is my desire this morning to take preventive action, LISTEN – I want this Christmas, I want Christmas 2001 to be the most joyful Christmas that any of us has ever had… This past Thursday night during our Z 46 prayer time, a group of prayer warriors gathered in a candlelight room down the hall, we sang some songs and we prayed that Christmas 2001 will be an incredible, exciting, Christ-centered, joy filled time for the people of Central.
Today I want to give you 6 things that will without a doubt keep ‘mega’ joy in your Christmas – and to help us remember what these six things are, I have come up with and acrostic of the word – GRINCH.
PRAY
OKAY – let’s get started…
G – Give Your Worries To God
Do people ever worry during the Christmas season? Are there things that make people anxious this time of year?
What am I going to buy so & so?
How am I going to pay for all this stuff?
What if they buy me a present and I didn’t get them one?
How am I going to get everything done?
Is it going to be insane when all the relatives come over?
Will uncle Joe act up this year?
Where is everyone going to sleep?
Is going to be safe to travel?
Will I ever find a parking place at the mall?
What if they don’t like what I buy them?
What am I going to preach this year?
UNDERSTAND – worry is one of the main reasons people loose their joy? NOT only during the Christmas season BUT all the time… It’s hard to be joyful when you are stressed out and worried… Worry is:
. Asking “what if” and answering
. Stewing without doing
. Worry Corrie Ten Boom says - “does not empty tomorrow of it’s sorrows, it empties today of it’s strength.”
The word “worry” in the Greek actually is made up of 2 words that mean, “to divide the mind” (merizo, nous). Worry divides the mind between positive thoughts and damaging thoughts. Interestingly our English word “worry” has much the same meaning, it comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that means to “choke” or to “strangle.” This is exactly what worry does, it chokes our joy, it strangles it. UNDERSTAND - worry is probably the least productive thing you ever do…
Mickey Rivers, at the time an outfielder for the Texas Rangers, stated his philosophy of life: “Ain’t no sense worrying about things you got control over, because if you got control over them, ain’t no sense worrying. And there ain’t no sense worrying about things you got no control over either, because if you got no control over them, ain’t no sense worrying.
Let me read 2 passages that deal with giving up your worry…
[READ] Matthew 6:25-34
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord in near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:4-7
LISTEN – is not a coincidence that Paul talks about rejoicing and worry in the same context – BECAUSE if you are ever going to be able to rejoice ALWAYS… you must learn how to overcome worry… Paul says the key is GIVE every anxiety to God…
AND Jesus said in the passage we just read from Matthew 6; that the things people in this world are frantically seeking after, “Your father knows that you need them...”
LISTEN - If you are a Christian you are one of God’s children. Now that is an awesome truth, an incredible concept, one you must not allow yourself to overlook or minimize;
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 Jn 3:1
“I am a child of God…”
AND UNDERSTAND – that when you really understand and believe that you are a child of God, it WILL take of worry in your life… LET me try to illustrate… My children and I’m sure your’s as well; do not worry about whether or not they will have a home to live in, food to eat, clothes to wear, they don’t worry about if there will be heat in the winter, AC in the summer, water for a shower or soap to bathe. They don’t worry about money for school lunches, school supplies, instrument rentals or field trips...
Why? Because they know that we are aware of their needs and they trust us to take care of that stuff. How much MORE will God take care of your needs. “If that is how God clothes the grass of the fields, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he cloth you...O you of little faith”
Now if we are honest most of us would have to admit (and even if we didn’t our actions would show otherwise), most of us trust God less, then our own children trust us.
Therefore we need to develop the habit of turning to God whenever we feel worry coming on. LISTEN - your reaction in worry needs to become a conditioned reflex.
NOW - we all know what a normal reflex is. What happens if your hand comes to close to the burner on a stove? Your hand will instantly jerk back. You don’t need to think about the action, it comes naturally. A conditioned reflex is exactly the same, except that it has to be learned. An example of a conditioned reflex would be your reaction of stepping on the brakes when you see a red light suddenly pop up while driving or rising to your feet whenever someone plays the Star Spangled Banner. These reactions are almost automatic, but they do not result from instinct, they are learned.
In the same way you need to develop reflexes that turn you to the father at the first sign of worry. “Cast all your worries on Him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Giving your worries to God will help keep joy in your Christmas…
R – Refuse To Focus On What You Don’t Have
LISTEN - focusing on what you don’t have, OR focusing on how things were back in the day, is a certain path to lost joy… Solomon writes in pr 14;30; “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones..”
QUESTION – do people ever struggle with envy during the Christmas season?
“I wish I had more money to buy gifts” “I wish we could go away like the Johnsons” “Yeah if I lived in a house like they do – I’d be happy too” “I wish my family…my marriage was more like theirs”
Question – why did the Grinch think that he had stolen Christmas for the whos? Because he thought that he had taken away all the things that Christmas was about… This act was, or so he hoped, the final note in his symphony of nastiness and not niceness…
That’s why - WHEN the Grinch heard coming from Whoville not sounds of sadness but sounds of joy - he was perplexed…BECAUSE “it came without gifts, it came without tags, it came without packages, boxes or bags…”
UNDERSTAND – the reason the Grinch couldn’t take away the who’s Christmas was because the who’s refused to focus on what they didn’t have… That’s a pretty powerful lesson Dr Seuss.
LISTEN – If all Christmas is to some people;
Presents (big presents, expensive presents, lots of presents)
Family (Norman Rockwell portraits and Kodak moment type family – perfect marriages…)
IF all Christmas is to some – is; ribbons, parties, fun and bows
THEN – no wonder they can and do, loose their joy this time of year…no wonder it can be stolen.
“If I can’t buy or I don’t receive the gifts I want – I’m depressed…”
“If a don’t have a family, or a picture perfect family, OR if I have lost a loved one – Christmas will never be the same…it will never be joyful again.”
UNDERSTAND – you will not always be able to give or receive all that you want; UNDERSTAND - your families are not perfect; and UNDERSTAND – at times love ones will leave you to go home to the Lord – BUT these things should not effect your Christmas joy…
WHY? BECAUSE – as the GRINCH so correctly said, “Christmas does not come in a store… Christmas means so much more…”
AND LISTEN – the true meaning, the core of Christmas, can never be taken away… We’ll talk about that true meaning is in just a moment… But it suffices to say for now – that it is only when you make Christmas something it was never intended to be that this time of the year can be a downer…
IF you refuse to focus on what you don’t – it will keep your joy…not just at Christmas BUT 24/7.
I – Include Time For Rest
I think the words of Job, in Job 9;25, describe the lives of many during this time of year..
“My days go by faster than a runner. They fly away without my seeing joy.” Job 9:25 (NCV)
LISTEN – people do a lot of running this time of year. Why - BECAUSE; there are malls to conquer, presents to buy, traffic to battle, programs to attend, food to prepare, cards to send, trees to trim, decorations to hang, and parties to go to…
The number of plates that are overloaded this time of year, usually reaches epidemic proportions. … AND people, who are stressed out, out of balance and un-rested – tend to get a little grumpy. Has that ever happened to you? That’s why you need rest…
LISTEN - Rest is so important that God put it right up there is His top ten; right up there with “Don’t steal”, “Don’t murder”, “Don’t commit adultery”. He says every seven days you take a day off. That’s how important He considers rest (even during Christmas).
Rest - is so important that God used Himself as an example. When he created the world, it says he took six days - and on the seventh He rested. Was God tired? No, God does not get tired. So why did God rest on the seventh day? He was modeling an important principal of life – we need a scheduled time of rest.
UNDERSTAND - God didn’t need to, but He did it – He set the example… Much like Jesus, being baptized NOT because He had sin BUT to set the example of how to have a right relationship with God. BOTTOMLINE – we need rest…. You need rest. I need rest. [remember if you burn the candle at both ends you are not as bright as you think you are…]
SO – How do you make sure that include time for rest during this season of the year; OKAY – if you do two things, (if you both, learn & stop) you will get some rest during the coming weeks…
First you need to learn to say NO….. LISTEN - That is a ten thousand-dollar time management seminar in two letters. NO. You remember the anti-drug motto, “Just say No.” A lot of us are addicted to speed. Not the drug, the lifestyle. We’re addicted to the adrenaline it produces. We’re addicted to the lifestyle of going faster and faster and how important it makes us feel.
We have to learn in our lives to just say no. Listen - The number one reason our lives get overloaded is we just say “Yes” too many times to too many people, people that we love.. We say yes to too many things, things that are important.
We’re living this verse in Proverbs 20:25 “A impulsive vow is a trap. Later you wish you could get out of it.” Ever asked yourself that one? “Why did I say yes to that? Why am I doing this? Listen - Don’t promise without pondering. Don’t decide without deliberating. Carefully and prayerfully make your commitments.
Remember - it’s always easier to get in than it is to get out. It’s always easier to get into debt than it is to get out of debt. It is always easier to get into a relationship than to get out of a relationship. It’s always easier to get into trouble than to get out of trouble. It’s always easier to fill up your schedule than it is to empty your schedule. So we all have to decide, “Just because I could do it doesn’t mean I should do it.” There are times when I have to just say no.
And listen - one of the reasons we have a difficult time saying no is we don’t admit to ourselves that we have limits. We think we can just keep adding things to our lives. The truth is our lives are already full.
“I have learned that everything has limits…” Ps. 119:96 (GN)
You are going to have to say NO, some time during the next few weeks if you are going to find time for rest…
SECOND – if you want to get rest - you need STOP the constant push for more..
LISTEN - You don’t have to;
give more
decorate more
do more
go more
spend more
or send more
UNDERSTAND – this push for MORE can get crazy… SOME people feel they have to give more to a family member – I have to give them more then they give me, I have to give my mom more than anyone else….
If you learn to say no
If you stop the constant push for more
YOU will be able to include time for rest – AND THIS – will help you keep your joy.
N - Never Forget The Reason
“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10,11
CIRCLE – “a Savior has been born to you…”
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
CIRCLE – “shall not perish”
The word translated perish means, to destroy to make an end to, to annihilate…The word means according to The Theological Dictionary of the New testament “definitive destruction, not merely in the sense of the extinction of physical existence, but rather of an eternal plunge into Hades and a hopeless destiny of death…” (that’s not very pleasant)
LISTEN - the reason for Christmas – is that YOU needed a Savior, The reason for the season, is God’s gift to you - so that you would not have to perish – would not have to be destroyed, so that you would not have to be plunged into Hades and a hopeless destiny of death… NEVER allow yourself to forget that.
UNDERSTAND – The Christ child did not come 2,000 years ago; so that we could give each other presents, decorate our houses, drink egg nog, have parties and sit on Santa’s lap. NO Christ came – that little baby was born to a virgin, and was laid in a manger for one reason, and one reason only – to die for your sin…and mine. Jesus was born to die… (in fact Mary was told shortly after Jesus’ birth that a sword would pierce her soul – she knew the reason)
THAT’S, the reason for the season… NEVER forget it. Christmas is about God giving His son to die for you.
Question – How do you think God feels when he looks down at us, and sees us give more time, more energy, more everything to all of the trimmings the world has wrapped Christmas in… BUT give so little to Christ…?
How do you thing God feels when people have “Christmas’ parties whose only purpose is to get trashed…? (Perkins, I had to leave…)
If you want to keep joy in your Christmas remember the reason… LISTEN - God loved you so much that he gave His Son, He loved you so much that He watched, He stood on the sidelines as His son was – mocked, beaten, spit upon and crucified…
That is why Christmas should make you say with great joy – with mega joy, “I matter to God and that’s all that matters to me…” It doesn’t matter what I get or can’t give – it doesn’t matter if my family is perfect or not… BECAUSE, I matter to God…”
LISTEN - nothing can separate you from the real joy of Christmas… BECAUSE the real joy of Christmas – IS – grounded, anchored and tied to the love of God…
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardships, or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rm 8:35,37-39
LISTEN – a quick way to separate yourself from joy during this time of year is for you to forget the reason… AND A CERTAIN way to have and hold to ‘mega’ joy – is to always remember the reason for the season…
QUESTION – how can you NOT be joyful when you think about how much Almighty God loves you?
AND to help you REMEMBER in 2001, I have put together a little devotional guide for you to use…”Keeping The Reason In The Season…” 28 days of quiet times…
H – Hold Your Thoughts Captive
In your outline – jump down to the H in the word Grinch, we’ll come back to the C later – I want to close with that…,
The H – in the word Grinch stands for “hold your thoughts captive…’ Paul writes in 2 Cor 10:5, “take captive every thought”
LISTEN – if you do not hold your thoughts captive – there is a good chance that you will lose your joy this Christmas season… if you do not control your thinking you are in trouble…
Now we talk about our thought life a lot at Central because we have discovered that; how you think – determines how you feel and how you feel determines how you act…
UNDERSTAND – if you start thinking negative things during this time of year - if you start thinking about what you want BUT you don’t have, if you start worrying about this & this, if you start thinking depressing thoughts – it should be no surprise that you start to feel & act depressed…
TAKE captive your thoughts – do not allow those negative thoughts in… AND if you are wondering what to think about Paul offers some good advise in Phil 4:8;
“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think of such things…” Phil 4:8
LISTEN – you WILL loose your joy;
IF you don’t take your thoughts captive
IF you don’t get rest
IF you don’t remember the reason
IF you focus on what you don’t have
IF you don’t give your worries to God
C – Consider Your Future
Max Lucado writes; No man had more reason to be miserable than this one – yet no man was more joyful.
His first home was a palace. Servants were at his fingertips. The snap of his fingers changed the course of history. His name was known and loved. He had everything – wealth, power, respect. And then he had nothing.
Students of the event still ponder it. Historians stumble as they attempt to explain it. How could a king lose everything in one instant? One moment he was royalty; the next he was in poverty.
His bed became, at best, a borrowed pallet – and usually the hard earth. He never owned even the most basic mode of transportation and was dependent upon handouts for his income. He was sometimes so hungry he would eat raw grain or pick fruit off a tree. He knew what it was like to be rained on, to be cold. He knew what it meant to have no home.
His palace grounds had been spotless; now he was exposed to filth. He had never known disease, but was now surrounded by illness.
In his kingdom he had been revered; now he was ridiculed. His neighbors tried to lynch him. Some called him a lunatic. His family tried to confine him to their house.
Those who didn’t ridicule him tried to use him. They wanted favors. They wanted tricks. He was a novelty. They wanted to be seen with him – that is, until being with him was out of fashion. THEN they wanted to kill him.
He was accused of a crime he never committed. Witnesses were hired to lie. The jury was rigged. No lawyer was assigned to his defense. A Judge swayed by politics handed down the death penalty.
They killed him.
He left as he came – penniless. He was buried in a borrowed grave, his funeral financed by compassionate friends. Though he once had everything, he died with nothing.
He should have been miserable. He should have been bitter. He had every right to be a pot of boiling anger. But he wasn’t.
He was joyful…He was joyful when he was poor. He was joyful when he was abandoned. He was joyful when he was betrayed. He was even joyful as he hung on a tool of torture, his hands pierced with 6 inch Roman spikes…
Jesus embodied a stubborn joy. A joy that refused to bend in the wind of hard times. A Joy that held it’s ground against pain….
QUESTION – How was Jesus able to maintain his joy? The Hebrew writer in his 12th chapter gives us at least part of the answer…
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge cloud of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willingly to die a shameful death on the cross BECAUSE of the JOY he knew would be his afterwards..” Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.” (1,2 N:T)
CIRCLE - “because of the joy he knew would be his”
LISTEN – One of the reasons, that Jesus was able to live a life of joy was because of the future joy that he knew was to be His..
QUESTION – is there any future joy planned for you? I’d like to read some passages as we consider your future… I am pretty sure they will pump you up and give you joy…
Jn 14:1-4
Rm 8:18
1 Cor 15:52,53
1 Jn 3:2
Rev 7:9-12
Rev 21:1-4
The Grinch was right there is more to Christmas and part of that more is the gift of joy….
TODAY I proclaim to joy good news of great joy – 2,000 years ago a Savior was born to you – AND he offers you both life & ‘mega’ joy…
LISTEN if you want to keep your joy this Christmas just remember the Grinch…
Give your worries to God
Refuse to focus on what you don’t have
Include time for rest
Never forget the reason for the season
Consider your future
Hold your thoughts captive…
