THIS IS NOT AN ORIGINAL SERMON, BUT AN OUTLINE I FLESHED OUT...
Date Written: December 06, 2006
Date Preached: December 06, 2006
Where Preached: OZHBC (Wed PM)
Sermon Title: Enjoying Life
Sermon Text: John 15:1-15
Introduction:
There is a story about a football coach whose team had fought hard and endured many injuries against their rivals. They had a one-point lead and the ball, but they were down to their 3rd string QB who was slow of foot and had NOT seen the field all year.
The coach told the QB to run the ball up the middle and if they needed to they would punt the ball. Surprisingly they began to run the ball with great effectiveness and they had reached their rival’s 10 yd line.
It was at this time where temptation overcame instruction for this 3rd string QB. He had always dreamed of throwing a TD pass and so he called a pass play in the huddle much to his teammate’s surprise.
As fate would have it, his pass was NOT accurate and the opposing safety intercepted the ball and broke clear and was running for the winning touchdown.
The young QB saw the safety running in the clear and he took off after him and eventually caught him on the 2 yard line preventing the winning touchdown as time expired.
When the coaches met at the middle of the field after the game the coach for the rival team made the comment that he could not believe that a 3rd string QB could have caught his starting safety.
The other coach said, “It is really simple, you see your man was running for a touchdown… but my man was running for his life, cause I was going to ‘kill him’ if ya’ll scored a TD and he knew it!
Let me ask you a question this evening, ‘WHAT MOTIVATES YOU AS A BELIEVER?’
For many Christians, their main motivation is FEAR, for other believers the main motivation is GUILT, but when we look at Scripture we can see that the Bible is very clear about what our motivation as believers should be… JOY!
People who live with the joy of Christ in their hearts are really impressive to watch. We can admire a family who faces the difficulties of life without bitterness and we know that those who suffer loss with great courage will be sought out by us when we face difficulties and tragedy. Joy attracts people, but negativity detracts from people…
There are many believers out in the world today who miss out on the simple joys and pleasures of life. Such as the man who comes home to a hot-home cooked meal… she has worked hard to put this meal on the table and then all he can do is complain about what she has served! Let’s face it…
Negative personalities repel people away from whatever it is your are talking about!
In life we quickly learn that it is so much easier to criticize someone rather than affirm them. A critical attitude and approach to life is the lazy man’s way to dealing with life.
As believers, we need to strive to rediscover the sense of joy about living! Because when we think about what Christ has done for us, how we WOULD HAVE ended up had it not been for Christ and the place we have waiting for us after this life… how can one help but NOT be joyful in their approach to life, even when the difficulties come our way!
So tonight I want to reveal 2 important priorities that all believers must cling to if they are going to experience the joy that the Bible speaks about and the joy that I am preaching about tonight…the believer’s 1st priority is to know…
1. The Source of OUR Joy - Jesus Christ:
When Jesus was here on this world and teaching His disciples, He used a wonderful symbol to represent just WHO He was and His ministry… that symbol was the vine and the branches.
In His illustration Jesus said, “…I am the vine and YOUR are the branches…” His point was that we abide in Him, and that we are fully reliant upon Him for our life! With this in mind every believer should be placing ALL of who they are in His hand! Just like any true branch is fully dependent on the vine from which it sprang! Jesus is vital to our survival as believers in knowing that we must fully and totally depend on Him.
Jesus also illustrated for His disciples the concept of bearing fruit, and that we were not alone in this effort… in fact we can not do it on our own, but that He would provide the sustenance we would need through the power of the Holy Spirit as He flows thru us!
In other words, as believers, if we are going to bear fruit then we are going to have to be TOTALLY willing to allow Him to work through us… if we trust Him enough to submit to His plans!
In His teachings Jesus asserted a very powerful statement… He told His followers that all who abided in Him… would receive JOY! So knowing this we can rest assured that it is through HIM [Jesus] that we receive true joy! I want you to understand that true joy is not of this world! True joy comes from the hand of God Himself and not from any of the works of humanity!
And that particular true joy can come only from God can and it will override the guilt that we have in this life. But besides giving us JOY in our lives here in this world, this joy… this TRUE joy does something else for the believer! This true joy that can only come from God has the power to override any and all fears that try to overwhelm or overtake us as believers.
In fact, when we look at Scripture we can see that we are TRULY blessed that is because of what Jesus has done… What Jesus did on Calvary brought reconciliation to God for all humanity who accepted Christ as Savior and knowing that brings this TRUE joy to our hearts.
Philosophers all throughout history have been asking questions and seeking what I would call ‘self-actualization’ … they were and still are seeking the ‘meaning of life’
In life, you now that we as humans try so many things to find TRUE joy! There are those of us who will try to buy this TRUE joy, we are going to try to borrow this TRUE joy… but we cannot obtain TRUE joy without Jesus Christ.
TRUE joy is a very basic and foundational part of the Christian life. If you are a Christian and you are NOT experiencing Joy… then you are obviously NOT abiding daily in Christ, you are obviously NOT submitting your heart and life to Him on a daily… you are holding back!
But just how do we get this joy, well…
2. The Secret of OUR Joy is Appropriation:
It has been said that where there is fulfillment in life… there is joy, and where there joy in life… there is fulfillment!
In the Christian life we can only find our fulfillment in Christ… we find our true meaning of a life fully satisfied fulfilled in Christ… and therefore through that fulfillment we find and experience JOY… that only comes through our relationship in Christ!
The closer we grow to Christ, the more fulfilled we are and the more joy we experience! But just HOW do we appropriate… obtain that abundant JOY that I am speaking about!
Well Jesus taught that when we obey God in a spirit of love… not out of a sense of compulsion… that we are going to experience the joy and fulfillment that comes with an abundant life!
And here is how we can do this…
a. First and foremost, we must AFFIRM others. Let me ask you a question, “Do you rejoice in the success of others?” We need to learn to celebrate the achievements of others and our joy will be increased! The world may lead us to believe that the success of others should NOT bring us joy… but when we learn to rejoice in the success of others… it will bring us joy!
b. Second, we must learn to give THANKS! In spite of all the difficulties and troubles you may be experiencing in life at this time… we must learn to take time and list the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. Then we need to thank God for those blessings… when we do this, His joy is ours!
c. Finally, joy comes after suffering. Some people have misinterpreted passages such as John 16:22 that states, “…your grief will turn to joy…” Here the Bible is NOT suggesting that we deny our sorrows… that we refuse to believe they exist.
• We know that sorrow is an integral part of life. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus and Jesus felt sorrow and compassion for the people of Jerusalem. Jesus can and will take the trouble, trial, tribulation and sorrow that comes into our lives and He will translate it into a joy that we can experience only through Him.
• In the book of Hebrews we find the writer speaking to the fact that Jesus counted the Cross joy… and that sounds really odd to us… but what we need to understand is that Jesus was not cherishing death, but Jesus knew and understood that His suffering, death and ultimate resurrection would be the unveiling of the joy of redemption to all of humanity.
In v.11 Jesus said, “…I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete…”
When we come to allow Christ the control and direction of our lives, we cannot live a life that is depressed and down… His joy will fill us and we will revel in His glory and blessing here on earth and forever in heaven. When we have HIS joy in us… our joy will be fulfilled and complete in this life.
So we cannot continue to fulfill our joy on our own because we will NEVER obtain that joy… it is a losing battle, but when we cast our lot with Christ and allow Him control in our life… allow His Word to guide us, then our life is fulfilled and our joy complete… because it comes from Him!
