Sermons on joy and meaning:

The Joy Stealers Series

Contributed by Donald Mcculley on Aug 7, 2019

Let me briefly introduce and describe for you three “joy stealers.”

THE JOY STEALERS GALATIANS 3:1-3 INTRODUCTION: How many people have lost their joy? Go to the average Baptist church on any given Sunday and observe. One would think it was a morgue. Vance Havner once told a congregation, “I’ve seen happier faces on an iodine bottle.” To hear some, life is ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 3:1-3

Denomination: Baptist

"Shout For Joy!!!"

Contributed by Ken Sauer on Nov 15, 2018

A sermon for Thanksgiving.

“Shout for Joy!!!” Psalm 100 A year ago, this past March, a couple of guys and I at East Ridge United Methodist Church, felt the call to start a Food Pantry. All we had to work with was $2,500. A year later, my buddy and I were walking through the Food Pantry. There were hundreds of people ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 100:1-5

Denomination: United Methodist

Joy To The World Series

Contributed by John Dobbs on Dec 19, 2024

Christmas brings a lot of stress: emotional, financial, decorations, gifts, gatherings, travel. Have you ever been tempted to skip it? 

JOY TO THE WORLD Luke 2:1-20 Introduction Christmas brings a lot of stress: emotional, financial, decorations, gifts, gatherings, travel. Have you ever been tempted to skip it? John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas was made into a movie called Christmas With the Kranks. The lesson ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Joy In Trials?!

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on Feb 18, 2022

The idea that we could find joy in trials seems very strange. But it makes sense - and it could radically change the way we respond to the trials that inevitably come.

We’ve now reached the last in our series of ‘Messages of Encouragement’. And we’ve come to a very difficult piece of teaching! ‘James’ – whoever James may be – tells us TO CONSIDER IT PURE JOY WHENEVER WE FACE TRIALS OF MANY KINDS! Wow! That sounds crazy! How can we understand it? The general ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-12

Denomination: Baptist

Joy And Pain

Contributed by Joe Dan Vendelin on Feb 14, 2024

How are your current trials (pain) preparing you for not only what you need today (or tomorrow), but what others may need today (or tomorrow) as well? This is a quick devotional that will encourage believers to "reframe" their pain.

Joy and Pain What do the words joy and pain mean to us as believers? How is it that these words go together? James 1 is a place to start in considering these questions. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know ...read more

Scripture: James 1:2-3, Galatians 6:2, Romans 8:28

All Means All

Contributed by Beth Garrod-Logsdon on May 23, 2019

This sermon on breaking down draws its primary illustration from Dr. Seuss's story "The Sneetches". This story was read to the children and congregation during the Children's Sermon immediately prior to the sermon.

All Means All Acts 11:1-18 Tribalism is defined as the state or fact of being organized in a tribe or tribes and the resulting behaviors and attitudes that stem from loyalty to this tribe. On the surface, that doesn’t sound too bad. Human beings naturally migrate into groups of like-minded ...read more

Scripture: Acts 11:1-18

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Joy Of Celebration Series

Contributed by Scott Hippler on Feb 5, 2001

5/5 - The task is not complete until we celebrate beore our God, now find out what yo need to do to truly celebrate before Him!

The city of Berlin, Germany will be forever famous for its infamous Wall. When the wall was still in existence, you could walk up and down in front of the wall and see shrines dedicated to those that were killed trying to escape from the oppression of the East to the freedom of the West. The ...read more

Scripture: Nehemiah 12:27-43

Denomination: Baptist

Deep Joy

Contributed by John Beukema on May 1, 2013

First John 1:1-4 teaches where deep joy is found.

My 13th birthday present was this Bible. That was when I started getting serious about reading the Bible. I went through Hebrews, Romans, and 1 John so many times I could picture where the verse was on the page. If you said “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” I ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:1-4

Denomination: Brethren

#7 -- Joy Series

Contributed by Derek Melanson on Nov 17, 2006

Having joy is not dependent on circumstances but comes from God, is Jesus-specific, and something that we are called to practice.

Introduction: A Joyless World As we continue listening to these songs for the road, we come to a song of joy. To begin I want to read a couple of quotes about joy. C.S. Lewis once said this: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 126:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Street To Joy Series

Contributed by David Newman on Jan 2, 2008

God disciplines us as a parent disciplines their child. Discipline is for our good so we should be joyful when disciplines, experiencing challenges in life.

If you visit the National Arboretum in Washington DC you will enter the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum where you will find around one hundred and fifty miniature trees and plants. Here are pictures of two of them These trees are normal trees that would grow into full ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 12:5-11

Denomination: Seventh-Day Adventist

The Joy Of Peace

Contributed by Billy Ricks on Aug 19, 2013

Paul gives clear instruction to teach us how to be free from worry and wrapped in the blanket of God's peace. If we want wholeness or victory and advance in our spiritual life it begins and is governed by our thought life.

Intro: David Jeremiah gave a list of how not to have joy and peace. In his book on joy he said I guarantee that if you follow these guidelines you will have unhappiness. 1) Make little things bother you: don’t just let them, make them. 2) Lose your perspective of things, and keep it ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 4:1-9

Denomination: Baptist

Joy For The Journey Series

Contributed by Timothy Peck on Feb 1, 2001

Four factors we need in order to have genuine joy in the spiritual journey.

In 1492 Christopher Columbus set out for the Orient and ended up in the Caribbean. Some people have said that Columbus set a pattern that’s continued for the last 500 years…that men still won’t stop and ask for directions. For many of us guys, being someplace we’ve never been before is a ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 1:1-7, 1 John 1:1-19, John 1:1-19

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Joy Of Giving Series

Contributed by Scott Maze on Jun 4, 2021

God puts a really interesting proposition in front of us. He says, “Put me to the test” when it comes to your money. “Try it my way,” God says, “and see if my way works.”

We are doing a yearlong challenge in our church in 2020. We are challenging you to share the story of Christ’s love with friends, co-workers, and family members who don’t know Christ. When you do, we invite you to drop a ping-pong ball into the container, if you will. Our church hopes to see 5,000 ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 3:7-12, Leviticus 27:30-33, Deuteronomy 14:22-29, Matthew 23:23

Denomination: Baptist

The Joy Of "Koinonia" Series

Contributed by Jon Earls on Mar 13, 2007

This sermon deals with the joy of fellowship that comes between those who love God. This sermon is #2 in my series on the Book of Philippians.

Think about this for just a minute. Here was Paul, in chains because he had preached and defended the message of the Gospel, and here in this letter to the Philippians he begins it with some words of praise and joy. Did you know that nowhere else in the religious writings of the world, outside of ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:3-8

Denomination: Holiness

The Joy Of Believing

Contributed by Christopher Young on Mar 29, 2010

I believe that there are three different type of people in this world, those who see the glass as ½ empty, those that see it as ½ full, and those who wonder why we're not using bottled water. It always amazes me to think about how we all complain about al

The Joy In Believing Philippians 3 1) Intro: i) Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years. At one point in his life, Justice Holmes explained his choice of a career by saying: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:1-21

Denomination: Baptist