Why We Christians Should Rejoice Always

• He inspected his photo and complained to the clerk who took his picture, "I was standing in line so long; I ended up looking like I am mad in this picture."

• The clerk looked at his picture closely. "It's okay," he reassured the man. "That's how you're going to look when the policemen pull you over and give you a ticket for speeding."

It does not matter where you go:

• You can hear people complaining about their jobs

• You can hear people complaining about their taxes

• You can hear people complaining about the schools their children attend

• You can hear people complaining about the traffic

• You can hear people complaining about the way their food is cooked

• You can hear people complaining about people’s workmanship

So, why should we be shocked to see these same people come to church and complain about the church?

I find it is interesting to see how some people can always find things to rejoice about, and other people can never find anything to rejoice about.

Let me illustrate:

Illus: You can have people who attend the same church, and you will find some:

• Are so excited about their church they are constantly inviting all their family members and friends to attend with them

• Others the only time they take time to talk to their family and friends about the church is to complain about the church.

Illus: It reminds me of a man that joined a monastery, and one of the rules of the group was that you were only allowed to speak two words every ten years.

• At the end of ten years he said, "Bad food!"

• Ten more years went by and he said, "Hard bed!"

• Finally, on his 30th anniversary he thundered out, "I quit!"

The priest in charge responded, "Well, you might as well quit, for the last thirty years all you have done has complained."

This is true of so many people. There is so much good they could talk about, but they choose to complain.

Complaining not only makes the life of the complainer miserable, it also makes the life of those who have to listen to them miserable.

Illus: Mark Twain said, “Don't complain and talk about all your problems--80 percent of people doesn’t care; the other 20 percent will think you deserve them.”

Illus: Charles Spurgeon told this story. “A heavy wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team of oxen. The axles groaned and creaked terribly, when the oxen turning around thus addressed the wheels, "Hey there, why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labor, and we -- not you -- ought to cry out!" Those complain first in our churches do the least.

Illus: Someone said, “The gift of grumbling is largely dispensed among those who have no other talents.”

• When we YIELD to all kinds of complaining, it will destroy our testimony and bring misery to ourselves and to others.

• When we YIELD to all kinds of complaining we become a lonely person because NO ONE wants to hang out with a complainer.

How much better it is to remain true to the Lord Jesus Christ and live a life of rejoicing!

Let’s look at some of the REASONS FOR REJOICING AS CHRISTIANS.

We should REJOICE IN CHRIST BECAUSE…

I.WE HAVE A LIVELY HOPE

One of the saddest things in the world is to be without hope. Some people feel that they have little hope for their future in this life. They wish and even pray for better days, but poverty, sickness and turmoil rob them of a good life.

Throughout the world millions can only dream of the prosperous life we have in our country.

Even in this country, many want to have confidence about their future, but no matter what they do it seems to elude them.

Illus: We can see a man smiling without legs or without hands, but we can't see a man smiling without hope! - Mehmet Murat Ildan

A situation may be so perilous that men lose hope.

• When Paul and the other passengers were caught in a dangerous storm at sea and we read in Acts 27:20 “Neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat upon us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up”

• In Acts 16:25-34 a jailer started to commit suicide because he believed he would be killed anyway. That man ended up becoming a Christian.

• It is even worse to have no hope of the hereafter. Paul told the Christians at Thessalonica not to “sorrow as others who have no hope” (I Thess. 4:13).

Jesus came to give hope. In Matt. 4:16). He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”