CHRISTMAS JOY FOR YOU
Choose Joy #4
Christmas Eve 2022
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Saturday, December 24, 2022
(Luke 2:10–11, NLT) “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”
CHRISTMAS IS THE SEASON OF JOY!
What do I want out of life? ________________________.
“Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us.” –Henri Nouwen
1. FOLLOW GOD’S LIGHT ONE MINUTE, ONE HOUR, ONE DAY AT A TIME.
(Matthew 2:1–3, NCV) “Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, as were all the people in Jerusalem.”
(Matthew 2:9–10, NCV) “After the wise men heard the king, they left. The star that they had seen in the east went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy.”
“Joy is not a passing sensation of pleasure, but a pervasive sense of well being that is infused with hope because of the goodness of God.” Dallas Willard
2. CHOOSE JOY.
Chairo – to joy, to rejoice
(Philippians 1:18, NLT) “… rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.”
(Philippians 2:17, NLT) “I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.”
“I am convinced we can choose joy. Every moment we decide to respond to an event or a person with joy instead of sadness. When we truly believe that God is life and only life, then nothing need draw us into the sad realm of death. To choose joy does not mean to choose happy feelings or an artificial atmosphere of hilarity. But it does mean the determination to let whatever takes place bring us one step closer to the God of life.” – Henri Nouwen
3. JOY IS BASED ON THE SOURCE; HAPPINESS IS BASED ON THE RESULTS.
(Matthew 2:11, NCV) “They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
“We should, to begin with, think that God leads a very interesting life, and that He is full of joy. Undoubtedly He is the most joyous being in the universe.” – Dallas Willard
(Philippians 4:4, NLT) “Always be full of joy in the Lord.”