Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Luke 2:8-18; Galatians 5:22-23; Psalm 30

Theme: The coming of God’s Anointed One is a message that will cause great joy in the lives of God’s people.

Date: 12/17/2017 File Name: JourneyTowardChristmas03-2.wpd ID Number: 1014

The Savior was born and creation responded: a star appeared in the sky, Magi began an arduous trip westward, and an angel descended on Bethlehem with a choir in tow.

But the Christ’s coming slipped past many people unnoticed.

While the people of Bethlehem slept, God sent his angel to a handful of shepherds tending their flocks in the hills outside town.

The glory of the Lord surrounded the shepherds and the angel cried, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

(Luke 2:10–11, NIV).

We are well into Advent now, having lit three of five candles.

Today, we celebrate the Shepherd’s Candle.

In the story we read that the shepherds were waiting for morning.

They were waiting for the sky to turn pink and the sun to come up, because that meant another night was over and their sheep were safe.

Instead of morning, however, they saw something totally unexpected: a sky full of angels, singing the praises of God about the Savior who had just been born.

Their normal night was turned into an extraordinary night — one they would never forget.

They were busy waiting for the night to be over, but something better than morning was coming — it was "Good News of Great Joy."

The Gospel always brings joy.

Our joy is a response to the same message that the Angel’s gave to the shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem: Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

As we sit here this morning, you and I are a part of the all people that the angels give good tidings to.

It’s news that ought to fill our hearts and minds and souls with inexpressible joy: A Savior has come into the world who saves sinners.

If we were to literally translate that phrase great joy it would read mega-gladness!

Does the thought of a Savior who saves you from sin, and judgement, and hell bring mega-gladness to your heart, and soul?

So let’s take some time to examine the attribute of joy in the believer’s life!

I. REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS!

1. to discover some of the principles of Christian joy we need to turn to the Epistle to the Philippians

a. it often referred to as the Epistle of Joy

“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! ... .”

(Philippians 3:1, NIV84)

“Rejoice in the Lord always.

I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NIV84)

b.

God desires that His people experience, and exhibit joy

2. few things have done more harm to the cause of Christ and brought more disrepute to His Church than joyless Christians!

a. God wants you and I to experience a joyful heart and to have cheerful faces

b. the two are connected ...

“A happy heart makes the face cheerful, ... .”

(Proverbs 15:13, NIV84)

“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.”

(Proverbs 15:30, NIV84)

ILLUS.

God has even designed us in such a way so that it is easier to express cheerfulness then to exhibit sullenness.

It takes 64 facial muscles to make a frown, but only thirteen to make a smile.

I'll tell ya what folks: a lot of Christians who are working their faces too hard!

Their attitude is (say with frown on face and crossed arms) "Yea, I'm a Christian.

Hallelujah."

A. RECONCILED BELIEVERS HAVE INEXPRESSIBLE AND GLORIOUS JOY

1. the non-Christians in our culture see too many mean-eyed, furrowed-brow, locked-jaw, crossed-arm, petty-minded, unsmiling Christians

ILLUS.

Martin Luther wrote, “God is not a God of sadness, and death, but the devil is.

Christ is a God of joy, and so the Scriptures often say that we should rejoice ... A Christian should and must be a cheerful person.”

2. the world needs to see joyful believers who can praise the Lord no matter what their circumstances are or what their lot in life may be

a. the Apostle Peter told the recipients of his first epistle that the Christian's joy is an inward grace that issues from the believer's faith despite trials and temptations

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

(1 Peter 1:6–9, NIV84)

a. has your faith in Christ filled you with an inexpressible and glorious joy?

1) God Has Caused Us to Be Born Again; in this we rejoice greatly

2) We Have a Living Hope Through Christ’s Resurrection; in this we rejoice greatly

3) We Have an Heavenly Inheritance That Is Imperishable, Undefiled, and Unfading; in this we rejoice greatly

4) We Are Being Protected by the Power of God; in this we rejoice greatly

5) We Look Forward to a Salvation Ready to Be Revealed in the Last Time; in this we rejoice greatly

3. joy is not merely a simplistic or sentimental way of dealing with life, but a way to meet life head on

a. according to the Apostle Peter, joy occurs even in the midst of grief caused by suffering through all kinds of trials

4. joy is an effectual, spiritual gift given by God to believers that helps to sustain us in difficult times and increases our happiness in good times

a. it’s a gift based not on feeling, but on the knowledge that God has done something remarkable on our behalf — He has sent us a Savior who is Christ the Lord

b. happiness, on the other hand, is a feeling and usually is determined by outside events or circumstances

ILLUS.

I will experience profound happiness at the dinner table with the Orrick family a week from now.

That happiness will center on my mother-in-law’s dinner rolls.

And as happy as they will make me, it is a fleeting happiness.

c. the believer’s joy, on the other hand, is independent of circumstances because the Christian life transcends circumstances

1) joy is an attitude, a disposition, a mind-set that flows from a deep conviction that God is alive and real and has revealed His Fatherhood through the Son who has come into my life

2) that knowledge enables me to meet the challenges of life and to wade into impossibilities with enthusiasm and expectancy

3) "rejoicing always" in the Lord enables me to let go of the frustration and pick up the broken pieces and start over again

B. REASONS BELIEVERS CAN REJOICE

1. FIRST, we can rejoice because of saving grace

“ . . .

an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

(Matthew 1:20-21, NIV)

a. Jesus said that being born again is like finding buried treasure

ILLUS.

Most of us love stories of people finding buried treasure.

In 2014 a couple in rural Northern California were out walking their dog along the back side of their property when they saw the edge of a tin can sticking up out of the ground.

They began to dig, and found a total of eight tin cans, the size of paint cans, full of mint-quality gold coins — 1,400 coins.

Among the coins was the crown jewel of the collection — an 1866 $20 gold piece from the San Francisco Mint valued at more than $1 million.

The coins date from 1847 to 1894 and have a face value of $28,000, but have an assessed value at $11 million because of their value to collectors.

The collection is the largest known discovery of buried gold coins that has ever been recovered in the US.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

(Matthew 13:44, NIV84)

b.

Jesus stresses two points in this simple little parable

1) 1st, that salvation is a great treasure and its gain requires a great cost

2) 2nd, and the point of this morning’s message: that discovering God's treasure of salvation brings great joy

c. we can rejoice because of God's saving grace

2. SECOND, we can rejoice because of sustaining grace

“You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.”

(Psalm 18:35, NIV84)

a. God does not save us only to leave us to our own strength