Joy Pt. 3 // Good News for All People

Discover the transformative power of Christmas joy and learn why it's meant to be shared with others. This message explores the biblical foundation of true joy versus temporary happiness, revealing how Jesus offers us his own divine joy as a gift. Learn practical ways to share joy through gratitude, testimony, and celebration, while also discovering how to receive joy from others even during difficult seasons. Perfect for anyone seeking deeper meaning during the Christmas season, struggling with depression or discouragement, or wanting to understand the difference between happiness and biblical joy. Topics covered include: the angel's announcement to shepherds, Jesus's promise of joy in John 15, the Trinity's perfect joy, sharing testimonies and gratitude, practicing intercessory joy, celebrating others' blessings, Christmas meaning and purpose, biblical joy versus worldly happiness, community and fellowship, spiritual maturity, Romans 12 principles, holiday family gatherings, and creating collective celebration. Whether you're preparing for Christmas gatherings, seeking hope during difficult times, or wanting to grow in spiritual maturity, this message offers biblical wisdom for experiencing and sharing the indestructible joy that comes through Christ. Learn how joy multiplies when shared communally and discover practical applications for your relationships and family dynamics during the holiday season.

This sermon was recorded at a Sunday morning gathering at Church of the Lookout in Longmont, Colorado.

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Transcript

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Welcome to the Lookout Weekly Podcast. Growing its family and living to transform the world with all its firing life.

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Hey, Merry Christmas again, everybody. It's a joy to be with you guys. This is our last service of the year, and uh so we get to kind of go out with the bang today. Um we're gonna open the scriptures together and continue our exploration of joy together. Who wants some joy this morning? Come on, come on. So if you have your Bibles, you can open up to Luke chapter 2. That's where we're gonna start today. It's so good to have the kids and our students in the room with us today. And uh the whole family. We all belong together. And uh it's a beautiful thing. If we haven't met yet, by the way, my name is Luke, the pastor here, and uh, what a gift it is to be here with you. Um, Luke chapter 2. This is the one that you guys know we read every year. We're gonna read it again, enter into it afresh again. And here's where we're gonna start in verse 8. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, 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. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. And when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. When they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told to them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told to them. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Come on. So you should know that there's another awesome event happening this week, in addition to the birth of Jesus, which is my wife and I's 20th engagement anniversary in a couple weeks. Thank you. It's been a great, great 20 years, but it's around this time of year that we run into kind of an age-old marital conflict, alright? And uh it's probably not the one that you're thinking, alright? So it's not, it doesn't have to do with finances, it doesn't have to do with in-laws, um, it has to do with Christmas lights. Okay. We've never been able to get over this. And so to understand our 20-year conflict with Christmas lights, you have to understand a little bit about my wife and I. I like to call myself a minimalist, minimalist. So when it comes to Christmas lights, I like it simple and understated. Okay? My wife, on the other hand, is what you could call a maximalist. She likes explosions of light and color. Maximum. Alright? So my mantra when it comes to this time of year is let's just put up less lights and set them up a little bit later. Megan's mantra is let's do more lights and set them up earlier. Herein lies the conflict. Alright? And uh and so somehow my wife has even convinced all of our neighbors who have extra lights that they're not putting up to donate their lights to us. And every year I come home to another bin of lights that now we have to work into our schematic lighting, you know, the whole scene in the front yard. And so it's it's always a surprise what's going to happen, all right? Which, by the way, don't you dare get any ideas. If I find any of your lights in my garage, I will snip them so fast. It's not gonna happen, alright? And for my wife, when she talks about Christmas lights, she says, I mean, what what more could you want? This brings so much joy to the neighborhood. Everybody drives by, this brings so much joy to everybody in the neighborhood, to which I respond, why is their joy my responsibility? Alright? You go find your own joy. Go to church, go do something. Like, that's not my why is your joy my problem? Alright? I don't I don't want my lights to shine for all men to see. Alright? So clearly I need therapy. Alright? And uh so we were setting up Christmas lights this year a few weeks ago, back in August. And I'm being a good husband, alright? At least I'm trying to, because I know that's what I need to do. All right. So we got all these new lights, icicle lights, and she's like, let's go, let's go figure this out, right? Let's let's go put these up in the tree. And I'm there, and I'm oh I'm I I consider this part of my marital sacrifice. And I'm, you know, truth be told though, under my breath, I'm speaking in tongues and not the good kind of tongues, all right? And uh I'm saying a lot of things to myself, and uh just thinking about like, why, why more, why more? And I kid you not, in that very moment, a woman walks by our house, and she says, she stops and she says this, I kid you not, she says this straight to my face. She says, Hey, I just want you to know that every year my family and I walk by your house, and we drive by your house, and we drive slowly, and our kids love coming to see all of your lights because your lights bring us so much joy. I was like, who sent you here? Do you want to fight? Is that what you hear? You want to fight? I'll I'll throw you down right here. Of course not. I didn't say that. She said, Your lights bring us so much joy. I'm like, oh, these little things. It's no big deal. Listen, I'm a pastor. And it's our, you know, we we're just here to be a blessing in the neighborhood. Your joy is our joy. You know, it's just what we do. It's just one more moment of love and action, right? I'm just glad I could get her to help out, to be honest with you. Of course, I did not say that, any of those things. All of that happened. Good news of great joy that will be for all the people. That was the design. How many of you guys know that joy is meant to be shared? Joy is meant to be shared. And I love that when we enter into the Christmas story, it's good news of great joy. We've been exploring joy and what makes for joy in our life. If that's God's intention, that his people, that all those who come to him, our lives would be marked by joy, by gladness, not always by happiness, but a deep sense of what God is doing. It's one of the markers of the coming of Jesus into the world, into our life. It should produce joy and joy that is not just individual, it's communal. It's meant to be shared. Some would even say joy is something that cannot even be experienced alone. Any joy flows from connection, both with God, with one another, and even in solitude, when you experience joy, it could be argued that that joy is actually being shared with God, the creator, the maker of heaven and earth. And so while there is a deep sense that we can cultivate joy on our own, or we can give ourselves to that kind of life that actually produces the fruit of the spirit of joy this Christmas week as we enter into the story afresh. It's a chance to remind ourselves that the deepest substance of joy is actually a gift that we received and a gift that we can give. And that's what I want to talk about just for a few minutes. Joy is meant to be shared. I read a book earlier this year called Dancing in the Streets, and it's a history of collective joy about how every culture around the world has rituals and celebrations and festivals where joy is actually meant to be uh experienced communally. All right. And so uh there's there's a word, an ancient word for this, communitas, which is a collective effervescence. There's something that comes when you're in a room full of people experiencing joy that it just it's like a magnet that invites you in. We experience this in all kinds of ways that, you know, culturally and bar mitzvahs and kinzineras and weddings and festivals and parties, right? And and joy shows up in all kinds of spaces in our lives around tables and living rooms, concerts, and can I say Broncos games. Can I get an amen? Let's go. Joy is something that is experienced communally and in the church. The reason that matters is because historically and globally, collective joy is what marks culture is, and certainly as a church, she's with me. One of the greatest calls for us is to become a people of such deep joy as we receive the good news of who God is and what he's done for all people. And that's why John Piper, the famous preacher, John Piper, calls Advent the dawn of indestructible joy. It's a gift that we receive from him and a gift that can be shared with others. The reason why you and I are here today is because we're sharing in collective joy. So just a few things on that this morning. First of all, just a reminder that joy is a gift Jesus shares with us. And the first receiving of the gift comes from Jesus. I bring you good news of great joy, but later on in John 15, Jesus would say to his very disciples, as we've explored in the last few weeks, he says, I've spoken these things to you so that you may have my joy may be yours, and that your joy may be full. How many of you guys know that he's not just calling us to live lives that produce joy? He wants to give us his very own joy. Jesus, as opposed to a popular opinion, is the most joyful, glad being that's ever existed in the history of the world. God is incredibly full of joy, overflowing with joy. Why? Because he is completely satisfied with his father. He's completely full of the Holy Spirit. And he knows his father is completely in love with him. And he knows that the Holy Spirit loves nothing more than to brag on Jesus. And so the Father and the Son and the Spirit just love overflowing joy. It's this cosmic dance. And so he Jesus says, I want to give you. I'm not just saying, go live a life, and maybe joy will show up. He's like, I want to give you my very own joy, the joy that I experience in the Father, it can be yours. And I'm gonna give this to you as a gift. And it's it's true though that you know, one of the things for us, you know, maybe coming into Christmas time here, but you maybe if you're looking at your life, you're like, man, you know, there's hardships that we face, but sometimes like everything can technically be good. You have food on the table, you have a steady job, relationships, family stuff, it's all kind of stable. But how many of you guys know it's true? Like things can technically be good, and you can it's still possible to lack joy. And that's why God's greatest invitation is for us to come to him. And and I just want to invite you here, even this morning, if you're coming in and like the church thing is not your thing. This is not part of your irregular rhythm, but you know it's Christmas, the whole thing. Listen, there is so much more than this. God wants to give you his very own joy as you trust in him, as you come to him, as you say, Jesus, I want to experience something deeper than, quote, the good life. I want to experience that joy that lasts, the dawning of indestructible joy. That's available to every single one of us here today. Just call out to Jesus. And so it's a gift we receive, not because we earn it, but because it's his joy that he wants to become our joy. But the second thing is this joy is a gift that we give to others. Have you ever been with somebody who has technically like a subdued personality, but you catch them talking about something that they're super passionate about and everything just switches? You know, like gardening or bird watching or pickleball. Come on, or Christmas lights, or whatever. You know, there's a there's there's there's some people, I'm always shocked. It's always kind of a challenge for me when I'm with somebody and they're kind of like they're hard, you know, maybe more introverted, but you talk long enough, you just kind of after what's that one thing that gets you going and you get them there, and they just want to talk to you all about all of the inner connections of all the Lord of the Rings movies and you know, all the Middle Earth and all the things. And I'm like, that is incredible. You go, dude. Um, that's not my thing, but I'm here for the show here because I love this. I love what's happening here. I love talking to people and find out what makes them tick. Because the thing is, when all of us have something, I'm convinced all of us have something that we can't help but share about our deepest passions and delights with others. Why? Because that's how God made us. God made us to share the things that bring us the greatest delight. He made us so that we would share those as joy with other people. Several weeks ago or a couple months ago, I got to uh go to New York and this time take a bunch of my friends. And I had been going to New York for years, just working with the ministry in New York several times a year to be a part of a uh planning for this global ministry out of New York City. But recently I actually got to go and take some of my friends from here and got to show them around some of the restaurants and parks and views around the city. And I was like a giddy little schoolgirl, man, just kind of skipping around the city, just we're riding bikes around Central Park. I'm like, can you believe it? This is awesome! It was like that scene from Elf. You guys watch Elf? It's like that scene from Elf. It's like, Dad, I got the whole day planned. First, we're gonna make snow angels for two hours, and then we're gonna go ice skating, and then we're gonna eat a whole roll of toll house cookie dough as fast as we can. And then to finish, we're gonna snuggle. Right? I love I love getting in those conversations with people when their joy can be experienced, and and my joy, the things that bring me joy, they can experience. And and uh it's it's a way that God wired into us because what happens is when we share our joy, we actually gift them with the ability to see a part of life that they may not have been able to see. When you share your joy and your delight and your passion with somebody else, it helps them to experience a part of the gift of life and a part of God that they may have not been able to see before. And that's not just with things like Christmas lights and Broncos and New York City, it also has to do with the testimony of your life. Where has God brought you joy? What has God done in your life? When's the last time you talked about what God's done in your life with other people in a way that's infectious? There's something, this there's no other thing like sitting with somebody and sharing the story of God at work in their life. And when you share God at work in your life with the people around you, do you understand it fills them with vision, it fills them with a taste of the goodness of God that they may have otherwise not had unless you shared that joy with them? And I want to encourage you, especially this next week, this chances are most of us will be around tables and dinner tables. I just want to take you, take a moment as you're eating, as you're as you're feasting, as you're sharing those moments, take a moment to share the gratitude. Where have you seen the goodness of God in your life and your family this year? And watch others start to latch on to that as each one shares. It's a gift that we actually give. And they may have not been joyful before that moment, but I'm telling you, when you testify of the goodness of God, it sparks joy from the deepest parts of our spirits. Amen? We share joy with others, and so this season, practice gratitude, share your gratitude out loud. Don't make it a personal thing, make it a communal thing. But lastly, joy is not just something we share with others, joy is something we receive, and we must be the kind of people who can receive joy from others, okay? And the question I have for all of us here today is do you have the internal capacity to participate in the joy of others, even if it was not your own? Do you have the internal capacity to share in somebody else's joy, even if it's not your own? So in Romans chapter 12, Paul says, rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. And for this reason, spiritual maturity really, it's it's our ability to enter into what others are experiencing, even if different from our own. So sometimes that's weeping with others who are weeping, and we we enter into that world with them to share that space with them. And it's our ability to actually legitimately not just sympathize, but empathize, to actually share the space with them. It's weeping with those who weep. That's a that's that's a marker of spiritual maturity, but also is rejoicing with those who rejoice. And sometimes it's celebrating with others even though you're not in the place of that celebration. So somebody gets a promotion at work even though you've been hoping for a promotion promotion for two and a half years. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Sometimes it's a it's a peer chosen to be on the basketball team, even though you were not chosen to be on that basketball team. Listen, rejoice with those who rejoice. A friend announces they're expecting a child even though you've been trying for years. That's real. Do you have the ability to rejoice with those who rejoice? Maybe somebody experienced healing in their body and recovery, even though you've been seeking healing for a long time. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Because when you enter into somebody else's joy, that's when joy itself becomes intercessory. It's intercessory joy. It's not just prayer on behalf. It's like you, when you enter into somebody else's joy with them, you're declaring to all of creation that God has not given up on me, He has not given up on them, and we I get to share in joy wherever it's experienced, even though it's not my own. And in that way, when somebody else's joy can become our joy, it can transform us from the inside out. And my encouragement today is like, listen, if you're not experiencing deep joy, find somebody who is and enter into their joy with them. And I guarantee you, something will start to shift, something will start to change. You're gonna start to find that their joy becomes your joy, it becomes a glorious exchange of joy. Why? Because joy actually is contagious, it's just like negativity. Some of you experience that in your home, you know, when there's net negativity that's concentrated over time, it's contagious. The same is true with joy. When you cultivate joy, joy is contagious. When we get to celebrate with others what they're experiencing joy, it becomes our joy. It's not just their joy, it's collective joy now. And that's what I believe when Jesus came, when the angels shouted and proclaimed in this field that today is it's a good day, and I bring you good news of great joy. It's gonna be for all people. He says, something is happening now and will continue to happen that will forever change your life, and it will never be taken away from you, because the Son of God has come to us in our very own flesh. He's gonna put it on, and he's going to bear the weight of all the wrongdoing, of all the sin in our life. He's gonna take it with them, he's gonna do for us what we could not do for ourselves, and in doing so, restore our connection and relationship with the Father. And all who trust in that, all who believe in that, have the ability to enter into this joy that even if you're going through great suffering, and many of us do, and all around the world, people do, what cannot be taken from you is joy because joy is not rooted here, it's rooted in eternity. Come on. So we get to practice joy together. Now, one of the ways we do that again is by sharing joy. So uh a couple months ago, Pastor Willie Rumanero was here from Rwanda, and he let us know about all kinds of things. Happening in Rwanda, one of the things you told us about was that there's an area where there's women and and there's widows who literally their houses are collapsing, they're leaking rainwater, and invited us to see what we would do. And so we as a church said we're gonna we're gonna partner with you to build a home for a widow. And a few weeks ago we showed you the widow that was selected and the home and just the conditions she lived in. I want to show you the brand new house. Okay? Let's take a look at this video. So there was a local uh journalist in Rwanda who wrote about this one. I just want to read this for you. This is this is good. This is a reason to celebrate. He said this Comfort My People International, a Christian nonprofit organization in partnership with Church of the Lookout, hey-hey, has donated a fully constructed house worth 5 million Rwandan francs. Don't get too excited, it's about $3,500. To Catherine Mukurazindi, an 89-year-old resident of Nayakendi sector of the Kukumbi district. The new home was officially handed over on Tuesday, December 2nd, during a ceremony attended by local leaders and neighbors, marking a significant gesture of the ministry's compassion towards vulnerable citizens. Before receiving the new house, Miss Catherine Mukurazindi had been living in nearly collapsing home. She and her neighbors often spent nights in fear whenever it rained, worried that the old shelter could fall on her. In an emotional address, the elderly beneficiary expressed deep gratitude to the donors. She said, I was living in a bad and risky condition. Rainwater can enter my house. I am grateful for such a miracle, she said. Come on, give it up. So fun. So fun. And and we enter into her joy. She has a mattress, she has dry, a dry home. It's one story we get to celebrate. And as we're diligent to celebrate the stories, whether it's a new home or whether it's just one tiny breakthrough in our life, joy is produced in our life. Okay? And so this morning, I just, as we kind of move back into some Christmas cards, we get to share that joy. The fact that Jesus came to bring joy as a gift. And when we share that joy with others, it actually spread. It actually is the gift that the world needs, not just us, but the very world that we live in. And it doesn't always have to be loud, it doesn't always have to be boisterous, it can be quiet. Joy is the inner disposition that God sees me, He loves me, He knows me, and I am safe and secure with Him. That can be true for you even this morning. So what we're gonna do together is we're gonna go back into some singing, we're gonna light the candle, and as we do, this flame is gonna be shared around the room. And as it's shared, I just want you to think of the joy that you experience being passed on to the person next to you. And the joy that Jesus came to bring. So pull out your candles, and together let's sing. So good. So good. So Acts chapter 20 says this. Just stand with me. Hang just for another minute. Acts chapter 20 says, In all things I've shown you that by working hard in this way, we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive. It's more blessed to give than to receive. And so all year we've been building into that. We've had this whole challenge before us this year called so loved, building into a thousand moments of love and action. You guys have been a part of this. We've been just we've been grinding it out some weeks, haven't we? But we've held it in front of us because we know that as we are we're diligent to, and not in just the huge moments, but in the everyday moments, to to pray for others, to encourage others, to bless people, to serve people that God wants to uh pour back into us because that's his very nature. And this whole thing of a thousand moments of love and actions, it's not just a stopping point. Hey, when we get to the thousand, we'll stop loving people. No, it's a starting point, okay? And so the good news is today we get to celebrate, we've hit a thousand moments of love and action. Moment, and there's a lot more moments. These are moments that have been shared that have been quantified over time of you been paying attention to your lives and the lives of others. This is what we're doing. But here's what we're gonna do since this is the last service of the year, we won't be meeting next year, or next next year. Week! Next week. As one more uh moment, a communal moment of love and action. I talked to Willie after he shared this video of this widow that received the home in a time of need. I asked him, I said, Willie, how many others are there? And he said, There's quite a few. There's about 30 other widows in this area that need a home. And so I was able to talk with Willie and said, Hey, Willie, on behalf of the lookout, we're gonna commit to do one more home for a widow at the end of this year, one more huge moment of love and action. So come on, we're gonna do it. We're gonna, we just we just committed to it, and we're gonna we're gonna build another home and we'll build as many as we need to do as God leads, all right? So come on, this is what we get to do together. And as you sow into the lookout, this is the type of thing that we get to do as well. If you want to be a part of that, if you want to continue to be generous, we'll tell you how. But we're gonna keep going where God has called us to go, and we're gonna keep stepping out in faith because that's what God has called us to do. Amen. John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Somebody say amen. No service next week. Enjoy the time with your family. We take the week off to get rest and to recover and prepare for 2026. Join us on January 4th. We're gonna be kicking off the year talking about how to center, reorient ourselves around Jesus, how to anchor ourselves in Him for the times that we live in. You don't want to miss it. Join us January 4th, and I want to read one last blessing over you, okay? May the blessing of joy abide with you. May the blessing of peace rest upon you. May the blessing of love flow out through you. May all the blessings of the Lord be yours at Christmas and in the new year. Merry Christmas. Love you guys.