Sermon 12-19-04 Luke 2
We are facing holidays again without loved ones
We are way behind on our shopping
How is all of this going to be paid for anyway?
A 9 year old boy is hit by a car and killed.
A 16 year old young man loses control of his car and is killed
An expectant mother is strangled to death and her baby is stolen from her body
A 16 year old girl is lost to the community
Christian churches are bombed in the middle east
Militants believe they would do God a service to kill YOU
With so much sadness, how can there be joy?
The world that jesus was born into was not a world of plenty.
There was no airconditioning
There was no indoor plumbing or sewage systems
Unemployment was up
It had been 400 years since a prophet had risen in Israel
The jews were occupied and oppressed by the romans
It was a pretty dark time in many ways
Yet, into this world the angels make an announcement
Tidings of great joy…….
What makes joy great?
If I give you a $50 bill and you have ten of them in your pocket….
If I give you a $50 bill and you have never seen one
Joy is experienced in a heightened manner in the midst of suffering
You don’t appreciate health quite the same as when you are sick
You don’t appreciate the sun as much unless there has been 20 days of clouds
Winter makes us appreciate spring and summer makes us appreciate fall
Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning
The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight
In suffering man passes through moments of God-forsakenness. On the other hand, through suffering he arrives at communion with God. Suffering may pass over into joy."
There once was an oyster whose story I tell,
Who found that sand had gotten under his shell;
Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,
For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.
Now, did he berate the working of Fate
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the government, call for an election?
No! As he lay on the sand, he said to himself,
"If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it."
So the years rolled by as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny – stew.
And this grain of sand which had bothered him so,
Was now a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.
Now this tale has a moral – for isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;
What could we do if we’d only begin
With all of the things that get under our skin.
Shadrack meshack and abendago…..in the firey furnace
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But, even if He doesn’t, we will not serve your gods or the gold statue that you have set up" (Daniel 3:16-18).
Joy is present even in the midst of troubled times because our hope is based, not in circumstances but in the God who saves. We have a relationship with the almighty
The gloom of the world is but a shadow behind it. Yet within reach is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness could we but see. And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look. Life is so generous a giver: Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, the angel's hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. -- 13th-century poet Fra Angelico
The cross leads to joy and not just happiness. There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a checkbook that has money, a car that works, a good date for Saturday night. Happiness is the absence of major hassles, or terrorism or crime; happiness is kids getting good report cards and spouses getting a raise. Happiness is something we know as enhancement or protection of our own lives..Joy comes in connection with another or with Jesus. Joy can happen without money or a working car. Joy happens when we get to the core of life and realize that love is at the core. Joy befriends us; love accompanies us.
Behold I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be for all people
To the broken, to the hurting, to the suffering……..joy A savior
Someone who can lift our eyes off of circumstances and into eternity
Someone who helps us to forgive and to be forgiven
Someone who fills our empty hearts with love
Behold I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be for all people
We are facing holidays again without loved ones
We are way behind on our shopping
How is all of this going to be paid for anyway?
A 9 year old boy is hit by a car and killed.
A 16 year old young man loses control of his car and is killed
An expectant mother is strangled to death and her baby is stolen from her body
A 16 year old girl is lost to the community
Christian churches are bombed in the middle east
Militants believe they would do God a service to kill YOU
With so much sadness, how can there be joy?
The world that jesus was born into was not a world of plenty.
There was no airconditioning
There was no indoor plumbing or sewage systems
Unemployment was up
It had been 400 years since a prophet had risen in Israel
The jews were occupied and oppressed by the romans
It was a pretty dark time in many ways
Yet, into this world the angels make an announcement
Tidings of great joy…….
What makes joy great?
If I give you a $50 bill and you have ten of them in your pocket….
If I give you a $50 bill and you have never seen one
Joy is experienced in a heightened manner in the midst of suffering
You don’t appreciate health quite the same as when you are sick
You don’t appreciate the sun as much unless there has been 20 days of clouds
Winter makes us appreciate spring and summer makes us appreciate fall
Weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning
The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight
In suffering man passes through moments of God-forsakenness. On the other hand, through suffering he arrives at communion with God. Suffering may pass over into joy."
There once was an oyster whose story I tell,
Who found that sand had gotten under his shell;
Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,
For oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.
Now, did he berate the working of Fate
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the government, call for an election?
No! As he lay on the sand, he said to himself,
"If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it."
So the years rolled by as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny – stew.
And this grain of sand which had bothered him so,
Was now a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.
Now this tale has a moral – for isn’t it grand
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand;
What could we do if we’d only begin
With all of the things that get under our skin.
Shadrack meshack and abendago…..in the firey furnace
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But, even if He doesn’t, we will not serve your gods or the gold statue that you have set up" (Daniel 3:16-18).
Joy is present even in the midst of troubled times because our hope is based, not in circumstances but in the God who saves. We have a relationship with the almighty
The gloom of the world is but a shadow behind it. Yet within reach is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness could we but see. And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look. Life is so generous a giver: Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, the angel's hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. -- 13th-century poet Fra Angelico
The cross leads to joy and not just happiness. There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a checkbook that has money, a car that works, a good date for Saturday night. Happiness is the absence of major hassles, or terrorism or crime; happiness is kids getting good report cards and spouses getting a raise. Happiness is something we know as enhancement or protection of our own lives..Joy comes in connection with another or with Jesus. Joy can happen without money or a working car. Joy happens when we get to the core of life and realize that love is at the core. Joy befriends us; love accompanies us.
Behold I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be for all people
To the broken, to the hurting, to the suffering……..joy A savior
Someone who can lift our eyes off of circumstances and into eternity
Someone who helps us to forgive and to be forgiven
Someone who fills our empty hearts with love
Behold I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be for all people
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