Saturday, January 07, 2006
3rd Sunday of Advent: Joy! Dec. 18, 2005 Sermon Notes
Note: posting taken from loose outline notes of pastor. Actual recording of sermon may be available from the pastor. Ask in comments for more details.
Text: Phillipians 4:4, see also Luke 10:21, Luke 2:10-14, and Luke 1:46-52
Today we light the previous weeks' candles of Hope and Peace, and today we light the Candle of Joy.
Our joy is in the Holy Mission of Christ, in the Salvation that comes from Christ. Today we are going to look at instances of joy we find in the Bible, especially as it pertains to the Christmas story.
This new Child, the New Man, is the source of joy, not just of Earth but of Heaven. Look in Luke 2:10-14, the Heavenly Host itself opens itself up in Joy and exaltation. Behold, Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth Peace and Good will toward Men. The angels themselves are so beside themselves in Joy at the Advent, the Birth of the Christ Child that they have to open up and reveal themselves to the shepards keeping watch.
Look at Christ's own joy in God's own direct method of revelation. Look in Luke 10:21. Christ rejoices in the fact that God reveals Himself not to the academic elites and intelligentsia, the bureaucrats of the faith, but rather He reveals himself directly to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. He does not use go-betweens. He seeks a direct relationship with each of us. God comes to us not through grand theories, or epistemological study, but through a child in a simple manger, in the direct words of a rebel carpenter. That should in turn, give us great joy as well.
God lifts us from the depths. He lifts us up as infants and seeks to grow us in His image as new men and women in the Holy Spirit. The Source of our joy is truly that He saves each of Us, he desires that personal relationship with us that he Had with Enoch, that He had for a limited time with Adam. He wants to know each of us on an individual basis, on a personal basis. he comes to each of us individually, seeking to care after our specific needs as a wonderful father to His children. So, truly, our joy comes from John 3:16.
Text: Phillipians 4:4, see also Luke 10:21, Luke 2:10-14, and Luke 1:46-52
Today we light the previous weeks' candles of Hope and Peace, and today we light the Candle of Joy.
Our joy is in the Holy Mission of Christ, in the Salvation that comes from Christ. Today we are going to look at instances of joy we find in the Bible, especially as it pertains to the Christmas story.
This new Child, the New Man, is the source of joy, not just of Earth but of Heaven. Look in Luke 2:10-14, the Heavenly Host itself opens itself up in Joy and exaltation. Behold, Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth Peace and Good will toward Men. The angels themselves are so beside themselves in Joy at the Advent, the Birth of the Christ Child that they have to open up and reveal themselves to the shepards keeping watch.
Look at Christ's own joy in God's own direct method of revelation. Look in Luke 10:21. Christ rejoices in the fact that God reveals Himself not to the academic elites and intelligentsia, the bureaucrats of the faith, but rather He reveals himself directly to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. He does not use go-betweens. He seeks a direct relationship with each of us. God comes to us not through grand theories, or epistemological study, but through a child in a simple manger, in the direct words of a rebel carpenter. That should in turn, give us great joy as well.
God lifts us from the depths. He lifts us up as infants and seeks to grow us in His image as new men and women in the Holy Spirit. The Source of our joy is truly that He saves each of Us, he desires that personal relationship with us that he Had with Enoch, that He had for a limited time with Adam. He wants to know each of us on an individual basis, on a personal basis. he comes to each of us individually, seeking to care after our specific needs as a wonderful father to His children. So, truly, our joy comes from John 3:16.
# posted by Mark : 12:33 PM
