I've Got Joy!
Join us as we go behind the scenes, unpack the message, and dive even deeper into the conversation. You won’t want to miss it!
Nehemiah 8:10 NIV
The JOY of the Lord is your STRENGTH.
Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us THROW OFF everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us RUN with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. FOR THE JOY set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
“One filled with joy preaches without preaching.”
-Mother Teresa
“For the JOY on that day, I will throw off the pursuit of HAPPINESS and embrace JOY today.”
How to Live a Life of Joy
1. Stop Pursuing Happiness
Philippians 4:4 NLT
Always be full of JOY in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
HAPPINESS: Happiness is an emotion based on WHAT HAPPENS, Latin root “hap” - means circumstance or luck
“Made for joy, we pursue pleasure.”
-N.T. Wright
How to Live a Life of Joy
2. Embrace Joy
JOY // To feel great delight and contentment based on the reward of my faith in Jesus.
HAPPINESS depends on what happens, but JOY comes from Jesus.
HAPPINESS is based on what can change, but JOY is based on what will never change.
John 3:16-18 NIV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 1:9 NIV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 Peter 2:9 NIV
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
John 6:37 NIV
Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
Psalm 27:10 NLT
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.
Psalm 30:5 NKJV
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 NIV
Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
Romans 8:31-39 NIV
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How to Live a Life of Joy
3. Embrace Joy Today
“For the JOY on that day, I will throw off the pursuit of HAPPINESS and embrace JOY today.”
Proverbs 17:22 ESV
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
JOY sits in a deep part of us that life, death, circumstances, people, and the devil can never touch!
Psalm 103:1–5 NIV
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Maybe you made a decision to follow Jesus today, or maybe you’re curious what life with Him is all about. Wherever you are on your journey, we invite you to share with us so we can help you discover your next step.
