June 13, 2010
Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Galatians: A Grace-full Life
A basket of fruit: Joy, a gift of the Spirit (Part 3)
Sermon Series: Galatians: A Grace-full Life
Title: : A basket of fruit: Joy, a gift of the Spirit (Part 3) Text: Galatians 5:22-24
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Message: ‘A basket of fruit...Joy the gift of the Spirit’ pt.3
Text: Galatians 5:22-24
Introduction: I found some Church sign and bulletin bloopers I think you might enjoy.
· Don’t let worry kill you...let the church help!
· Remember in prayer the many who are sick OF our church and community.
· Thursday night pot luck dinner...prayer and MEDICATION to follow.
· At the evening service, the sermon topic will be ‘What is Hell?’...come early and hear the worship team practice.
· Ladies, don’t forget our yard sale...it’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping. Don’t forget your husbands!
· Barbara is in the hospital and is having trouble sleeping and requests copies of Pastor Bob’s sermons.
It’s good to laugh. It awakens our senses...and some of you who would normally be sleeping by now. But before you think I’m straying from God’s Word listen to what the wisest man who ever lived had to say.
Read: Proverbs 17:22 ‘A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.’
I find it hard to understand how a Christian can be grumpy, walking around with a perpetual lack of a smile. I’m not saying we won’t be sad at times...we will. But I am saying that our basic attitude towards life should be JOY!
ILL: The late William Barclay, a well known theologian agreed with Solomon ‘A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms, and nothing in all religious history has done Christianity more harm than its connection with black clothes and long faces.’ (Dave Kinney)
Let me ask...(don’t raise your hands) how many here today believe you have the fruit of JOY in your spiritual basket?
OK...for the rest, (don’t raise your hands) how many want to have the fruit of JOY in your spiritual basket?
I’m going to let you in on my big idea today, the one point I want you to walk out of here remembering:
God desires that you live a life of JOY!
Transition: Open your Bibles to Galatians 5:22 (pg. 889 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) for it’s there we’ll discover JOY: the second fruit the Holy Spirit places in our spiritual basket!
Galatians 5:22-24 Joy
Read: Galatians 5:22-24
A. Understanding the fruit
Scripture uses the word ‘Joy’ or ‘rejoice’ over 500 times. But it only uses the word ‘happiness’ about 26 times. Why?
· Happiness comes from the outside (the world around you) and depends on what happens to you. So if all the circumstances are right and good, you can be happy.
· Joy, comes from the inside (the Holy Spirit) and depends upon your relationship with God. Joy transcends our circumstances.
All too often we equate ‘joy’ with ‘happiness’ and when we do, it’s like drinking a glass of artificially flavored lemonade: it has a hint of that it should taste like, but it leaves you wanting the real thing.
What is the real thing? What is joy?
Definition:
· Greek ‘Chara’ means ‘cheerful,’ ‘happy,’ ‘glad,’ to ‘leap or spin around with pleasure.’
When was the last time you did that?
Some have defined Joy this way:
· Joy is an evidence of the presence of God in your life.
· Joy is a positive attitude towards life because Jesus is alive and active in it.
· Joy is confidence in God in every and all circumstances.
· Joy is resting in the truth that you are unconditionally loved by God.
· Joy is knowing that you are part of something incredible...the Kingdom of God, gathering as God’s people, seeking God’s face...and finding Him.
Joy is that and more. Did you know that Joy is an attribute of God’s character?
Read: Luke 10:1-3; 10:17-21
Something jumped off the pages when I read that. Luke says that Jesus ‘rejoiced’ upon hearing the news of that missionary trip.
Think about this: when you’re obedient to God’s call on your life; to live for Him and to share with others the Good News of forgives and eternal life in Heaven...you bring joy to Jesus.
And that’s not all!
Read: Zephaniah 3:17 ‘The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.’
I love that text. God is in heaven, the angels before Him and He’s rejoicing that you’re His. He’s singing songs, He made up, about you. God is a God of great Joy!
With that in mind.
ILL: A little girl asked her mother ‘if God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?’ (Melvin Newland)
Think about that for a moment. Let it sink in.
· God the Father, the 1st member of the Trinity is Joyful
· Jesus, the Son, the 2nd member of the Trinity is joyful.
· The Holy Spirit, the 3rd member of the Trinity is the source of Joy.
· Shouldn’t God’s children reflect the Joy of the Godhead?
Read: Romans 14:17 ‘For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, (talking about the law) but of righteousness, peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit’
Life in God’s Kingdom is not a matter of power or theology or popularity or keeping the Law...
Kingdom living is a matter of joy! God’s joy dramatically showing through us.
ILL: A little girl asked her mother ‘if God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?’ (Melvin Newland)
Read: Psalm 47
We’re not just to be ‘joyful.’ We’re to ‘shout with Joy.’ In fact, the Psalmist wrote that ‘God ascends amid shouts of joy.’
Shout ‘Amen’ after me:
· Jesus died for you!
· Jesus forgives your sin!
· Jesus walks beside you every day!
· Jesus will never leave you or forsake you!
· Jesus is preparing a place in Heaven for you!
· Jesus is coming back...for you!
Our joy should, at times, be so exhilarating that we can’t contain it. Remember it was shouts of joy that brought down the walls of Jericho. (Joshua 6)
Speaking of walls, what walls in your life need to be taken down so that you can walk closer with Jesus? Perhaps you need to let out some ‘shouts of Joy.’ And you’ll have that opportunity at the end of the worship celebration today.
Transition: So, do we understand a little better, what joy is? Good, then how do we grow/cultivate the fruit of joy in our lives?
B. Growing the fruit
ILL: In 1937 architect Frank Lloyd Wright built a house for industrialist Hibbard Johnson. One rainy evening Johnson was entertaining distinguished guests for dinner when the roof began to leak. The water seeped through directly above Johnson himself, dripping steadily onto his bald head. Irate, he called Wright in Phoenix, Arizona. “Frank,” he said, “you built this beautiful house for me and we enjoy it very much. But … the roof leaks, and right now I am with some friends and distinguished guests and it is leaking right on top of my head.”
There was a
pause on the line, and Frank Lloyd Wright reportedly replied: “Well, Hib,
why don’t you move your chair?”
(Jeff Strite)
If you lack joy in your life...perhaps you need to move your chair, perhaps you need to do something different than you’re already doing to cultivate joy in your life. Like what?
Read: John 15:8-10 ‘This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.’
Now, listen to verse 11.
Read: John 15:11 ‘I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.’
1. Joy is cultivated by obedience. Contrary to popular belief, obeying God leads to freedom and freedom to joy.
2. Joy is cultivated by remaining. Clinging to
Jesus, staying connected to Him.
How do we cultivate joy? If Joy is a fruit of the Spirit as Galatians 5:22 says, then
3. We need more of the Holy Spirit in our
lives.
Read: Ephesians 5:18 ‘Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.’
OK...then what? Let’s stay in Ephesians 5
Read: Ephesians 5:19 ‘Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord’
4. We need to spend time with other
Christians. Singing, making music,
rejoicing with each other....sharing in each
other’s lives. OK...then what?
Read: Ephesians 5:20 ‘always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
5. Remembering all you have comes from
God. Be someone who constantly gives
God thanks for....everything, only be
specific when you thank God. OK....what’s
next?
Read: Ephesians 5:21 ‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.’
6. Being humble. It’s thinking good of
others. It’s taking the smallest piece of
cheesecake at Calvary Café so someone
else can get the bigger piece. It’s realizing
that while the way someone worships
/prays may not be the way you do, you
don’t criticize them. It’s finding ways to
serve one another. OK....what’s next?
Read: Psalm 66:1-5 ‘Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! Say to God, How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name. Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf!’
7. Remembering what God has done. Be
specific. Give testimony, tell someone,
tell God what He has done.
These are ways to cultivate joy in your life. There are many more. How about three more...quickly.
8. Regularly attend Sunday worship. You
will honor God and see Him at work.
9. Proclaim God’s attributes. Talk about
His love, mercy, goodness, forgiveness,
holiness...You will see how great God is
and how blessed you are to have Him in
your life.
10. Study God’s Word. Get to know Him
and His purpose for you. It will bring joy
to your heart.
Conclusion
The spiritual fruit of joy is something we receive from the Holy Spirit. It’s a gift of God’s grace. But you can cultivate it in your life. How? By allowing the Holy Spirit access to your life...all of it.
So....Calvary Baptist Church...Shout for Joy to the Lord. Amen?