1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:09,040 Why is it that some people, in the midst of a good life, decent 2 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:16,800 health, good income, financial stability, still have no joy? 3 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:24,440 They have enough to eat, a roof over their heads and decent 4 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,760 health, and still no joy. Why is that? 5 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,040 I want to ask us this morning. I'm not going to ask anybody to 6 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,520 raise their hands or anything, but do you have joy? 7 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:40,320 Are you joyful today? You may be wondering, well, what 8 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,440 does that look like? You may feel joyous, foreign to 9 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,840 you. Maybe you've lived a life. 10 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:47,640 I'm always hoping to one day have it. 11 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,360 Well, we're in the Advent season and we want to focus on that 12 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,360 subject this morning. And I want to just dwell on this 13 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,240 topic for a little bit before we go into a Scripture passage. 14 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:02,920 Let me ask, what is joy? Maybe you're asking that 15 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:04,640 question. How do you get it? 16 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:09,240 The Bible says that joy is a state of the heart. 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,880 Galatians 522 calls it a fruit of the Spirit. 18 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:13,560 It's something that happens inside of you. 19 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,360 And true joy, according to Scripture, is not connected to 20 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,720 money, as if you'll have more money, you have more joy. 21 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:25,560 It's not how it works or how many possessions you can 22 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,400 acquire. How big your house is, how much 23 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,840 stuff you got has nothing to do with being powerful or famous, 24 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:37,680 in charge and control. True joy is tied to a 25 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,720 relationship with God. A state of joy for a person who 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,960 believes in God is when that person's connected to God and is 27 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:50,040 satisfied in God. True joy is independent of 28 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:54,560 earthly, temporal, material things, and it's not found 29 00:01:54,800 --> 00:02:00,040 inside of ourselves even. It's more about being than 30 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:04,120 doing. It's a state of being that does 31 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,240 not expire, does not fade, and not wear out. 32 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,400 It's permanent. Yes, we sometimes don't feel 33 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,440 joy, and sometimes we have so much sorrow that it's buried in 34 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,040 pain. But as believers recalled to 35 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,520 this, and you may ask, what are there not times in the lives of 36 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,320 Christians when they don't have joy? 37 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:30,000 Well, there are states of being. Sometimes it's emotionally, 38 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,440 spiritually, so heavy. Everything seems buried in a 39 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:35,480 pile of pain, in a mountain of pain. 40 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,040 In the Gospel of John, we read that when Jesus was getting 41 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,160 ready to leave this earth, in chapter 16, he's talking to the 42 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,720 disciples and says now you have sorrow, but your joy will come. 43 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:53,200 And it did. I'm not here to say this morning 44 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,320 I always have it. Nope, I'm human too. 45 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:03,320 I sometimes don't have joy. But Paul writes in Philippians 46 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:06,000 chapter 4. He says, rejoice. 47 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,200 And again I say to you, rejoice. Well, where was Paul writing 48 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,520 from? He had been thrown in jail for 49 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,640 preaching the gospel. And in jail he was tied with 50 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:17,360 chain. So he was not going to get out. 51 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:18,960 I don't know what's chain on his legs or something. 52 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,120 He could still write letters. So he wrote letters. 53 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,440 And then he says to this audience, whoever he wrote to, 54 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,240 Philippians is 1. We don't know if he wrote many 55 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,320 rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice. 56 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:35,760 If he can rejoice in that level, having zero, no money and no, no 57 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,080 contacts really he couldn't get out of prison. 58 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,200 He was stuck. He thinks of the Philippian 59 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,400 Church, Rejoice, he says, rejoice. 60 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,600 There are times when temporary happiness can be mistaken for 61 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,120 joy. You know, like maybe you get a 62 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,440 good raise, Wow, you're happy. Got a good raise, you're really 63 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,480 happy. You maybe mistake that for joy. 64 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:58,880 And maybe there's a shady overlap. 65 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,440 I'm not saying there's no overlap ever, but let's not 66 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,560 mistake that for joy because that raise wears off pretty 67 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:07,400 soon. That raises old stuff. 68 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:12,680 They need another one. It's good, it's nothing wrong 69 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,200 with it, but that's not where you anchor and where you tie 70 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:16,800 down on. You don't tie off on that, tie 71 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:21,480 down on that, that that moves. Maybe you're healthy, you know, 72 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:23,720 and now you have joy. Well, your praise God for the 73 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:25,520 health, but that can change again. 74 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:30,120 You can get sick again. Emotional happiness, feelings of 75 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,800 happiness is not what the Bible is talking about when it talks 76 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,640 about joy. Feeling good is good, but it 77 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,800 fades. Joy is the Bible describes. 78 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,560 It is the deep inner state of being rooted in God, not 79 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,680 influence, control, or moved by worldly events and things that 80 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,600 don't last. A person is deeply rooted in 81 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,480 God, may or may not feel good but a certain event or about 82 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,080 life, but their joy is not tied to those things. 83 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,760 It's independent of that. Their joy is tied to what goes 84 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:06,680 on between him or her and God, people who are rooted in God. 85 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,240 Their inner joy is one of one of the reason why so many 86 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,840 Christians don't fear death. Because Paul writes in 87 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:17,560 Philippians, in fact, is what does it matter if I die and go 88 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,400 home to be with Christ? That's cool, that's better. 89 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,480 But if I stay here, then I'll just continue serving you. 90 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,640 As the years are going by for myself, I'm increasingly aware 91 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:31,240 of how fleeting and short and temporary everything is, and our 92 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,880 need to focus our hearts and minds on what lasts for eternity 93 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,160 in this life. Nothing that we see in this 94 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,160 room, on this yard, even in this building, will last for 95 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,000 eternity. Not our bodies, not our stuff. 96 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,160 Nothing lasts for eternity. But our soul does. 97 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,680 Our relationship does. And that should give us joy. 98 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,880 And I'm not saying here we should now not earn money and 99 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:58,800 tend to our lives or what we or we. 100 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:00,520 And if we do, we should do it with sadness. 101 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:01,960 No, no, enjoy it. It's great. 102 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,680 God blesses us with health. Enjoy it blesses us with 103 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,440 resources, enjoy them, but not in the context of this is now 104 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:10,960 where it's at. Christians should be and in many 105 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,560 places are the most joyous and cheerful people on this earth. 106 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,200 The difference between Christians and non Christians is 107 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:20,720 who and what they follow, what they're rooted in. 108 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,160 Non believers can have good times too. 109 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,640 They get raises, They're happy too, but it's temporary. 110 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,080 Nothing wrong with being happy but having a good raise or good 111 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,280 stuff. But we look for the eternal 112 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:36,680 stuff. Where it comes down to is what 113 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,600 meaning do we attach to it? As I said before, we're in the 114 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,640 Advent season this morning and we've been looking in the Gospel 115 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:47,320 of Luke where we read of several people who experienced joy even 116 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,320 when the circumstances were not ideal. 117 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,120 We learned when Zechariah was old, no longer expecting that 118 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,160 his prayers to have children would be answered. 119 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,640 And God sent the Angel Gabriel to give Zechariah the good news 120 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:03,840 that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son. 121 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,840 And the Angel says in Luke 114, you will have joy. 122 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,320 Angel promises him that he finds it very hard to believe and 123 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,840 given the fact that he's way past that age and his wife is 124 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,880 past that age and how this happened and God says because 125 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:19,160 you don't believe you won't be able to talk. 126 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,160 So there was a bit of a damper there, but it happened. 127 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,400 Elizabeth conceives, becomes pregnant in her old age and has 128 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:29,720 the blessings of a child. Then last Sunday we heard from 129 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,280 from the store Philham preached on how the Angel came to Mary 130 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,680 and Nazareth and he did the impossible and he told her the 131 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:40,680 good news. She's going to have a baby and 132 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,840 your baby will be the Messiah and he will have the king, the 133 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,200 the throne of King David and his Kingdom. 134 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,360 There will be no end of. And she too wonders old, but I 135 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:51,960 don't have a man. She was engaged to a man named 136 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:53,560 Joseph. But we're not married yet. 137 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,840 You know, we can't have a baby. And the Angel says don't worry 138 00:07:57,840 --> 00:07:59,680 about that. God's going to look after that. 139 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,880 The baby will be of the Holy Spirit. 140 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:07,800 And Mary just accepted that the the Holy One will over shadow 141 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,880 you and you'll have a son. Well, let's just pause for a bit 142 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,120 with these two women, Mary and Elizabeth. 143 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,320 Both of them had very unusual callings. 144 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,800 Mary not at the baby stage yet. She's coming. 145 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:23,440 Elizabeth, we were way past that. 146 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:28,520 Both out of the field, both were called to something they never 147 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:32,159 would have expected, never would have dreamed would be their 148 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:33,720 case. For Elizabeth, she's old. 149 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:37,280 Imagine a woman in the final phase of life becoming pregnant. 150 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,080 I don't know if she's walking with a cane or not. 151 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:40,320 We don't. We're not told. 152 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,320 I don't think she was. But just imagine some of you 153 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:49,080 women who are older now, having a baby and chasing after a 154 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,160 toddler. I'm actually thankful that 155 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,480 that's not our situation. I couldn't keep up. 156 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:02,400 Both of us couldn't keep up. And that's what happened. 157 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,800 Elizabeth became a mother. What a surprise. 158 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:08,440 What a life to look forward to, right? 159 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,760 Grey and old in body, but not in spirit. 160 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:13,600 And she became a first time mother. 161 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,720 Then there's this young virgin named Mary. 162 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,000 Angel Gabriel comes to her, gives her a promise that she'd 163 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,320 be the mother of the Messiah. Well, of course she got wedding 164 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:23,880 plans. Not baby plans. 165 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:27,680 Not being pregnant, not yet at least. 166 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,840 Planning for married life his Angel you'll have a baby. 167 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,760 And so God just interrupts these women and restructures their 168 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,080 lives and organizes their lives for them. 169 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:41,000 This would because for worry about how will it all happen? 170 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:44,560 How will it all be. What's interesting here in both 171 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:48,600 of these stories is that these were situations out of the norm, 172 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,680 out of the normal sphere of life as they would know it and it 173 00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:56,280 wasn't different than it is now. Everybody knows old grandmas 174 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,120 can't have babies. Everybody knows that. 175 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:00,200 And why should they? They're not. 176 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,000 They're not able to really care for little ones. 177 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:04,840 And everybody knows you shouldn't have babies at a 178 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:06,640 wedlock. Everybody knows that too. 179 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:12,120 But what did these two women do? They embraced their role with 180 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,760 joy. They had joy. 181 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,800 These two women, one the ain't the old grandma, not grandma. 182 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:21,240 She wasn't a grandma, but grandma's phase of life. 183 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,560 She was ready to just pack it in and just, OK, we're going to 184 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:26,440 wrap this thing up. We'll be going home soon. 185 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:28,320 And the other one, she hadn't even started yet. 186 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,800 She isn't even married yet. But they embraced their new 187 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:36,320 season of life with joy. For them, this was a journey 188 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:45,480 they had to make mentally, emotionally and spiritual. 189 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:50,320 Sermon title this morning is Journey to Joy. 190 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,760 Journey to joy. Are you and I this morning on a 191 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:59,760 journey to joy? Are we on a journey to misery? 192 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:10,040 To fear, to doubt, to worry? These were extreme situations 193 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:17,160 and they embraced them with joy. For Elizabeth and for Mary, both 194 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:21,000 were not in the norm in terms of as all working out as planned. 195 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,920 How can we have a journey that leads to joy in our life This 196 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:32,920 morning we want to read Luke chapter one, verse 39 to 45. 197 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,560 Well, that's we'll just read the first part. 198 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:43,640 It won't read all of it. 39 Luke 139 and just keep your Bibles 199 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:45,880 and phones open too. But this passage when you get 200 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:53,400 there, verse 39 begins Now Mary Rose in those days went with 201 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,320 went to the Hill Country with haste to a city in Judah and 202 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,840 entered the House of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 203 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,680 And it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that 204 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:06,440 the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the 205 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,200 Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud 206 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,960 voice and said, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the 207 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:16,440 fruit of your womb. But why is this granted to me, 208 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:18,840 that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 209 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,720 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my 210 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:24,680 ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 211 00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,360 Even the little unborn 1 was joyful. 212 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:31,000 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of 213 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,080 those things which were told her from the Lord. 214 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:38,440 So let's pause there again. These two women, now here they 215 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,880 are together, each in their new strange calling. 216 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,000 Not normal circumstances, once too old, have babies. 217 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,160 One shouldn't have babies yet, but they both have joy and 218 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,520 they're sharing it. Both are grounded and rooted in 219 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:52,000 God. As we know from the story. 220 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:56,240 They're both righteous women, worshippers of God, God the 221 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,720 character. And both were in a position 222 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:02,040 where God could use them for tasks that he would not use 223 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,240 normally use people for. God can't use just anybody for 224 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,000 these things. He uses special people, people 225 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,400 like Elizabeth and like Mary. And so here we have Mary and 226 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,360 Elizabeth, and they share a common joy. 227 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,800 You know something about joy. If you add it, it multiplies, it 228 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,200 increases. It's not like 1 + 1 is 2. 229 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:26,120 No, 1 + 1 is. However many can be, can be 230 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,360 much. It's an it's just, it just 231 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,040 multiplies. These two women both shared the 232 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,200 same mission in God's plan to bring salvation to this world. 233 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,200 Elizabeth, her son would be preparing the way and Mary her 234 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:42,720 son would be the way. These two old, these two women, 235 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:46,600 1 old and one young, both of them are generation apart, blood 236 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:48,920 relatives. But more than that, they shared 237 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:53,120 a common faith in God. Both were believers experiencing 238 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,960 something miraculous in nature in their time and both were 239 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:01,040 benefiting from each other. So that's what happens here. 240 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,960 And as we heard last Sunday, we need to remember that what the 241 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,160 Angel told Mary about Elizabeth and it says in Luke chapter one 242 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,760 verse 36 going back up a bit says now indeed Elizabeth, your 243 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,640 relative has also conceived a son in her old age. 244 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,280 And this is now the 6th month for her who was called barren. 245 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,800 For with God nothing is impossible. 246 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:23,720 When Mary had been told by the Angel that her relative 247 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,160 Elizabeth was expecting and in the six months already at the 248 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:28,080 time. What does Mary do? 249 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:32,200 It says she left with haste to visit her cousin. 250 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,720 She hurried for Mary. This was exciting news. 251 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,040 Hey, my old relative Elizabeth, down South in Judah, she's 252 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:43,440 having a baby. We don't know exactly how far 253 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,600 this was. This was a long distance, but 254 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,680 commentators suggest that would have been about 100 miles or 150 255 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:55,080 a 160 kilometers, give or take. So the same thing as walking 256 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:57,080 from this church to the City of London. 257 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,360 And it's it's it's safe to say that Mary, I don't think she had 258 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:03,760 a donkey. I don't think so. 259 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,600 And she would have made that journey on foot and would have 260 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:10,760 taken a while. There was no Tim horton's on the 261 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:13,760 way or on route where she could stop for a break and sit in a 262 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,520 nice air conditioned car or a car with a good heater or a 263 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,360 comfortable. It was none of that. 264 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,400 It was a big deal. She arrives there and the joy 265 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,320 begins. Well, she had joy probably 266 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:28,160 before that already, but this joy now is coming together and 267 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:29,920 it just ignites into something big. 268 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:34,080 It's something special. It says, even says that the baby 269 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,680 leaped in Elizabeth's womb. This was a great moment in time. 270 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,320 And Elizabeth and Mary, they experienced this together. 271 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,720 Both Elizabeth and Mary experiencing this common get 272 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,080 together. But I want to also mention a few 273 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:56,200 things that were not happening that were not taking place. 274 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,760 They were not focusing on the challenges that this would 275 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,720 bring. You know that for older women to 276 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,000 have a child can be extremely problematic. 277 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:10,240 They can die in childbirth. It's some would say not safe 278 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,600 past a certain age. Well, God doesn't worry about 279 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:18,880 those things. She was old and physically not 280 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,200 at that stage in life anymore for having babies and she 281 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,160 doesn't talk about it. If she did, it's not not 282 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,240 mentioned, but just physically in your mind. 283 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,160 Imagine going to a restaurant now with your husband, old and 284 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,640 white hair as well, and then you're getting the seniors 285 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:36,880 discount and oh what a wonderful grandchild. 286 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:41,880 Noah is our son. You get the idea. 287 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:48,320 So much was not normal. What would like, what would life 288 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:53,000 like be as a mother for her? No doubt this changed their 289 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,560 whole structure, how they did their house stuff, their house 290 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:58,520 arrangement, everything was changed. 291 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:00,960 And it doesn't say they talk about that, any of that. 292 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,280 They had planned for the sunset years, but now it was the other 293 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:08,200 way around. What about Mary? 294 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,480 She's pregnant, too. Just just pregnant. 295 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:12,599 She's starting out. She's expecting. 296 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:15,000 But yeah. Who's the dad? 297 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,480 Well, I don't have. Well, the Holy Spirit people in 298 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,040 the community might say, well, we're not buying it. 299 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,599 And even Joseph from the Gospel of Matthew believed, OK, she's 300 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:27,079 unfaithful, so I'm going to divorce her. 301 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,600 In that day and age, an engagement could only be 302 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,040 nullified through a divorce. So that's what he's planning to 303 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:34,320 do. That was later on. 304 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,680 And the Holy Spirit sends an Angel intervenes and no, no, no, 305 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:41,880 Joseph, don't worry, she's pregnant. 306 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:43,320 But it's not what you think it is. 307 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,960 The Holy Spirit overshadowed her and she's expecting a son and 308 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:48,800 he'll be the son of the Most High. 309 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:51,680 Sometimes we just need to let things be. 310 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,400 Let God handle it. There's situations and 311 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,840 circumstances we have no solution for or don't have an 312 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:58,400 answer to or shouldn't try to solve. 313 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:03,640 And So what these two women do is the best thing that women and 314 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:05,240 these women in their situation could be, you know what they do? 315 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,880 They embrace the journey. When do we embrace the journey? 316 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:17,960 Or we got to fix it, change it, alter it, modify it, sometimes 317 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:23,040 as it's placed, but not always. These pregnancies in both these 318 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,720 women changed everything. They would never be the same 319 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:35,480 again and it would bring pain. We don't know how old Zechariah 320 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:39,720 and Elizabeth were. Maybe they lived long enough. 321 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,040 I don't think so. But they could have maybe lived 322 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,240 long enough to see their son John being thrown in prison. 323 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:46,760 We don't know. They would have gotten really 324 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:48,600 old by that time. Maybe they're already passed on. 325 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:50,320 We don't know. We don't know what happened to 326 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,760 John, grew up, lived in the desert, ate wild honey and 327 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,800 locusts and camels hair garment and preached repentance to the 328 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,680 nation of Israel and didn't last very long and he was thrown in 329 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:04,720 jail and then sometime after that was killed. 330 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:11,320 They knew none of this. And Mary at the time didn't know 331 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:15,080 either that this little boy she was carrying would by the time 332 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:20,680 he was 33 or so, he would be arrested, falsely charged and 333 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,280 and condemned and he would be nailed to a cross. 334 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,200 And when she was around maybe 50 or so, we don't know what how 335 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,960 old Mary was when the Angel came, but maybe commentator 336 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,000 suggests she was a teenage girl. That would have been about the 337 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,520 time and Jewish culture when a woman would get engaged and be 338 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,720 married before 20. Nothing couldn't happen after. 339 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,000 But that would have been roughly about what they did. 340 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,320 So she would have been maybe 50 or so, give or take, when she 341 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:50,160 saw her son hanging on a cross. But here, now, today, in this 342 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,680 story, these two women rejoice together as they embrace their 343 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,560 shared experiences. And God wants us to embrace the 344 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:00,760 path He has for us. Our path will not be like that, 345 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:02,960 no doubt. But whatever our path may be 346 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:07,960 like, and it may not be convenient, may not even be 347 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:15,160 comfortable, may not even be safe, may not even be 348 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,280 acceptable, never mind about all the other stuff. 349 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:23,520 But what it will do, if we embrace it, it will lead us to 350 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,000 maturity. In Christ that will lead us to 351 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,960 humility, to surrender and to obedience and these two women 352 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:36,040 have a great time together. Elizabeth praising God Mary's 353 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,200 Mary's arriving, they didn't have no text and she couldn't 354 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:39,720 send a text. I'm coming over. 355 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,200 Just she comes and there she is and she's happy. 356 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,880 She's excited and now Mary responds, let's read Luke 357 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:51,920 chapter one verse 46. And Mary said, my soul magnifies 358 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:56,480 the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for 359 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,640 he has regarded the lowly estate of his maidservant. 360 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,360 For behold, henceforth all generations will call me 361 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,200 blessed. She is focusing on what God has 362 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,200 done for her. She's magnifying God, rejoicing 363 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,920 in God and look what God has done for me. 364 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,920 She's positioning her heart for worship to God. 365 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,920 She's magnifying her creator. She's focusing in her heart on 366 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,120 fulfilling what God has called her to. 367 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,840 She calls God my saviour. She's trusting in him. 368 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:33,840 She says my heart has rejoiced my my spirit has rejoiced. 369 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,480 My spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. 370 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,960 It's not something she was just starting to do now. 371 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,920 She had been doing this. She was a godly young woman 372 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:44,800 practicing and worship, worshipping God. 373 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,680 When our spirit rejoices in God, that puts us in the place where 374 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:50,960 true connection happens between US and God. 375 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,120 And it's at that point where Mary just launches into a song 376 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:58,720 of praise and worship for who God is, what He has done, and 377 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,280 what He is doing. She's aware and accepts her 378 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,360 position as the mother of Jesus. It says in verse 48, she 379 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:10,800 mentions how God has regarded her lowly estate, her lowly 380 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:16,320 position, her humble state. This simply means that Mary's 381 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,400 humility put her in a place where God could use her as the 382 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:24,600 person to fulfill the purpose which he wanted to bring in 383 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:26,560 which He wanted to bring Jesus into this world. 384 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,120 You see, humility is not optional. 385 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,200 If we're going to connect with God, if we're going to have joy, 386 00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,480 humility is a must. And you know what else? 387 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,440 If humility is there, pride has to go. 388 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:45,440 You can't be joyful and selfishly proud at the same 389 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:46,960 time. Doesn't work. 390 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:49,800 Humility is not something that we give her. 391 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,600 Oh, she will add a pinch of humility and a pinch of this and 392 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:54,360 a buffet style. Now worship God. 393 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:58,240 No, no, everything has to be in a humble environment. 394 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:04,160 A person can never be joyfully, pridefully connected with God. 395 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:07,720 Selfish pride always cancels out joy. 396 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:10,800 Mary's very much aware what's going on. 397 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,480 She knows her history, She knows the stories of King David and 398 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,520 the promises that God made to his people in the past. 399 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,520 And she knows her son will be the king of a never ending 400 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,840 Kingdom. And because of that, she knows 401 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,040 the future generations will call her blessed. 402 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,360 And she goes on praising God, worshipping God, mentioning what 403 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:28,560 God has done. Now we have only a very short 404 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,720 little passage here, and it takes only a minute or two to 405 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,960 read it. I'm sure she, her, she 406 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:36,680 worshipped longer than that. But let's read what she did. 407 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,080 Let's let's read further. It says here in verse 48. 408 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,240 And on it says, For he has, I'll read 48 again. 409 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,440 For he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant. 410 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,600 For behold, henceforth all generations will call me 411 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:50,800 blessed. And here it goes. 412 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,720 For He, for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and 413 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,880 holy is His name, and His mercy is one of those is on those who 414 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,480 fear Him from generation to generation. 415 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:04,480 He has shown strength with His arm. 416 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,280 He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 417 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,960 He has put down the mighty from their Thrones and exalted the 418 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:14,280 lowly. He has filled the hungry with 419 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,120 good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. 420 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,240 He has helped to servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy as 421 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:25,000 He spoke to her Father's, to Abraham, and to His seed 422 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,840 forever. And Mary remained with her, 423 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,120 meaning. Elizabeth about 3 months and 424 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:37,480 returned to her house. What is Mary's focus in the song 425 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:42,720 again? Note again, pay attention to 426 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:46,520 what she is not doing. She's not asking for a single 427 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,000 thing. Joy is not based on. 428 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,200 What can I get God to do for me? Oh yes, we pray for things to 429 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,080 happen, that is good, we should, but that's not the starting 430 00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:58,920 point. She's looking. 431 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,800 What has God done? And don't we all have a ton of 432 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,600 things every day we can thank God for what He has done started 433 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:08,720 sometime, sometime in the morning, take a piece of paper 434 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:10,920 and start thanking God for everything you can imagine that 435 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:12,160 morning you should thank Him for. 436 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:14,800 Well, you had a good night's rest maybe. 437 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:17,400 Or maybe you had a your own place to sleep, You had maybe 438 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:19,600 you got health, maybe you have enough food for the day. 439 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,520 There's always a long list we can joyfully thank God for. 440 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:27,160 And I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for things that are on our 441 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:28,720 hearts, that are heavy, that need to happen. 442 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,280 We can do those. We should do those. 443 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,320 But let's not be that that. Let's not let that be the 444 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:34,680 starting point or the only point. 445 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,320 Let's, let's bundle this up a little bit. 446 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,560 Let's pack this together. See what it looks like when we 447 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:46,520 just pile it up. He has regarded the lowly state 448 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,520 of his maid servant. This is what God did. 449 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,680 He has done great things for me. Well, there's a long list behind 450 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,600 that one. His mercy is on those who fear 451 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,520 Him. He has shown strength. 452 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,800 He has scattered the proud. He has put down the mighty. 453 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,160 He has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry. 454 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,920 He has sent the rich away empty. He has helped the servant 455 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,840 Israel. But 10 things or so that pop out 456 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,520 right here. What's her focus? 457 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:23,200 It's on God. We know from this passage that 458 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:27,120 Mary has joy, and here we see what this joy does. 459 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:29,960 It exalts God. Her joy is grounded in what God 460 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,920 is doing and has done and is doing. 461 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:34,560 And isn't that the kind of person that God would want to 462 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:36,880 use to bring the Messiah into this world? 463 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:42,600 What about if she was grumpy, pessimistic, negative, cynical? 464 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,160 The cup is always half empty. That kind of a lifestyle. 465 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,440 Oh, I'm a Christian, all right. But hey, the world's a bad 466 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:53,480 place. That doesn't work well. 467 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:59,480 You see folks, true joy is rooted in God. 468 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,080 Mary's proclaiming all this, what she's saying she's doing 469 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,600 from a historical context, connecting the past to the 470 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,440 present and can ongoing and what's going to come. 471 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,120 And with God, there's no time constraints. 472 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:13,120 He's been working then, he's working now. 473 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:14,560 We'll continue to work in the future. 474 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,840 And for Mary, she knows he's chosen her for that time and 475 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:22,280 that's phase of life. And when we say things like, Oh, 476 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,160 I wish I could have lived back when or lived in that season and 477 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,640 time. And then there's an God has us 478 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:28,120 here. Why? 479 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:31,040 He has us here for a reason. We may not know for sure, but 480 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,200 there's a purpose behind it. Let's embrace it. 481 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:42,120 Let's have joy in it. Earlier in verse 48, she talks 482 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:44,120 about taking note of her lowly estate. 483 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,160 And he says God has done great things for for, for her. 484 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,560 And she's just humbly accepting it. 485 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:52,720 And here together with her cousin Elizabeth, she's 486 00:27:52,720 --> 00:28:00,200 rejoicing God season takes note when a person is in relationship 487 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,040 with him and walks in obedience. He takes note when a person has 488 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,480 joy and you can can use that person for a purpose that the 489 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:11,040 world will not understand. Mary goes on and credits got all 490 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:13,600 these things. Let's go back to this list 491 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,640 again. I think it's a pretty good list 492 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,600 that Mary had there that Luke wrote down. 493 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:23,720 And again, let's note what's not there. 494 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,680 Nothing here that can be viewed from a negative standpoint. 495 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,640 It's all good stuff, even taking it's good when God subdues the 496 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,440 proud and and the haughty and so on. 497 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:40,480 It's good when God does that. She's mentioning that it's all 498 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,320 good stuff here. And again, the humility in which 499 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,080 Mary presents her song, She's surrendered. 500 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,120 She's devoted, giving him all the glory and all the honour for 501 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:56,720 what he does. Mary's journey to joy had taken 502 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,280 her from being close to God to even closer to God, surrender to 503 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:02,240 him and in a relationship with Him. 504 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:08,200 If we're going to have joy, we do well to ponder and meditate 505 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:13,120 on stories like this. Real God focused joy has nothing 506 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:18,840 to do with this world, with politics, with the economy, 507 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,640 nothing. Real God focused joy is solely 508 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,200 grounded in what he is doing. And yes, we pray around what's 509 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,240 going on here. We pray for the government, we 510 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,000 pray for our world, we pray for the situations and whatnot. 511 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,440 But that does not shade or shape or condition our joy. 512 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,680 And as valuable as the earthly things us for our for us to live 513 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:42,920 off of the money and food and shelter. 514 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,840 The problem with them sometimes is they become distractions. 515 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:53,200 They can become distractions and we start placing joy in those 516 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,880 things and we should never thank God for them. 517 00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:01,480 But no, they'll be taken away. It says that she spent three 518 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,240 months there. 90 days would have been. 519 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:05,560 I wonder if Mary kept the journal. 520 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,080 I would have liked to read it. I encourage people to journal. 521 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,400 I do journaling. It's very helpful, it's very 522 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,240 good. We can just imagine what they 523 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,680 all talked about. We don't know if Mary stayed 524 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,720 just past John was born or just before he John was born. 525 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:23,000 She left just before that. We don't know. 526 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:26,280 But we know from a worldly standpoint, political 527 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,160 standpoint, these two experiences of these two women, 528 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,400 Nope, not even a blip on the radar. 529 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,360 Nobody would have noticed. But for them, this was a special 530 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,040 thing and it was a world impacting event. 531 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,720 They did not live their lives based on who knows and how wide 532 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,880 is it known? And no, this just let God take 533 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:48,960 care of things. Their relationship with God, 534 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,760 they're worshipping God, praising God together, these two 535 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,160 humble, surrendered women, devoted and loyal to him. 536 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,840 And I think they did not even realize at the time how big of 537 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:06,960 an impact they truly would have. And we know the story and time 538 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:12,600 Mary gave birth to her first born name in Jesus, trained him, 539 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,480 raised him. He grew up, became a teacher. 540 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:20,120 At the age of 33, he was killed. And if that had been the end of 541 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:21,840 him, that would have been the end of what he had started. 542 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:23,560 But it wasn't. Three days later, he rose from 543 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:28,520 the tomb. Today, the world recognizes this 544 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,840 event. Jesus of Nazareth, the greatest 545 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:33,560 person to ever live. But to the US Christians, he's 546 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:34,920 way much more. He's everything. 547 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,440 He's in heaven today, sitting at the right hand of God and 548 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:44,600 advocating for us. And it says in John verse 12 549 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,880 kind of what he did. But because many has received 550 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,440 him to them, He gave the right to become children of God to 551 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:58,040 those who believe in His name. You and I connect too. 552 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:00,880 So again, the question, do you have joy? 553 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,480 If not, it's not because it's not available. 554 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,120 Maybe you're seeking it but haven't found it yet. 555 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,200 Maybe you're seeking among the wrong things. 556 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,880 Maybe you've been hoping and wanting for others to treat you 557 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:17,400 right. And then you'll have joy. 558 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:19,600 Maybe if your boss was better, you'll have joy. 559 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,320 Maybe if your parents were better, or your spouse was 560 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,080 better, or your kids were better, or your neighbor was 561 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,480 better, that's not how you'll get it. 562 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,000 Maybe when you get that big break, no, it's not how you'll 563 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,160 get it or the big break needs to come, but that's not how you'll 564 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,720 have joy. It comes from being connected 565 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,240 with God, being in relationship with God regardless of the 566 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:44,280 situation around us. Maybe you're here this morning 567 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,760 so much long for that deep, inner, satisfying sense of being 568 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,200 right with God. And it's a good longing to have. 569 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:53,760 But it will never come through self effort, never come through 570 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:58,280 performance. It will come only as we lay down 571 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,360 and let go of whatever it is that's between US and God. 572 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,960 The expectations and the fears just surrender. 573 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,160 And when we're able to do that, surrender everything to Christ, 574 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,360 our dreams, our ambitions, and whatever we have, we'll find 575 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,840 ourselves taking a journey to the cross. 576 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,920 And they're at the cross. We find that all we ever needed 577 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,560 and truly wanted was Him. That's it. 578 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,480 Because they're at the cross. That's where Jesus gives us His 579 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,840 peace, exchanges His righteousness for our sin, takes 580 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:43,040 our sin, and we're saved. We have this freedom, and then 581 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:46,760 we have joy. My prayer is that all of us 582 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:50,880 would have it, and if you don't have it yet, find it. 583 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,040 Oh yes, there'll be struggles and challenges in life. 584 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,120 They will come, but they can't dampen that because this is 585 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:00,840 eternal. It won't come through anything 586 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:04,120 else. And with a faith that's anchored 587 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:08,400 and rooted in God, our joy will outlast all the struggles and 588 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,840 trials and challenges this life can throw at us. 589 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,679 My prayer is that God will give each one of us the eyes to see 590 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:18,239 and the ears to hear and hearts to understand what this means, 591 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:19,760 and we will have that joy.