Why does it seem like so many people are searching for happiness but struggling to find joy?

In Part 2 of the Life on the Vine series, Dr. Gregg Marutzky explores joy as a fruit of the Spirit and why it differs from the temporary happiness our culture often pursues. Drawing from Galatians 5 and John 15, this message examines how gratitude, contentment, meaningful relationships, and serving others contribute to lasting joy, while anxiety, comparison, consumerism, and constant dissatisfaction slowly erode it.

Along the way, Gregg shares personal stories, practical insights, and biblical wisdom on cultivating a life marked by joy rather than merely chasing moments of happiness.

Whether you're navigating a difficult season or simply wondering why fulfillment can feel so elusive, this message offers a refreshing perspective on where lasting joy is found.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and Series Intro

04:17 Joy Quotes and Theme Verse

08:38 Heartfelt Faith and Joy

10:17 Choosing Joy and Reframing

11:41 What Joy Really Means

14:08 Joy in Family and Milestones

19:04 Gratitude and True Joy

21:21 Parable of the Talents

27:23 Abide in the Vine

29:48 Obstacles to Joy Today

33:53 Practices That Cultivate Joy

36:51 Closing and Lord's Supper

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OC Church of Christ

Dr. Gregg Marutzky:

2

Happy Sunday, church Happy Sunday.

3

It's good to have you here today, and,

uh, especially as we, uh, begin, uh,

4

this second, uh, installment of this

new series entitled Life on the Vine.

5

I'm excited to, uh, share it with you,

and I, I better be because it's about joy.

6

Yeah.

7

All right?

8

And, uh, you know, I, I, I've

been thinking about joy all week.

9

In, in fact, I'll share a little

bit with you about my process of

10

getting excited about this sermon.

11

First, I thought about

what makes me joyful.

12

Right.

13

And I thought, "Well, what

candy bar makes me joyful?"

14

Almond Joy.

15

Almond Joy, you got it, Sam.

16

You're…

17

There's such a connection.

18

A couple more.

19

Cicero, "Friendship improves happiness,

abates misery, by the doubling of our

20

joy and the dividing of our grief."

21

A great preacher, Henry Ward

Beecher, "The sun does not shine

22

for a few trees and flowers

23

Yes, Lewis.

24

Joy is a serious business

25

Bibles, uh, if you will, over to

Galatians chapter 5, our theme verse

26

To, uh, purchase the

book if you'd like to.

27

This is a bur- book that I'm referencing

as I'm preparing for these sermons.

28

It's a, it's a great book.

29

It really

30

society.

31

And today especially, we're gonna

talk about how it's difficult to

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be joyful in a society that is so

full of advertising telling us we're

33

not content and we need something

34

Born again, raised from

the water of baptism.

35

We have the, the Spirit within us, for

the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy

36

self-control and against

such things, there's no law,

37

there's no boundary, there's no

38

Want to live on the vine, don't you?

39

Yeah.

40

Life on the vine is a life of love

and joy and peace and all the fruits

41

of the Spirit, and oh, what the world

needs now- Yeah … is the Spirit.

42

Yeah.

43

Amen?

44

Write a song about that,

will you, somebody?

45

I'm not a song leader, but it's got to

replace what the world needs now is love.

46

That's a good song, too, but what

they really need is the ability to

47

love, the Holy Spirit within them.

48

Amen?

49

Amen.

50

And I just put up this slide 'cause it's

about joy, and I can't jump anymore,

51

and so, uh, gonna let them jump for me.

52

Amen?

53

No, I can jump, but

somethin' might happen.

54

Don't laugh at me.

55

Don't…

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You'll get there s- there someday too

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Today, we're gonna talk

about the heart some more.

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One of the greatest compliments people

have given me is, "Greg, you're heartsy."

59

Well, that's better

than being non-heartsy.

60

All right?

61

I think it was before I got, uh,

educated in more, uh, depth in my

62

lessons and sermons, they thought, "Well,

at least you're sincere," you know?

63

But I think it's a good quality to be

heartsy, to let your heart be out there,

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to, to help people to feel what you feel.

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And I want, uh, this series to

be more than just information

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and more than just, uh, truth.

67

I want us to feel God's love for us.

68

I want us to feel God's joy over

us, especially today, and His

69

peace and His patience, et cetera.

70

Amen.

71

Max Lucado, he's a friend of mine.

72

I know Max.

73

Uh, he's, uh, from the same school

I went to and even teach at,

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Abilene Christian University, and,

uh, he's a graduate from there.

75

We met at a conference in

Manaus, Brazil, in the Amazon.

76

Uh, our rooms were right across from

each other at a conference, and we

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became friends before he wrote any books.

78

All right?

79

In fact, he gave me a, a copy at that

conference of his first book, On the

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Anvil, and it's not that popular.

81

Not that many people read that one.

82

The second one was the one that,

uh, everybody, uh, uh, loved,

83

the, the, the one On the Cross.

84

But he says, "I choose joy because I will

refuse to see any problem as anything

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less than an opportunity to see God."

86

Amen.

87

There's times I can reframe my mind

and my emotions and feel that way, but

88

that's a higher calling for me, to not

see problems as problems, you know?

89

We moved into this, uh, new house, and

they just don't have very good closets.

90

We put my suits up, which I

never wear anymore, in one of the

91

closets, and it tore down the rail.

92

Oh.

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Gonna have to do it my-

build a new one, you know?

94

And, uh, it's just…

95

You know, they aren't

that heavy, are they?

96

I guess they may be.

97

All right?

98

Maybe I need to give them

away, but nobody wants them.

99

So anyway, personal problem.

100

Let's move on.

101

All right?

102

What was I talking about?

103

Reframing problems and

seeing them as opportunities.

104

Amen?

105

Yeah.

106

Yeah.

107

And then this is a great little acronym.

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Seeking joy is first seeking Jesus,

seeking others, and then seeking

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what's best for yourself as well,

which is our relationship with God.

110

Some definitions of joy.

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Very employ- important for us to grab

hold of a good personal definition of joy.

112

Joy is a state of being or

byproduct of significance.

113

You can't really go after joy.

114

You have to live in such a way where

it's a byproduct of your character,

115

and your activities, and your thinking,

and your convictions, and your faith.

116

You can't get it directly.

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It's gotta be a gift from

God, a gift from the Spirit.

118

And the word is chara, which is like,

uh, uh, uh, the, the, the, the, the

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word, Greek word for grace, charis.

120

All right?

121

And so they're sister, uh, words in

the Greek 'cause they're connected

122

both as gifts, gifts from God.

123

Joy represents a deeper inner

gladness and cheerfulness.

124

Some of you were born joyful.

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When they slapped you, you smiled at it.

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Right?

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And then some of us, we, we, we just

grabbed hold of the nearest dark cloud

128

and just pulled it over us, you know?

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I, I've always been as-- too serious.

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I love being around happy people.

131

I need to be happier.

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I wanna be happier.

133

This is a hard sermon to preach for me

'cause I'm not a naturally joyful person.

134

I don't wake up

135

Kathy's even like, "Craig, open your eyes.

136

You're gonna fall down the stairs

if you don't open your eyes."

137

I don't wake up until a

shower and coffee Amen.

138

Now, I may be up and I may be

walking around, but I, I, I'm one…

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I'm not a morning person.

140

Some of you are morning people.

141

My wife's a morning person.

142

She's just always happy.

143

The opposites attract, that's

why I love her, all right?

144

Oh, man.

145

She, she gets me going in the morning.

146

She's loving, she's kind.

147

I'm like, "Oh, it's another day."

148

You know?

149

And I know I shouldn't be

that way, but I'm just…

150

I'm admitting this, this

is who I am naturally.

151

And but I want to be joyful.

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I wanna be happy.

153

We all do, don't we?

154

Yeah.

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We want it to overflow from within us.

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Nobody wants to be around Eeyore.

157

And if you don't know who, who

Eeyore is, you need to read to your

158

grandkids more often, all right?

159

In fact, you want joy,

get around some children.

160

Yeah.

161

The last 10 months living with

our two grandkids, I just,

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I just crack up at times.

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I mean, I mean, they, they, they just…

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Children do funny things, you know?

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And our little baby, she's one

and a half now, she just gibbers.

166

When I wake, she,

167

"Uh, uh."

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And she knows what she's saying.

169

She knows what we mean.

170

I just say, "Yes.

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Yes."

172

And somehow that appeases her.

173

And then sometimes it doesn't,

she gives me this look

174

Like you're stupid

175

And then I start laughing

when she gives me that look.

176

I mean, you gotta be around kids.

177

You gotta be around things

that will bring joy out of you.

178

Amen?

179

Amen.

180

Amen.

181

Come on, man.

182

You know, we, we, we, we've got this

house about a month ago, but we haven't

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moved out of our daughter's yet.

184

I think we're, we're, we're, we're a lit-

we're dragging our feet a little bit, me

185

more than Cathy, because I love that joy.

186

I love that gift I, I get.

187

I'm gonna have to hang out there a lot.

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They better feed me.

189

Amen.

190

Joy is taking delight in someone

or something beyond yourself,

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like your children, like God.

192

Joy is being drawn out of

ourselves in fulfilling activity.

193

Don't you just feel great after

you've done something good for

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someone else, an act of kindness?

195

Yeah.

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Some type of service, service

to God, service to others.

197

Don't you just feel good?

198

Don't you feel good at the end of the

day when you've had a fruitful day?

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Yeah.

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When you did most of the things that

you wanted to do, especially for God.

201

Joy is the satisfaction we find when

we realize what we have been seeking.

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The greatest joy is conversion.

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Yeah.

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And not just our own.

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Watching other people be converted.

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Oh, that's right.

207

That's right.

208

I don't know about you, but I,

I'm not emotionally unstable.

209

You might be

210

But I'm, I, as the older I get, at

baptisms, I always get emotional.

211

Wow.

212

And when they share their testimony.

213

And I was a little emotional this

morning to see all these kids up here.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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'Cause that's a milestone, folks.

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Yeah.

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Right.

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And I know how hard it is to graduate.

220

Yeah.

221

I practiced.

222

All right?

223

But even just graduating from high school,

that wasn't that easy for some of us.

224

Yeah.

225

We didn't have educated parents.

226

We didn't have anybody that cared

that deeply whether we studied or not.

227

We didn't have that many role models.

228

Yeah.

229

So these kids graduating from high

school, what a milestone, what a

230

joy, what a great foundation, what a

springboard- Yeah … for going forward.

231

And then these folks graduating

from college, do you know how many

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times in college I almost quit?

233

You almost quit?

234

Didn't you go to college for 30 years?

235

No, just 25, all right?

236

But after the first semester,

I went down and was gonna quit.

237

Signed up for the Marines.

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Wasn't quite old enough, so I had

to take the paperwork to my dad.

239

He tore it up.

240

Said, "You're going back to college."

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"Dad, I didn't do very good.

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It's too hard.

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I don't think I can do it."

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I was valedictorian in my high school,

but when you're in a school with all

245

valedictorians, you can feel pretty stupid

246

He said, "You're going back,

unless you want to come out

247

to the oil field with me."

248

I said, "No, I'll go back to college."

249

All right?

250

And then it, then you

learn how to go to school.

251

And once you learn a few of the

approaches, the methods, the

252

tricks, it becomes a joy to learn.

253

C- I congratulate you, every

one of you that graduated.

254

Every one of you that are

on that journey, keep going.

255

Don't give up.

256

Amen.

257

For the joy set before you,

you will graduate someday.

258

It might take another year

or another, another year.

259

It doesn't matter when, you just will.

260

Joy is a core human emotion defined

by intense, long-lasting happiness,

261

contentment, and wellbeing.

262

We're not talking about pleasure.

263

We're not talking about

happiness this morning.

264

We're talking about a deep fruit

of the spirit that's abiding.

265

Unlike fleeting happiness, it is

often tied to deeper fulfillment

266

and purpose or connection.

267

While happiness is often an external

response to a specific event,

268

like getting a raise or something,

joy is generally viewed as an

269

internal, enduring state of what?

270

Gratitude.

271

Gratitude.

272

If you're not a grateful

person, you don't have much joy.

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That's it.

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If you can learn to be grateful-

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Did you have warm water this morning?

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Yeah.

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Oh, I'm grateful for it.

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Yeah.

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'Cause when I was in Russia,

they didn't have warm water.

280

They had cold water.

281

But you felt so dirty, you

went ahead and jumped in there.

282

And it, in Russia, in the winter, with

cold water, uh, we're talking cold water.

283

And the towels were dish towels.

284

They're not made for

people like me, all right?

285

Bigger people.

286

We had bigger towels when I was

playing sports, and I would use two.

287

The, the, the equipment manager,

he, he'd always gripe at me, "Why

288

do you always use so many towels?"

289

"Well, 'cause I like drying

off and being clean."

290

"Why not just use one

towel like everybody else?"

291

"'Cause I like two."

292

And then I ruined my wife.

293

We got married, and she was

always upset with, "Why do you

294

use a clean towel every day?"

295

"Because I wanna be clean."

296

"Well, if you've showered and

you use a towel, then aren't

297

you clean when you dry off?"

298

"Yeah, but I got it dirty."

299

And now she uses a clean towel every day.

300

You become like each other after 45 years.

301

Amen?

302

I love this parable, the

parable of the talents.

303

Jesus, you know it, and it's

not usually used as a joy text.

304

It's used as a judgment text, but y-

let's use it as a joy text this morning.

305

Amen?

306

Again, it will be like a man going

on a journey who called his servants

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and entrusted his property to them.

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To one he gave five talents of

money, to another two talents,

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and to another one talent.

310

And you gotta listen to this.

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Each according to his ability.

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God only gives you what you can handle.

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He doesn't give you too much, and

he expects just what is fair- Amen

314

for each of us.

315

Then he went on a journey, and

then the next part of the, the,

316

the parable, we know the rest of

it, but here it h- is how it ends.

317

His master replied, "Well done,

good and faithful servant."

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That's all we are is servants.

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If you think you're more

than a servant, God help you.

320

As they say in the South, "Mercy."

321

God bless you.

322

We're just servants.

323

Don't think too highly of ourselves.

324

"You have been faithful

with a few things."

325

Faithful, that's all we

gotta be, is faithful.

326

"I put you in charge … I will

put you in charge of many things.

327

Come and share," what?

328

"Your master's happiness."

329

We make God happy.

330

That's a joy that's beyond understanding.

331

I pray for people often for peace

that's beyond their circumstances,

332

peace beyond- Amen … understanding.

333

Glory.

334

Yes, amen.

335

Because we don't understand why it's

happening to us, and we don't understand

336

all the vicissitudes of lives, all of the

ups and downs, all the challenges, all.

337

We don't know the answer why.

338

We will someday.

339

Yeah.

340

But praise God, when God's

happy with us and we know it, we

341

can have this overflowing joy.

342

Yeah.

343

You know God's happy with you this

morning 'cause you're in church.

344

He wants His people to come together, to

meet together, to worship Him, to pray

345

and praise, and to remember the sacrifice

of His Son, and to hear His teaching,

346

to hear His Word to His people- Yeah

347

because you're here.

348

And it's not the most popular things.

349

Most people go to the beach.

350

Most people go to a sporting event.

351

Most people spend a lot of money to

go somewhere else other than church.

352

But God's pleased with you-

Amen … because you're here.

353

Amen.

354

And it took a little effort.

355

Yeah.

356

Well done, good and faithful servants.

357

Do you hear that in your head very often?

358

That isn't a tape most of us hear played.

359

Most of us hear do

more- Yeah … get more.

360

Yeah.

361

We listen to the advertising when we

nee- need to listen to the Word of God.

362

Amen.

363

Because you've been faithful.

364

I don't preach a whole lot

of repentance to the church.

365

I preach repentance to the world,

and I preach repentance to the church

366

'cause I know we get visitors and

stuff, but the church is the faithful.

367

That's right.

368

The church is the one that's been

faithful now and have been…

369

Many of you have been faithful

for years and for decades,

370

and some of you, many decades.

371

Sorry to bring up your age.

372

If you wanna learn more about

joy, my friend Richard Beck wrote

373

a great book, The Shape of Joy.

374

I've shared it with you before, but

he's just a, he's a serious guy like me.

375

He's a professor at Abilene Christian,

the chairman of the psychology department.

376

But he, he…

377

And he writes short books.

378

I, I like him, too.

379

All right?

380

But this is a great book.

381

He's really into positive psychology

and, and the science of awe, which is

382

the science of God, and the science

of joy, and the science of happiness,

383

and he's written a great book.

384

And I, I read his model again

this week about, uh, joy.

385

And if you look at these things he says

we need to do to have joy, we need to

386

quiet our souls, our, our inner beings.

387

We need to focus on others.

388

We need to invest in some social good.

389

We need to not be reactive

and be stable and temperate.

390

We need to go after worthy things

and value what God values or

391

what's very valuable and not just

what Madison Avenue teaches us.

392

And then we need our egos,

our pride, our will to shrink

393

Go around this circle, this quadrilateral.

394

Quiet, that sounds like peace

395

Others, that sounds like kindness

396

Or patience.

397

Social patience, that's kindness.

398

Non-reactive, that's goodness.

399

Worthy, that sounds like

self-control or maybe a small ego.

400

You can put the fruits of the

spirit into his model, and I'm gonna

401

suggest to him, y- you only have

one, two, three, four, five, six.

402

You need nine.

403

There's nine fruits of

the spirit, Richard.

404

I better not try to correct

him or change his model.

405

Speaker 2: He did a lot of research.

406

Dr. Gregg Marutzky:

407

I'm still gonna say it, uh,

you know, just as a friend.

408

John 15 verse 11, "I have told you

this so that my joy may be in you

409

and that your joy may be complete."

410

What did he say right before this?

411

"You are my friends.

412

I no longer call you servants.

413

I call you friends because I have shared

everything my Father has shared with me."

414

And what did he just share before that?

415

"I am the vine and you are the branches.

416

Abide in me and you'll bear much fruit."

417

Abide in me and you'll be

joyful, is the promise.

418

Amen.

419

Amen.

420

Augustine, one of the great theologians

of the Christian Church, said, "O Lord,

421

far be it from me to think that whatever

joy I feel makes me truly happy, for

422

there is a joy that is not given to

those who do not love you, but only to

423

those who love you for your own sake.

424

You yourself is their joy.

425

Happiness is to rejoice in you

and for you and because of you.

426

This is true happiness,

and there is no other.

427

Those who think that there is another

kind of happiness look for joy

428

elsewhere, but theirs is not true joy."

429

True joy is found in

Jesus Christ, I believe.

430

Amen.

431

He says in John 16, the next chapter,

"So with you, now is your time of grief."

432

You know what illustration

he gave right before this?

433

He gave the illustration of childbirth.

434

And he says, "During

childbirth, there's great pain.

435

But then after the birth,

there's only rejoicing."

436

You ask a mom, they, they'll remember

how many hours they were in labor,

437

but the- I've never met a mom yet

that didn't think it was worth it.

438

Amen.

439

The miracle of birth.

440

And so Jesus used that illustration, then

he says this: "Now is your time for grief,

441

for pain," that's this world, "but I

will see you again, and you will rejoice,

442

and no one will take away your joy."

443

Amen.

444

That's the joy we want, amen?

445

Amen.

446

That kind of joy.

447

The obstacles of joy, because of our

culture, because of the society we live

448

in, because of the world that we're

in, m- we m- advertising tells us they

449

manufacture a desire for more and more

450

It feeds a discontentment.

451

Or you, and an anxiety it says.

452

Advertising feeds

discontentment and anxiety.

453

Puts pressure on people.

454

Earn more so you can buy more.

455

Earn more because you need this.

456

Spend more because

457

FOMO

458

Fear of missing out.

459

Advertising and marketing

460

I saw there were a few marketing majors

461

That graduated I was too.

462

That's one of my areas

463

Use it carefully.

464

Amen?

465

Amen.

466

Creating false connections,

delusional images of desire.

467

All this is what marketing

and advertising does.

468

Elusive commitment, or

contentment, I mean.

469

Elusive contentment.

470

You're not quite there yet.

471

You gotta get a better job.

472

You gotta get a bigger house.

473

Oh, you got a big house.

474

Ah, you need another one.

475

You know?

476

You don't have a new enough car.

477

It's always elusive, this contentment,

and feeds a discontentment.

478

What else is an obstacle to joy?

479

New and improved.

480

Nothing good about the past

or the old, and young people

481

don't buy into this completely.

482

There's good about technology and

AI and new things, and there's

483

good about some old, traditional,

stable, foundational things.

484

We all build on the past

or we don't build well.

485

It's not a either/or.

486

It's a both/and.

487

And when you're young, you only have

either/or thinking, and so you gotta

488

listen to some of the folks that are

a little older with a little more

489

experience because new and improved

isn't always new and improved.

490

Yes.

491

Yeah.

492

It's just something to sell people.

493

Glorifying the novel and the different

494

I don't buy the novel.

495

I take my daughter's hand-me-down phones.

496

I know some of you stand in

line, you get the newest.

497

Good for you.

498

Not in my budget.

499

And she likes to get the new and improved,

and I think your company helps pay

500

for it, so I'll take her hand-me-down.

501

I think I have an, uh, iPhone 10 or 11.

502

That's good enough.

503

And now I know they're even up to 17.

504

How did…

505

Man, they, they went from

10 to 17 before I blinked.

506

All right?

507

But God bless you if you've gotta

have the newest of that, because

508

there's probably something better.

509

You got a better camera, I he- I guess.

510

Right?

511

But when you, you look like me, you

don't want the best camera, right?

512

Old is bad.

513

Past is suspicious.

514

Don't think that way.

515

Breathing anxiety and fear, it's at

all-time epidemic levels right now.

516

Negative thinking.

517

Most television feeds a negative

thinking, especially the news.

518

Holding on to anger and conflict.

519

Let's let go of anger.

520

Amen.

521

Let's let go of con- Let's

try to be peacemakers.

522

Can we do that?

523

Cultivating joy.

524

Here's the good stuff.

525

Get to it, Greg.

526

Finish it up.

527

Learning contentment

528

Just start making a list of the

good things in your life that you

529

should be content about, all right?

530

And before you buy something,

do I really need it?

531

How many pairs of shoes

do you already have?

532

All right.

533

Learning contentment, expressing

praise and gratitude to other people.

534

Teach your kids to say,

"Thank you, please, yes.

535

Thank you for dinner, Mom."

536

Amen.

537

"Thank you for cleaning the hou-

thank you for these clean clothes.

538

Thank you for this house, Dad.

539

Thank you for how hard you work, Dad."

540

Amen.

541

You know, it's good to be around

these little kids, these grandkids.

542

Their parents teach them

c- Now, was that kind?

543

Sometimes they, they, they say

things to me that it's not that kind.

544

"Papa, can you go get me s- this?"

545

And my daughter will say, "No,

don't be telling Papa to do that.

546

You go do that."

547

And I'm like, "Thank you, daughter."

548

Amen.

549

Being kind.

550

Express reconceiving tradition.

551

The old isn't always bad.

552

Enjoying children, I've already said that.

553

Practicing Sabbath, learning to

stop- Yes … and find peace.

554

Yes.

555

Focusing on the positive.

556

Don't you love being

around negative people?

557

I'm not gonna say their name, but I

have a relative that's very negative.

558

And oh, I can only visit two days.

559

That's it.

560

They're always complaining to

me, "Why don't you come visit?

561

Why don't you stay longer?"

562

'cause you're so naked as a jaybird

563

Can't say it or they'd

be negative about me

564

Nobody likes it.

565

No.

566

Deciding to smile

567

Communicating faith and hope,

deciding to smile consistently,

568

stepping out of depression.

569

You have to make that

choice and that decision.

570

Investing in relationships,

engaging in service activities,

571

and resolve your conflicts.

572

Those are just a few of the things

that will cultivate joy that are

573

keeping us from being joyful.

574

And here's a beautiful little slide

if you wanna take pictures of it.

575

It's all small.

576

You can- you gotta have one of those

iPhone 17s, I guess, to be able to

577

blow this up, to be able to read it.

578

Here I, here I've talked myself

into a dead end, didn't I?

579

There you go.

580

But it's a joy map.

581

One of our brothers, Glenn Giles, in

Denver, an elder there, made that.

582

And to close out, give joy to get joy.

583

Even in fellowship this afternoon,

give some joy so you can get some joy.

584

And play this tape in

your head over and over.

585

Repeat it over and over and over.

586

Well done, good and faithful servant.

587

Well done, good and faithful servant.

588

Well done, sister, my great daughter.

589

Well done, my beloved, my

good and faithful daughter,

590

my good and faithful son.

591

God affirms us.

592

That's what joy is.

593

And then to bring it back and to tie this

string together and all of these fruits

594

of the Spirit, the things that God tells

us to do as a church over and over, we

595

ju- we're about to do the Lord's Supper.

596

Why?

597

Because it's about giving

and receiving grace.

598

That's why it says, "Consider the body

of Christ when you take of the bread

599

and take of the fruit of the vine."

600

Make sure you're reconciled in the body,

there's no issues with someone else.

601

The giving and receiving of grace.

602

The worship, what we've been doing

already, expressing gratitude and praise.

603

And service, the sacrifice

of time and effort.

604

And then my daughter told me after

last week's sermon, "Greg…"

605

Or she didn't say Greg, she said Dad.

606

She said, "Dad, that last point

could've been a whole sermon.

607

I've never heard that before,

that discipleship is knowing

608

and transforming yourself."

609

She said, "I've always thought

of it negatively, like it's just

610

being picked on, even by God.

611

You gotta change."

612

No, it's knowing and transforming

yourself to be like Jesus.

613

Amen.

614

Amen.

615

And then we can jump for joy.

616

That's right.

617

God bless the church.

618

Amen.