Category Archives: Joy

Songs for Sunday, August 8, 2021

Memory can be a funny thing. I found myself sitting here before a blank screen, thinking about the beautiful thing that gathering together as a local church is, when I found myself reminded of some of my earliest memories of “big church”. One of the joys of getting to participate in worship on Sunday mornings has always been singing. And, in those early memories, no song stands out more than one we used to sing – and sing loudly and joyfully – was based on Psalm 118:24:

This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

While my memories of this song/psalm are fond, they pale in comparison to the joy I find today looking at the context of these verses and why we should rejoice in “this…day that the LORD has made”!

We won’t look at the whole psalm, but just the verses immediately before and after verse 24 – and we will see that Jesus Christ alone is our reason for rejoicing!

Verses 19-20 speak of “gates of righteousness” and a “gate of the LORD” for “the righteous” – all of which makes me think of Jesus as “the Way” in John 14:6. The psalmist talks about this way for the righteous is an answer to his prayer for salvation (v. 21). Don’t miss this: the way that God became his salvation (“you have answered me and become my salvation”) is through Jesus! Look at vv. 22-23:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.

Jesus – God Himself (John 1:1) – “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14); He “emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” and “being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-7). Willingly, He laid aside glory to be our Substitute (2 Corinthians 5:21) and make a Way for us through His own righteousness (1 John 2:1-2), even when His own people rejected Him (John 1:11).

For all these reasons – and the many more that we find in the Word regarding “the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13) – this is the day, every day is a reason to rejoice because the Lord made it and all He has done on our behalf in Christ!

But the psalmist did not end in rejoicing alone; he recognized our great need for continued salvation in verse 25:

Save us, we pray, O LORD!
O LORD, we pray, give us success!

And that is exactly why we get to gather to rejoice tomorrow – the continued answer to that prayer for all wretched sinners who have found the Way, Jesus – who “will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). We rejoice not in the beauty of the day but in the beauty of the Savior, not in the church but the Christ, not the salvation alone but the Savior!

Here are our Scriptures and songs:

  • Philippians 3:7-11 —

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

  • Philippians 2:5-11 —

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TuggtgT8_g

We invite you to join us this Sunday at Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS!

We have Sunday School classes for all ages at 9:30a and worship – everyone is welcome – at 11:00a!

If you are concerned about social distancing or are at-risk, consider gathering with us at 10:00a for a small group Bible study in our worship center. There is plenty of room to spread out, but there is also opportunity to gather with others at the same time! No one will crowd you, and you can exit out of our side door and avoid the crowd coming in to worship after the Bible study!

Songs for Sunday, July 25, 2021

This week has been VBS at Christ Community Church, and it has been wonderful! There is nothing like the sound of sixty-some-odd children laughing, singing, praising, and learning about Jesus!

That’s what a church should sound like (even from us older folks).

One of the beautiful truths from God’s Word that these kiddos learned was that of Emmanuel – God with us! Usually, this is something we typically focus on in December, but that beautiful and glorious gospel truth that God is still with us is going to drive our worship.

That means we’re going to be a bit Christmas-y in July. This is going to be good for us for a few reasons.

First, even though Christians are an Easter people and find our hope in the death, burial, and – especially – resurrection of Jesus. But, how could He do any of those things if He was not born first? This week at VBS, our kiddos began looking at how great and glorious our God and King is. Look at the verses we started with:

I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.

Psalm 145:1

and

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.

Psalm 145:3

God is King and Creator – there is none like Him. From there we looked at Isaiah’s vision and the declaration of the seraphim:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.”

Isaiah 6:3

In Isaiah’s vision, the Lord was seated on His throne. This is where the importance of Emmanuel comes in: God left His throne, laying aside His glory, to put on flesh and dwell among us in Jesus (John 1:1, 14)! No other king would abdicate his throne to serve the least of his people. But God is not like any other king.

This is highlighted by Thursday’s verse:

…but God shows His love for is in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Knowing the full extent of our sin and guilt, He loved us and died in our place. He knew before He came. That’s a gift worth celebrating.

Second, understanding the gift of Jesus (Romans 6:23) should drive us to worship Him all the more. Sometimes, changing the calendar from November to December does not drive us to worship. I heard numerous people remark in both Easter and Christmas 2020 that it just did not “feel” like it. Lord, willing, it will feel like it Sunday. The calendar does not drive us to worship, but the Christ does!

Finally, we have missed a lot of gathering together over the past year. Flippant things like singing a few Christmas-y songs in July will not make up for lost time, but the joy of gathering together is good for us and something we could all use a bit more of.

So, let me kick off our tomorrow with a hearty “Merry Christmas”!

Here are our Scriptures and songs:

  • Isaiah 9:2-7 —

2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
3 You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
4 For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

  • We Have a Savior —
  • Born to Die —
  • Isaiah 53:10-12 —

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

  • Jesus Paid It All (O Praise the One) —
  • King of Kings —
  • (invitation) Joy to the World (King is Coming) —

We invite you to join us this Sunday at Christ Community Church in Grenada, MS!

We have Sunday School classes for all ages at 9:30a and worship – everyone is welcome – at 11:00a!

If you are still concerned about social distancing or are at-risk, consider gathering with us at 10:00a for a small group Bible study in our worship center. There is plenty of room to spread out, but there is also opportunity to gather with others at the same time! No one will crowd you, and you can exit out of our side door and avoid the crowd coming in to worship after the Bible study!

Refresh & Restore — January 7, 2021

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.[1]

1 John 1:1-4

Greetings, Sojourner!

Here we are in our first Refresh & Restore of 2021, and I find myself both excited and nervous. I am excited because getting to open the Word and journey through it with you brings me great joy and is a special time for me each week. But I find myself anxious at how small I am compared to the massive task of “rightly handling the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). But I trust in the power of the Word (2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12) more than I fear my own inadequacies. As Augustine said, “Where Scripture speaks, God speaks”; and we so desperately need to hear Him.

What we are setting out to do in this new year – seeking to walk through whole books and sections of the Bible, to genuinely understand it – is not a new task. We will break it down like Isaiah had to in his time: “precept upon precept” and “line upon line” (Isaiah 28:10). We will join in with the likes of Ezra and Nehemiah who, upon returning home from exile, “read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8).

So, today, let us set out to read and understand John’s first epistle (letter) and look at the Life, Light, and Love that comes only from walking with Christ – the Word of God.

The first thing we see is how he opens 1 John and how it fits with the gospel of John. He started his gospel by describing how Jesus is eternal and God:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:1

Where the other gospels begin with the birth of Christ and/or the work of John the Baptist, John’s gospel goes back before the beginning and shows that Jesus has always been and always been God. 1 John begins by showing us how we can know Him through the experience of those who knew Him as the God who saved them from their sins and the divine Man who was their friend on earth.

John was writing here as he and Peter said in Acts 4:20: “for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard”. He is bringing Jesus, who “was from the beginning” (v. 1), into focus, showing us how He became knowable. Jesus “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) and lived a fully human life; He could be “heard”, “seen”, “looked upon”, and “touched”. He was not some abstract being or god. He is neither myth nor legend. He is real.

John is relaying his first-hand experience with Jesus so that we can know Him. He does this so that when he talks about the “Word of Life” it is not some idea to be thought about but, rather, a Person to be known. Back when John was writing, there were people who were trying to convince others that God did not “become flesh”. They wanted to challenge that truth and replace it with theories and ideas (because theories and ideas can be ignored or changed as needed). But John shows that there was more to Jesus.

He was not only the “Word of Life” but the Life (John 14:6). And because He came – was born, lived, died in our place, and rose from the dead – the Life was “made manifest” (v. 2). We do not typically use language like this, so it may be a bit hard to wrap our minds around. But the word translated “made manifest” literally means “to make visible”, “to cause to be seen”, or “to make known”. That is exactly what happened. God, in Jesus, was “born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7); He became a man to make Himself known to us. “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8) so that, by knowing, believing, and trusting in Him we might become “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

This is literally what John is doing here in this letter: He is sharing the Life with us. He wants us to know that he has “seen it”. He wants to “testify to it” so that we can believe it. And he wants to “proclaim” it – “the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest” (v. 2) so that we can have it too.

We have already talked about how John wrote his gospel to show us Christ and his first letter so that we can know Him. Now, we see how he goes from showing how to have eternal life in his gospel – “whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life” (John 3:16) – to showing in 1 John how we can know we have eternal life.

Those who have eternal life have “fellowship” with John, all believers, and – especially – with “the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (v. 3). The word fellowship has a lot of (pardon the made-up word) churchiness associated with it. Where I live in the Southern US, the word fellowship could be associated with the awkward, pre-Covid greeting time at some churches, but it is most often associated with eating (I can almost taste fried chicken as I type this) meals at church gatherings. But the type of fellowship – the very concept that is at the heart of what John is saying here – is so much more than a shared meal, a handshake, or even a hug. It is not a way of life or even a part of life. It is a result of having eternal life – of associating with the Life.

The word here translated “fellowship” is a special word. It could translate as a “close association”, “community”, or “a close, mutual relationship”, but all those things can exist outside of eternal life. They are too regular to communicate what John is talking about here. The “fellowship” he refers to comes out of the shared experience flowing from the grace of God in salvation. It is community built upon the foundation of the gospel – that we are all sinners and are only saved by the grace of God in Christ alone.

The closest earthly example that I can relate it to would be a group of people who survived some tragedy. They would have a bond based on their shared experience of having lived through something together. But that is where the illustration falls apart. The fellowship with God that comes from salvation produces our fellowship with one another. And we do not share the experience of living through something; we share the experience of the Life. We can celebrate the fact that, despite the “wages of [our] sin [being] death”, we have received the “free gift of God…eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We are family – “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:7). This is a bond like no other.

Through knowing Christ in this way – the way that John knew Him, John shares with us the same thing that Jesus gave to him: complete joy. Here in verse 4, John echoes the promise that Jesus made to him – a promise he heard with his own ears. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

Joy means the reason for or object of gladness and delight. When we receive Christ, when we are fully known and loved by Him, He becomes the object of our delight and the reason that our hearts can be glad. He has already taken our sin upon Himself on the cross and defeated death, and He is willing to exchange our sorrows for joy. What better news could there be? For that reason, John tells his original readers and us today that he is “writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (v. 4).

I am immensely thankful for the testimony of John – that He would share all that he had heard and seen of His friend Jesus with us. I am even more thankful that Jesus – the Word of Life – came that we “may have Life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Have you experienced the eternal life that comes only from Jesus? All it takes to have eternal life is the same as with any gift – to receive it, to receive Christ because “to all who…receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). It is my prayer that – if you have not repented and believed in Jesus Christ – you do just that. He promises that “whoever comes to [Him] will never [be] cast out” (John 6:37). He will never – never – cast you out but instead make sure that your joy is completely full forever.

Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Jn 1:1–4.

Refresh & Restore – December 10, 2020

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8-12

Merry Christmas, Sojourner!

I still cannot believe that it is nearly Christmas. I know that I said that last week, but it is still the case for me. We have begun singing Christmas songs at church, our tree is up at home, and there have been ugly sweater sightings all around. To top it all off, I have tasked myself this week to write about joy.

The concept of joy is often foreign for most of us, but it seems especially distant in December 2020. While this season is often difficult for many under normal circumstances, this year has added many unforeseen difficulties. Did I mention that I was going to talk to you about joy today? Even as I sit here typing, I think that this is an odd place to begin. But, then again, Jesus – the source of our joy – decided that His earthly beginning would be odder still.

All of us have seen a movie, television show, or fairy tale that shows the birth of a royal baby. Princes and delegates come from all around. The whole kingdom waits in anticipation of the birth of the child of the king.

But that is not how the King of kings and Lord of lords began His time on earth. He did not choose to be born in a castle – and there were many fine palaces available at the time. He could have been born in the capital and shut the city down with parades and celebration, but, instead, He chose to be born in a seemingly insignificant town – and, even then, in the equivalent of a barn with a feeding trough as His first cradle. He could have had kings and emperors come to bow the knee – and they all inevitably would (Philippians 2:10-11), but He chose a ragtag group of shepherds camping out and taking care of their flocks.

Now, as odd as that is, He did not hold back on the spectacle or the announcement. He gave those shepherds a birth announcement that would outshine all others. Can you imagine what it was like to be those shepherds? They were minding their sheep when, all of a sudden, the angel army of the Lord showed up out of nowhere, fully arrayed in the glory and splendor of the Lord.

Naturally, the shepherds were terrified! Our translation above says they were “filled with great fear”, but the three words that make that phrase in the original language could be translated as “to be afraid”, “mega”, and “source or occasion for fear” – two different words for fear! They were frightened and mega-afraid; who could blame them?

The darkness was filled with light. The shepherds were filled with fear. But the angels brought news that would cure both. They brought “good news of great joy”. And it is in that message that they gave those “certain poor shepherds in fields where they lay”[1] where we will find our joy in the same good news:

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

(vv. 10b-12)

Good News for All People

I doubt that the shepherds felt that the angels’ sudden appearance was a good thing, but the first bit of good news that they gave was that the shepherds did not need to be afraid. I think that the angels’ response to the shepherds was that their mega-fear was going to be replaced with mega-joy, and that joy was to be “for all people” – available to every, single person.

But, to understand the good news, we must understand the truth about all people. We have all “sinned and fall[en] short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “none are righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). We are sinners. And just as shepherds do not usually receive royal birth announcements, no one is lining up to rescue sinners. But that is just what Jesus came to do! In Matthew 1:21, Gabriel told Joseph that Jesus would “save His people from their sins”. That is good news that brings great joy.

People are often confuse joy and happiness. Happiness is fleeting. If I was to be totally honest, I am not very happy right now. But I have joy. The word translated joy here in this passage means “reason for gladness” or “object of joy/delight”. It is rooted in something deeper than happiness. For sinners caught in their sin and facing a holy God, there is nothing to be happy about. To be faced with the consequences of our sin, namely death (Romans 6:23), is no object or reason to be glad and nothing in which to delight. But Jesus was born to change all of that.

For Unto You is Born a Savior

As I stated above, a sinner standing before a holy God is a frightening prospect. There is nothing we can do to clean ourselves up. We cannot cover our sin. Our shame is on full display before God. It is bad news.

Bad news does not bring happiness, and it is does not produce a reason for gladness. BUT GOD “shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us” (Ephesians 2:4) provides a way for us to be saved. “BUT when the goodness and loving kindness of GOD our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy” (Titus 3:4-5).

Just as the angels interjected themselves into the peaceful night of the shepherds, God Himself interjected Himself into our timeline to be born as our Savior. Yes, the reality of our sin is terrible news, BUT GOD came to us as a child. He put on flesh and lived among us (John 1:14). At just the right time in history, God was born as a little baby in Bethlehem to make a way for us – for all people – to be saved (Galatians 4:4-5, John 14:6).

He explains it as clearly in Scripture as the angels’ voices rang out on that clear night so many years ago. Romans 10:9 tells us “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Any and every one – all people – who turn away from their sin and trust in Him as their Savior and Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).

That is good news! That gives reason for gladness. Jesus is the only person – the only thing at all in this universe – that can truly and constantly be the object of our joy and delight. And, just as those shepherds were able to rejoice that night, we can rejoice in Him today.

And This Will Be a Sign For You

This year is probably not going your way. I have found more than enough reasons to complain and am likely to find more yet, BUT GOD has given us reason for joy. The shepherds give us a good example of how to proceed and how to put Jesus as the true object of joy in our lives.

You see, the shepherds did everything that the angels told them to do. They went to Bethlehem and found everything exactly the way that they were told by the angels. They found their sign – the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. It was the same sign that was prophesied so many years before by the prophet Isaiah:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 7:14

Those dirty, unworthy shepherds were standing in the presence of God Almighty. He was every bit the King of kings and Lord of lords in that tiny, helpless child as He was when was nailed to the cross –  as He was when He walked out of the tomb – and as He will be for all time. He is just as much Immanuel (which means God with us) for us today as He was for those shepherds.

The God that has always been humbled Himself and became a baby. He lived the life that we are not capable of, and He died the death that we deserve. The wages of sin is still death; He just loved us enough to die in our place (Galatians 2:20). He loved us enough to give us His Life as a free gift, ready to be received by faith in Him (Romans 6:23). Have you received that gift? Have you trusted in Him as Savior and Lord? Have you called out to Him?

The “good news of great joy…for all people” that the angels shared with the shepherds is still good news today. I pray that you look to Him as the reason and object of your joy and gladness today.

[1] “The First Noel”