Harrisonville Church of the Nazarene

In today's sermon, we are challenged to see Jesus as our joyful shepherd, not a judgmental, cranky one. We need to get Jesus' point, that it's not just the 99 sheep he cares about. He is desperately in love with that one wandering sheep who is lost, and alone, and doesn't know how to get back to the safety of the shepherd.

We come to the end of this sermon series asking this simple question, Will you choose to allow God to satisfy you? Will you allow Him to be enough in your life, provide all you need? It is only when we can answer this simple question in the affirmative that we can enter into the true joy God offers to us!

While we must be aware of the things that try to steal our joy, the reason we can have joy in this world does not depend on what we do but on what Jesus has already done for us by overcoming sin and death. Worship reminds us of this, why is why true worship of our savior enables us to have joy even in the midst of earthly troubles.

One of the biggest joy-stealers we have is worry. While there are legitimate things we need to worry about in life, God desires for us to have our full trust in Him. Worry then becomes a matter of priorities: will you put your needs first in your life, or are you willing to put God's kingdom first? Because, while worry focuses on the problems of life, trust focuses on God's solutions.

A third "joy thief" in our lives is bitterness, that condition which prevents us from letting go of past hurts in order to receive God's healing. Christ desires to bring pure joy into hearts through his strengthening, redeeming, and purifying work and power, but we must be willing to let go of that hurt and resentment.

As the saying goes, sometimes we can be our own worst enemies. The impact of sin in our lives can extend even after we have come to know God's great love when we allow self-condemnation to rob us of the joy God desires for us. As Pastor Bill reminds us in this sermon, if we hear God calling us any other name than "Beloved", then we are falling for one of Satan's lies. Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts!

In a world with so much hurt and pain, is joy really possible? In a life with so many ups and downs, is joy really possible? Yes! Jesus promises us a life in which we live in joy. But we must choose to pursue joy and nurture joy. This starts by understanding that choosing God's joy means looking beyond our external circumstances and the lies of fleeting happiness.

Paul closes his letter to the Ephesians with an image of battle, of a soldier putting on different pieces of armor to be ready for the fight ahead. However, this is a different kind of soldier who Paul has in mind, a soldier who will fight a spiritual battle and whose primary weapon is their witness to the reign of God's inbreaking kingdom.

Matthew's story of Jesus' return to his hometown of Nazareth, and their rejection of him as a prophet, remind us of the importance of faith. God is willing to reach out to us, but we must be willing to believe in who God is in order for us to experience his power in our lives.

One of the trite phrases we Christians need to remove from our vocabulary is "Don't look at me, look at Christ", because this is exactly the opposite of what we should be saying! Where is the world going to see Jesus if not in us Christians, we who have been called by God to reflect his light to a world that desperately needs it.