Joy!Cast

Scripture Focus: Revelation 7:9-17

There are at least three life-changing promises from this text.

1. This life is not the big event. They know that this life will be swallowed up by eternal life.
2. The eternal life we inherit is without suffering. It is devoid of pain represented by the wiping away of tears, it is a place where Jesus has thrown a tent of protection around us that causes all the pain and suffering to disappear. It is also a place where sin and evil have been eliminated, and therefore the sources of pain are gone.
3. The last promise that is pivotal for us as Christians is the reality that in heaven we will not know hunger or thirst, but only an unending source of living water. So much of our human life is about our hungers and thirsts, some of them just our physical needs and some of them other needs in our lives. The place we are going will no longer have those thirsts so we can spend our time in service to God and in the satisfaction of a filled and fulfilled life in eternity.

• To Know: We live in the promise and hope of heaven where we will no longer suffer or need to worry about our human needs in this world.
• To Feel: Relief that this life is temporary and that heaven will be wonderful.
• To Do: Stay focused on The Lamb of God, the shepherd, who leads us to springs of living water.

Sermon Text: Luke 24: 1-12

Easter means our faith isn't futile, our failures aren't fatal, and our death isn't final.

• Faith: Jesus is alive. Our faith isn't futile. If it's false, it's foolish. If it's true, it is the foundation for a life that is powerful and positive and productive forever.
• Failures: We are an Easter people. We follow a living Lord. We believe in the redeeming power of God. Our failures aren't fatal; they are opportunities to learn and grow into the likeness of Christ.
• Death: Easter means that our death isn't final. Jesus was not held by the prison of death, and in his resurrection, he paves the way for those who believe in him to inherit eternal life. Because he died and rose again, so can we.

To Know: Jesus death and resurrection gives us a powerful, positive, productive life forever.

To Feel: Our failures are overcome by Easter

To Do: When you trust that your faith isn't futile, that your failures aren't fatal, and that your death isn't final -- then you can have a passion for living.

Sermon Text: Luke 19:28-40

What is success? It is the end for which we strive. It is the affirmation toward which we live that we believe once attained, will finally make it all worthwhile. The success of God is revealed as our Lord rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. It is the agenda of life and peace, the agenda of redeeming love. All the success of that first Palm Sunday, the power and acclaim given to Jesus, was held accountable to the cross which was to follow. Jesus willingly sets aside the temporary exaltation of women, men, and even children for the sake of God's eternal agenda. The story could have turned out so differently. He could have seized the moment, struck while the iron was hot, and taken control of the city. There was so much good that could have been done that he didn't do�it was because the immediate was held accountable to the ultimate�the temporary to the eternal.

• To Know: Jesus gave up success (by the world's definition) in order that success would be about the changed lives of all who would know him through his death and resurrection.
• To Feel: The love of God through Jesus determination toward the cross.
• To Do: Seek the true and eternal success of a life of faith.

Jane Jebsen, who leads Joy!'s adult discipleship ministry, discusses the NextStep worship experience that will launch at Joy! on Saturday, April 14. The opening message series is titled, "Amazed!" The word, "amazed," is used 39 times in the gospels and the Book of Acts. This message series will look at what is amazing about faith in Jesus, according to the Bible. Come and explore whether you find faith in God to be amazing, or unremarkable--and how the answer to that question impacts your life.

Judas and Mary show us diverging roads. Judas travels the road of greed. Mary is on the road of generosity. We can only imagine the tension in that room with Mary, Judas and the others. There was a discomfort with the actions and extravagance of Mary, but Jesus was calm. He received her gift as an incredible act of love. Surely they knew Jesus life was threatened. She must have been overwhelmed by some certainty that Jesus would die, so her deep love spilled out as the nard was poured. When Judas saw it, he was disgusted. To him it was a waste…he could see nothing good in her actions. To this day, of course, we see these two in marked contrast. Mary gives humbly from what she has and Judas' greed tries to control not only his wealth, but the gift anyone else would give. Mary couldn't help herself...Hers was a response of love.

• To Know: We have a need to give.
• To Feel: The love of God that inspires our giving.
• To Do: Give generously. Tithe.

The Prodigal Son: Luke 15:11-32

Guest Pastor Al Caldwell invites us to return home to:

1. ...be reconciled with family
2. ...become a whole person and "meet yourself"
3. ...to find the great treasure buried in your own home & family

Scripture Focus: Luke 13:1-9

Is your first reaction in tough times to blame? If it is you join a whole culture looking for someone on whom to hang all of the struggle and pain. When you see someone suffering, is your tendency to blame them for the suffering they face? Again, you will find yourself in the heart (or lack of heart) of the culture. This is the easy road. On this road we cut out people from our lives who do not produce what we want. On this road we can also cut ourselves from life with others or life with God because of our failures.

The road less traveled is the road of mercy. It seeks not to blame but to help. It looks for forgiveness and readily gives others mercy in time of need. Not only can we see Jesus do this in the Gospels but we experience it as we are joined to his death and resurrection. What is so important to people of faith is that we know the one who will give it when no one else can or will.

Jesus is the gardener who takes on the fate of all humanity, our suffering and our death, head on. He not only tends to the tree, but dies on a tree. He suggests that being cut off from God is a terrible fate, and then he endures that fate with us and for us. By joining us in our suffering, Jesus does not answer the questions about why we suffer. Instead he lives it. He shows us that it does not have the last word. Beyond our hope and comprehension is something greater still, of which by his death we can only catch a glimpse. For this purpose he tends the unproductive tree and dies with it, with us.

To Know: Jesus will not give up on you, he doesn't want you to be cut off from God.

To Feel: The love of God as Jesus meets us in our sinfulness, or in our pain and struggle.

To Do: Receive mercy, give mercy, live mercifully.

Scripture Focus: Luke 13:31-35

There is a lure in taking risk. Youth culture is focused on the X games and extreme sports where one's life and health is at stake in order to feel alive and receive the adulation of friends. Danger meets us as we travel on busy streets and yet we engage in the risk. We follow financial schemes that put our assets at risk. We take a chance that by accepting the new job or starting a new business we will have a better and more fulfilling life. Fear is met either by the devaluing of life or by the thrill of living on the edge. Is this really the life we want to live?

There is a lure in avoiding any risk. Many of us avoid accidents by driving back roads and byways. We avoid the pain of broken relationships by avoiding relationships. We seek the safe way in work, money, family and even faith. Fear is met by controlling every circumstance and encounter. Is this really life?

The road less traveled entrusts our lives to God who wants to keep us safe in his care as a hen would her chicks. This is a way that celebrates the risk taken so that others will meet the power of God and God's kingdom of love. We travel this road blessed as God's messengers.

To Know: Jesus risks his life as he lives out his ministry all the while knowing that he has the power of God behind him. While we may also meet hostility as we follow Jesus, we are in the care of God.

To Feel: The calming trust of God's loving care.