God wants us to be happy. But as we’ve talked about - happiness doesn’t always happen because it requires something happening to give us this feeling of happiness.

Happiness is based on happenings, happenstance, outside circumstances that we believe are going to illicit an emotional energy called happiness. Rather than enjoy it WHEN it HAPPENS we can develop this almost-addiction to it.

Ultimately, the point of pride is independence. “I don’t need others, I got this all on my own because I’m awesome.” We see this in Satan who wanted to be separated from God...And we see that as humans, where we want to live apart from God’s ways. But humility is about dependence. It’s about acknowledging that we are created, and God’s our Creator, and we need his love, grace, and forgiveness, and need to be connected to one another!

Happiness is fickle, and joy is fixed. Happiness goes up and down, depending on what’s happening. The root word, “hap” means “chance” or “luck”, so when the chance falls favorably toward you, you're happy. …When it doesn't, you're unhappy. But you can be going through horrible, unhappy circumstances, and yet have joy.

We need to filter what we see through the lens of God's identity. We’re talking about clarity, about vision - And a lens determines what we see and how much we see, and filter determines how we see it.

We, as a local church, have a huge God sized vision to create the perfect place for imperfect people.

If you want clarity, you’ve got to circle back to where you started to see how far you've come. Circling back is an important principle to learn if you desire to go beyond where you’re at.

All people matter to God, and all people will matter to us… and His life-giving light is helpful for all.