Fullness of Joy | Sunday, December 14, 2025

Amen. Praise the Lord. God is good. Good morning, Cross Connection Church. You guys can have a seat. It is so good to see you all here this morning.

Before we get into the Scriptures, I have a few things that I want to announce. We received another shipment of Enduring Word study Bibles. Those are available at the connection point today. If you would like to get one, Pastor Nick will be available after the service to help you.

We are going to partake of communion this morning, so we want to prepare our hearts for coming before the Lord in communion. As we were singing that song, a couple of things came to mind. First, we mentioned in the announcements that we are doing our ugly Christmas sweater event next week. I would maybe call it "loud Christmas wear." Let's just call it that.

I will say this is an anti-traditional Christmas sort of thing. I know it could come across as being a little sacrilegious; it's like sacramental traditionalism, if you will. I bring this up because I had an interesting conversation while I was in Kentucky this past week at Southern Seminary for a doctoral seminar. I was dressed as I normally do when I teach on a Sunday morning, wearing a collared shirt and some nicer pants. However, some of my friends were dressed in bow ties. I don’t think I would ever wear a bow tie, and I apologize if you like those. They also wore suits with vests, and we had a long discussion about the importance of such attire. I mentioned that I’m from San Diego, so I apologize for my lack of traditional Southern Baptist attire.

Next week, I want to encourage you to come dressed for fun. We like to have fun here at Cross Connection Church, and I think it’s enjoyable that we don’t take ourselves too seriously, as you can tell.

While we were singing about joy, I was reminded that orange is the color of joy. So, I think next year, when we talk about joy, you should wear your orange clothes, too. As you can see, I brought my orange Bible, my orange cup, and I have my orange phone here. You might have been able to tell that I like orange just a little bit.

I wanted to touch on one other thing.

We do this Advent series here at the church, and I was just thinking about this as we were singing that last song. The first time I did a Christmas-focused series here at the church was in 2011, called the "Key to Unlocking Joy." That series came about because of something that had happened in our family several months before. We had a horrible situation where one of my kids accidentally drank some chemical cleaner, and we ended up in the critical care unit at Raidy's Hospital for a few days. That whole experience brought about the series called the "Key to Unlocking Joy."

So, we're talking about joy this morning. I bring this up today because that same child is celebrating her 16th birthday today. Addison, would you just stand up? I know this is so embarrassing, but I had to acknowledge Addison's 16th birthday. She will be getting her license soon, correct? She says no; she does not like driving at this point, so you can pray for her.

I think that's all the things I wanted to hit on this morning. I have had a number of people ask me, "So, what exactly are you doing when you go out to Kentucky?" Just real quickly, I was there for four days for a doctoral seminar for my PhD program. This is kind of the end of several months of reading and research. During that time, I read a lot of books, put together presentations, and wrote some papers. Then I went out there to present all that.

My studies are in the area of ethics. I'm doing a PhD in ethics and public theology, and my research has to do with artificial intelligence ethics, which is a fascinating field. So, my whole week this week was spent arguing, which I love to do. It was perfect. We just spent time arguing and going through all that stuff, and it was fun.

In thinking about joy, I discovered a few years ago, in 2023 actually, that one of the ingredients for Christmas joy is to get nine tons of ice and turn it into fake snow at our Nativity night. A whole bunch of kids were very joyful about that. We saw how much joy nine tons produced, so the next year we got even more tons. I don't remember the exact amount.

It's like 14 tons of ice turned into snow, and this last time, I know we got more than that. It's a joyful thing, and many of you were here with us a couple of weeks ago when we had our nativity night. We see that joy increases for these little kids.

However, when I was in Kentucky, I learned another side to this. On Thursday, I was sitting in the seminar; it was the last day of our seminar, and I was scheduled to fly home that night. I received a notification on my phone from Southwest Airlines that my plane had been delayed because they were getting snow. At that moment, snow decreased my joy substantially. Fortunately, I was able to get an earlier flight and fly home, missing the snow, which was good. Coming back to California, I must say, is so much better than Kentucky. For those people who think they should move to Tennessee or Kentucky, I tell you, I've visited, and the grass is not greener. In fact, this time of the year, it actually looks quite gross.

I bring this up because, with these two examples—the nativity night and snow for the kids—we see that happiness and joy can increase. But the same exact sort of thing, snow and ice, can decrease joy in a different context. This shows us something we all understand: joy can go up and joy can go down. We find ourselves going through various rhythms and cycles of this in our lives, and we realize that joy can be affected by our circumstances. Sometimes it feels elusive.

There are some of you here this morning whose level of happiness and joy is moderately high. It's been a good time of year, a good week, and you're looking forward to the holidays. On the other hand, how many high schoolers are here this morning? Raise your hand. Our youth is in here this morning. Some of you may find your joy decreasing because this week is what? Finals week. Oh, dear God. So, joy can go up and joy can go down. Pray for our youth.

Joy can be elusive, but it's always something I think we are looking for, seeking, and desiring. Our nation is built around this concept; it's part of the ethos of our nation. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and what? The pursuit of happiness. So, we are a people who are from our...

Founding the pursuit of happiness could lead to a lot of discussion about what that means, and there could be many arguments about its nature. However, at its core, here in this room and throughout this county, there are people who are seeking and pursuing happiness. How they define joy and happiness may vary, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that we are pursuing our joy. As we will explore in the Scriptures this morning, I believe that God wants us to experience joy.

Here at Cross Connection Church, we want your joy to be full. That's why we do fun things like the Nativity Night. Even though it's unorthodox to wear loud Christmas clothing on the Sunday before Christmas, we want to experience joy. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, specifically in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, said something I love. He addressed the church at Corinth, saying, "We," referring to himself and his co-laborers, "are fellow workers for your joy." I really like that sentiment, and I want to adopt it for myself. I am a fellow worker for your joy. I want your joy to increase and be full.

However, there are many things that can steal or rob our joy. As I mention this, you might think of specific things that steal your joy. One significant factor that is stealing our joy in this time is the constant flow or barrage of information that comes at us incessantly. It’s all the time—whether it's on the radio, on TV, in your email inbox, or on social media. We receive notifications on our watches and phones, and it feels like we are constantly inundated with information.

In this overwhelming environment, we find ourselves in a position of triaging information, quickly assessing what is important and what we should disregard. There is so much coming at us that we tend to try to file it away as fast as possible because it can be too much to handle.

See this time as we gather together on a Sunday morning as a moment to put aside distractions and focus on things that are genuinely and truly helpful. That is what we want to do this morning. I want to take you back to a passage of Scripture that maybe you've read before. Probably you have. We have certainly read from it this time of year before. It is a 3,000-year-old text from King David in the Psalms.

So, if you take out your Bible and open it to Psalm 16, which is right about the middle of your Bible, you will find the big book of Psalms, Psalm 1 through 150. We will focus on Psalm 16. I’m going to ask you to stand as we read this morning, beginning at verse 7. David is the writer here, King David. He says, "I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoices." These are words of joy and rejoicing. "My flesh also will rest in hope."

Last week, we talked about hope. The week before that, we talked about peace or rest. All these themes are the same themes that we discuss every year at this time. David touches on these themes: "My flesh also will rest in hope. For You, God, will not leave my soul in Sheol," which is the Hebrew word for the grave. "Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is fullness of joy, and at Your right hand are

Questions often arise during the podcast, or sometimes someone approaches me after the service with a question that goes something like this: When I die, will I immediately go to be with the Lord, or will I be waiting until some indeterminate time in the future? Will I be raised to be with the Lord? This is a question that many of us find ourselves wrestling with, especially if you came to this church or a Protestant church like ours from Catholicism, as many in our area have. Southern California is heavily influenced by Catholicism.

In Catholicism, the understanding of the eschaton, or life after death, differs from what you will find in a Protestant church like ours. There are many Catholic teachings regarding death, and according to these teachings, upon death, you do not immediately go to be in the presence of the Lord. Instead, you enter a place of waiting called purgatory, where a purging or purification takes place. I have to be honest; that sounds a little fearful and concerning. I don't know that it increases my joy.

There is another teaching that you might encounter, which is an aberrant teaching. You sometimes find it in Christian churches, but more often than not, you find it in some cults that are Christian-aligned or adjacent. This idea suggests that when you die, your soul separates from your body. Your body goes into the ground, but your soul is suspended in a state referred to as soul sleep. It’s somewhat akin to those sci-fi movies where characters travel hundreds of light-years away and are cryogenically frozen because they won't live that long. How many of you have seen a movie like that before? It seems horrifying, doesn’t it? That does not increase my joy or give me peace. In fact, it might be the worst possible scenario I could imagine.

So, whether it’s purgatory or soul sleep, I don’t find that either of those concepts brings me much joy. One thing is for certain: I don’t think David believed in either of those ideas. In Psalm 16, he confidently states, "You, God, will not leave me in the grave to see corruption. You'll show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." David speaks here about his heart being glad and rejoicing.

Flesh, his body being at rest or peace in this hope. There are those themes we're talking about: the themes of Advent, peace, hope today, and joy. We've discussed these over the last several weeks. Pastor Mark gave a great message on hope last week. David had this rest; he was at peace, not anxious in thinking about death.

I get it. We don't typically like to think about death. We try to keep that idea, especially in American culture in 2025, as far from us as we can, but we are confronted by it. We see the images or the reports about people far from us in social media or corporate news media, or we experience the loss of someone close to us. We are faced with the reality of death, and then we are forced to think about it. We all think about it, and it seems to occupy our minds more as life goes on. Yes, it hangs over us. Death is listed as one of the top fears that people have.

I love the way that Jerry Seinfeld addressed this years ago. He said that the number one and number two fears for most Americans, when polled, are death and public speaking. Often, public speaking is feared more than death. He humorously noted that people would often rather be the one in the casket than the one eulogizing the person in the casket. I think it's true; a lot of people fear death. We don't like to think about it.

How are people in our day, in our culture, in 2025, trying to deal with death anxiety? A lot of people are using psychedelics, which I would say is a bad idea. I don't think you should do that. I believe there is a better way to deal with death anxiety. Clearly, David didn't have death anxiety. He had peace, hope, and joy.

Why did he have joy? Because he made this great bold proclamation: "God, you will show me the path of life, the path to your presence. In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." He had this absolute certainty. That's one of the things I always talk about when I discuss hope. Pastor Mark gave a great message about it last week. Hope, in a biblical sense, is not wishful thinking; it's not blind optimism. It is an absolute certainty of future good. David had that kind of hope, and I believe God desires that we would each have that kind of hope.

But the idea of death is distressing. Part of the reason it is distressing is that we don't know.

With total certainty, other than by revelation, we cannot know what comes after death. Though Revelation does give us some great things to consider, another factor that adds to the anxiety about death is the statistics: 10 out of 10 people die. You will die. I know it's not a good Christmas message, and here we are a couple of weeks after Christmas, but it is reality.

And don't send me the email because I'm sure I will get it. Someone will send me the email asking, "What about Enoch and what about Elijah? They didn't die." I get it. I understand. But the statistics are overwhelming and, therefore, frightening. However, David says, "I have peace and I have hope, which gives me gladness and rejoicing because I am not going to rot in the grave. I'm going to walk on the path of life and come into God's presence, and in His presence, there will be fullness of joy, and at His right hand, pleasures forevermore." These are hope-filled, peace-producing words from David.

If you had that kind of certainty that David expresses in Psalm 16, wouldn't it make death a little bit less scary? I think it would. Now, let’s join David's words in Psalm 16 with the words of one of his descendants, Jesus, who came 3,000 years later. On the night before He would die, He knew He was going to die on the cross. His flesh was distressed about this—so distressed that the Bible tells us that hours before His arrest, when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He sweat great drops of blood from the anxiety. Medical science tells us exactly what that is; you can research it. It's an actual known phenomenon resulting from great anxiety.

So, He was distressed about this, and His disciples were distressed as well. He said to them some of the most famous words of Scripture: "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

He was telling them about the way, and one of His disciples, Thomas, said, "Lord, we don't know what you're talking about. We don't know the way." Then came that famous saying from Jesus in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me."

David, a thousand years before Jesus, expressed in faith, "God, I have peace, hope, and joy because I am certain you will show me the path of life." A thousand years later, Jesus comes and says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. I'm the path to life." This is such good news. David had hope, peace, and joy, which is not something many people experience when thinking about death. However, Jesus tells us how we can live in a place of not being troubled: "Let not your heart be troubled; trust in the one who gives life."

In another place, in John 10, He states, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who comes to me and believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." What good news is that? That's why it's called the gospel. The term "gospel" means good news.

This brings us to David's declaration: "You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore." These three themes—hope, peace, and joy—are right here in this passage. David, Jesus, and other scriptures teach us that the joy we can have in Christ is special. It is a good joy, an enduring joy, a fullness of joy that lasts forever.

The concept of fullness of joy raises a couple of questions in my mind. Let me walk you through my thoughts on this. The first question is: What would fullness of joy look like? I find these abstractions of fullness of joy somewhat challenging. It’s like, okay, but what does that mean?

If we asked all of you to write down your definitions of fullness of joy, we would receive a variety of answers. However, over time, we would likely see some common themes emerge. Here are a few things I think about when considering fullness of joy: it would at least involve being close to and united with the people I love. Just nod if you think that makes sense. I see some agreement.

Nodding some, not listening, but that's okay. The second fullness of joy would be having safety and security. Is anybody tracking? Okay, good. More nodding. That's good. It's helpful. Safety and security mean not having to worry about provision and protection. Yeah, that sounds good.

Third, being free of guilt and shame. That one sounds joy-producing. How many of you know who Jelly Roll is? Yeah, he didn't look joyful a few years ago. He's a guy with face tattoos. If you saw him a few years ago, you probably crossed to the other side of the road. Tater sent me a song yesterday. It's like a ten-minute long song, and I've probably listened to it a dozen times since he sent it to me. Jelly Roll, along with Lauren Daigle, is singing about grace. He has had a transformative experience through grace by Jesus Christ. It's amazing to watch.

He was on the Joe Rogan podcast last week. I'm a big fan—it's like a guilty pleasure. Shh, don't tell anybody. I listened to part of it; I haven't listened to the whole thing because Joe has these three-hour long epic conversations. But Jelly Roll, what was he talking about? He was discussing the redemption and the grace he's experienced and how he is free from guilt and shame. He met Jesus in prison. It's awesome. I think that is fullness of joy: being free of guilt and shame.

Another aspect is being free of worry and anxiety. I don't think you can be joyful and anxious; I just don't think those things go together. I'm sure we could come up with a whole bunch of other things about what fullness of joy is, but at least those things are important. Fullness of joy is connectedness in relationships. It is rest, security, and provision. It is the completeness of salvation and forgiveness. It is the fullness of peace and hope.

So, just thinking about that second question, how many of you would like to have that? Again, it always amazes me when those who don't raise their hands. Let me ask you again: how many of you would say, "I would like to have that"? Okay, that's better. All right. I mean, just a little bit of participation goes a long way. Why wouldn't you want that?

You'd be a fool to not want that. I think that a lot of people resist even the idea of fullness of joy in the way that I articulate it. They resist it because all of the happy and joyful things they have experienced have been temporary. It goes away. How many of you have ever had a happy experience that ended? Yeah, we all have that.

I think people resist this idea because relationships, even the best relationships, even if they last for a very long time, will eventually be split by death. That's why when you gave your marriage vows, you said, "until death do us part." People resist the idea of fullness of joy because very few have actually ever experienced total security in their practical provisions. They resist the idea for all kinds of different reasons.

But what I hope to show, as I share on these things every single year, is this point: Christ's arrival makes fullness of joy accessible. That's key. I did not say it makes fullness of joy certain; it makes it accessible. The advent, the coming of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas, reminds us that Christ's arrival makes fullness of joy accessible.

How do I know this? How can I say something like this? Well, because Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the path into the presence of God." And in God's presence, David said, "in His presence is fullness of joy." So, Christ's arrival makes fullness of joy accessible.

This is what Isaiah, 700 years before Jesus, is talking about when he gives that passage that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, which shows up on Christmas cards: Isaiah 9:6-7. "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon His shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

Now, those verses are great; they're famous, they're Christmas famous. But the context is really key. A lot of people know those two verses, but they don't know the five verses that led up to them. What is happening in the five verses that lead up to it? Well, in Isaiah, in that passage, chapter 9:1-5, before he talks about the Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God, he is talking...

To a group of people, his countrymen, who are going through a very dark period of time, they have a poor leader named Ahaz. I'm sure you've never experienced bad leadership, but Ahaz was certainly one. They are under threat from the Assyrians, who are on the move to destroy not just a few nations, including the northern ten tribes of Israel. The people of Judah, where Isaiah lived, are living under the threat of annihilation by the Assyrians. It is a dark time.

In this context, Isaiah talks about the darkness of the northern kingdom. He says, "This darkness shall not be forever. Joy is coming, and a joy that is greater than anything you can imagine." He tries to explain what this joy is like using a couple of metaphors. He describes it as the joy of bringing in the harvest. Now, since we are not an agrarian society, I would say it is like receiving an unexpected, huge Christmas bonus. How many of you would say that would be nice?

That would be great! And it's not the jelly of the month kind of Christmas bonus; it's a real Christmas bonus. So, he says it's like the joy of bringing in the harvest. Then he adds that it is even more than that. He uses another metaphor: it is like the joy when you bring in the spoils of war. You've just been in battle, you didn't die, and you are victorious, bringing in the spoils. That is joy. He says it is kind of like that, but even better.

Then, in verses six and seven, he asks, "Where does this joy come from?" It comes from this child, this son who is going to be born, and he will bring his kingdom, which will bring this joy. Isaiah is speaking about the coming of this joy in Isaiah 9:2-7. Ultimately, this joy is connected to the one who, two chapters earlier in Isaiah 7, is called Emmanuel. Emmanuel means "God with us." He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. He is the source and bringer of great joy.

Why is he the source and bringer of great joy? Because he is joy in the flesh, incarnate. This is what Advent is all about. We will talk about it on the 23rd. What did the angels say to the shepherds? "I bring you glad tidings of great joy."

For unto us a child is born. You'll find the babe wrapped in swaddling cloths in a manger in Bethlehem. Glad tidings of great joy, which is for all people.

Isaiah 7 pictures Emmanuel coming, God with us. He is the child, the son of Isaiah 9:6 and 7, the one who brings the wonderful counselor, mighty God, and all of those wonderful things. David said, "In God's presence is fullness of joy." God doesn't just bring joy; He is joy. Because Jesus is God incarnate, what does He do?

Point number two: Jesus is the fullness of joy. Here’s the key: embodied. Fullness of joy as a concept exists out in the ether, and it sounds nice, but what is it? Jesus makes it tangible. He is the fullness of joy embodied. When you come into His presence, how do you come into His presence? By coming into relationship with Him. By receiving Him, you receive what? You receive fullness of joy.

He can say to you and to me, in the face of whatever circumstances—good circumstances or really bad circumstances—"Let not your heart be troubled." Why? Because you believe; you trust in God and you trust in Christ. He has given you a certain promise that provides hope and peace in the midst of whatever circumstance that brings great joy. What a promise!

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the path into the presence of God, where we find the fullness of joy in His ultimate reign when He brings the fullness of His kingdom. In His presence, there will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. That sounds really good. That's what I want, and that is the certain expectation that the Christian has. That is the certain hope we have—a steadfast hope, as the author of the book of Hebrews calls it.

But here's the problem with that: it seems very distant to me. The kingdom of God in the presence of Christ—that's after death, that's after this. What about right now, today? Is my hope for fullness of joy just something that...

Will we be satisfied when we die? That just seems too far. Or is there hope and joy right now, here in this place? I believe, based on what the Scriptures teach, that we can experience or begin to experience it now.

How? Point number three: by faith in Christ, we receive joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity. I love these words—"increasing unto abundance for eternity." It's kind of up and to the right; it's moving in that direction. It starts with a relationship with Christ when He deals with my sin, redeems me, makes me a new creation in Christ, and frees me from guilt and shame. Now, I have joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity. It will never end. Unlike every other happy situation you've ever experienced, which has an end, this does not.

Here’s the awesome thing about this joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity: it is moving up and to the right. Even though there are some ups and downs along the way, it's kind of like the stock market. If you look at the trend line of the stock market for the last 50 years, it looks like a person using a yo-yo on stairs. They're going up, but it keeps going like this. Sometimes, that is our experience. But it is joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity.

So, the question is, how can we lay hold of and experience this kind of joy? The first answer to that question is that you must receive the saving grace of Jesus Christ because you cannot experience His joy if you do not receive His grace unto salvation. Pastor Mark touched on one of his favorite passages in Romans chapter 5 last week. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope.

We see peace and hope in the glory of God. Not only that, but we also glory; we have joy in tribulation. Even when there are downs along the ups of the trajectory unto abundance for eternity, we glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces patience, and patience, character, and character, hope. Hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Love we will talk about next week. But all four of these...

Hope, peace, joy, love. So how can we grow in this or experience this joy right now? I believe the answer to the question of how to increase joy in your life to experience its fullness is tightly connected to Jesus's teaching in John 15 about abiding in Him.

I don't have time to go through all the text, but you can read it later. In John 15:1-11, He tells His followers, "Abide in me. Stay connected to and join yourself to me like a branch on the vine. Abide in my word. Allow my word to abide in you. Abide in me by abiding in the body, my family, the church, by being connected to the church." After He gives this exhortation to stay connected and remain connected to Him, His word, and His people, He says in John 15:11, "These things I have spoken to you that my joy might remain in you and your joy might be full."

So what is the key to the fullness of joy now, even in spite of difficult circumstances? Abiding in Christ. The fruit of fullness of joy in my life is the result of abiding in Christ. It's that simple; it is a fruit of abiding. He talks about abiding in the branch, and you'll produce good fruit. Well, what is the fruit that He is talking about? It has to be the fruit of the Spirit.

What is the fruit of the Spirit? In Galatians 5, we see love, and what's the next one? Joy. There it is; it produces joy in our lives. Two weeks ago, I shared with you about the peace that we have with God, from God, and in God. Last week, Pastor Mark talked about the hope that we have in God and by the power of Jesus Christ. Now, we see that we can have joy that is increasing unto abundance for eternity as we stay connected to Him.

We abide in Him by abiding in His word. We abide in Him by doing the things that He tells us to do in His word—obedience. We abide in Him by connecting with the body of Christ.

Christ, the church, as we pray for one another and fellowship with one another, emphasizes the importance of growth groups, life groups, and connect groups. We have all kinds of groups, but we want you to plug in and be plugged in so that you can experience joy in Christ Jesus.

The experience of increasing joy is ours as we abide in Christ, remaining connected to Him and His people. We can have glory and joy in tribulation. That's what Paul said: "Exceedingly joyful in our tribulations." In 2 Corinthians 8, he states, "In a great trial of affliction, we had abundance of joy." How is that possible? How can you have a great trial of affliction and an abundance of joy? It's only possible in Jesus Christ, but it is possible in Jesus Christ. Throughout his writings, Paul links joy with suffering, showing that even in the midst of suffering, we can still have joy. That's why James would say, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials."

How is that even possible? It's possible because in Christ Jesus is the fullness of joy. My exhortation to you would be this: seek and pursue joy. It's a big part of the ethos of America—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I say to you, pursue your joy, pursue your hope, and pursue your peace. I can say that because ultimately the source of those things is Christ. He is the source.

We are surrounded every single day by people who are pursuing their joy and happiness. They have bought the lie of the enemy and the lie of our culture, believing that if they just get that job, that contract, that degree, that relationship, or that gold medal, it will make them happy. We have all seen the reports from people who have achieved those things, and what do they tell us? It didn't make me happy.

You would think that we would learn from their mistakes, but instead, we often think, "Of course, they did it wrong; I could do it better." No, you're going to...

Figure out the same thing. One of the most crazy things to watch for me in the last ten years, because, like I said, it's a guilty pleasure, is that I listened to way too much Joe Rogan. Ten years ago, he said a lot of horrible things about Christians. Just two weeks ago, he said he's going to church. He mentioned, "All the people at the church I go to, they're like super nice. In the parking lot, they let you go in front of them, and they don't flip you off." He said this on his show, adding, "Yeah, the church I go to, we just get together, and they open the Bible and explain it." It's really cool. It's like he's going to a church like this in Austin, Texas. How on earth did that happen? I think a lot of people have been praying for him.

But I'll tell you one thing: he's achieved earthly success—lots of money, lots of fame, lots of celebrity. I guarantee you if you asked him and sat down with him, he'd tell you none of that really gave him lasting joy. He has been looking for something else, and God is moving him towards Christianity. Amazing! It's so cool to watch. He's not the only one. Every time I see these videos, I save them on my phone. I have tons of videos.

Andrew Huberman, you may not even know who he is, suddenly said on his podcast this last week that he started praying and reading the Bible, and all of a sudden, it's like, "Wow, I have joy." The gospel wins again! Seek for those things that bring hope, peace, and joy, because you cannot find those things apart from Christ.

When you interact with other people at school, work, or on a job site, or wherever you might be, who are seeking their joy—maybe you interact with them at a holiday party this week, and they'll tell you, "Well, things haven't been going so well"—say, "I think you should continue seeking for your joy, but let me give you a little push in the right direction. You won't find it in that thing you've been looking at. It's only ultimately going to be found in Him."

Seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, because in Him dwells all the fullness of God, and you are complete in Him. Amen. I'm going to invite our worship team to...

I think I have communion stuff. If you don't have these, our ushers will come and distribute them this morning. We're going to partake of the bread and the cup together today because where does all of this ultimately come from? The joy, the hope, the peace, the love that we all so desperately long for, desire, and actually need. Without these things, we do not fare well psychologically or physiologically. It is only possible because Jesus, on that same night that he told his disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled," took the bread and said to his disciples, "This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

Let's partake together. In the same manner, after they had eaten, he took the cup and said, "This is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me." Let's partake together.

Lord, thank you that you take this concept and make it very real and tangible so that we can hold it, see it, smell it, and taste it. It incorporates all of our senses to be reminded of the goodness of your grace and your love that makes it possible for us to know hope, joy, peace, and love, and that we might make those things known to others. God, thank you for this season and what it reminds us of. Help us to take advantage of the opportunities to share the good news of this season with those we interact with this week. We praise you in Jesus' name.

How about you stand with me? You can pass your cups to the center aisles, and our ushers will gather them as we sing one last song together.