Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Welcome to the World Changers Church Gold Coast Podcast. Join us as we listen to today's message.
[00:00:07] All right, this morning, in the climate we live in today and the cliches and bumper stickers and T shirts that we throw around and the way we overcome many things with harboring things in our heart, with never dealing with them. I want to talk to you about something that has helped me for 25 years.
[00:00:30] I've struggled in the past with different things in my heart, and I was always searching for happiness.
[00:00:37] You know, our Constitution talks about happiness and the pursuit of happiness in the United States.
[00:00:44] There's a movie about the pursuit of happiness with Will Smith.
[00:00:48] It's a good movie. I see some movie watchers in the house.
[00:00:52] But the thing that I look at the most is how fragile happiness is, that we build our happiness on moments. We build our happiness on thoughts and conclusions.
[00:01:04] We build our happiness on social media.
[00:01:10] We build our happiness on laughing. But most people that I've met in my life are not truly happy.
[00:01:18] They're masking depression with laughter and avoiding problems that they can never face.
[00:01:25] They never actually dig deep and say, I want to truly feel joy. I want to feel something lasting.
[00:01:32] And last week, at the end of prayer, maybe because I was tired or it was dusty, I got a little teary in my eyes.
[00:01:41] And I was so thankful for the help that God is sending and how God is growing this church and how we went from four locations and metrics and systems and large numbers and people, and we got after, you know, 2020, we got reduced. And then to see it grow back in a healthy way, I was just so blessed.
[00:02:02] But as I was thinking that, there was a stirring in my heart to really talk about what joy really is.
[00:02:10] So I want to take you to Zephaniah 3:17. You have that scripture, boys? Yeah.
[00:02:16] The Lord your God in your midst, the mighty One will save.
[00:02:21] He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
[00:02:29] Now, something about this that I want to point out.
[00:02:32] The Lord your God is in your midst, where two or three are gathered together in his name. I am in the midst when prayer begins to happen. He's in the midst of when you're brokenhearted. He's present no matter what. Whether you're on the mountaintop or the valley, whether you're a CEO or a laborer, it doesn't matter. He's right there when you breathe his name. He is in the midst. And what does he does. Does he come first to say, this is what you're doing wrong?
[00:03:00] Does he come first to say, look at all that you've done, you've made a mess of everything?
[00:03:04] No. He comes to remind you and rejoice over you with gladness and comfort you with his love and rejoice over you with singing. The moment you introduce Jesus to something, it changes.
[00:03:19] Amen.
[00:03:21] And that's what I want to start out with today. Because there's a stirring that's happening of joy in the world today when there should be no joy.
[00:03:31] I mean, a couple years ago I bought a diesel truck. I thought, man, this will be a. This will be such a price, money budget saver.
[00:03:42] Praise God.
[00:03:44] Hallelujah, it will return again.
[00:03:48] So I want to start with you today by asking you a question. And I need you to answer out loud. Actually, I don't need you to answer out loud. I just need you to be honest with yourself. Have you ever felt something shift on the inside and it just. Something happens where, you know, new direction is happening in your life and your life can't quite stay the same?
[00:04:12] Have you ever felt that?
[00:04:14] It's not sadness, it's not fear, it's not anxiety, it's something deeper, it's a stirring, it's something that you just can't deny. And you just gotta smile when you don't feel like smiling. It's a kind of feeling that makes you sit quieter than usual.
[00:04:31] You're not talking as much, you're not thinking as much, you're not as busy. Something happens with that shift, that joy that's taking place in your life that you just want to sit there. When you've been sitting in pain, when you've been sitting alone, when you've been sitting in boardrooms, when you've been sitting in. Wherever you sit, there's something that just took place. And you say, I've got to stay right here. You ever felt that?
[00:04:55] That's joy within, which only comes from Jesus.
[00:05:01] I've been there recently.
[00:05:02] I've been there. Where it kind of surprised me that it wasn't something wrong. It was a sit still and be still and know that he is God.
[00:05:10] Amen.
[00:05:12] It felt like something was moving, like mountains were merging and oceans were swelling and I just had to sit still. It happened in the first couple weeks when we ran out of chairs and we had standing room only in here. And I was like, oh, we gotta get a new building, we gotta move. And then I gotta.
[00:05:28] I said, we gotta stay still, be still and know that he Is God was really easy in that moment, but there was an energy and excitement. But it came with anxiety.
[00:05:43] It came with a I got to.
[00:05:46] It came with a I need to. And it didn't feel right. But then when the stirring started happening, God said, don't worry about it.
[00:05:55] Let it settle.
[00:05:57] Let everything clear. Don't move. You should move by the world's standard, but let it settle.
[00:06:03] Let me work some things in the background, Let me orchestrate some things, and you don't do a thing.
[00:06:10] That had to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, is sit still and do nothing and rest in him.
[00:06:17] But can I tell you something?
[00:06:20] Joy is not the absence of uncertainty.
[00:06:24] It's an anchor that holds you steady while God's purpose unfolds in you.
[00:06:30] Christians often, a lot of times will say, well, if there's trouble, it ain't God. Have you read the Bible?
[00:06:39] Naomi, Ruth, Esther, Moses, I mean, they all face trouble. I mean, one of them went to get a wife at the well, and he had to work for, like 14 years. I mean, come on.
[00:06:49] There is never easy.
[00:06:53] Because if it's good, it's got to come with patience.
[00:06:58] We want a microwave thing, we want it now.
[00:07:02] Anything good takes a little while to cook in the kitchen. You know what I'm saying?
[00:07:07] Stir the pot slow. Cook that thing, honey. Let God do his work.
[00:07:13] Let God do his work. Amen.
[00:07:16] And let him tell you to catch microphones so we don't break guitars.
[00:07:20] So that's what I'm talking about today, is finding joy within. Inside the energy of needing to do something. Finding joy within when fear tries to cripple you. Finding joy within when there's no reason to be joyful. Because happiness is attached to a circumstance. Joy is attached to a person, and his name is Jesus.
[00:07:41] Amen.
[00:07:42] Amen. So today we're gonna look at four anchors, four places where joy can be found.
[00:07:48] It's not in a perfect season, it's in a real one.
[00:07:53] Can I get some real ones to say in a real one?
[00:07:56] Amen.
[00:07:58] So joy has a source, not a circumstance.
[00:08:02] If you wanna write that down. Joy has a source, not a circumstance. We read this in Zephaniah 3:17.
[00:08:10] We'll read it again. Well, we read. Yeah. The Lord your God is in your midst and the Mighty One will save.
[00:08:17] The source of joy that causes you to rejoice is the presence of God in your life, knowing that he's with you, that he'll never forsake you, that when all else fails, if God be for me. Who can be against me?
[00:08:34] So let's start here, because it's where the most of us get it wrong. We treat joy like a reward.
[00:08:42] Sometimes we think we can earn it when everything lines up, when relationships are healthy, when finances come together, when kids are doing well, and when the diagnosis comes back clear.
[00:08:54] You remember when Josiah got diagnosed with lymphoma?
[00:08:59] Well, you remember what me and Tina were going through.
[00:09:03] There was no hope of joy.
[00:09:06] But somehow on that day when we went to the doctor, Josiah was so full of joy because the day before, he had asked me, daddy, am I going to die? And I said, no, you shall work and confess the works of the Lord.
[00:09:20] Now, he chose to believe that while I had to go off and be a dad and cry a little bit.
[00:09:26] Amen.
[00:09:27] But joy changes things. And then, miraculously, one report of cancer turned into no report of cancer.
[00:09:36] That's where real joy lies. It lies in the trusting.
[00:09:39] It lies in the waiting. It lies in the truth and the source, and his name is Jesus.
[00:09:46] So there's nothing wrong with feeling happy in happy moments. But happiness and its circumstances are brittle.
[00:09:53] You can select friends, you can select a job by what feels good.
[00:09:58] But I promise you, a job doesn't feel good after three months because it's now. It's called one thing, A job.
[00:10:05] Amen.
[00:10:07] I agree.
[00:10:08] It works until circumstances change, and they always change. See, people try and put everything in a box.
[00:10:15] I tell my kids all the time, you got to learn how to flow, man. It's.
[00:10:19] It's a living organism. The spirit of God is a wind, and life moves. And you gotta stop trying to make everything so perfect and fit in a box, because that's just you trying to be in control. And joy doesn't live in a place that you can control.
[00:10:35] Amen. Joy lives in the person Jesus. And God sings over you. That's real joy.
[00:10:42] Amen. Melanie was telling me a story about how her grandson says, why do you love Jesus so much? Always turns on Christian music in the car.
[00:10:50] Because when we enter into worship, it's not just us singing to him, it's him singing to us.
[00:10:56] Amen.
[00:10:58] And there's a joy that happens in worship, and that's the reason you avoid worship. Because I don't want to feel good right now. This has got to work out well. Trust God with that and go to him and worship.
[00:11:10] Amen.
[00:11:12] So good.
[00:11:13] Joy has a source. That source is a person, not a feeling, not a formula.
[00:11:19] It's a person who delights in you. Let's go to John 15:11.
[00:11:24] Is this good?
[00:11:26] Amen.
[00:11:27] These things I have spoken to you. That my joy may remain in you. Whose joy?
[00:11:33] The Lord's joy. And that your joy may be full. So who fills our cup?
[00:11:39] Jesus the Lord, that my joy remain in you. Amen.
[00:11:45] Just going to decline this call for you.
[00:11:48] Amen.
[00:11:50] Amen.
[00:11:52] Amen.
[00:11:53] But notice the conditions as you trust him.
[00:11:59] Joy flows from trust.
[00:12:02] While you're trying to figure everything out and put it in a formula and make it line up to a list, you're using psychology and you're failing.
[00:12:10] Joy is not a psychological thing.
[00:12:12] Joy is something that exists as an expression from him that fills your cup.
[00:12:17] Amen.
[00:12:19] That's why I love my wife so much. She's like a dose of joy every morning.
[00:12:24] I mean, she is walking through the house like a little butterfly. So happy.
[00:12:29] I'm sitting there over there in the corner, like a bulldog, like, ah.
[00:12:33] But I can't resist it. I'm like, she just makes me happy. Because you just.
[00:12:37] You just can't resist joy.
[00:12:40] Amen.
[00:12:41] Now, there's Fruity Tooty, and there's overly happy, and I can't handle that. But real joy is not a feeling you manufacture.
[00:12:50] It's a gift you receive from God who sings over you.
[00:12:55] It's a gift.
[00:12:57] Everything in your life is a gift.
[00:13:00] And you can deny the boat that God came to save you from the flood and he'll send a helicopter.
[00:13:10] You can miss out on so many good things because you're viewing it with your eyes, you're touching it with your hands, but let the Lord lead you with joy.
[00:13:19] Amen.
[00:13:20] All right, so joy has a source, not a circumstance. And it's Jesus.
[00:13:27] Joy holds everything together.
[00:13:29] When life presses you, when life is going hectic, I do not call Mama and them.
[00:13:38] I go to Jesus, and then I go to Tina.
[00:13:42] Amen.
[00:13:45] So there's someone sitting there thinking right now, going, that sounds good, man. That's really awesome. Yeah, it's awesome. But you don't know what my life is going through.
[00:13:56] You don't know the clarity and strength that I need. You don't. You don't know the faith that this requires. To trust God with my next step.
[00:14:05] Yes, I do.
[00:14:08] Any decision made in faith takes faith.
[00:14:13] Whether it's to switch from Telsta to Vodafone, to get a job, to get in a relationship, to become a friend. Oh, Lord Jesus.
[00:14:26] To get married, to step up and serve. All this requires faith. I mean, in business we call that SWOT analysis and, you know, risk and Reward.
[00:14:38] That's faith. These are hypothetical assumptions and numbers that smart people put together and say, this might happen this way.
[00:14:47] Amen.
[00:14:48] We go off of less than that.
[00:14:51] We go off the fact of I believe, I've received and therefore I know that I don't have to pretend and God is doing a great thing in me.
[00:14:58] But let's look at Second Corinthians 4, 8, because you're right, this does require faith.
[00:15:08] And you don't need to pretend and you don't need to fake it till you make it.
[00:15:13] But look at what the Bible says to your response. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed.
[00:15:20] We are perplexed, yet not in despair.
[00:15:24] Yeah, I get it. It's tough. You don't have to fake it.
[00:15:28] You can feel it.
[00:15:30] But here's what the Bible says to that. Paul isn't pretending that trouble isn't there. When he writes this, he's acknowledging the weight of it.
[00:15:39] But he draws a line. Pressed, yes. Crushed, no.
[00:15:45] Perplexed, yes. Driven to despair, no.
[00:15:49] What you're going through may feel weighty, but if you stay in faith and you stay in the trust of the Lord, you will have joy and smile and laughter when you shouldn't. And you will be pressed, but not crushed, perplexed and not in despair.
[00:16:08] Overthink it.
[00:16:10] You're going to stay perplexed and you're going to step into despair.
[00:16:15] Amen. Does this make sense?
[00:16:18] So what's the difference between pressed and crushed? What's the difference between perplexed and despair?
[00:16:25] Well, joy is not naive positivity.
[00:16:30] It's not pretending everything is fine. It's anchored in an unshakable confidence that. That God is at work.
[00:16:38] Do you trust today that God's working on your behalf?
[00:16:43] You know, the reason why most people fall into sin and miss the mark in their life is because they say, God, this isn't working fast enough.
[00:16:53] They don't have the patience to wait on something good. They want something instant and puffed up.
[00:17:00] My wife said something the other day, and it was about her and her look. And I'll keep it between us, but she is just as beautiful today as she was the first time I set eyes on her.
[00:17:14] Amen.
[00:17:17] Amen.
[00:17:21] And the reality is, is that life changes. I mean, I didn't grow a beard because I just needed a chin. I grew a beard because I have no chin.
[00:17:31] And my wife knows that and she still loves me. Amen.
[00:17:36] And the thing is, life changes. You can't keep a six pack forever. And if your Life is built off of vanity and what looks good and what feels good and what makes you laugh. You're going to end up always choosing a feeling that fades.
[00:17:51] You got to choose something that lasts. And you got to start by recognizing where strength comes from. For my strength is in the joy of the Lord.
[00:17:59] Amen.
[00:18:03] So what's the difference between pressed and not crushed? Kyle? You still didn't answer my question. Well, James says in 1, 2, and 4.
[00:18:12] My brethren, count it all. Joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work. That you may be perfect and complete and lacking nothing.
[00:18:24] You know when I can tell you ain't been through something, when you ran from the fight is when you don't have patience to stay.
[00:18:34] I can tell a seasoned veteran Christian when they stay in it, when it's tough.
[00:18:40] You know I've stayed in it. Cause it's been tough.
[00:18:43] You know me.
[00:18:45] You remember me.
[00:18:48] I wasn't always this way.
[00:18:52] I wasn't.
[00:18:53] Oh, man, I was a mess.
[00:18:56] I was a mess.
[00:18:58] But through perseverance, sticking it out, good friends, good family and faith, I made it through lacking nothing.
[00:19:08] Amen.
[00:19:14] So look at this again. I just want to read it again.
[00:19:17] Start again. My brethren, count it all. Joy. When you stub your toe. It ain't talking about that. Back up. It ain't talking about physical pain. It's talking about various trials. Count it all Joy. When the way you thought it would work out is not gonna work out. Cause God's still working it out for you.
[00:19:37] Knowing that the testing of your faith.
[00:19:40] Next verse. Produces patience.
[00:19:44] But let patience have its perfect work.
[00:19:49] Oh, man. That it may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
[00:19:54] A good thing is worth waiting for.
[00:19:58] If God made a promise, don't try and microwave it. Keep walking it out with God, James. Amen.
[00:20:10] James doesn't say consider joy if the trial is small. He says, trials of many kind. The reason joy is possible in those moments is it isn't denial.
[00:20:21] It isn't distraction.
[00:20:25] Joy and hardship says, I know where this is going.
[00:20:30] Amen. Think about that.
[00:20:32] I know who holds me.
[00:20:35] I know that something is being built in me that could not be built any other way. Joy has a different response to the problem.
[00:20:45] And it builds something in you that you lack nothing.
[00:20:49] Amen.
[00:20:51] And it's hard to be joyful sometimes, isn't it?
[00:20:54] It's hard to smile sometimes.
[00:20:57] Man, my smile just looks crooked. But you gotta smile. Come on. See, I'm making you smile right now. Look at You. But smiles are infectious. Joy that's real is infectious, and the world needs more of it.
[00:21:10] You can't just be happy because people are agreeing with you or you're saying things you shouldn't say.
[00:21:16] That only feels good for a moment.
[00:21:19] Amen.
[00:21:21] Think about this. The ocean. What is this joy that James is talking about? Think about this. The ocean on the surface during a storm, the waves are violent, chaotic and overwhelming. But deep enough below the surface, the water is still while the storm is real.
[00:21:41] You understand what I'm saying?
[00:21:43] This joy has to be something that's not just lived on the surface.
[00:21:49] It's gotta be deep in the heart.
[00:21:51] A heart that says, I will be still when the storm is raging. And it doesn't deny the storm. But my joy is deeper than what's happening around me. My joy has a source. My joy is planted in my heart because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit and his strength within me. Amen.
[00:22:12] Nehemiah 8, 10 says this.
[00:22:17] So the prophet had went to the Israelites and said, you're doing it all wrong, all right?
[00:22:24] And they got really sad because they were messing up a festival.
[00:22:30] And this is what he said.
[00:22:32] Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. For the day is holy of the Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
[00:22:44] He was basically saying, you just found out how to do it right. Thank God for stepping into your life to show you the right way. Now go show others the right way and be happy about it.
[00:22:56] But you know what we do as Christians, you know, we missed it.
[00:22:59] Oh, my goodness. We need to repent.
[00:23:02] Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. We need to go Bible bash everybody and show them the way.
[00:23:07] No, you don't need to become the enforcer of the right way. You need to live the right way. And have people wanna come and ask you, why are you so happy?
[00:23:18] Let the joy of the Lord be your strength.
[00:23:22] The people that Nehemiah was speaking to were in the middle of rebuilding a broken city. They were surrounded by oppos, position, exhausted, overwhelmed. And he said to them, let the joy of the Lord be your strength.
[00:23:36] That's like somebody saying, let's pray.
[00:23:39] You just told them that your left toe is infected, your wallet's empty, and your eyesight's blurry. Let's pray.
[00:23:49] Let the joy of the Lord of your strength. It doesn't sound real in that moment. It doesn't sound good in that moment. But if you lean into it, everything changes.
[00:24:00] You ever Been really, really mad.
[00:24:02] Me and Tina been in some good discussions, as we like to call them.
[00:24:07] Some heated debates, as other people like to call them. I just like to call them flat out arguments. Amen.
[00:24:14] And we've been in some good. And she'll just look at me and she'll start laughing. She goes, I forgot what we even arguing about.
[00:24:20] Me too. And we both just start laughing. And for some reason, just that moment can change everything. The moment you lean into joy, it changes everything. The moment you invite Jesus into the circumstance, it changes everything. The moment you stop and pray, it changes everything. The moment you pause and praise, it changes everything. It doesn't fix the problem, it doesn't deny the problem. It just shifts the mood and gives you the strength to continue.
[00:24:49] Amen.
[00:24:52] Joy is not a luxury of an easy season.
[00:24:57] Joy is a weapon in hard ones, man.
[00:25:02] When you feel presence and pressure increasing, that is not the time to tap out and put joy aside. No, that's the time to pick it up. The stirring doesn't always mean something is wrong. Sometimes it means something is being stirred up on the inside of you.
[00:25:19] Amen.
[00:25:21] Okay, long point there.
[00:25:26] Joy holds when everything is pressing.
[00:25:30] Last thing I want to say to you is, joy grows in the stillness.
[00:25:34] I want to talk to someone who feels busy.
[00:25:37] Anybody feel busy? Don't raise your hand.
[00:25:41] The one who lives a full and a feel good life and everything's good.
[00:25:48] Full of important things, full of things that matter. And yet something is quietly missing.
[00:25:55] See, a lot of times we look at people that are homeless or addicts or this or that, man. There's people that have everything, that have nothing on the inside.
[00:26:04] And there's people in here. You really, if you stopped and paused, you actually think your life is great, but there's still something missing.
[00:26:15] It's that joy.
[00:26:17] We live in a world that is allergic to stillness.
[00:26:22] I'm so serious.
[00:26:24] So allergic to stillness. Oh, it's quiet.
[00:26:27] I used to have a chaos mentality. When things were good. I'd get scared, like something needs to break so I can fix something.
[00:26:33] You know what I'm talking about? Anybody know what I'm talking about?
[00:26:36] We're so allergic to stillness.
[00:26:40] We fill every gap with noise.
[00:26:43] We scroll when we're waiting.
[00:26:46] We play music when we're driving. We check our phones before our feet hit the floor in the morning.
[00:26:52] And we wonder why joy feels so thin.
[00:26:56] Cause everything else is communicating to it.
[00:26:59] Man, if I listen, if my wife listened to everybody about Mary and me, I don't think we'd be Married.
[00:27:05] You know what her mama said before we came to Australia?
[00:27:08] I love her mama.
[00:27:10] Her mama looked at her and said, he's going to Australia, huh? All right, well, you just keep the kids and let him go.
[00:27:23] What am I trying to say?
[00:27:26] You wonder why joy feels thin? Because you've got too many voices speaking to your joy.
[00:27:31] You're filling up on too many empty things, expecting to feel full.
[00:27:37] Proverbs. No, not Proverbs. Psalms 46:10 says this.
[00:27:42] Be still and know that I am God.
[00:27:46] I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. Are you exalting him in your quiet time?
[00:27:53] There's something important about the structure of this verse.
[00:27:58] It doesn't say, figure out that God is God and work out that God is God. It says, know.
[00:28:06] Know that I am God.
[00:28:10] Knowing is different than knowing about.
[00:28:13] You can know about someone for years, but never truly know them. Knowing happens in presence.
[00:28:21] You may know me.
[00:28:23] I got friends that come up to me from my past all the time. What are you doing now? I'm pastoring. Oh, cool. Is that the new con?
[00:28:30] They knew me, but they don't know me.
[00:28:34] But when you know God, it's different than knowing about God. He's not a cliche that you say when you pray.
[00:28:43] He's not something to make everybody impressed with your prayer. He is God.
[00:28:49] Amen. He is God.
[00:28:53] Joy is not found at the speed of productivity.
[00:28:57] Joy is found at the speed of presence.
[00:29:00] How much time are you spending with God? Or how much time are you spending with empty things? And you wonder why you're so distracted.
[00:29:10] Empty words, empty things.
[00:29:14] You're like, well, I like Netflix. It's okay. I'm not talking about your Netflix.
[00:29:19] I like golf, George. I'm not talking about golf. Okay, Amen.
[00:29:24] I like this. I'm not talking about your hobbies.
[00:29:28] I'm talking about your conversations.
[00:29:31] I'm talking about your free time that you fill with doom scrolling.
[00:29:37] I'm talking about that time you do have to talk to God that you don't use.
[00:29:42] That's what I'm talking about. Because joy is found in his presence. Amen. Is this good?
[00:29:48] Tap your neighbor and say, God is good all the time.
[00:29:56] Amen.
[00:29:58] Psalm 16:11. I'm going to have to wrap it up here soon.
[00:30:02] Psalm 16:11 says, you will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. At the right hand is pleasures forevermore. Did it say, in your new car is the presence of joy. In your new job, in your bank account in your partner.
[00:30:19] It said, in his presence, someone got really passionate. In his presence is fullness of joy.
[00:30:31] Amen.
[00:30:32] There's something about knowing his presence.
[00:30:36] This scripture tells us something critical. Joy isn't just something God gives.
[00:30:44] It's something we find when we are with Him.
[00:30:48] It's where the presence of joy lives.
[00:30:51] Isaiah 26:3 says this.
[00:30:55] We got that one. Yep. Yes.
[00:30:58] You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.
[00:31:05] What are you thinking about? Because what you're thinking about and what you focus on, you're giving power to man. If you think about your empty bank account, you're going to feel empty, too.
[00:31:16] You think about your Monday morning. You think about tomorrow's work already. You're going to feel tired already.
[00:31:22] What are you thinking about?
[00:31:24] Because what you're thinking about is shaping the way you walk.
[00:31:28] But it says, as a promise, for those that keep their mind on him shall be at perfect peace. Why are you unsettled? Because you about what so and so said about you.
[00:31:38] Why are you unsettled? Because you're thinking about what's not happening. Why are you unsettled? Because you're trying to cook in the kitchen, in the flash fryer, when you're supposed to be using a slow cooker.
[00:31:49] Amen. Making everybody hungry. Amen.
[00:31:54] Amen. Perfect peace is a steadfast mind that is staying on the Lord.
[00:32:01] That doesn't happen by accident, folks.
[00:32:05] Amen.
[00:32:09] It's cultivated in the quiet.
[00:32:12] My wife, man, anybody married or anybody is in a relationship going to understand this next statement.
[00:32:19] I don't have to say a word. I just need to be in the room.
[00:32:24] Couples. Y' all know what I'm talking about.
[00:32:27] Well, we ain't talking. You on your phone. Well, we in each other's presence.
[00:32:31] Amen.
[00:32:32] Isn't that right?
[00:32:35] So what am I trying to say here?
[00:32:38] It's different to when the person is in the room versus absent from them. As an idea.
[00:32:46] When they're in the room, they say they're scrolling through something. They go, my wife does this the best. She'd be scrolling something.
[00:32:52] Married folk. You know what I'm talking about. Friends. Friends. You even know what I'm talking about. You ever get that person that's scrolling on Facebook? Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm. They do it like 15 times. And you're like, I know. They want me to say what you read and what you see so they can tell me about it.
[00:33:06] Amen. Y' all know what I'm talking about.
[00:33:10] It's about having that opportunity for God to go, hmm, mm hmm, mm mm, mm.
[00:33:18] And you'd be like, what God?
[00:33:20] Instead of, hold on, God, I'm going to go over here and fix this problem myself.
[00:33:24] Keep God in the room and he will always direct your paths and joy will always be present.
[00:33:33] Amen.
[00:33:37] God is good and all the time.
[00:33:41] And the devil is.
[00:33:44] Amen. Praise the Lord.
[00:33:46] Did you know that joy is multiplied in community?
[00:33:50] Hallelujah. Ain't nothing like getting around some good happy folk. Now I ain't talking about them little gossiping people. I'm about to have some good happy folk. Amen. Not somebody talking about we need to pray about mama and them and getting everybody's business and open up the cookie jar. No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm talking about some real happy, settled in Jesus people.
[00:34:11] All right, move on.
[00:34:12] ECCLESIASTES says in 4 and 9, it says this, two people are better off than one.
[00:34:18] So if you're wondering if you got singles ministry on your life, there's your answer. Two people are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.
[00:34:28] Three cord strand can't be broken. The more we multiply ourselves, the more we get in community, the better communication we have, the. The better strength we have, the more joy we have. Amen.
[00:34:42] So this reason God didn't design the Christian life to be lived in isolation.
[00:34:47] Romans 12:15. And I'm going to close out here.
[00:34:54] My favorite verse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
[00:35:03] Did you notice? Rejoicing with others is placed on the same level with mourning with others.
[00:35:09] Because at the end of weeping is joy and the beginning of all things is joy. And that's why we got to rejoice.
[00:35:23] God said there's something equally important about having people around you when the joy is rising. And the same as having people around you that will celebrate with you when you got nothing to celebrate about.
[00:35:35] You were never designed to carry this life alone.
[00:35:40] You were designed to trust and see it through with him.
[00:35:45] Amen. Give the Lord a hand clap of praise.
[00:35:56] God was there in the beginning.
[00:35:58] He is there in your middle. And he will see it through to end. God is faithful to fulfill the promises in which he stated. He will finish the good work that is started in you. Amen.
[00:36:12] So today as we. I'm going to steal Alex's communion. As we pass out communion in just a moment, we'll invite Michael up to pray over communion after we get everything settled.
[00:36:27] You still willing to do that? Okay.
[00:36:32] I told him it's dangerous to invite Michael up.
[00:36:36] No. But one of the things Michael used to say to me and the reason I want to have him come up is every time I'd see him, he'd say, how you doing, big boy? Or something like that. And he just always come in with a big old handshake and a smile. No matter what mood I was in, it changed my mood.
[00:36:59] There's something about a greeting that changes the mood.
[00:37:06] There's something about a smile that changes the mood. There's something about an ill placed joke that someone says, too soon, that was perfect, that just changes the mood.
[00:37:19] There's something about being happy instead of being serious all the time.
[00:37:24] There's something about building people up in joy.
[00:37:30] Amen.
[00:37:32] Look at your neighbor. Look around you and say, I want to build you up with joy.
[00:37:40] Amen.
[00:37:44] Oh man, what a beautiful day.
[00:37:50] What a beautiful day. You're not here by coincidence. You're here by design.
[00:37:56] As you go out and you have your coffee, as you go about your day, as you go to the next thing, remember to smile.
[00:38:03] People ask me all the time, Pastor Kyle, how do you stay non biased in situations? It is my job to trust the Lord in all things and to build people up.
[00:38:14] I handle conflict with the Lord, I handle this world with the Lord, and I turn off social media when necessary.
[00:38:25] Amen. So, Lord, we thank youk. Can we give the Lord a hand clap of praise?
[00:38:31] Thank youk for tuning in to today's message. To connect or find out more, you can reach us online at worldchangers.life. Remember to subscribe for more uplifting messages from our pastoral team. And may you continue to walk in faith and transformation until we meet again.
