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Garden imagery in Isaiah 61 this sermon The prophet speaks of the coming anointed one - the coming Messiah מָשַׁח [mashach /maw·shakh/]. The year of the Lord’s favour, and the coming of the new creation - a new garden, a new Eden when all of creation will be restored. v. 3 A planting of the Lord Anticipates…

My Strength Then [Ezra] told them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold. We often hear the phrase “The Joy of…

This past week our country celebrated it’s 247th birthday. A tradition that I’ve held over the years is to read the document that birthed our nation on that day. And so I read those amazing words. As you begin the second paragraph you read some of the more famous words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident,…

Our first Scripture lesson this morning is taken from Deuteronomy 12:4-7 : You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall…

We are in the third week of our series, The Promise. Jesus gives to each of us through His coming four promises that we are exploring. The first week I looked at hope. Hope in God does not disappoint us and when we place our hope in Jesus, we find a life that is full of peace and contentment. Last week,…

The Wonder of HOPE — Jesus is the FULFILLMENT of things to come — FORGIVENESS we need — The one to FOLLOW The Wonder of PEACE — Sheep…who like us need a Shepherd Jesus CALLS us by name — LEADS us out — GATHERS us in — GOES ahead Is it Christmas yet? Anxious — Advent (waiting) — Carols? Today we jump…

Introduction Appreciate feeling well after being sick. Relief after doing something hard. After hardship comes joy . Despair Turns into Joy vv. 1-2 Context of c 34. Discipline rebellion. Brings despair, which can feel endless. Holding breath for TV shows or movies. How much longer? The picture in this…

Intro : This world has witnessed many nights since it was created by God. Many of those nights passed without anything remarkable taking place. Others saw profound changes in history take place. One day Noah was loading animals in an ark as the world laughed and mocked him. The next morning when they…

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Love, joy, and peace—the first three on Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit—are like a triplet. They come together. Jesus linked them very…

Let us begin with a word of prayer. Gracious Father, As we gather in your presence today, our hearts are filled with anticipation and gratitude. We come before you with joyous hearts, ready to delve into the richness of your Word. Open our minds to receive the wisdom you offer, and let our spirits be…

Most of the time when we think of or exercise giving thanks, we think of things we have or have experienced that we are thankful for. But possession and experiences alone are not enough. We must recognize the source of where those blessings come from and what their purpose is. The greatest blessing of…

This week Dr. and Pastor Tim Keller passed away from cancer. He was a man used by God to reach many many people with the gospel. He was good friends with John Piper. And John Piper made a video describing the last email correspondence he had with his friend Tim Keller before he passed away. In his last…

Intro: I had two titles picked out for the message this morning and went with “The Heart of Christianity”. The other title would have been “The Fundamentals of our Faith”… Fundamentals are important for anything that we do in life… one of the fundamentals in baking is, time and temperature… to hot and…

Introduction E.g. Chasing the jet ski Fell off jet ski & had to keep swimming after it as it ‘snaked’ its way up the river By the time I caught it I was too exhausted and annoyed to keep going so I went back For many people happiness, contentment, satisfaction in life seems like chasing the jet ski It…

Read text: Isaiah 51:9-11 Awake! Put On strength! Thank God for His Mighty Arm! That Arm who embraces the hurting. Who supports the weak. Who defends the downtrodden and those who seem utterly without help in a hostile world. Who is the Mighty Arm of God? It’s Jesus! He is the one who executes the Father’s…

A song that came out some years ago says, “Don’t worry, be happy”. The problem is that the song never tells you how to be happy. Paul doesn’t tell us to be happy, in fact the Bible never promises happiness, instead he says to rejoice, Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Joy is described…

How do we define joy? Joy is closely related to gladness and happiness, although in the NT, joy is more a state of being than an emotion - a result of the choice to know and meditate on the character and promises of God. What is the source of joy? The source of joy in our lives comes from being in step…

Texts: Luke 2:8-12 esp. Vs. 10 Luke 2:8-12 “In the same region [where Mary gave birth to Jesus] there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they…

Last week we looked at: Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:13-26 “But now I come to You [Father]; and these things I speak in the world so that they [my disciples then and now] may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are…

1 Praise ye the Lord . Praise, O ye servants of the Lord , Praise the name of the Lord . 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord From this time forth and for evermore. 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same The Lord ’s name is to be praised. 4 The Lord is high above all nations, And his…

Intro: Back in January I preached on a theme. Priorities. We learned to prioritize the eternal. Namely, people and God’s Word. The saved, the church. The unsaved, those that need the gospel. And God’s Word. We were reminded that our priorities must be in step with the mind of Christ. This morning we…

Intro: My experience going to the hospital I can assure you that was one of the messiest, middle of the night, situations that I have ever been in. It was painful at its best and beyond uncomfortable. I could not escape it. Have you ever had that happen before? You know, just a messy or uncomfortable…

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am…

The Way of Joy! When you think of joy, what do you think of? It is a special day, a special thing? This joy, Christ the way of joy is much more than a day or a thing and that is what we are looking at today. The way of Christ is the way of Joy Joy that may be full (Jn15:11) 11 “These things I have spoken…