Full sermon outline follows the handout version. All I Want For Christmas
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS ... JOY
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Luke 2:8-16
I. Are you ecstatic yet?
A. Christmas is supposed to be a happy time.
B. There is a darker side to it all.
C. Christmas can be a lot more.
II. Joy is big in the Bible.
A. The Hebrew words are especially vivid.
B. In the New Testament, joy is a characteristic of Christians.
C. Joy is related to happiness, but different.
III. You may notice that religion isn't always joyous.
A. Some would say it is rarely so.
B. Lack of joy can signify deeper problems.
C. What is the level of your joy right now?
IV. Christmas tells us why we can have joy.
V. It's something to sing about.
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Rev. David Holwick ZO All I Want For Christmas
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 12, 2010
Luke 2:8-16
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS ... JOY
I. Are you ecstatic yet?
A. Christmas is supposed to be a happy time.
1) Everyone in the commercials is smiling, especially females
who are receiving heavy diamond necklaces.
2) And of course kids are thinking of all the toys they are
going to get.
B. There is a darker side to it all.
1) A number of holiday movies show what Christmas does to
dysfunctional families.
2) All the relatives gather for Christmas dinner and there is
sniping and griping and drag-out fights.
3) Some relatives just sit in the corner, depressed.
4) One of the greatest Christmas movies, It's a Wonderful Life,
is about a man who snaps at his kids and then jumps off
a bridge.
5) Have you ever felt like this at Christmas?
C. Christmas can be a lot more.
1) It can even go beyond happiness.
2) The secret to Christmas is a special gift from God - joy.
3) It is something he wants you to have.
II. Joy is big in the Bible.
A. The Hebrew words are especially vivid.
1) The root meaning is "to shine" or "to be bright."
a) The words emphasize activity or motion.
b) One source even says it implies dancing or spinning
around in pleasure.
2) The word "joy" in the Bible can mean general happiness but
usually it is a religious emotion.
a) This is most notable in the Psalms.
b) Joy is a natural consequence of having fellowship
with God.
B. In the New Testament, joy is a characteristic of Christians.
1) It is one of the main fruits of the Holy Spirit.
2) Joy is a quality and not just an emotion.
3) It is something that originates with Jesus. John 15:10-11
"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love...
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and
that your joy may be complete."
C. Joy is related to happiness, but different.
1) Happiness is a human emotion and often depends on
our current circumstances.
2) Joy originates with God and is independent of circumstances.
a) In fact, joy may be the outcome of suffering for
Christ's sake. Col 1:24
b) It is in fact a gift of the Holy Spirit and should be
evident in the lives of real Christians.
III. You may notice that religion isn't always joyous.
A. Some would say it is rarely so.
1) A priest once said to comedian Groucho Marx:
"Oh, Mr. Marx, I want to thank you for bringing so much
joy into the world."
Groucho's rather ungracious reply was,
"I want to thank you for taking so much out."
#861
2) Joy can be a challenge to the religious.
William Willimon, Dean at Duke University, points out that
the church focuses on the imperatives of life:
"Do this, don't do that."
As I just quoted from Jesus, you remain in God's love by
obeying him.
But that's not always so easy.
If the whole Bible is preached, you're going to find out
you break quite a few of those imperatives.
So you may walk away from church pretty depressed some days.
#62945 (sermon)
B. Lack of joy can signify deeper problems.
1) Paul's challenge to the Galatians - what has happened
to your joy? Gal 4:15
a) They allowed legalism to stifle it.
1> Imperatives became the only focus of their faith.
2> They became nitpickers and lost their joy.
b) Sin can kill it.
1> Ongoing disobedience creates distance between
you and God.
2) The solution is to have a deeper religious faith.
Evangelist Billy Sunday once said, "The trouble with many
men is that they have got just enough religion to make
them miserable.
If there is not joy in religion, you've got a leak in your
religion."
C. What is the level of your joy right now?
1) Does your faith give you a feeling of contentment?
2) Are you excited by the promises God has for you?
3) Or are you just along for the ride?
a) Writer Dorothy Sayers once said: "The only real sin a
Christian can commit is to be joyless."
IV. Christmas tells us why we can have joy.
A. There is good news. Luke 2:10
1) Literally, it is "gospel."
a) The Christian message is supposed to be good stuff.
b) If it seems like a downer to you, you must be missing
half of it.
2) It isn't just good, it is joyous.
B. It is for everyone.
1) The gospel isn't just for certain ethnic groups or social
classes.
2) It is meant to have an impact on the whole planet.
a) In a remarkable way, that what is happening right now.
b) Regions like China, Russia and Africa are responding
as they never have before.
3) It includes you.
a) Do you think of the Christian message as something that
is meant for you personally?
b) When you grow up in church your whole life, it is easy
to miss this.
c) God wants to save YOU. But you have to respond to it.
C. A Savior has been born.
1) Even today people are looking for a Messiah.
The Week magazine had an article on how some Hindus have
identified a living savior who will unite all religions.
The guy himself is not sure they are right.
2) The Bible says the look is over. Jesus is it.
D. Praise should be the only response. 2:14
V. It's something to sing about.
A. A controversial hymn.
Back in the early 1700s, a teenager complained to his father
about the church service they had just been to.
He thought it was boring.
The music was especially bad.
His father replied, "Well then, young man, why don't you give
us something better to sing?"
The 18-year-old Isaac Watts accepted his father's challenge.
The next Sunday he produced his first hymn, and for the next two
years, he wrote a new hymn text for his church every Sunday.
There is a family legend that he would constantly speak only
in rhyme.
This annoyed his dad so much he threatened to whip him.
Young Watts cried out,
"O father, do some pity take/
And I will no more verses make."
Writing new hymns was a lot more controversial than you might
think.
Christians back then felt that the only songs fit to be sung in
church had to come straight from the Bible.
Watt's hymns paraphrased the Bible - he changed the words around
some - and this seemed like heresy to many.
But he didn't give up.
One of his best-known compositions is based on Psalm 98.
Verse 4 of that psalm says, "Shout for joy to the LORD, all the
earth, burst into jubilant song with music."
Watts paraphrased this as "Joy to the world!"
It's been almost 300 years since he composed it, and it remains
a favorite at this time of year.
#33946
B. Do you know where joy can be found?
Christian author Betsy Childs once wrote:
There are few things rarer, and hence few things more
sought-after, than true, abiding joy.
The good news of the gospel is that joy does not have
to depend on our circumstances.
And it is not something that can be bought or earned.
True joy is found only in God himself, and God delights to
be delighted in.
Christians do not always feel joyful, but we can point the
world to the source of true joy by pursuing it in God.
It has been said that the greatest crime in the desert is
finding water and keeping silent.
We live in a world deserted by joy, but we know where it
can be found.
#918
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 861 “Childish Or Child-like?” by Donald B. Strobe, Dynamic Preaching,
Vol IV, May 19, 1991, page 33.
# 918 “How Shall We Be Relevant?” by Betsy Childs, “A Slice of Infinity:
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries,” May 30, 1993,
<http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/>.
#26460 (sermon) “All I Want For Christmas Is… Joy,” by Rev. Brian Bill,
Pontiac Bible Church of Pontiac, Illinois,
<http://www.pontiacbible.org>, December 2, 2007.
#33946 “Joy To The World,” by Alison Thomas, “A Slice of Infinity: Ravi
Zacharias International Ministries,” December 28, 2006,
<http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/>. Original source is
K.W. Osbeck, 101 More Hymn Stories, (Grand Rapids: Kregel
Publications, 1985), page 52.
#62945 (sermon) “Christmas Joy,” by Rev. Dr. Ray Pritchard, Calvary
Memorial Church of Oak Park, Illinois, December 1, 1997.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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