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Northwest Church of Christ 3904 38th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44718 330-492-5523 Fax: 330-493-7119 |
“What's Missing?” |
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I. Introduction.
A. Think for a moment about most “joyful” (happiest;
seemingly most contented) person you know. Now,
think of this: would you say this person was also most
spiritually-minded, or most “religious” person you know?1. I don’t know who you thought of, but maybe your
joyful person was not a very spiritually-minded
person. Or, maybe, he or she was.2. If the second is true, then that’s way it ought to be.
As people with a relationship with God, we should
have many spiritual resources to draw upon to be a
joyful person. Should have best, and most, reasons
to be joyful; enthusiastic.3. For many Christians, the “What’s Missing” in their
life seems to be joy and real enthusiasm.B. The world has enough “killjoys”, the prophets of doom and
spreaders of gloom. People who are convinced, and try to
convince everyone else, that behind every silver lining
there’s bound to be a cloud! Kind of people who bring joy
when they go, not where they go.C. We may grasp, and be “doctrinally sound” on, many
Biblical truths: that there is one God; that Jesus is His Son
and our Lord and Savior, that baptism is necessary for the
remission of our sins. But, is one Biblical truth we may not
yet have grasped. Is truth of joy – joy in our life as a
Christian; joy in our present and our future; joy in sharing
this with other people.D. This, or lack of this, is reflected in our worship – in this
place – and our service and lives – outside this place. It’s
reflected in our relationships – with one another and with
others. Our unity; our strength; our enthusiasm; our whole
outlook is rooted in joy – or lack of it.E. If we think of our Christianity as being rigid formalism, a
burden we must carry, and devoid of joy, then we are truly
missing the point – and we’re missing something Jesus and
early Christians had, and demonstrated.F. Look at any Bible concordance and see number of times
either word “joy”, or reference to joy, is listed. One
concordance cites 250 such references. In Galatians 5, Paul
identifies “joy” as one of the “fruit of the Spirit.”
(Galatians 5:22). “Joy” is not missing from the Bible, not
left out of Christian life, but, still is missing from many
contemporary Christians’ lives.G. Want to spend remainder of our time talking about what we
can and should do to supply “What’s Missing” in our
lives – if it is missing; in our worship – if it is missing; in
our relationships – if it is missing.II. How To Be A “Full-Joy”
A. What can we do to supply “What’s Missing”. First, we can
look at ourselves and make necessary changes.1. Looking into a mirror is often unpleasant, especially
when we don’t like what we see. Problem is
mirrors don’t lie. The only way to improve what
we see is to make necessary changes.2. Only way to have the joy and enthusiasm that is to
be part of Christian life is to look into mirror and
make necessary changes.3. Look again at I John 1:1-4 (Review). (Emphasis
upon “fellowship with the Father, and with His
Son Jesus Christ”, verse 3).B. What we get from God and from our association with one
another should be shared with people. In this is a key to
joy, also.1. The Word of Truth says: “It is more blessed to give
than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Is more fulfillment,
more contentment, more joy in giving than in
receiving.2. What we receive from God is both of physical and
spiritual nature. What we give can fall into both
categories as well. And both types of giving have
their rewards and joys.3. But, what we give will have little impact on others
until we do so with joy and enthusiasm ourselves.C. Third, there is joy in commitment.
1. More satisfaction, more joy, results from dedicating
ourselves to something – even something that may
cost us, or can be had only by personal sacrifice.a. In “Parables of the Kingdom” in
Matthew 13, Jesus spoke of heaven as
something worth having, and something
worth sacrificing for.Matthew 13:44: “. . . the kingdom of heaven
is like treasure hidden in a field; which a
man found, and hid; and for joy over it he
goes and sells all that he has, and buys that
field.”b. Something we have sacrificed for, is much
sweeter in its possession.2. Could it be that we lack joy and enthusiasm in our
Christian life, it’s “missing”, because we don’t yet
have the conviction that heaven is worth a
commitment now? If we’re not committed enough
to set ourselves aside and make some personal
sacrifices for Lord’s kingdom, we just may be
missing joy He intended for us to have.III. Conclusion.
A. If, as a Christian, you don’t have joy, maybe we’ve
offered some reasons as to why that’s the case, and what
we can do to gain that “missing ingredient.”B. Involvement, activity, commitment, making some
necessary changes in ourselves and our attitudes could all
help us.C. Let’s recognize reality that God wants His children to be
blessed and happy. And, let’s recognize reality that real
happiness does not come from things around us, things we
may possess, or the transitory things of this world and life.
Let’s recognize reality that the only lasting joy lies in
commitment to, and obedience to, God’s commands.