December 17, 2017 · 1 Peter 1:8

Filled with Joy - 1 Peter 1:6-9

“It sparks something in your heart, and I started thinking about joy and the gift of joy to us is, why did God decide to leave all that he had and actually become a servant? And it hit me. It's contagious. Jesus came here because it gives him joy to give us joy. It's contagious. He actually, God, when he looks down upon us, he has a great joy to see us have joy. Do you think of that of a God who's just to be wow, just laughing hard, just loving it. When you're a joyous, it gives him joy, and I hope we can give each other joy. We heard that in the story there when we have people come alongside us, even in our hardest parts, right, to be with us. There's a comfort that comes with that, and slowly as we come out of our darkness, there's a joy that can come and then a joy that returns. And that joy that we feel in other people's lives can become contagious. So don't be shy with your Jesus joy. If he gives you joy, let him give you joy in front of people. There's a passage in an ancient monk named St. Anselman who I did my doctoral dissertation on, and I just think about this. A thousand years ago, there's this monk just thinking about joy.”