Whole Relationships in a Broken World 3 - The Joy of Fun, Play, and Laughter.

why are you guys friends I don't I think we all just kind of match each other's energy we got kind of crazy Vibes going on but then at the end of the day we can come back together and you know be homies personally these friends are like super great influences on me and we kind of build off each other and without them I wouldn't really have that um I'd kind of be on my own for me honestly I probably wouldn't be a Christian without these guys cuz you know it was kind of rough getting going meeting people but I started meeting all the guys and that's really where it began it's just constantly laughing and taking nothing seriously really I feel like it's like an injection of like caffeine or something I think I think God gives us the ability to like laugh with each other so that we can build stronger relationships like us I mean we wouldn't be as close as we are now if we weren't goofing off all the time and becoming closer friends and with that like you said we're able to grow our faith as well was all serious it be like just a boring way it'd be hard to be a Christian if we have to be serious all day that's what people don't realize is you don't have to be a serious person always on reading the Bible every second of the day you know it's okay to be goofy good yeah it's good to laugh things off I mean God created us to laugh and have fun I mean he would make laughing and having friends fun if it wasn't for a reason [Music] I was over by a Italian place in montere here and outside at a table are about six or seven High School guys some of those guys with their Bibles open studying the Bible together they love Jesus but they also crack up have a lot of fun and enjoy each other and as we walk through the series that we're in right now about how to make every relationship in our lives better we have to understand that God cares about relationships when people ask Jesus what's important all the most important in all the universe he said love God love people relationships and so we've been talking about how communication two weeks ago communication makes every relationship better last week Pastor Sean talked about how forgiveness will make every relationship better because listen closely if you're in a serious relationship and you're honest at some point they're going to need to forgive you for something you did or didn't do and you're going to need to forgive them you cannot have a close relationship ship and not have stumbles along the way you need forgiveness and in this five week series another one of those key things that will make every relationship better is fun laughter celebration Delight joy and don't start parsing and you know defining well joy means a certain thing I mean joy in the sense of just taking celebration for the good gifts of life and so I want you to listen to this passage I'm not going to I I'll read it again and we'll have it up on the on the screen I just want you to listen to this passage from Psalm 126 this is one of the Psalms of ascent these are the songs that God's people sang as they went up to worship from Psalm 120 for for a whole there's this whole cluster of Psalms that are all about going up to meet with God and this one particular Psalm says this Psalm 126 when the Lord restored the fortunes fortunes of Zion that was the holy city we were like those who dreamed our mouths were filled with laughter our tongues with songs of Joy then it was said among the Nations the Lord has done great things for them the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy laughter singing Joy Living God speak to our hearts today wherever we are whether we're online on the other side of the planet whether we're sitting right here in the Worship Center or out in the courtyard or the family worship venue wherever we are today I pray you would meet with us and help us to see that your joy your Delight celebration laughter fun are actually part of what it means to follow you that of all the people in the world those who have met Jesus Christ can have the biggest Smiles the heartiest laughs the greatest joy speak your truth to our hearts today and deepen and strengthen and make more healthy every relationship in our lives we pray this in the Glorious beautiful name of Jesus Amen there's something wonderful about seeing people have fun you ever sat around a table playing a game with friends or watch somebody else playing a game and you just watch the laughter and the fun you know unless it's Monopoly till it gets that tough point where somebody gets you know tot totally loses it but up to that point you know having fun laughing have you ever watched children together just doing doing simple things go to the next slide there uh have you ever seen children just doing nothing in particular and yet in the midst of it just laughing and having fun that that childlike Delight in life and that carries through so often around food have you ever been around a table with friends and just enjoying good food and enjoying good conversation and enjoying laughter and some of you are like I wish I had more of that some you're like I used to have that but our world's gotten so weird that it's hard just to have the kind of fun I used to have I things have become so tense the the the air in the ball has gotten so full you got little bit of L little air out of the ball lien up a little a little bit uh parents and grandparents with grandkids or children together laughing having fun sharing life there's something about Joy fun laughter Delight celebration that honors God this passage I read a moment ago I'm going to read it again it won't be on the screen sh I'm going to read it three times today and I want you to hear it again and I want you to have a little context here this particular Psalm is looking back to a really tough time a time of Exile a time of struggle a time of difficulty and out of that the people were set free they were released they were brought back together again and that brought joy every passage we're going to look at today has a balance of the fact that life can be hard but we can still be people of delight we can face challenges and still smile and laugh we can face the reality of the pain that that our world is filled with and still take Delight that God is on the throne and he loves us and so this passage begins with these words this is Psalm 126 1-3 when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion that the city of God had gone through a hard time the people had been exiled but when the Lord restored that brought things back together again what happened to us we were like people who dreamed our mouths were filled with laughter our tongues with songs of joy we couldn't not sing songs of Joy it was so great to have come through that and then be on the other side of it then it was set among the Nations all the world was looking on saying the Lord has done great things for them then the psalmist says the Lord has done great things for us' it's like man I recognize what God has done and we are filled with joy remembering the past remembering the pain even facing what is right now or what might lie ahead there's still room for Delight there's still room for Joy for those who have met Jesus as a young Christian uh I I was I came out of a non-Christian home and one of my first jobs I actually had to started this job before I was 16 I went my brother was a manager at 7-Eleven kind of a high-tech really important job I had uh there and I'd stock the freezer do some different things but I also worked behind the register and did a night shift and when I would get bored because sometimes there nobody nobody would come in for 10 15 minutes there was a there used to be a 7-Eleven I don't know if there's any more but there was a little little spot about this wide you about so wide and about this deep with three shelves of toys and when I get bored I'd go find a toy to play because I was bored and that was one of the places I learned to spin a frisbee that helped me get my help helped me get my first job at a pizza place that was where I learned to juggle my uh I taught three High three of the our Tech kids this morning how to juggle they they're they're Masters already they'll show you after the service ask the ask if they're carrying a camera and I probably talk juggle but uh so if you want to learn to juggle you start with one oh that bright light's going to make it challenging then you can add another one and then you just throw it up and you rotate through like that there you go and I so I I would just find things to do to play because I was bored this is before I could do this for hours and you know just stare at a screen and do a thing this is back when you had to get a little more creative with your with your free time uh in our family we've always been we tried to create when our we our boys are now in their 30s but you know games times to play as a family and Sher and I play every night or every day we we this this is our game basketall this is our real basketball from our houses you can't take it you can't have it but in here is our cribbage board I'm not going to say who's ahead right now but that's my peg right there two ahead of Sherry's and uh and I only say that because usually she beats me so I but it's not over yet there's still I got to win three more to win this thing and we actually that this new game qwixx I think it's called Quicks it's Mena approved and so if you know what that means um it's a dice game where you keep scoring it's a lot of fun this game we're into right now right honey and so Sherry was gone and I was gone we were apart from each other I was in the last part of my sabatical we were apart for a few days came back and she said to me we got to play a game we kept playing our Quicks game and then when we went to New Zealand as part of the first part of our sabatical uh we had dinner with five or six couples different couples at different times that we had dinner with and one couple uh been through a kind of a stretch of a lot of stuff going on in life and Ministry and we said hey can we teach you a new game and we taught them how to play this game and they when they were going to come over for dinner where we were staying they said can we bring our daughter they got a daughter who's in high school they and I I said your daughter wants to come and hang out with four you know old people in Ministry kind of thing and they said yeah and so that's their daughter right there uh and and he sent me a text I got it at 2:40 this morning from New Zealand and he said we've been we've been playing the game you taught us and it's it's approved by our family he said and he said every time we play that game we also stop and I don't think I shed this with you yet honey I got that got that this morning when I woke up he said every time we play We also stop and pray for the hares and and so just just having fun playing together should be part of our lives and then you go you go through Seasons so like it used to be juggling frisbee that kind of stuff you want to know one of the most fun things for me in the world is these days to be able to take a pitching wedge I'm gonna I got something in the back that's going to catch this I'm so good I trust myself take a pitching wedge hit a nice little lob I missed and if you've ever played golf if you hadit a chip shot it lands on the green rolls close to the hole and stops or goes in the hole oh Delight golfers can I get hear an amen doesn't happen often but it's a wonderful thing that different seasons of life there's different things that are fun for you but you got to find those and and and walk in those and I even uh I checked the the publication I wrote this book 17 years ago called leadership from the inside out it's all about how pastors and leaders need to take care of their lives to lead for a lifetime and so I read wrote this almost two decades ago and here's some of the chapters okay I want you to notice this the leader's heart how love strengthens every relationship the leader's mind you got to pay attention to that the leader's ears listening the lead Leader's eyes how Vision informs our future Leader's mouth and here's chapter seven the leader's Funny Bone how laughter sustains our sanity in that chapter I say if I meet a leader who doesn't know how to laugh I don't totally trust them because at some point they're going to blow up because if you don't laugh if you don't have fun if you don't decompress a little bit in life you're you're you're going to just at some point you're going to lose it and so I I believe that not only is it a Biblical reality but it's a practical reality that we have to grow in every part of our relationship so today we're talking about a vision for whole relationships in our broken world and can I tell you one of the best things you can do in your friendships in your work relationships if you're married if you've got children or grandchildren is learn to have fun make space for fun it's not all you do there will still trust me there will still be plenty of pain in life that you got to deal with but bring a sense of delight and celebration into your relationships be that person that when you come in the room people think oh what's going to happen next he say well I'm not wired that way but God has wired you for delight and I want you to hear the scriptures and I want you to see what God has to say so Psalm 126 1-3 one more time I read it twice already it'll be up on the screens the people have been exiled they went through 70 years of being driven out of their Homeland they're back again and they're reflecting back and looking at that was a hard time but they say but when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion when God reestablished us in our homeland we were like those who dreamed our mouths were filled with laughter our tongues with songs of Joy they were seeing the goodness of God the presence of God they were delighting in that then it was said among the Nations the Lord has done great things for them the world's looking on saying man look at these people look at these people all they've gone through but they're people of Joy God's done something great for them and then the people declare yes the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy and then goes on for three more verses and you can read that later of kind of crying out and so God restore and continue to bring that joy that ongoing joy to our lives our God is a god of joy and when you put your faith in Jesus Christ many of you know Jesus many of you walk with Jesus many of you experience the presence and the goodness and the Delight of God's presence in your life in your home in your workplace in everything you do some of you are still searching and seeking you say man I don't I don't have that kind of Joy let me tell you it's found in Jesus ultimately all good things are found in Jesus and so God our God is a god of joy and he speaks joy into our lives in Proverbs 17:22 and I want you to notice in each passage there's a there's a recognition that life is not perfect there's an acknowledgement that there are hard times the point of saying I would never stand here say if you're a Christian you should smile and be joyful all the time and never shed another tear praise the Lord everything's going to go your way that's a lie I wouldn't say that that's not what the Bible teaches but I would say this in the midst of the challenges of life there's still Delight in the midst of pain and loss and struggles you can still look to God and the people he's put in your life and there's nothing wrong and shameful about laughing about something even in the middle of a hard time I mean it's not it's inappropriate to do that in the middle of a you know sacred moment where people are mourning and you start cracking up that's not the point the point is and as you walk through life there's a balance listen to this passage from Proverbs 17:22 a cheerful heart is good medicine and a crushed Spirit dries up the bones there's times where our spirit feels crushed there's times where we can be filled with cheer but guess what a cheerful heart is good medicine having a heart filled with cheer filled with delight is not just good medicine for you you it's good medicine for all your relationships it really is and so and so understand that God wants to bring that kind of balance in your life that in the midst of the difficult times that you acknowledge there's room for cheer and then that cheer is healing is powerful Ecclesiastes 3:4 this is a very famous passage that was turned into a song that uh was uh big in the 60s and 70s uh came out of the out of this part of the passage but Ecclesiastes 3:4 we read these words there's a time to weep and a time to laugh there's a time to mourn and a time to dance the question is do you know what time it is do you recognize in life if in your mind is always a time to mourn then that's going to dry up your soul and The Souls of those around you there's a time to mourn and there's a time to laugh there's a time there's a time to celebrate there's a time to to dance there's a time to recognize that things can be difficult and part of our call is to recognize what time we're in we'll talk more about that in a moment Sher and I were in Michigan we spent a lot of years of ministry there and one of our dear friends there somebody who has mentored Sherry for years her name is Lou uh she's lost a husband she's lost a daughter and she's lost a granddaughter she's experienced more familial pain and relational pain that I have in my life and when we get out in that area we try to get around Lucille when we can and we were out there and and we actually were driving near where her house was and Sherry said we're so near Lou's house can we call and see if she's just around we called and she was she answered how old is Lou right now Sherry 92 it's 92 hey Lou can we pop over and say hi sure come on over how when will he be here I was four minutes or something but 92 by the time we got there um there was lemonade out on a little tray on the porch and there were some little snacks and there sat L she didn't know we were coming until we called and said we were coming and we talked in those conversations there can be tears but there's there was laughter there was Joy how you doing oh I've got Jesus she loves the scriptures she loves the Lord is there heartache and sorrow in somebody who's lost their spouse a child and a grandchild yeah that and you don't just take that away it's not something that ever goes ask our team that leads grief share here there's grief you'll carry the rest of your life till you see Jesus face to face but there can be joy in life in the midst of that and L is such a beautiful example of that reality another passage this is a little bit longer one but I want you to notice something in Acts chapter 2 uh we get this picture of the early Christians and the early church gathering together and I want you to notice the kinds of things they did the kinds of things that God's people do when they get together we have our small group tonight we're going to be together with a group of people that we're going to do a lot of these things with we're going to we're going to share some food we're going to share some prayer we're going to share some scripture we're going to share life together but this is that this is what Christians do when they're together but I want you to notice not just what the Christians did when they came together but I want you to notice kind of their their tone and their spirit and I want you to notice how other people perceived them okay so listen to this passage from Acts chapter 2 beginning verse 42 they the early Christians they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching when they would gather the apostles teaching to Fellowship to the breaking of bread to prayer everyone was filled with awe that at The Many Wonders and signs performed by the apostles all the Believers were together they had everything in common they shared with each other they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had a need every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts they gathered regularly they broke bread in their homes they shared meals together food together and they ate with what kind of Hearts glad and sincere hearts and what did they do they were praising God and enjoying taking joy in the favor of all the people and the Lord added their number daily those who are being saved you know the world looks on at a church filled with joy and fellowship and meaning and purpose and love and unity the world looks on and says I'm looking for that and we can then say to them you know where we found it in Jesus it's his presence with us how do you have joy and still Celebrate life when you've gone through pain the presence of Jesus with you the presence of God Almighty in your heart and in your life and some of you are in a place of deep loss and deep pain right now and you say you know what I'm not ready yet to break into joy and laughter and celebration that's okay because there's a time for sorrow and a time for joy and you may be in a season where you need to to just be there and that's okay but if you say I'm going to live there the rest of my life and you know Jesus youve missed something you look at the Apostle Paul in prison in the city of Philippi for preaching Jesus they locked him up they beat him within an inch of his life and locked him in jail and late that night he's still singing songs of praise to God and a miracle followed an earthquake the shackles are broken loose the guard comes in thinking they've all left because the in the earthquake the the doors were unjar they open and the the guard thought he'd lost the prisoners and in the ancient world if you lost your prison you were killed immediately so he took his sword to kill himself and Paul's still in there he goes don't don't kill yourself we're still here none of us have left you haven't lost a prisoner let me tell you about Jesus and his joy and his delight and his awareness of God's presence became an Open Door through that pain to shine the light of Jesus you don't know what God's going to do through your pain you don't know what God's going to do through your joy but there's room for all of these things in the lives of somebody who follows Jesus so here's a simple truth our God is the most joyful being in the universe our God is if you see God as this killjoy in the sky who's seeking to ruin all your fun you don't you have not met the biblical God he's not God brings the greatest joy and celebration it's God who established all these feasts and festivals read the Old Testament sometime we get to these these sections on and now God's going to set up that you that the the the Festival of Tabernacles Booth or the Festival of Passover and you're going to meet at this time and you're going to have this kind of food and you're going to do these sorts of things and you're going to and we sort of like skip over those parts of the Bible but don't miss those where like over four chapters God explains hey and once a year at this time get together and celebrate have lots of food remember how I delivered you remember how I saved you remember how I provided for you God set up all these festivals and celebrations it was God who invented Sabbath he said okay every week seven days but on the seventh day take a deep breath Sabbath rest change the rhythm of your life don't kill yourself by working all the time all the time seven days a week but kind of decompress one day a week God invented all that and so here's the deal if our God is the most most delightful being in the universe and if we follow him you know what the most the most joyfill greatest place of celebration in the world ought to be the church of all places in the world and then our homes where we live should be a place of Joy yes of seriousness yes of hard work but also a place of Joy because God is present and God is there so all through the scriptures we read of the festivals the feasts the celebrations and worship all instituted by God Almighty all put in place by his hand so let me give you some realities and reasons for broken relationships around this topic around the topic of of delight and fun and play and joy because and as I was working on this message and praying through this and then this last week as each day as I was going through the sermon every day this last week and kind of preparing to share with all of you it there's all these pictures that came to my mind of the world we live in and how joy and delight and celebration is being sucked out of our lives and sucked out of our world people are so nervous about being canceled or somebody hating them or being mad at them they just people are walking in fear the level of anxiety in our world is going up at a level I think unpre precedented in history especially in our culture and young people teenagers and little kids living in anxiety and worry and God says I want you to understand that there's reasons for this and you can recognize these and then turn that upside down and begin to change your life so here's some of the realities around broken relationships through a lack of joy and celebration when Joy is crushed by seriousness when Joy is crushed by seriousness so after the service today if you're on campus here those you are online this won't be free but if you're on campus out in the courtyard we've got uh all kinds of games for kids and stuff if you got kids get them and hang out for a half an hour you know have a have a bonus donnut with your kid relax take a little time and play a few games and have some fun and some people go oh wait wait wait we're not gonna spend time when this service is over go do something productive what a waste of time just to hang around and just play and laugh and have fun you know don't don't you know that there are starving people in the world go do something about it well yes we do know that we know there's starving people in the world and you as a church we have people here every Tuesday and Thursday providing food for those folks and you guys give in a way that allows us to have food for people every Tuesday and Thursday you know there's people that are unclothed you know how can you have fun and laugh and smile when there's people that don't have enough well you know every Tuesday Thursday we give away clothes for any Men's Clothing Closet women's clothing CL we we know we know but it's okay to have fun don't you know there's tension in the Middle East wa that smile off your face it's like no is does does anybody not know there tension in the Middle East there is do we should we pray yes should we do all we can to make a difference yes but does that mean that we can now have no joy in life no but there's those people who are almost like the the joyless police if you start having Joy if you start laughing you start having fun they let you know why you shouldn't because of all the bad things in the world and they Crush Joy with seriousness we took a group of people to a conference the P the church I pastored in Michigan uh we took a team of our staff and some volunteers to a conference I think we had about 12 15 people going to this conference and a couple called me from the church before I went to the conference and said Hey listen I know that you got a whole team going to this conference it's going to be training you to do better you know kind of to keep doing better Ministry in the church and caring for our people um when you're at that conference this couple said we want you to go out with the take the hog about do a really nice fancy dinner and we want to pay for it just give us the bill we want to just go have fun together isn't that great so some they had resources they said just we know you're going do a dinner and have fun so we go out we went to a place called majanos not super fancy not super expensive but like a family style Ian food they when you order spaghetti don't order it for you because there's like a plate big enough for five people when you so you order food and you share together so we go out for this dinner and we're laughing and we're having fun and there's this young woman on our staff works with the students scowling at everybody would not would and just what maybe she's had a hard day leave her food comes around to her the server comes to take an order I don't want anything and I said hey order something no and I said to the server just keep going around the table I went over and I kind of went beside this young one I said said what's going on she said you know there's starving people in the world right now we're just sitting here eating pasta and stuff and I said I know they're starving people order something because I'm a pastor and I'm compassionate and um I said order something she said I don't want to order anything I don't want to waste the church's money I said this isn't the church's money it's a couple who wants us to have fun and guess who's ruining everyone's fun you I didn't say it I thought it um I was much nicer than that I'm sure I was as I as I recall and so I said the server go back and she goes I want a bowl of noodles with nothing on it if she was you know my child I'd have taken her outside and had a more consequential conversation with her um but sometimes Joy is crushed by seriousness and sometimes you're you if you're not careful you could be that person when when God is present when in this broken hurting world people are having some fun don't be the one who takes a bucket of water and pours on top of everybody yes the world is broken yes there's pain Jesus came to redeem all that I'm my first calling is an evangelist I want life you say well Kevin how can you have any fun there's people that are lost that are that that are going to go be separate from God forever I know I spend my life trying to train people all over the world to share their faith in more natural ways but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a nice chip that goes in the hole it doesn't mean I my wife and I can't sit and play this little dice game that we play in the evenings with like a blue green red yellow they always roll the wrong numbers and colors it's just yeah but we have fun and when so when Sher got home we played this dice game and then we went about about our business that wasn't wasted time but those but but if you're one of those people if you find yourself getting like that so aware of what all that's bad in the world that you're so serious you can't find any joy and Delight you're missing out on some of God's goodness and maybe for you the Holy Spirit just speaking today saying that's for you pay attention that's for you when celebration is pushed out by busyness when we have so much going on we are so busy that we can't celebrate something's wrong watch your schedule pay attention make room when laughter dies because conflict dominates you're having a dinner with friends and everyone's laughing having a great time and somebody says so who are you going to vote for in November you know um when it's like the th those are good conversations to have but there's a time in a place right and and and and some some people are gonna say you know we're we're gonna you know some people like to create conflict create tension now we've got to face the realities of life but when when there's a time of delight and joy just drink it in don't be the police to keep people from being joyful another problem is when Place ceases because work consumes when our work consumes us and there's no room for play there's no room for fun that can be a joy Delight celebration Crusher and so what are some Pathways to Healing hope and wholeness how do we begin to walk into this kind of life that actually honors Jesus and brings him to light you know when when I go golfing with friends on the first tea I'll always say someone pray and if if if there some aren Christians I'll usually pray and i' and I've done this with Christians and non-christians I always say a prayer and one of the things I pray is this often I pray this God as you watch us like your children taking Delight in playing this crazy game God will you take Delight in your children taking Delight in having fun together God Delights when we Delight God rejoices when we it's God who created festivals and feasts and ways to remember his goodness we steal that Joy from ourselves we also steal that Joy from God who wants to Delight in us so what are some things you can do what are Pathways to Healing hope and wholeness here's one focus on God's restoration and recognize his great works notice what God has done that's what we read in Psalm 126 the Lord has been good to us and and the Nations look and say yes the Lord has been good to you and they say yes he has and and so take time to really look and to see where God is at work and notice that and reflect on that and let that bring you Joy how has God been at work in your life what has God done for you how has God provided how has God protected you he has you just sometimes haven't noticed slow down and remember what God has done and that brings Joy here's another we can do do a heart check check your heart a cheerful heart is good medicine do you carry cheer in your heart you say this moment right now I'm in a time of mourning that's okay but are there moments and times where you walk in the room and the room becomes more cheerful because you're there and that medicine that makes you stronger also makes other people stronger as a pastor I get to walk with people through their greatest times of joy and their greatest times of pain I tell people I have a front row seat to the greatest moments in people's lives and to the worst moments in people's lives but in those Great Moments there's something about rejoicing and celebrating so check your heart will you let yourself celebrate and maybe your action today is to pray and say God I haven't smiled or had cheering my heart for a long time and there may be real reasons for that but God would you bring back to me Breathe Again in to me a spirit that after there's restoration there can be laughter and hope and joy how do we grow in Joy know the season and embrace the time know the season and embrace the time if you're in a season of mourning and sorrow and pain let people walk with you if you're really in a place where you're saying I've had deep loss and deep pain we have a ministry here called grief share it's where people come together and lift each other's burdens and they they look at solid Biblical truths that will help them find joy in the midst of tough times of Life go to the connection center or call the church if you're online and say when's the next grief share Gathering and and get it you know and let people walk with you in that time but also know that when there's times to celebrate it's okay to Rejoice it's okay to be cheerful yes there's Brokenness in the world but God is on the throne he rules and he reigns how do we grow our joy in our celebration step deeply into Christian Community step into Christian Community you know Acts chapter 2 is basically we gather with God's people we're in the word we're in prayer we share meals we share Fellowship get in a small group I know I'm going to have a great night tonight I know without question I'm going to have a great night tonight why because we're going to be a A Home of a couple from our church who are part of a small group that we've been part of for a year and a half almost two years I know who's going to be there I know we're going to be in the scriptures together I know we're going to pray I know we're GNA have snacks I know we're goingon to hang out it's going to be a great night I can predict not prophetically but just watching life will probably last and tell stories about things in our lives connect if you're not connected with people other Christians get connected jump into a place of serving in the church because that's in serving where you build more relationships than anywhere else in the church get into a group get into a Bible study start to serve and build those relationships that will bring some joy to your life here's one more plan a party and budget time and money for celebration plan to celebrate I've got a friend of mine who told me years ago we were talking he said and he's he was a guy who's always kind of doing something special and fun for groups of people putting things on I said I said what what where's that come from he said well when I get paid every two weeks when you I take 10% of everything I earn and I give it to God's work first thing I give it to God's work then I take another percentage and I set it aside for fun for celebration to bless people so when I have an opportunity to throw a party put on a dinner do something I always have a budget because I put some money aside I thought what a crazy guy and I thought what a great idea he planned to celebrate he plans to have fun and he does things to help other people do the same that's medicine to the soul that's a gift does God know that there's pain in the Life in in this world yes does God know that there's pain in your life and my life yes is God still a God who brings joy and delight and celebration yes there's a time and a season but may God leave lead you into a season of increasing celebration Delight laughter joy in the midst of the challenges of life Lord Jesus this is our prayer today that we would walk in your ways and God you are the most joyfill being in all the universe you rule and you Reign and oh God you celebrate you call us to to feasts and to festivals you call us to celebrate you call us to Sabbath and to rest and so I pray that every person online today and every person on campus today will draw near to you will experience your joy and your Delight that we would know that when we Delight when we celebrate when we have laughter and and Times of great great joy that God you look on like a loving parent and you Delight with us Lord be with us as we seek to grow each relationship we have by being a bearer of joy and celebration and Del light into our relationships and I pray especially for those we pray together for those who are hurting and in a dark time of mourning right now let them know that that this may be a season for them where they need to just let their hearts be in that place and let them know that's okay but would you also let them know that oh Lord that when you restor the fortunes of your people you brought joy and laughter will you let them know that though this may be a time for mourning there will be a day of dancing there will be a day of Celebration there will be a day of joy and let them live with that hope while they walk through the difficult times and Lord for those who are walking in a season of Joy I pray that they would not feel guilty that they would not feel bad about it but that they would celebrate the good gift of joy that you bring to us L let us strengthen every relationship we have through letting Joy permeate all that we do we pray in Jesus name amen amen before I invite you to stand and send you off with a word of blessing a couple things one after the service if you're on campus out out in the courtyard they'll get to The Games first you might have on your way in you might have seen all the little game areas they've got uh we've got cornhole we've got uh ax throwing not relaxes they plastic we've got all kinds of fun stuff hang out with your kids a little bit spend a little more time and just visit meet make a new friend also today Sher my wife Sherry and I every so often we'll do a time where we meet new people we'll be out on the dock over towards where the where the family worship venue is kind of if you go out to the left there if we've not met you face to face please jump over there and say hi to us we'd love to meet you get hear some of your story get to know you so join us before you leave if you need prayer for anything online live chat and pray or send us your prayers by email on campus come on up front here in the worship center and we have teams that would love to pray for you and if you're new at Shoreline online just send the word uh welcome to the to the text message uh text to the word welcome to the number you see on your screen right now we want to reach out to you and get to know you personally if you're on campus don't leave today without going to the connection center right there in the lobby and just say hey we're new to Shoreline came just move came in the military just came in for school just moved here from out of town we'd love to hear what's going on and they will help you get connected in the life of Shoreline if you're able to stand would you stand with me and give me the privilege of sending you off with a word of blessing in the midst of a world of challenges and lives that have very real suffering may you find the joy of Jesus may you Delight in his goodness may you laugh may you dance may you celebrate and as God watches you may he Delight in your Delight amen have a great day go [Music] play ho in your the power of your presence

Channel: Shoreline Church Monterey

Views: 158

Keywords: Church, Jesus, Friendship, Relationships, God, Family, Holy Spirit, Monterey California, Bible

Id: -ApUZoDv5n0

Length: 39min 21sec (2361 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 21 2024