“True joy is rooted in the revelation of Christ and realized in our relationship with Him and other believers.”
Sermon Title: JOY MADE FULL
Scripture Text: GALATIANS 5:22-23; 1 JOHN 1:1-4
Sermon Notes:
GALATIANS 5:22-23 NIV
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self- control. Against such things there is no law.
1 JOHN 1:1-4 NIV
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We write this to make our joy complete.
JOHN 17:13 NIV
13 I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
“True joy is rooted in revelation of Christ and realized in relationship with him and other believers.”
1 JOHN 1:1-4 NIV
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We write this to make our joy complete.
Revealed. Experienced. Shared.
I. TRUE JOY BEGINS WITH JESUS CHRIST REVEALED
1 JOHN 1:1 NIV
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
1 JOHN 1:2 NIV
2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
1 JOHN 2:3-6 NIV
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
“Many are willing to believe in Christ if He remains a merely spiritual reality. But when we preach that Christ has become a particular man in a particular place, issuing particular commands and dying on a particular cross, exposing the particular sins of our particular lives, then that preaching ceases to be acceptable to many.
“This is the stumbling block – when God becomes a man, He strips away every pretense of man to be God. We can no longer do our own thing. We must do what this one Jewish man wants us to do. … When God becomes a man, man ceases to be the measure of all things, and this Man [Jesus] becomes the measure of all things.” — John Piper
REFLECT: Who is Jesus Christ to you? Is he the Master of your life?
“The foundation of Christianity is not about speculations of men about God but rather that God has chosen to reveal himself to us through his Son.”
II. TRUE JOY IS JESUS CHRIST EXPERIENCED
1 JOHN 1:1 NIV
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
REFLECT: Is Jesus Christ your life? Are you experiencing him daily?
III. TRUE JOY IS JESUS CHRIST SHARED WITH OTHERS
1 JOHN 1:3 NIV
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
fellowship | Hebrew: koinonia
“to share, or to have something in common.”
1 JOHN 1:4 NIV
4 We write this to make our joy complete.
1 JOHN 1:3-4 NIV
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
REFLECT: Whom have you been sharing your Jesus experiences with?
“Christian fellowship is not an end in itself. Fellowship between Christians is for the sake of fellowship with God.” — J.I. Packer
“That night, I left with the impression that everyone was valued because everyone was valuable.” — John Maxwell
“Christian community is … the common living of people who have a shared experience of Jesus Christ. They talk about their experience, they urge each other to grow more deeply in it, and they discover that through it, they begin to build a life together unlike any shared life in the world.” — Gary Burge
THREE LESSONS FROM JOHN
1. True joy begins with Jesus Christ revealed.
2. True joy is Jesus Christ experienced.
3. True joy is Jesus Christ shared with others.
“Now this joy is not to be regarded as a luxury, but rather as a spiritual necessity. We are obligated to be glad in God.” — A.W. Pink
PSALMS 32:11 NIV
11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
PSALMS 118:24 NIV
24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
PHILIPPIANS 4:4 NIV
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
“Whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning.” — Joni Eareckson Tada
“True joy is rooted in revelation of Christ and realized in relationship with him and other believers.”