"He Has Come"
Luke 1:68-69
Second Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 10, 2006

Introduction: The other day I received some “funnies” via my e-mail. I would like to read them to you: The first one is of a person who lives in a semi-rural area and he called the local township administrative office to request the removal of the “Deer Crossing” sign on the road. The reason, he said: "too many deer were being hit by cars" and he didn't want them to cross there anymore.

Someone else was at the airport in Birmingham, Al., checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge? To which he replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?” He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask."
Someone tells of an employee at her work who plugged her power strip back into itself…. and for the life of her couldn't understand why her system would not turn on.

Another story is of a couple that arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up their car. They were told the keys had been locked in it. They went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver’s side door. As they watched from the passenger side, one of them instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," he announced to the technician, "its open!" To which he replied, "I know - I already got that side."

Laughter is important. In fact it is said that laughing regularly and often helps to keep us healthier and happier.

My family and I love to watch “Dancing with the Stars.” This last season one of the stars was Harry Hamlin. Harry had problem dancing for a couple of reasons: first, he was a little too stiff; second, he had too serious of a face and didn’t look at all like he was enjoying himself. His professional dance partner was concerned about this, and so she took him to a laugh coach. He spent the day learning how to laugh!! Because of that experience, he was able to laugh much more easily.

As we come to the second Sunday of Advent, we think about JOY. And when we think about joy, we probably think about fun, and happiness, and laughter.

I. Joy Experienced-

There is much in life that can make us feel joyful.

a. Music- The first is music. While we all have our own musical

tastes, music in and of itself does much to stir up our emotions. I want to play some various kids of music, and as I do, I want to see if it creates a feeling of joy in you…

1. “I Can Only Imagine” (Mercy Me); 2. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: Spring;

3. Kim Hoffman, pianist: “O Come, Let Us Adore Him; 4. Ray Boltz: “Awesome God”;

5. Michael W. Smith: “Agnus Dei”; 6. The London Symphony Orchestra: “Joy to the World.”

b. Family- A second area that brings joy to our lives is our family; SHOW PICTURES of my family.

c. Pets- A third area that brings joy to people’s lives is their pets; SHOW PICTURES….of a dog, cat, fish, horse.

d. Excitement- Another area of joy is experiences that bring

excitement to our lives; SHOW PICTURES of…dodger game; Disneyland; Motor Home; Airplane.

II. Joy Known- (Luke 1:68-69; Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

a. Joy is more than happiness- But Joy is more than our feelings,

more than our emotions. Joy is even more than happiness. Joy is something that can be experienced at all times and in many ways. That is why the apostle Paul can say to us in Philippians 4:4- “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”

We are all seeking joy in our lives. If you were to ask anyone, chances are that one of their goals in life is to feel a sense of joy. They want to be happy. And yet, having said this, it is important for me to point out that there is a difference between happiness and joy. Most people think these words are synonyms, that they mean the same thing, but this is not true. Happiness is based on experiences, while we are told by Paul that joy can be experienced always. That is why Paul says in another book he wrote, 1 Thessalonians, in chapter 5, verses 16-18- “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you.”

When we are “joyful,” we can love life, and take everything in life in stride. How is this possible? Because our joy comes from knowing that we are not in charge, but God is, and that God can work good out of the bad.

When we are letting God fill us with joy, then we will tend to be less stressed,

and we will laugh more. In the book “Amusing Grace,” page 4, there are some helpful facts about laughter that comes from joy:

· Thirteen muscles are used for our smiling mechanism, while 50 muscles are required for frowning;

· Laughter lowers the levels of cortisol in the body. Cortisol suppresses the immune system. Lowering this level helps the immune system to work and prevent disease.

· Did you know that you can get the same benefits for your heart and lungs from laughing 100 times a day than you can from rowing for 10minutes a day?

· Laughing for 15 seconds adds 2 days to your life span.

We are all too stressed because we don’t not let the joy of the Lord fill us!!

b. Joy at all times- The Greek word for joy is “chara.” It refers to

exultation or delight. The interesting thing is that it is used in the Bible in talking about good experiences AND in trials. How can this be that we can feel joy even in our trials? Well, let me give you just three.

1. The “JOY” that is found in knowing that Christ is

preached. Our focus is often wrong. Our focus is usually on ourselves. We are very selfish by nature. But if we could learn how to focus less on ourselves, and more on others, then we would experience more joy in our lives. This is true especially in the area of people and heaven. I hope that we care more about just ourselves finding the way to heaven. As I’ve talked about often, Jesus makes it clear that He came to earth to die for our sins, and that through faith in Him we have access to heaven. This message is the message of “joy” for Christmas, and it is a message that we need to share. There is nothing that will stir up joy more in you than seeing someone accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

2. Through Christ, we will be delivered from our

hardships. This is indeed a word that should bring joy to our hearts, because life is full of hardships. But joy is experienced as we let God walk us through our hardships, and bring us to the other side stronger, more capable, and wiser. So joy comes from understanding that God doesn’t keep us “hardship free,” but helps us through the struggles of life.

3. Joy is finding favor with God (Luke 1:68-69). This comes from our main Bible reading for the morning. Luke 1:68 reads- “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has looked favorably on His people and redeemed them.” How has the Lord looked favorably on His people? By visiting them, and by redeeming them.

We need to understand what has really happened here; God has visited us! God has taken on flesh and lived among us! God has come to this earth to give us a glimpse of who He is! God has come to this earth to let us experience unconditional love. God has shown us favor by doing this, because it is not as if we have deserved this glimpse, or visit, or love. And so, in understanding this favor, we should experience great joy in knowing that we are that special to God.

But even more, the joy should come from knowing that we have been redeemed. This is great news, because we don’t deserve this either, and we could never redeem ourselves. The price is too high for us to pay, and so God came in Jesus Christ so that He could pay this redemption price for us.

Conclusion: Let me ask you this: Are you experiencing joy in your life? I hope your answer is yes. But whether it is “yes” OR “no,” it should be yes when you leave today. Joy comes from knowing that God is with you and working for you at all times. Joy comes from knowing that God’s will can be seen happening in our lives when we trust God. Joy comes from knowing that God looks favorably upon us. As Psalm 37:4 tells us- “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” How great it is to know that we can find delight in God, and through delighting ourselves in Him, the JOY will pour out to us. I hope you will do this often throughout this Christmas season and beyond. Amen.