ADVENT CANDLE OF JOY Dec. 17, 2023.
1ST Reader: Today we are thanking God that Jesus has brought JOY into our world. JOY is one of the special gifts of Christmas that Jesus can give us. JOY is not pretending that we are always happy and that nothing bothers us. JOY comes when we realize how much we are loved by God and that Jesus has come to be with us always. Whatever is happening in our lives, we can discover JOY in the good news of Jesus our Saviour, the Messiah, Who came to save us from our sins.
2ND Reader: The JOY that Jesus gives is worth discovering. We do not have to search for this JOY. Jesus is just waiting for us to turn to Him and to receive the JOY that He wants to give us. JOY is found in Jesus. The closer we come to Jesus, the more JOY we can experience. This Christmas of 2023, we continue to live in very uncertain and unsettled times. Will we choose to have JOY because we have found Jesus?
3rd Reader: Today we light this candle of JOY knowing and having experienced that Jesus brings JOY. We want to come closer with Jesus. He calls us to become more like Him. We want to keep on knowing more and more of Him and His purpose for our lives. We can know Jesus and the JOY that only He can give. (Light the candle of JOY)
4th Reader: We will pray together, “Thank you God that we can celebrate with JOY this Christmas because of Jesus and the JOY found in Him as the Messiah. Thank you that the JOY that Jesus gives is not just for Christmas, but for every day. Thank You that over and over You bring JOY to us and to our families. Even when we are going through things that are hard, the JOY found in Jesus does not disappear. We want to become more like Jesus. We want to trust that You will help us to know and to share Your JOY that gives us strength each day leading up to Christmas, and every day ahead. In Jesus’ Name. AMEN”
John 1:29-42
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him. 33 And I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” He replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where He was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
John 1:14-29 JOY IS FOUND IN JESUS: “MESSIAH”
Springford Baptist Church: December 17, 2023.
The compelling events of the long awaited Messiah (The Anointed One) entering our world begin with the announcement that the angel made to the shepherds, “… I bring you good news of great JOY” (Luke 2:10)
When the shepherds heard this news, they could not wait to rush into Bethlehem to find Jesus.
JOY is found in Jesus because He is none other than the Messiah, the One God promised to send.
When Jesus, God’s Son grew to adulthood and came on the scene and was recognized by John the Baptist the JOY was confirmed.
The Messiah had been found!
Andrew cannot wait to tell his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah, that is the Christ”! (John 1:41)
I am wondering this morning about the JOY that it is possible to experience in discovering Jesus as the Messiah.
It seems that children have an excited wonder about Christmas.
They are filled with JOY and anticipation.
Sometimes over the years that JOY seems to fade. There are adults however who are still have JOY in their hearts in the celebration of Christmas.
Any one of us can expect to be filled with JOY if we are recognizing this Jesus as the Messiah.
God knew the brokenness of our world and that there would need to be an answer to this brokenness and despair caused by sin.
Only Jesus the “Messiah” can be the answer!
The word Messiah comes from a Hebrew word that means “anointed one”. This was used to specifically point out those whom God had appointed for a special assignment or purpose. When someone was anointed, they were set apart to fulfill God’s plan.
We can have JOY unspeakable knowing, as Andrew discovered, that the Messiah has been found.
Jesus came to fulfill God’s plan. He, the Messiah, was appointed for this special assignment and purpose.
We need only look at the desperate state of our world to know that we need saving from sin and destruction. We need a messiah and Jesus is that Messiah!
I can hear JOY in Andrew bursting out with the news he tells his brother Simon (later called Peter), “We have found the Messiah”! (John 1:41)
This is life changing news, but there is more to the complete plan and purpose of God in sending Jesus to be our Messiah.
We must chose what we will do with knowing that Jesus the Messiah has been found. We must recognize the need to be found by Him. When we come to Jesus knowing that we are lost without him, there is outrageous JOY in the experience of being found by Jesus our Messiah. This is the height of JOY!
I want to tell you about the recent experience of my friend to help emphasize the significance of being found by Jesus.
My friend was in downtown Hamilton, hurrying to catch a bus. As she walked along, she saw a man lying on the sidewalk. He did not have a coat and was shivering with the cold and hardly able to speak. Another passer by wrapped his warm winter coat around the man. Then my friend phoned the police to get help for the man.
When the police officer arrived, he indicated that this man was a missing person who had been reported missing by a nearby care facility. The officer said to this man lying on the sidewalk, “You were lost, but now you are found”!
This reminds me of the line in the familiar hymn “Amazing Grace” : “I once was lost but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.”
The shepherds, after the angel announced the good news of great JOY, ran to find Jesus there in Bethlehem.
Some people search their whole lives for the meaning and purpose of life found in Jesus, the Messiah who came to set us free from sin.
Ultimately, it is a miraculous act of grace that we are found by Jesus.
We are like that man lying on the sidewalk, shivering and cold and so needing someone to find us.
Jesus the Messiah, the anointed one invited both Andrew and Simon his brother (later known as Peter to follow Him).
They found Jesus and they were found by Him and given a life purpose of helping others to find Jesus the Messiah and to be found by Him.
It is Simon who in answer to the question of Jesus, “But Who do you say that I am”? replies with great enthusiasm, “You are the Christ (same meaning as Messiah “Anointed One”) the Son of the Living God.” (matthew 16:16)
May we never take for granted finding Jesus as the Messiah and being found by Him. Jesus has fulfilled God’s plan and purpose by setting Jesus, the Messiah aside to give His life for our world, for each of us.
This time leading up to Christmas, we can thank God for this good news of great JOY that Jesus came to carry out God’s eternal plan to save us by sending the Messiah!!