OPENING THOUGHT: Christmas… is it really the most wonderful time of the year?
• Many people find this season stressful and depressing!

ILLUSTRATION: Typical of last minute Christmas shoppers, a mother was running furiously from store to store. Suddenly she became aware that the pudgy little hand of her three year old son was no longer clutched in hers. In a panic she retraced her steps and found him standing with his little nose pressed flatly against a frosty window. He was gazing at a manger scene. Hearing his mother’s near hysterical call, he turned and shouted with innocent glee: "look mommy! It’s Jesus - baby Jesus in the hay!" With obvious indifference to his joy and wonder, she impatiently jerked him away saying, "We don’t have time for that!"

QUOTE: By Ron Mehl (Love Found a Way).
"Some people think I get a little carried away with Christmas. No, they don’t actually say anything (who wants to offend the pastor?). But I can tell. I’ve caught them rolling their eyes or changing the subject. I know that they’re thinking. They think I’m too sentimental and nostalgic. All right, I confess, I do love the trees, decorations, carols, gifts, lights, candy – and all the rest of it. And if I’m "carried away," at least it’s to somewhere I want to go! But that’s not the reason for my enthusiasm and joy. This time of year never fails to excite me because God, the real gift-giver, found a way to love, bless, and care for people like me. While the world has made Christmas a brazenly commercial, nonsacred event, I refuse to become cynical or to allow what others do to strip My Favourite Day of its true meaning. For me, the bells I hear at Christmas announce the glorious truth that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son."

JOY IN CHRISTMAS CAROLS:
• O holy night… A thrill of hope the weary world REJOICES, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
• Hark! the herald angels sing, - "Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled." JOYFUL, all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With angelic host proclaim, "Christ is born in Bethlehem."
• Come, all ye faithful, JOYFUL and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem
• JOY to the world! The Lord is come: Let earth receive her King.

THE BIG IDEA: Christmas is about declaring, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come." God’s desire is that His people would be full of joy. There are three keys to experiencing the joy of the Kingdom – worshipping the King, spending time with the King, and submitting to the King.

OPENING TEXT:
"18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." (Matthew 1:18-23).

TEXT: Galatians 4:15, Paul asks, "What happened to your joy?"

ILLUSTRATION: Watched Winnie the Pooh this past week with my daughter Hannah
Too many Christians are like Eeyore: "I shouldn’t be surprised if it hailed a good deal tomorrow. Blizzards and whatnot. Being fine today doesn’t mean anything. It has no sig- what’s that word? Oh, why bother. Well, it has none of that."
• Christians should be more like Tigger – full of joy!
• (Or at the least like Winnie – content with a pot of honey – the presence of God!

JOY IN THE BIBLE: 650 times (joy, rejoice, rejoicing, glad, gladness, delight)
• Psalm 5:11 - God wants us to rejoice, shout for joy, and be joyful!
• Psalm 43:4 - the Psalmist calls God His "Exceeding Joy"
• Job 8:21 (5x!) - He will fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
• Matthew 25:21 - heaven is called "the joy of the Lord"
• Acts 13:52 - the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit
• Romans 14:17 - the kingdom of God is righteousness peace and joy
• Galatians 5:22 - joy is the fruit of the Spirit

JOY IN THE CHRISTMAS STORY:
• Luke 1:14 - Zechariah was told by the angel, "You will have joy, and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."
• Luke 1:44 – John the Baptist leaped for joy in his mother’s womb
• Luke 1:47 – Mary rejoiced in God her Saviour
• Luke 1:58 – they were rejoicing with Elizabeth
• Luke 2:10 – the angel proclaimed, "Glad tidings of GREAT JOY."

WHAT IS JOY?
• OT = dance, leap or spin around in pleasure/intense motion; NT = celebration
• Happiness is based on circumstances. Joy comes from the Lord.
• (illustrate: new job happy; joy = even in the midst of the storms of life)
• No where in the Bible do you see it say God wants His people depressed!
• "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." (Ps. 30:5).

REVIEW THE BIG IDEA:
• Christmas is about declaring, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come."
• God’s desire is that His people would be full of joy.

THREE KEYS TO EXPERIENCING THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS:

1. WORSHIP THE KING:
"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." (Matthew 2:2).
"But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel." (Psalm 22:3).
"In Your presence is fullness of joy." (Psalm 16:11b).
• When we worship the King, we come into His presence, where there is JOY!
• Matt. 2:10 – the magi rejoiced exceedingly with GREAT JOY

2. SPEND TIME WITH THE KING:
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." (Matthew 1:23).
• "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing… If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you… These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:5,7,11).
• When we spend time with the King, we experience fullness of joy.

3. SUBMIT TO THE KING:
"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21).

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
• Pining defined: To fail gradually in health or vitality from grief, regret, or longing.
• "Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty. When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long… Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them… And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone… So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure." (Psalm 32:1-3,5,11).
• We need to submit to the King – to confess and forsake our sin – if we want to experience the joy of the Kingdom!

CLOSING CHALLENGE: REJOICE - IT’S A CHOICE!
• "Rejoice in the Lord always." (Phil. 4:4).
• This Christmas, let’s worship the King, spend time with the King, and submit to the King, and experience the joy of the Kingdom!