This could have come from a United Methodist Christian —
Joy can be real only if people look upon their lives as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.
— but it was in fact Leo Tolstoy.
Well now.
Steeple-jacking!
Wow. This saga keeps surfacing —
https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/the-battle-over-a-church-worth-millions/0CF37D40-DF82-4338-8CFE-3DBB1B8000E3
Luke 2:10 sets a tone for sure —
The angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news
that will cause great joy
for all the people!”
— how are we doing lately with that message, Church?
That song from yesterday? Connected with all of Psalm 98. Especially verse 7, which for sure includes you and me. Here’s Gene Peterson‘s MESSAGE version of that Psalm —
Sing to God a brand-new song.
He’s made a world of wonders!
He rolled up his sleeves,
He set things right.
2 God made history with salvation,
He showed the world what he could do.
3 He remembered to love us, a bonus
To his dear family, Israel—indefatigable love.
The whole earth comes to attention.
Look—God’s work of salvation!
4 Shout your praises to God, everybody!
Let loose and sing! Strike up the band!
5 Round up an orchestra to play for God,
Add on a hundred-voice choir.
6 Feature trumpets and big trombones,
Fill the air with praises to King God.
7 Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
With everything living on earth joining in.
8 Let ocean breakers call out, “Encore!”
And mountains harmonize the finale—
9 A tribute to God when he comes,
When he comes to set the earth right.
He’ll straighten out the whole world,
He’ll put the world right, and everyone in it.
If you’ve gone Christmas Caroling with me, we usually announced our presence to the residents of the entire neighborhood as you bravely sang along to me blasting out JOY TO THE WORLD on what’s officially called a pocket trumpet. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_trumpet)
We’d not even be on the front porch of a home yet, but in the front yard or even out in the street…or while entering the lobby of a senior living community.
All of which certainly served as an announcement.
Let’s remind each other of that Isaac Watts song this week —-
Joy to the world! The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing
Joy to the world! the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods
Rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sound joy
No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make
His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as the curse is found
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders and wonders of His love
“Joy does not simply happen to us,” wrote Henri Nouwen. “We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
Our old friend John Wesley comes through again —
“When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes at peace with himself, with his neighbor, and with his God.”
— kaBOOM.
Sitting in the pew as what we then called a Junior High student, I was flipping through the back of the hymnal. The Baptism section had this line from St. Augustine as its opening sentence —
“You have made us for Yourself,
O Lord,
and our hearts are restless
until we find rest in You.”
— Little did I know the long term impact of that, or the author, or the One to whom both point us.
But wow…such life-giving words…!
In John 14:27, our Lord makes us an offer unlike any other —
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
joescheets 