This is an Ode to Joy of sorts this week.  As some will be in the mountains at Golden Gate State Park this weekend on a Crestview Campout, others will be gathering at Crestview for a continuation of our message series on the Fruit of the Spirit: JOY!  

The broken record I have been playing in this series isn’t a ‘skip’ pattern – it’s an intentional focus on GOD as the source of all spiritual fruit.  Joy in the Lord, Joy from the Lord, is a deeply profound reality – both profound and deep.  When experienced and known, it can be very difficult to describe.  It is as the Scripture says,’beyond understanding.’  

The fruit of the Spirit – Joy, involves satisfaction and desire.  It involves finding satisfaction in God.  John Piper states it well, “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in him.”  CS Lewis says, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”  Joy “is a byproduct whose very existence presupposes that you desire not it, but something other and outer.”  Joy is a consequence of experiencing something beyond oneself.  

The fruit of the Spirit – Joy, is also hindered as well.  How?  We will explore two main ways together on Sunday.  The Joy of the Lord is hindered through the pursuit of ‘bigger and better’ of our consumeristic desires as well as more practically, our disobedience.  Obedience and joy go hand in hand. 

Here is another thought to ponder: Is joy the absence of trouble, hardship, brokenness and pain?  Or can the joy of the Lord, the Spirit’s fruit, exist in the midst of such things?  

Text for Sunday: John 15:9-17, Philippians 4:4-9, and Nehemiah 8:10.  For a juxtaposition point of view, listen to Switchfoot’s song, Gone.  Look it up and order your pleasure and joy pursuits accordingly.  

Joy up and peace out,
Pastor Mark