“Joy in Advent” – John 16:16-24


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“Joy in Advent”

John 16: 16-24

  1. Introduction: Today we are continuing our celebration of Advent by focusing on the second major theme, joy
    1. Christmas is a time of season in which we are reminded to have joy
    2. Belief in God doesn’t come from the Bible
    3. Belief in God comes when he reveals himself to us
  2. As children of God, we have every reason to have joy, but we often allow the heavy burdens of this life to make us forget that joy
    1. Jesus dropped a heavy burden on his disciples
    2. There is no satisfactory answer for “How long is a little while?”
    3. With joy we can choose to focus on heavy burdens or to focus on the joy that is found in Christ
  3. The source of sorrow is the absence of Christ
    1. Jesus doesn’t abandon his disciples to their sorrow
    2. Imagine the great sorrow of the disciples when Jesus was crucified
    3. All our source of sorrow is because of the absence of Christ in our lives or in the lives of others
  4. We have the assurance of God himself that our grief will turn to joy
    1. Jesus gives us his disciples four assurances to comfort them and lead them to joy
    2. Jesus leaves another assurance, granted prayer requests when we ask in his name
    3. Asking in Jesus’ name isn’t done by tagging “In Jesus name we pray, amen.” to the end of our prayers
  5. Conclusion: God has and will continue to reveal himself until all has been revealed
    1. We won’t have sorrows, we won’t even have questions
    2. This assurance is a great source of joy in the life of a believer
    3. No matter what we face in the night, joy will come in the morning