Finding Joy

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Update From Your Pastors

We are incredibly excited that we get to celebrate Easter this week! For almost 2,000 years, Christians have celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. The Church has always taken the opportunity to praise God on His resurrection day no matter the circumstances.

On Sunday we have a unique opportunity to invite all our friends and family to join us for online church this Easter. The cool part is that no one needs to leave the house or dress up to be a part of the service. This could be the year that someone who always says no, will finally join you for an Easter service.

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Prayer Points

  1. Sally’s mother Joanne, who is in hospital deteriorating rapidly due to COVID-19 and her whole family as they navigate this situation.

  2. Terry’s family as they are going through a difficult time.

  3. That many will attend Easter services this Sunday online and respond to the Gospel message.

Ministry Opportunity

In preparation for Easter, it would be wonderful for our church to set aside some time for fasting and prayer. These two disciplines are powerful tools to communicate with God and strengthen our relationship with Him. “But he answered, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4

  • This Friday we will fast and pray together (maybe 2 meals: breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner). If you would like to fast longer, feel free to do so — this is between you and God.

  • If you can’t participate this week, please feel free to pick any day next week to fast and pray.

  • On Friday, post any prayer requests you would like everyone to pray for on the WhatsApp group with #fastandpray.

If you have any questions about prayer and fasting please contact one of the leaders.

Weekly Devotional

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The Fruit of the Spirit: JOY

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

The second characteristic we will focus on is JOY. It is many times confused with happiness, however there is a distinct difference between the two. Happiness is generally defined as a spontaneous response to temporary pleasures. We are happy when things go well and sad when they do not. In contrast, joy is not determined by fleeting moments of pleasure. It is based something other than our circumstances or surroundings. When our joy is grounded in Christ, then our contentment will be rock solid no matter what life throws at us. 1 Peter 1:8, 9 is a great place to take a closer look at the foundation of our joy.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8, 9

1. Joy in the Unseen

“Though you have not seen him, you love him.” 1 Peter 1:8a
None of us have ever seem Jesus in person, but that has not diminished our love for Him. Our love comes from understanding what Jesus did for us on the cross. The salvation we received through Christ is the source of our joy. No matter what happens in our life day to day, we who know Jesus as Saviour can stop and remember what He did for us. We then can instantly become grounded by the immense joy of our salvation. We should be known as people who are inappropriately joyful.

2. Belief Produces an Inexpressible and Glorious Joy

“Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” 1 Peter 1:8b
We believe in Christ without ever seeing Him, and that produces a joy that manifests itself in two distinct ways.

1. Inexpressible
The word inexpressible means to have a feeling that is so strong it cannot be described or conveyed in words. The joy that comes from being saved by Christ is hard to put into words. The moments after being saved can feel positively overwhelming. Some people smile really uncontrollably or shed happy tears. The fact is, so many emotions wash over you and you just want to tell everyone what happened. The problem is we tend to forget the initial joy of our salvation over time. We should desire for the joy we experienced at the beginning of our new life to always be with us. The Psalmist said, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Ps. 51:12). We should recognise and believe that the Spirit produces joy that is inexpressible and let that flow out of us and into the world.

2. Filled with Glory
We’ve been given glorified joy directly from God through Christ and into our daily lives through the Holy Spirit. This kind of joy is filled with glory through and through, permeated with and radiating the glory of God. Spirit-filled joy doesn’t just happen. If we want to experience this kind of joy, we need understand that it comes from fellowship with God. As we fellowship with God through prayer and the study of His word, we will see God operating in our own hearts and that will produce joy upon joy.

3. Joy is the Outcome

“obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” 1 Peter 1:9
The outcome of our faith in Christ is salvation. We have been saved to bring God praise and honour. We did not see Christ, but we believed in Him and our belief produced our salvation. Our salvation is the basis for our joy. Whenever life gets difficult, remember that Christ loves you and died to save you.

Questions to Consider

1. Where does my joy come from? Does it come from my surroundings or my Saviour?
2. Do I still have the joy of my salvation or do I need to pray for it’s restoration?