Find A Piece Of Joy
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Youth
Romans 15:9-13 Meg White, Tyler Amundson & Youth December 27, 2009
Meg White:
The scripture verse I'd like to share with you this morning is from Romans 15 verses 9 through 13. I always like to hear a little bit of history before reading the scripture, so here goes: The book of Romans was a letter written by Paul to the Christians who were living in Rome about 57 years after the death of Christ. They were constantly surrounded by temples, idols and people worshiping false Gods, so Paul wrote this letter to encourage them and to tell them how a follower of Jesus ought to live their life. Paul encouraged the Christians to step in and lend a hand. He told them to reach out welcome one another and to take on the troubles of the troubled. He ends this section with a bit of a blessing which I would like to share with you this morning. Again, this is Romans 1 5 verses 9 thru 13, and I'm reading from the Message Bible. “God of hope fill you up with JOY!”
Have you ever noticed that people are a lot more joyful this time of year? You can almost feel it in the air! Or how about being around a kid who's celebrating a birthday! Or planning a family vacation… or a trip with good friends. The excitement is contagious! But what about the other times during the year? How can we have joy be a regular part of our lives?
Well, Scripture says that joy is a gift of the Spirit and that it's for ALL of us....not just a select few, it's for you and me, for the young and old and everyone in between, every race and every nation. It doesn't say that we can only be joyful at Christmas or when we're going on vacation or celebrating a birthday! That would be ridiculous! OR “redonculous,” as my daughter would say! I hope that the message this morning causes all of us to spend some time reflecting about what brings each of us joy. I believe that there is a piece of joy in each and every one of us. The challenge is to find it and to hold on to it thru the ups and downs of life.
There are lots of things that can steal our joy right? Maybe it's an illness, loss of a job, death of a loved one, war, violence, hurtful words, fighting with friends or a spouse. You have your own list... it goes on and on....If we let it, little by little the world will steal our piece of joy and we may not even know where or how to find it again. Here's the good news! We don't have to let the circumstances of our lives determine whether we are joyful or not, we CAN find our joy again, and we CAN let it shine in our lives every day! We've all heard stories about people who are able to live in horrible conditions and yet they find a way to let their joy shine thru. Some of the most joyful people I have met, have had no home. They lived on the streets in Denver, not sure where they would sleep that night, or even if they would be safe. Against all odds, joy radiates from their eyes, they are: homeless, refugees of war, living in concentration camps, or fighting cancer or other debilitating diseases. If they can keep their piece of joy alive despite their circumstances, surely we can find a way to hold onto ours!
Here are some thoughts! First of all, we need to remember that God wants ALL of us to be filled with joy, peace and the life giving energy of the Holy Spirit! So, if you didn't know it before today, now you do, you have been given the gift of JOY! Second, knowing all that we do about the world, we know that if left unguarded, our joy can be stolen from us. So, we need to protect it and guard it well! Third, Believe in it! We will all go thru hard times in life, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. We will be sad. We will be hurt and it's okay and even healthy to have those feelings. But, we should never forget that even if we can't feel it, our piece of joy is still inside of us, and there will be a time when we will be able to laugh, dance and sing during our days again. We can never stop believing that our joy is there! Finally, Nourish your joy! We need to ask ourselves what are we feeding it to keep it alive? How are we choosing to fill our days? Is it with things that we treasure and hold close to our hearts? Those are the things that will sustain your joy all year long! Do the things that really matter! They will be different for each one of us.
Here are a few things that I try to do: I spend time with God, by finding quite time to pray, attending church, and my weekly prayer group, I volunteer to help with retreat weekends and listen to a Christian radio station during my days. I spend time with my family and friends, and work hard to try to be present in the moment instead of always thinking about what will happen later. I take time for me, I'm learning how to play piano, I get my hair cut and occasionally I indulge in a massage. I love others. I love to laugh until my smile muscles hurt! I snuggle my kids! I spend time in nature whenever I get the chance!
What will you do?
In just a few minutes the youth will be sharing something that brings them joy in their life. We hope that this will encourage you to take some time today to really think about what things you can do in your life to find your piece of joy again, or to just be able to carry it with you every day. But before we do that, let's recap for just a moment..... What are the 4 things that we need to be able to sustain our piece of joy with us? You didn't know that there would be a quiz did you?
• “Joy” is a Gift
• Protect it
• Believe in it
• Nourish it
Several Youth: Each sharing their views of joy.
Tyler Amundson:
These youth have some pretty amazing views of joy in their lives don't they. What is even more amazing is that I bet you connected to each of their stories in some way. The most powerful part about hearing these stories is that you realize how important it is to share joy with others. It is through sharing our joy... that we truly are able to appreciate it. So, in the spirit of our youth's stories, and remembering what Meg told us; that joy is a gift, protect it, believe in it, and nourish it. The youth want to share with you all today a piece of joy. In this case it will be the word “Joy” …. very artfully put into pieces for you to take with you at the end of the service. The youth will hand them to you in the back. As you receive these pieces of joy, receive them as a gift of wisdom from these youth. A gift of wisdom that you can take with you throughout the year. And when you remember a moment of joy, share it, ‘cause it is in sharing that we have the greatest joy.
Grace and Enthusiastic Peace. Amen
