Getting My Joy Back! || Victory Church [Good News #7]

All right, good morning, Victory. Hey guys, well, here's how it goes. In this world full of bad news, today I have good news. Our God reigns. Come on, if you haven't memorized that by now, memorize it. Our God reigns. That's been our declaration every week of this series so far, and today is no different. Our God reigns. He reigns just as much today as he did yesterday, as he will tomorrow, as he did a billion years ago, as he will a trillion years into the future. Our God reigns, and what that means for us today is our pain does not reign. It means that our orphan spirit does not reign. It means that political drama does not reign. It means that your baby daddy doesn't reign. It means that your boss doesn't reign. Hey, come on somebody, it means the relational drama doesn't reign. Our God reigns over all supreme, and when I say all, I mean all. In fact, R.C. Sproul, a pastor in this last generation, I love what he says. There is not a maverick molecule in the entire universe outside the sovereignty of God. Come on, go to the farthest stretch of the universe, and God has his arms around it. That's what we're saying, is that our God reigns. What's the good news? Good news is gospel. Gospel means good news. What is the gospel? It's that Jesus Christ rules and reigns over all things. If it has a name, his name is bigger. If it has a power, his arms are stronger. He has the name that is above every name, and at his name, every knee must bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess him. Lord Jesus Christ rules over all. Our God reigns, our God reigns, our God reigns. And I'm gonna sit back here. On the first week of Advent, as we are leading up to Christmas, on the first week of Advent, we lit what's called the Hope Candle to remind ourselves that our God reigns over our future. Come on, good news. And that Jesus was and always will be our hope. And then last week, we lit the Peace Candle. How many of y'all love a little bit of shalom? Come on. And we were reminded that our God reigns over our chaos, and that Jesus was and always will be our peace. And today, on the third week of Advent, okay, I'm gonna do something that's gonna mess some of you up. We're gonna skip over this candle, because in Advent, this is called the Christ Candle. It's at the center, and we'll actually light it together on Christmas Eve. But over here, on the third

week of Advent, we're lighting the Joy Candle. To be reminded that our God reigns over our emotions, and that Jesus was, Jesus is, and Jesus always will be our joy. Come on, quick question. How many of us could use a little bit more joy in our lives? Come on, we're just gonna say it. Today's the day to get my joy back. Come on, look at your neighbor. Tell them, hey, today's the day to get your joy back. Come on, look at the other one that you were afraid to look at, because they looking a little grumpy today. They're looking a little depressed today. Look at them, say, you too, you too. It's a little bit harder task, but he's gonna do it in you too. You're gonna get your joy back. So why is it important? Why is it important? Because even though it might be Christmastime, there's not very much joy in the world, right? Have you checked out the news? Have you talked to people? Not too much of a chipper thing, like not too much joy in the world today. And so I believe this. I believe that the world desperately needs to experience people who carry God's joy. I believe that. I believe that you have something that the world around you doesn't have, because you have the hope of the gospel inside your bones. I believe you carry something that the world doesn't know it even exists. You carry something deeper than what they can experience. You have joy, and the world around you desperately needs to experience God's joy from you. And so why is this so important at the end of the day? I'm gonna run through it real quick, because I believe joy is a weapon. And I know that's probably not the word you would choose for that, but listen, joy isn't just a feeling. It's a shield against every attack, and it's a weapon to drive the darkness back, right? Negativity, despair, darkness tries to rest on us, especially at this time of year, out of all the times. But joy is like a sword in your hand to push the darkness back. Joy is a weapon. Joy is also a witness. One of my favorite things that newer people here at Victory will sometimes come and tell me out in the lobby, and you may have seen it a few minutes ago, is that when I looked around during the singing, they don't even know what to call it, during the praise and worship, I was so shocked because everyone looked so joyful. That's what new people here at Victory will say. And the truth is, joyful

people attract other people to Jesus. Right? Like we have something again that they don't have. Now here's the question. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a really hard question. Would you want to be around you? Okay, you don't have to answer out loud. Okay. Joy's a witness. This is why Mother Teresa said that the one who possesses joy preaches without preaching. You ever been around somebody who just oozes joy like they just can't I got the joy joy joy like they just got it you know don't don't you just love being around people with joy there's just something contagious about that right that is the easiest Christmas e-bite you've ever received right RSVP quick like you want to go to that one you know like like mr. Eeyore invites you to his Christmas party hard no hard pass hard pass mrs. negative critic critical spirit she invites you to her Christmas party you're like I got to go to the hospital hang out just to get sick I just I'm trying to get around sick people so I have a valid excuse you know but mrs. joy invite you to her Christmas party come on you you cancel and everything else you've got on your calendar just you're making you're like making stuff you want to impress you know cuz our joy is a witness our joy is a sermon our joy preaches without preaching what else joy is an evidence here's let me just say it like this the reason why many of you look joyful during worship isn't because life is great but because you know God is great it's not because life has been easy but because God has been so good and your joy when you have joy joy is an evidence that you trust that God is who he says that he is and he will do what he said he will do it the deepest place of who you are and and the team the leadership team here at victory knows that I prize joy almost above everything else in our staff because here's how I would say it joy is the evidence that you trust God above your circumstances and if you trust God above your circumstances I trust you to lead God's people in the midst of their circumstances because joy is an evidence well last one joy is a resilience come on joy gives us resilience I I see too many especially even Christians today without this thing called grit okay grit is the thing that when you get knocked

down let you get back up and keep on moving all right and what I what I see right now is I see a lot of people where something happens and then they just get taken out get taken out again bad day get taken out get taken out get taken out and what happens is it's ten years later and they're still sitting in it because what we do is we try and use sheer willpower to get back up when we shouldn't use willpower we should use joy power to get back up what do I mean Nehemiah 8 10 very famously the joy of the Lord is your strength this is what I'm saying this is this is when you have a strength that you shouldn't have this is when you have a power that you shouldn't have it's joy and here's the deal I'm not saying that what happened was easy I'm not telling you to overlook it and skip right past it I'm definitely not telling you that joy is hype or faking it till you make it or having positive vibes what I'm saying is joy is a spiritual power to be resilient and to get back up and to keep on moving forward into the life that God has for you that's why joy is so important and I am convicted that Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet okay because we possess the good news in our bones but some Christians are the worst right like we know that right and most of them are living in the comment section and blowing people up in the name of Jesus that's where all the modern-day Pharisees lived if you were curious I we just put on our Pharisee garb and then we log on to TikTok and Instagram and drop in the comments negative Nancy's sorry if your name is Nancy I'm talking about the other Nancy that you know you know the Eeyores all the stuff right but by God's grace today that's gonna change okay just imagine like this we're gonna we're gonna pull up our life up to the Holy Spirit gas station okay we're gonna have a little come on we're gonna we're gonna pull up to God Bucky's today we're gonna get some snacks and goodies a little hat and and fill up the tank with joy so I believe you may have walked in here depleted but you're gonna leave with joy okay and so let me say it like this if Stella got her groove back I think we can get our joy back so the question is what Moves do we need to make to get our joy back?

All right, here's the first move we need to make. We need to move from happiness to joy. Move from happiness to joy. All right, I want to introduce you to someone who's very special to me, and his name is Tiger. We adopted Tiger when he was four, and he had very clearly been abused, had gone through numerous homes, because when we got him, he's very skittish, very nervous, could never sit down, wouldn't trust us, would run away. But over the past 10 years, he became the best little guy. He became Isaac's best friend. And he's been a great friend to me, and a little bit over a week ago, summer, I was getting ready in the bathroom, and Summer walked in and said, Johnson, come here, come here, come here, and go into our bedroom, and Tiger's having a full-blown seizure, full-blown seizure, he's 14. And it's not good, not good. We just hold him as he's shaking. And then the next day, another one, next day, another one, it's just getting worse and worse and worse, and take him into the vet this week. And they said it's likely in his brain, and at 14 years old, there wasn't very much they could do.

So if you've ever been there before, Summer and I had the gut-wrenching conversation about our little family member. And on Monday, we let the boys take turns with him for a few minutes, saying their bites. And we got in the car, Summer and I did, and it's the worst drive. You don't say a word. And you go, and we held him as he breathed his last breath. And as the tears streamed down my face, I promise you this, I promise you this, I still had joy. I still had joy. In fact, I had so much joy that I thought, I have joy. Like, I'm not telling, like, he's right there, and my heart is telling me, you still have joy. My emotions are sad, but my heart is joyful, because I was reminded again this week that death no longer has the final word. Jesus has the final word. And Paul writes this, it's not on the screens, 1 Corinthians 15, go there today if you need a little bit of hope and joy. He says, if it's only for this life that we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than all men, but Christ has indeed risen from the dead. Indeed, indeed.

If it's only our waking moments for a few years that we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than everybody else, because what are we doing? But if the tomb is empty, and if Jesus is alive, and he's the firstborn from among the grave, then death no longer has the final word. And as I closed my eyes this week, I did, I did, and God gave me a little gift. He showed Tiger Lake running through some tall grass with his tongue like, just having the time of his life. And listen, we can debate theology in the lobby after service, but I believe there is space in God's new creation for our animals. And I'm pretty sure that all cats go to hell, but I know all dogs go to heaven. Somebody came up to me last night, they're like, I think cats go to paradise. Purgatory, I'm like, it's pretty good. It's pretty good, it's pretty good. Just gotta drive the darkness out of them before they. Here's why I tell you that story. I did not wanna tell you that story, obviously. Here's why I tell you that story. One of the most important, meaningful moves you will ever make in your entire life is moving from the pursuit of happiness to embracing joy. Here's what I mean. Happiness depends on what happens,

but joy comes from Jesus. That is one of my core life beliefs. It is the reason that joy is better than happiness, and it's also the reason why you can have joy no matter what happens. I'll do a little compare conversation. Can we put that graphic up there real quick? I want to contrast happiness with joy and here it is happiness comes from the Latin root word Hap which literally is where we get our word happen from joy comes from Jesus happiness is based on what's happening Joy is based on what will never change Happiness is is fickle. It's based on how I feel joy is based on what is true Happiness comes from what's around you joy comes from who lives within you Happiness is temporary and it changes joy is timeless and absolutely indestructible And let me say it like this there is nothing wrong today with wanting to be happy, okay, I have no problem I love being happy. I mean, I'm not gonna you'd be lying. You said I don't like being happy. I Love it when I pay the bills and there's still money Am I in the right place I preach a good sermon right now, okay. All right. Yes, I Like being happy I like good days, but God's ultimate goal for my life is not for me to be happy That's a dangerous path because I hear people, you know, people foolishly say well God just wants me to be happy God has no problem with you being happy, but God's ultimate goal for your life is not happiness In fact, God is much more concerned about your holiness than he is your happiness Okay, because the pursuit of happiness will take you into affairs and addictions Come on because God's ultimate goal is not the pursuit of happiness. It's embracing joy right here I'll let me be honest with you when my alarm on Saturday morning goes off at 6 45 a.m I'm not very happy as I make my way to Saturday morning prayer and see some of you are like, yeah, that's why I don't come I don't want to come But it's dangerous because now we're just basing our life on our happiness instead of our holiness We're pursuing an emotion instead of embracing joy Listen when God calls me to give more than I want to give I'm not happy about it When many times when I say no to sin my flesh wants it. I'm not very happy when I have to crucify my flesh

Come on, but what am I gonna choose a pursuit of happiness or an embracing of joy? And here's the thought living based off of what happens is a dangerous place because your emotions swing based on what? Happens All right, you got money for a steak dinner. Awesome. You got 75 cents for ramen noodles Come on you lose weight gain weight but get a promotion what lose your job, but come on light shut off Up down up down up down roller coaster roller coaster roller coaster and here's the test. Okay, here's the test Even as I'm talking you may you may think this is what we do is church people You're like, oh, I got all the joy in the world. But if your life gets derailed every time life shifts You've actually been living off of the pursuit of happiness And that is why God gives us something better than living for happiness. He gives us joy Which is based on what will never change Happiness is based on what happens joy is based on what will never change and here's the thing. There's only one thing that will never change God His attributes his character his promises the grass withers and the flowers fade but the Word of God endures Forever God does not cast a shifting shadow. He does not change He is not a man that he should lie. So what is true? What is eternal? What will never change? Let me give you a few John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but Have eternal life 2nd Corinthians 5 therefore if anyone is in Christ The new creation has come the old has gone the new is here Psalm 27 Even if my father and mother Abandoned me the Lord will hold me close Psalm 30 weeping may endure for a night But joy comes in the morning 1st Corinthians 15 death has been swallowed up in victory Where Oh death is your victory where Oh death is your sting and not one of those things will ever change I Know I can have salvation in Jesus name. I know I'm new by faith. I know I now have a father I know it joy is coming in just a moment. I know at the very end death doesn't win and That was why when you look at the book of Acts Paul and Silas are in prison

singing What And it's not like they did anything bad They just live in their life for Jesus. I'd lock those guys up bless the Lord. Oh my soul You know I'm saying like what what are you doing? Acts 5 the Apostles get flogged for preaching in Jesus name and they're warned if they ever do it again They're gonna get killed and on the way home. They're like hi. Ho hi. Ho It says they leave rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. Philippians, the most joyful book in the entire Bible, is written, you wanna know where? In prison. Paul wrote the letter to the church in Philippi in prison. You know, the book that says rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice, Paul writes that chained. And in Luke 2, the angels come on the scene during Christmas time, right? Like when we remember it at least. And they come on the scene, they say, hey, we have good news. There will be great joy to all people. The Messiah has been born in Bethlehem. They come and make the announcement. Now here's the problem, they say joy is here. You wanna know what the problem is? Nothing changed. Rome is still in charge. Taxing everybody, killing dissenters just to keep power.

Nothing changed externally, but everything had changed internally. Life was still hard on the outside, but now Jesus had come to live on the inside. And happiness lives on the outside, but joy lives on the inside. That's why you can have joy no matter what's happening on the outside, because nobody can take what God has done in here. There are things in here that will never change. What will never change? Here's some, I know that I've been saved from hell. My name is found written in the Lamb's book of life and nobody will ever snatch me out of his hand. I know that I'm a co-heir with Christ. I know I'm seated with Christ in heavenly places. I know that I am loved and adored. I know that no weapon formed against me will ever prosper. I know that my father rejoices over me with shouts of joy. I know that Jesus is alive and nobody will ever be able to stick him back in a grave ever there again. So death no longer has the final word. Jesus has the final word. What Jesus accomplished on the cross has the final word. The tomb is still empty. And listen, that is why even when you get laid off at Christmas, that's why when the cancer comes back, that's why we got people reaching out right now. When your family member gets deported, that's why when the heartbeat monitor fades away,

my emotions may be a wreck and I may cry, but I will not quit. Let me say that again. I may cry, but I refuse to quit. Because now here's this thing. And if you have it, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't have it, it's foreign to you. But I have this hope. I have this warmth. I have this anchor for the soul and the deepest place of who I am. And it's deeper than death. It's deeper than loss. Because now I have a trust that death and loss isn't the end. And since Jesus is alive, all things are possible. And joy sits in a deep, deep, untouchable place, a place that life can't touch it, death can't touch it. Come on, the government can't touch it. The devil of hell can't touch it. I mean, it sits in a place that's untouchable. That's why you can have joy in jail. That's why you can have joy in the hospital room, in the funeral home. That's why you can have joy in the darkest of places. Because joy abides in a place that nothing else can touch it. Because now you're no longer pursuing happiness. You're now embracing something much better. Joy, joy, joy.

So what are the moves we gotta make to get our joy back? I have to, it's non-negotiable. I have to move from happiness to joy. Here's the second thing. I have to move from visiting to abiding. Visiting to abiding. We have to move from visiting joy to abiding in it. And let me say it like this. One of the biggest reasons why people lose their joy is because they've turned time with Jesus into a place they visit instead of a person they live with. It's a place they visit rather than a person they live with. But here's the good news, right? In God's presence. Come on, come on. It's fullness of joy. Psalm 16, 11, all right? You make known to me the path of life. In your presence, there's fullness of joy. And here's the challenge, guys. The challenge is for us not to just visit Jesus at church once a week, but to abide in him daily. And here's the worst thing. If you only come to church like 1.8 times a month, were you gonna get like two little sips of joy a month? And then expect not to live on a roller coaster? That's why your life is all over the map if you're only visiting Jesus every once in a while. You cannot expect to abide in TikTok and find joy there. You can't expect to abide in Insta or Threads,

wherever it is. You can't expect to abide in a dating relationship. and find joy. You're not gonna get it there. They don't have it to give you. No, we have to abide in Jesus every single day. How do we do that? Let's just go one-on-one. Read your Bible. If you don't have one, we have one for you out in the lobby. Go to One Step After Service. We have these things called Bibles. Okay, it is God's word to us revealing himself to us. Okay, it is a gift. In fact, there was a groundbreaking study done very recently on the power of reading the Bible. It was over eight years. This study, they surveyed over 100,000 people, and here's what came back. It was undeniable. You read your Bible one time a week, nothing changes. If you're wondering, oh, I read my Bible once a week, yeah, that's... You read your Bible two to three times a week, very little change. You read your Bible four times a week, everything changes. It was so clear. It was all the mentors spiked through the roof four times. If you read your Bible four times a week,

you are 228% more likely to share your faith, 59% less likely to view pornography, and 30% less likely to struggle with loneliness and depression. Why? Because you're no longer visiting Jesus. You're actually beginning to abide with him, dwell with him, live with him, and him with you. So how do we abide with him? We gotta get in his word. If you wanna find him, go to his word first, and then go to him in prayer. And here's how I'd say it. Surrender your struggles to God. If you're worried, and lots of times worry will sap your joy, then here's what it looks like. Go to God in prayer and just say, God, hey, I'm really worried about... Fill in the blank. And so today, I put that into your hands, because your hands are stronger, your vision is clearer, your name is bigger, and you're well able to take care of this. If there are no maverick molecules in the universe, come on, if God's right now is taking care of the moons of Saturn, if they have it, I don't know if they got moons. I think he can take care of your problem. If he's taking care of the utmost parts of the universe, God, I just give it to you.

Whatever's stealing your joy, if sin is stealing your joy, repent and return back to him. Don't overcomplicate it. Don't be like, well, I gotta pay penance. No, no, no, no, just turn away from it. And you'll feel the joy of the Lord start coming back into your life. So here's what I'd say. If you wanna get your joy back in abiding, get in his word, get in his presence, and then worship. Worship. Very importantly, let me add a qualifier. Worship whether you feel like it or not. I hear a lot of people, they're like, oh, I don't really feel like praising God. Respectfully, I don't care. I don't care, I really don't care. I'm actually concerned that you don't feel like worshiping God, so we can have that conversation. But the fact that you don't feel like worshiping God means you don't worship God, that's a problem. That's a problem. In fact, if you come to Saturday morning prayer, you'll discern many times, I actually open up Saturday morning prayer preaching to myself is what I do. Because many times, I'm just gonna be honest,

I struggle to get there. I'm not a morning person. And so what I'll do, I'll say this. I'll say this to everybody on the microphone. I know sometimes you don't feel like praising God, but sometimes you just have to tell your soul, praise the Lord. You just have to tell your soul to praise the Lord. Hey, soul, it's time to wake up. Hey, soul, it's time to go and be with Jesus. Hey, it's time to lift your voice right now. Come on, it's time to lift up a cry to the Lord. And sometimes you just have to remind your flesh that it's not in charge. And I know some stuff has happened this week and you don't feel like praising the Lord, but we're gonna do it anyways because you're not in charge. Okay, soul, it's time to praise the Lord. And here's where we get it from, Psalm 103. I'm gonna read you the whole chapter. Praise the Lord, my soul. Hey, soul, it's time to wake up. So you just have to tell your, hey, soul in there, praise the Lord. All my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits. What's in the benefits package of God? Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. In other words, we have a reason to worship. He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. He does not treat you as your sins deserve or repay us according to the things that we've done wrong. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for us. those who fear him as far as the east is from the west so far as he removed our transgressions from us as a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him for he knows how we are formed he remembers that we are dust the life of mortals is like grass they flourish like a flower of the field the wind blows over and it is gone and its place remembers it no more but from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him and his righteousness with their children's children come on generational blessing down to your great-grandkids with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts the Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all our God reigns so praise the Lord you his angels you is mighty ones who do his bidding who obey his word praise the Lord all his heavenly hosts you his servants who do his will praise the Lord all his works everywhere in his dominion praise the Lord oh my soul oh my soul and some of us if we're gonna get our joy back we need to first get our worship back some

of us need to learn to dance like David dance before the Lord you don't gotta do it in here but you should be doing it at home and sometimes you just got to be willing to lose your dignity that's what David says I think you think this is a lot I become even more undignified than this like God like he's doing a thing you know I'm saying and we've got way too many dignified crusty Saints who've lost their joy and what happens is you ain't even worshiping cuz you're too busy criticizing everybody else oh no oh no she's dressing a little risque today oh they came in a little bit late I worship God more than them and you're so busy judging everybody else that you can't have joy and some of us just need to stop looking at everybody else and set our eyes on Jesus begin abiding in him and get our joy back and tell our soul soul you will praise the Lord he's Lord on the good days he's Lord on the bad days so I won't only worship when life is good I'm especially gonna worship when life is bad I won't only visit the presence of the Lord I'm gonna live in the presence of the Lord he's the air that I breathe he's the food that I eat and it's better to be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked because in his presence is fullness of joy at his right hand our pleasures forevermore he's what my soul is starving for gotta get your worship back man gotta get your joy back man aren't you tired of sitting on the sidelines showing up late to church showing up late for your private time with the Lord go are you tired of oversleeping aren't you tired of tasting sin instead of tasting and seeing that the Lord is good we got to stop visiting him we got to start abiding in him and I'm telling you when it comes to joy you don't get joy by trying harder you get joy by staying closer because joy is not an emotion joy is a person joy is not an emotion joy is a person so stay close to the person that's why joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit love joy peace patience kindness okay it's a fruit we say this sometimes you never walk into an apple orchard and the apple trees like apple apple apple yes no if a apple tree is healthy guess what begins to grow apples it doesn't have to try just doesn't listen if you spend time with Jesus you won't have to try and have joy no because you're

actually abiding in the vine and his joy is flowing from him through your life and you just got it it's not about trying harder it's about staying closer so if we're gonna get our joy back we got to stop visiting and we got to begin abiding here's the last thought moves we got to make for getting our joy back I have to move from happiness to joy move from visiting to abiding and move from gaining to giving gaining to giving this is so important for us Christmas is my favorite time of the year even though my wife would disagree with with me because she calls me the Grinch no I just say respect the turkey then no Christmas lights in October no Christmas music in March all right that's like Daniel Cruz the worship pastor here she's like in July she's like mmm I'm like it is a hundred degrees outside you have to stop and I love the music once it's time I love the movies once it's time but I especially love giving gifts and as a dad it is one of the highest joys of my life to give gifts to my kids right we got parents all right yeah yeah yeah because something shifts Here's how I say it something shifts when you get a little bit older when you get it more mature You begin to realize that life isn't just about you Right. You're not the central character in this story. Okay Um life isn't about what you can get life is about what you give And here's a tragedy i've realized There are 80 year olds who still don't get that There's 70 year olds who never got the revelation that life isn't about you And first timothy, here's what paul writes Those who want to get rich Fall into temptation and a trap into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction Okay, super important. Let's clarify some bad theology for the love of money Is a root of all kinds of evil, okay, let's correct bad theology. Okay money is not evil What's evil the love Of money actually money's neutral

We say this a lot money's a great servant terrible master It's your relationship to money. That's going to determine what happens in your life. Okay Money is not evil. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil What the the in other words that having a polluted root will bear bad fruit What is one of the bad fruits some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and have pierced themselves with many griefs Y'all know people who began pursuing money and it ruined their life Some of y'all that's you. Let's just be honest. You took the job over there You sacrificed your family you sacrificed your marriage just for the promotion just to get the next thing So you could have a little bit more because then that would mean that you're better That would mean now you're finally worth something and the pursuit of money actually ended up stealing your joy because it ruined your life Chasing money will steal your joy Because here's the question how much is enough? Maybe you've actually discovered Because here's what happens you say. Well, I don't have enough. I need to get that. Here's my promise when you get that not enough And then you're like, oh no, actually I thought it was this it's gonna be this and then you get that And then it's still not enough and then you look around and you're all by yourself Because you took the transfer you took the promotion you shunned everybody else so you could get all the stuff And then it ruined your life And so i'm here today to reaffirm that it is more blessed to give than to receive I am here today to reaffirm that a generous person is a joyful person Okay, listen, you will find grumpy greedy people Every day You will never find a grumpy generous person I promise you I promise you because it does something on the inside of you When instead of all the arrows on the flow chart pointing to you now, they actually start pointing to other people It gives you a different perspective on life instead of walking around looking to get now you actually walk around looking to give You will find plenty of grumpy greedy people But you'll never find a grumpy generous person why because when you're giving and when you're serving you don't have time to criticize everybody

You don't have time to be mad about everything because now you're in god's game And so today we have the opportunity to do that. Okay throw a christmas gift to the world offer And so we've done this for decades and this is how we close out every year if you're new with us What we do is we receive an offering and we've been talking about it for a few weeks Some of you have already given God bless you for that um, but what happens is uh, half of it stays local to do a work half of it goes global to do a work around the World and 100 of what you give in the christmas gift goes out of victory So this is not me trying to gain something for the church It's passing straight through the church and we'll show you the videos next year of all the great things that happen Okay, and we've been talking about this for the last few weeks, but today i'm going to invite you to get in god's game I'm going to invite you to get out of the pursuit of gain into the pursuit of generosity Um, and so before we do that before we give together into this joyful moment Let's be reminded of what we're giving to let's let's point our attention up here Hey victory, we are in the home stretch of christmas gift to the world and I don't know about you But I cannot wait to see how god shows up and changes the lives of people around the world And right here in our own backyard through the generosity of this house So in case you missed it this year globally We're partnering with missionary international and youth with a mission or why we am in india to bring hope to the bedia people this community they are commercial sex workers and they believe this is the Custom and culture which is from their forefathers some of the places they perform dance their cultural dance, which is called rairi dance and through that they do some other Activities like sexual activities parents raise their girls and very early years 13 14 They put their girls into this sex trade Foreign I have two children, and I want my children to get good education. I want them to get a good job, but I don't want them to dance. Especially girls, we have to move forward.

When you are done. For generations, girls in this area have been pushed into prostitution or marriage from a very young age just to help their family survive. But your giving is helping rewrite that story. And when you give this year, you're helping build a children's home where vulnerable girls can heal, grow up safe, and truly be seen, known, and loved. You're helping build a school for over 600 boys and girls. And here, they'll finally have a real path to education and better opportunities in life. You're supporting a community health center that will bring consistent medical care to families who've never had it. And you're helping create an assembly hall that will serve as a church, a place where the entire community can actually gather, learn about Jesus, and encounter his love together. Meanwhile, locally, we are helping to meet urgent needs through our neighborhood co-ops and food pantries across metro Atlanta. We have the opportunity to step in when our friends and neighbors and families need us the most. So we've definitely seen an increase in families, so 30% more this year as opposed to last year. But more than the increase in the numbers has been just the fear and the chaos that they're seeing. In the past three years, the percentage of neighbors needing assistance has increased to about 70%. And with the government shutdown that recently ended, we saw an incredible spike outside in addition to that 70%. I never thought I would break my COVID records, but last year we did over 40,000 people and we gave out over 600,000 pounds of food. And so we see that trend continuing. I know that we'll break those records this year. This is just not charity that we're doing, right? These are our neighbors.

We're all in this together. And this is a time where we're rallying together, right? We had the new people, the people that have never visited before, but guess what? We have partners like Victory. We have neighbors helping neighbors. We have people that step up and we will always do that. And it's reinforced in my mind that there will never be a moment where our community is not taken care of. And because of your yes this year, moms and dads won't have to worry about having food for their families. Seniors won't have to worry about getting access to the medications they depend on. Single moms won't have to choose between groceries and diapers and so much more. So I've been around long enough now, a number of years. I've been here since 98. I've been a part of a number of these offerings over the years. And then doing what I do now, I've been able to visit some of these places. And I've put boots on the ground in Ethiopia. And I've been, if you were here at that time, where we bought a brothel and turned it into a church. And I was at that first graduation ceremony of the girls who were rescued, given life skills. Most of them were born again at that point. And then they were getting married, having children on this completely different trajectory of life. I went to the orphanage there in Addis Ababa, where I saw the children who are in the home that y'all built when you gave. I went to Nicaragua and saw the school that we built that transformed an entire community there. So many more things. I've been here in Norcross at the door when former inmates come up and say, thank you

for creating the home that was able to rehabilitate me so I wouldn't snap back and end up back in prison. Last year, we gave to Mending the Gap, which is serving elderly shut-ins here in the city. And I was able to go and dedicate the building that y'all bought that is now still actively serving people every single day of the week. And here's what happens, guys. When we step out of gain into giving, your generosity does two things. It literally changes people's lives that you'll likely never meet this side of eternity. And here's how I say it. It breaks the gravity of greed off of our life. Starts to turn the arrows on the flow chart away from us and other people. And I'm telling you, it is more blessed to give than to receive as we stop storing up treasures here on earth and actually begin storing up treasures in heaven. And that's what it looks like when you start getting in God's game. Because it is more blessed to give than to receive. And if you're new maybe to Christianity and you're wondering why we do all this, let me give you one last scripture. 1 Peter 1, verse 8, speaking of Jesus. Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And I just can't say it a better way, I think, than when you have faith in Jesus. Something gets placed deep inside here that begins to change everything. It gives you something bigger than your circumstances to build your life on. It convinces you that no matter what's happening, if it's broken, God's not through with it yet. If it's dead, God's not done with it yet. And then it sparks your life to activate, to go and share that same joy with the world around you. So we're gonna take a few steps here over the next few minutes. We're gonna give together in just a minute, we're actually gonna pause the service, and we're gonna give together towards Christmas gift of the world. Again, a

hundred percent of it goes outside the house. But before we do that, let's bow our heads, let's talk to the Lord of joy. God, right now I reaffirm that you are the Prince of Peace, you are the God of hope, and Jesus is our joy. God, I thank you for putting something inside of us that life can never steal. Forgive us, God, for sometimes allowing it to. But it's deeper than what life can touch, it's deeper than what circumstances can touch. It's no longer happiness, now it's joy. But I want to talk to a certain group of people inside the room, or overflow, or even online. You may be in here today and your life is a roller coaster. And I would just venture to say this, could it be because you've been living for happiness instead of receiving joy? And today, if you don't have joy, I'm gonna make another step. And could it be because you actually don't have Jesus? And so maybe you came in here today at the end of the year, maybe you've just kind of been wandering, doing your own thing, placing your trust in a whole lot of other things. And as we've been talking, the Holy Spirit is doing what he does. This is God himself beginning to change your heart, to actually want to respond to the good news of Jesus. And what that looks like is, it's turning from your past and saying, Jesus, now you're king, I'm not king any longer. You're my Lord, I'm gonna submit my life under you and live for you the rest of my life. And if that's you today, if today's the day, you're stepping out of all the other stuff and you're saying, I'm choosing Jesus for the rest of my life, I'm about to become his, would you do me a favor and lift your hand up? I want to know who I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You can put your hands down. It's a good day, it's an important day. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna pray with you and I'm gonna invite the people around you to pray together, right, as one big family. Let's pray like this. Say, Jesus, right now, I repent of my sin. I've been headed the wrong direction, headed towards death. But right now, I turn away from my path to go your way for the rest of my life. I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord, as my Savior. You are the Son of God, died on the cross to forgive my sin, to restore me to the Father. And on the third day, you rose again and you're

alive. And because you're alive, death no longer has the final say. I belong to God from this day forward. I am forgiven, I am free, and I'm a child of God, in Jesus name. Now, right here in this place, guys, allow the joy of the Lord to come in. Right there, right there. Allow the joy of the Lord to come in. The joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Come on, if something has kind of robbed your joy in this last season, I just invite you in your own heart just to pray this. God, restore to me the joy of my salvation. God, restore to me, because salvation is enough. Salvation is enough. I am free indeed. The chains are broken off of my life. My God now rejoices over me with shouts of joy. I am chosen. I am blessed. I'm a co-heir with Christ. Death no longer controls me. Jesus does. And Jesus, you have the final say-so over my life. God, I pray right now against depression, against darkness, suicidal thoughts. God, we tell every demonic power to lose its grip off the people of God. And in that place, God... Send your joy Send your joy and may the joy the Lord be our strength in this next season May it be our weapon in this next season. May it be our witness in this next season May it be the evidence in this next season and may it give us resilience in this next season as we're no longer pursuing happiness We're actually now abiding with joy In Jesus name Amen Amen All right, here's what we're gonna do. Here's what we're gonna do. Okay, we got the moment right here, right? Over the last few weeks. We've been talking about Christmas gift to the world, but now's the time We're actually gonna corporately give together. So if you're able won't you stand up to your feet? Let me give you some quick instructions, okay is The team up here is gonna play for a few minutes a song that we played earlier about joy about joy And as they play we're gonna give together. So let me let me say this some of you have already given Thank you. Thank you. If you have not given now's when we're going to do it

Okay, so I understand some of you may not have come prepared for that So I would encourage you spend a minute spend two minutes spend three minutes praying and just asking God for a number Here's how you know, it's God's number if it challenges you Because you're like I would have had a different number In fact some of you right now God's already told you a number and you're trying to talk him out of it Okay, if that's what's happening that's real and that's God and I would just encourage you let God win in that argument Okay, if you have a spouse if you have Maybe a child with you turn and have that conversation just for a few minutes while the team is playing and when you're ready to give Okay, we're gonna do two things. There's two ways to give one is through your phone Okay and so that's that QR code on the back of that seat in front of you or you can go to connect to victory comm for If you brought a Check, which is awesome. I would love to know how you still do that But if you brought a check or you do have cash We do have the ability for you to give and so we have the the buckets down at the end of an aisle Can we do that real quick? Can we pass that bucket down? Inside that bucket is just an envelope. It's down at the end if you're on this side Pass that down and grab an envelope if you need it at the end of service. Don't put cash back in that bucket Okay at the end of service we have wall boxes around the room and you can put your envelope inside the wall boxes They're inside this room. They're even outside in the lobby as well Okay, but again, I'd encourage you pause ask God what he thinks about it Let me let me say two more things if you've already given I just want to challenge you real quick Ask God was that your number or mine and you may need to re-engage in this. Here's the last thing I would say I Really do want to ask everybody to give something Okay, this is not a selfish ask we're getting none of this money it's going straight through us to local and global around the world Because here's what it does it begins to break that thing off of you even if it's five bucks I'm just telling you everybody today needs to give something just to begin moving in that direction And I'm telling you if you're gonna feel something sparking on the inside of it So let me pray over us as we do this God right now We've been leading to this moment and I pray father for an outpouring of generosity that will bring joy to the world

joy to the heart of God and joy to our lives as we Participate in the mission of God to bring good news that brings great joy to the world The Messiah has come and his name is Jesus. Let's worship and let's give together in Jesus name Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app We hope this content was a blessing to you But we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life How we can pray for you or even content that you would like to see us create in the future We just want you to know that we see you You're important to us and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you So send us a letter and we hope to hear from you soon