To Have Resilient Joy | Power for More | Rick Atchley

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Welcome to the hills, preacher Rick here. I think every Sunday at our church is very, very special. Next Sunday is going to be special. Our Renew offering gives us a chance to do something for our community. In Jesus' name. So I hope you're praying and I hope you'll be truly extravagant because you know you're doing what Jesus has asked us to do for our neighbors. But today is extra, extra special because we are honoring our mothers and our grandmothers today. And just recently, I have been reminded of how beautiful and how challenging your task is. My wife and I waited a time to be grandparents, but then we went from zero to five grandchildren in 16 months. I've got two grandbabies that live in Dallas. My son Matthew and his wife Jill have a three-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl. My daughter Morgan and her husband Grant live in Haltom City, and they have two precious girls, three and two. Their names are Sadie and Sage. You can see their picture here. They are precious, they are sweet, and they are cute chaos. Jamie calls them little otters because they are constantly on the search for fun. And they find it, and it usually means using every towel in our house to clean up after. And so recently, they spent the night with us, and Jamie had some commitment that morning,

so I said, I will get the girls up and I'll get them ready, and I'll get them to preschool. They go to Keller Preschool, and I had to be there at 9 o'clock, and I had just forgotten getting children up, getting them dressed, getting them their breakfast, getting the lunch packed, getting everything in the car, getting two children in a car seat fastened up. It was an ordeal, but I got there in decent shape, and now I've got to get them in. And I got the three-year-old out and said, you stand here, don't move, while I go get the two-year-old. Now I had to get two backpacks, I had to get two bedrolls, and the two-year-old insisted on being carried. So I get all that and look around, the three-year-old otter has disappeared. She is gone. So I race in to try to find the three-year-old otter, and as I do, one backpack falls off my shoulder and everything spills out, so I've got to put the two-year-old otter down, and she takes off. So I got two lost otters, and I got backpacks all over the floor, and the wonderful people at campus helped me get it all back together, and we found the otters, and everything was okay. But the thought came to me, this is just everyday life for a mom. This is normal. And as I was walking back to my car, I passed a security guard, and I looked at him, and I said, I need a nap. And it's interesting that Barna just released a survey of moms at church, and 68% of church-going mothers said, I feel tired either all or most of the time. And I think we can understand why. I saw something recently that you moms can appreciate.

It's titled, You Know You're a Mom If. Here's an example. You know you're a mom if being alone in your car is the most exciting part of your day. You know you're a mom if all you want for your birthday is for people to stop getting a new glass every time they need a drink. You know you're a mom if going to work feels like a vacation and going on vacation. feels like work. Yeah, we've been there. Now, you know you're a mom if happy hour is nap time. Or if you consider a permanent marker a weapon of mass destruction. Or if you see a smear of brown on your shirt, and you have to smell it to see if it's chocolate or poop. You're a mom. If you understand at a very deep level why Mama Bear's porridge was too cold, you're a mom. Or, if you take a lot of smack from a little person who still can't put their Crocs on the right feet. So, moms, we appreciate you. And that Barna survey also revealed that three to one, people mentioned their mother as the primary influence in their faith formation. Maybe that shouldn't shock us if we know the story of Jesus. We're in this series called Power For More. This week and next week we'll finish. We're looking at the Holy Spirit's life in a believer. And Mother's Day is not a day to stop that series, but to lean in because mothers understand living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Think about how our story starts. In the Gospel of Luke, there's this old woman named Elizabeth.

She thinks it's too late for her to have a baby. But she miraculously gets pregnant. And then Mary, who also has miraculously become pregnant, visits her cousin Elizabeth. And when she does, this is what Luke says, and Elizabeth, full of the Holy Spirit, said, the baby in my womb leapt for joy. And Mary, who understands herself the power of the Holy Spirit, that's why she's pregnant, she sings a song talking about how much her soul rejoices in the Lord. So how does the story of Jesus start? With two women, full of the Holy Spirit, talking about joy. By the way, it's interesting that you get to the end of that story, the night before the cross, Jesus is talking to his disciples, who were understandably despairing, because he said, I'm going to leave. But then he says, but it's going to be better because I am going to send the Holy Spirit to you. And Jesus uses a very interesting metaphor. He compares what they're going through to a mother in labor. When a mom is in labor, she endures great suffering for a time. But then the baby is born, and she experiences great joy.

And Jesus said, that's what it's going to be like. Now, just a quick aside to all the men here, don't ever compare anything in your life to a woman being in labor. You don't know, okay? True story, many years ago, a former preacher of this church was teaching a ladies' Bible class, and he had passed a kidney stone earlier that week. I understand it's very painful. And he said to the women, now I understand what you go through when you give birth. Next week, there was a 10-pound rock on his desk with a note, pass that, and you can talk. But Jesus is the Son of God, and if he wants to use labor as an illustration, he gets to do that. And it's interesting that Jesus said, it will be like that mom. And he says, you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. That the Spirit coming into your life is going to give you the power to possess a joy that is resilient. You see, there's more than one kind of joy out there. Do you remember when I said a few weeks ago that Jesus acknowledged there's more than one kind of love? There's a base kind of love that anybody can practice. It's that I love you if you love me back kind of love.

In the same way, there's more than one kind of joy out there. There's a kind of joy that anybody can have. And I sometimes refer to it as out there joy. Because it's a kind of happiness that depends on happenings, like the acquisition of the right things, the cooperation of the right people, the realization of the right circumstances. I call it only if joy. Yes, I can be happy only if I get that job. Only if they straighten up. Only if the doctor calls and has good news. But here's the thing, if your joy depends on the right things and the right people and the right circumstances, your joy tank is always going to leak because nobody gets to have a life where everything is always right. Nobody experiences storms in life. And when most people get tossed around, joy gets tossed aside, but not all people. There are some people who don't get their joy out there. Their joy comes from in here. They're not only if people, they're even if people, even if they hire someone else, even if they never straighten up, even if the doctor calls and the news is not good. They experience a kind of happiness that isn't dependent on happenings. Their joy is resilient, and that's because its source is transcendent. Paul wrote a letter in your New Testament called First Thessalonians. It was his first letter to a church under severe persecution. In fact, the persecution was so bad, it drove him out of town. So he wrote back to encourage them. And at the start of this letter, he has this powerful sentence. He says, you welcome the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. That's what Jesus was promising, that the Holy Spirit is the source of a joy that no

one can take away from you. When I see people that have joy in the midst of terrible situations, when I see people that have joy that's transcendent and resilient, I know it didn't come from out there. You know the Holy Spirit is residing when joy is abiding. Think about this. If I said God is powerful, you don't say amen. God is faithful. God is merciful. But have you ever thought that God is joyful? And I would like to suggest that God is the most joyful being who has ever existed. Joy is the essence of who He is. And consequently, when you do life in His power and in His presence, joy is just normal. Paul says in Romans 14, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Joy is not our default mode. Joy is just our normal mode. We're in the kingdom and it was modeled by the King. What do you think Jesus' personality was like? One thing I have liked about this series called The Chosen, especially the early seasons, is that it depicts Jesus like I think He really was, delightful, winsome. There's a reason. He's always getting asked to parties. He brought the fun. And there's a reason why. Luke 10, Jesus was filled with joy of the Holy Spirit. The one who's now up there did not get His joy out there. And now He sent His Spirit so that we can have joy in here. Now I'll say again, you don't need the Holy Spirit if you want to be like most people. In fact, you don't need the Holy Spirit if all you want to be is semi-moral and a semi-church attender.

But if you want a joy that lasts, a joy that no one can take away, you need help. You need the helper. You need power for more. And here's why. You have an enemy, and he cannot steal your salvation. But He knows how to steal your joy, and He does it especially in two situations. One is when we screw up. We mess up, and He's there to say, you're not worthy, you don't belong, God is so disappointed with you. And I'm here to tell you, in the power of the Spirit, that resilient joy is available, even when we mess up. When we mess up, the enemy is always there to beat us down, and He tries to plant these lies that question our present identity and our future salvation. And it's hard to live with joy when you doubt who you are and where you're going. But the Spirit speaks a stronger word. So I'm going to read three different texts to you back to back. I want you to lean in, have ears to hear, let these words bless you and help you understand why you can always have joy. The first is Ephesians 1, when you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit, guarantee ye our inheritance. And now 2 Corinthians 1, He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guarantee what is to come. And finally, Galatians 4, because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, Abba, Father. Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child, and since you're His child, God has made you His heir. Now I could stop preaching right now and we'd be good, but I'm not going to stop, because I want to drive this point home, that the enemy does not have to steal your joy when you mess up. You've got a Spirit who's whispering to your soul, reminding you that your status has not

changed because God has not changed. He is still your Abba. Did you notice twice, Paul uses a word picture that the Holy Spirit is our seal. That doesn't connect to us too much. We don't use seals a lot. In that day, they used seals all the time. One reason they would use a seal was to stamp an invoice as paid in full. When you had paid the debt, they'd take a seal and stamp it, te telestai, it is finished. The deal is done. Paul says what the Holy Spirit has done. He has stamped on your heart the last words of Jesus on the cross. It is finished. Your debt has been paid for. Another reason they used a seal was to validate legal ownership. Remember when the Romans put a seal on Jesus' tomb? That was saying this tomb belongs to Rome, don't mess with it. So a seal was proof of purchase. What the seal does is remind us who owns us, that we find our identity in belonging to Christ. Now a lot of you are losing your joy because you're trying to find your identity somewhere else by how many likes you get on a social media platform, by how your car compares to someone else's car or your vacation to someone else's vacation, by how much applause you get at work or how popular you are at school. And if that's where you're going, out there to get your identity, your joy tank is always going to leak. And since it's Mother's Day, can I just speak a word to parents? One way the enemy seduces us is to tempt us to try to find lasting joy in the performance of our children. And we would never say this, but unconsciously we communicate to our kids, it is your job to make sure I'm happy.

And so you need to do well so I can feel well about myself. This is a prescription for despair, not for lasting joy. So let me remind you again of what God has done in the Holy Spirit, Romans 8. You receive God's Spirit. when He adopted you as His own children. Now, we call Him Abba, Father, for His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm we are God's children. That's who you are. You don't get your identity out there. You get it from listening to God, who's given you the Spirit so that you can say Abba. And here's the truth about this. Your status is child of God, and nobody can take that away from you, not even you. I had the privilege a couple of months ago of speaking at Celebrate Recovery at the West Fort Worth campus, and I taught from the story in Luke 15 about the prodigal son. And it's a story where a son rebels against his dad, takes his inheritance, and goes off to a far country and lives a

rebellious and sinful life. And he knows he's screwed up. And he says, I have lost my status as son. Maybe I can come back as slave. And he starts back, and that dad sees him. And that dad starts running toward him. And the amazing thing that night there were two men there for the first time in recovery. They'd never heard this story. They were totally shocked by the end of the story, just like the people that heard it the first time were, because you think you've lost your status, you're messed up. And the father comes and says, put a robe on him, put a ring on him, let's throw a party. My son has come back. See, God has written the end of the story, and nobody gets to change the narrative. And this is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your heart. It's why you can have joy even when you mess up and even when

life gets messy. See, people who live with joy that last don't put their hopes in things that don't last. They live in the future tense, because life in the present tense will never always be right. As I was writing this sermon, a memory came back of the last time I was with my mother in public. It was at her mother's funeral. My mother was near the end of a five-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was weak and frail, and she insisted that we take her to her mother's funeral. So we did, and she sat down for me on the pew, and she was fragile, and she was struggling to breathe. And I knew we would be back in a room like this soon. And four weeks later, we were. And as I looked at my mother, this kind of holy rage welled up in me. It's not supposed to be like

this! This is not how this beautiful woman should be living! This can't be what God wanted for His daughter. And a verse came to my mind. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. God Himself has prepared us for this, and that's a guarantee. He has given us His Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is God's gift in our hearts to say to us, you were always His child, and it will not always be like this. That word, guarantees, also translated deposit. You ever made a deposit? You put some money down, and what are you saying? You're saying, I am going to come back and take full possession. And that's what Jesus did when He gave you the Holy Spirit. I'm gonna come back, and I'm gonna take full possession.

That word, in Greece today, in modern Greek language, that word is used for an engagement ring. Many years ago, I gave Jamie an engagement ring, and I was saying that what we experience now is just a foretaste. Christ, of the joy that is to come. And when someone understands this, and when they hear the Spirit whispering that the full salvation is on the way, they can live in a really messy world, and they will groan, but they will not gripe. And there's such a difference in those two responses. Remember what Paul said to that church in Thessalonians? You received the message in severe suffering with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. And the power of the Spirit, the believer, doesn't toss joy aside when life tosses them around, because the Holy Spirit is giving them strength to redeem whatever God chooses not to remove. It says in the Bible, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, and some of you were in the wilderness. And the Spirit that led Jesus through the wilderness will do the same for you. I'm saying to you that this side of the grave, there's nothing you go through that the Spirit cannot use to help you become more like Jesus. And really, there is a sense in which the people who get this the most have suffered as parents. There's a book, Hinged Moments, by a guy named Michael Lindsay, about the journey he and his wife have had raising Elizabeth. Elizabeth was their first child, a little girl. And they knew very soon something is wrong. And it took three years to diagnose the problem, that Elizabeth had a genetic order so rare that only 500 known cases of it existed in the world.

And it meant cognitive disability, legal blindness, many other complications. And yet, he writes that, my wife and I, we felt it a calling and even a privilege to raise Elizabeth because she's helped us understand so much about being happy. He writes, Elizabeth is not drawn to fame or self-advancement. She reflects a more authentic way of Christian living, one that's less interested in appearances or achievement. She takes pleasure in simple things, the taste of vanilla ice cream, the thrill of reaching heights on the backyard swing, the delight of listening to songs with a good beat and a familiar melody. And Elizabeth is genuinely happy when she pleases her father, clapping for herself when she hears my affirmations. Having Elizabeth in our family has helped us see the importance of vulnerability and simple obedience to Christ. And in that book, he used a phrase that really went deep into my soul, and I bet every parent can relate. He said, raising Elizabeth is a heavy joy. That's what it's like to be parents. It's heavy joy. And the heavy doesn't go away when they leave home. It's always there. You see your kids face challenges that were unwanted, and you see them deal with wounds that were unfair, and you watch them make choices that are unwise. And nothing will thrill or kill your heart like watching your kids. And yet, you do it again. It's a heavy joy. And when I see especially these moms dealing with great heaviness, and yet it doesn't feel like they're enduring life, it actually feels like they're enjoying life, then I know they are leaning on the Holy Spirit, who's there even when life is messy. And He reminds us that the Messiah is coming to get rid of the mess forever. And so, especially to moms today, I want to leave you with a command and a prayer.

And here's the command. Be joyful in hope. Choose it. Lean on the Holy Spirit. And here's the prayer. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. You know what joy is? It's not getting the right thing or meeting the right people or having the right thing happen. Joy is the overflow of God being Himself in us. God is joy. He never runs out of joy. His joy tank never gets depleted. And so when God is just being God in us, what happens? Because joy is not a result. Joy is a relationship. So let me close with one more story. It's actually a back story of a song that has blessed me and hundreds of millions of Christians in the global church the last five or six years, a song called, The Goodness of God. And it was written by this lady. Her name is Jen Johnson. She's there with her husband, Brian. If you're familiar with Bethel music, she's written a lot of songs in that ministry. And they've got these three grown kids. They're teenagers. She's nearing that empty nest stage. And she feels this call from God to give more kids a good home. And so later in life, she decides to adopt Ryder Moses, and then later, Malachi Judah.

And she's just adopted Ryder. He's just an infant. She's in a nursery at her house, and she's rocking this little infant, and she's facing all this uncertainty, and she's facing all this transition. And many people saying, what are you doing? What are you thinking? But she says, the spirit of fear was not in the room. Because all she could hear the spirit say was, all my life, you've been faithful. All my life, you've been so, so good. Your goodness is just running after me. And so this song that has blessed hundreds of millions of Christians was birthed in a nursery by a mom rocking a baby who decided that I will not live in fear, but I will live in the joy of the Lord. And you moms know that when God is your everything, you can keep your joy through anything. So I'd like everyone to stand up, every campus and online even, and a special request right now, because I want to pray over all of you, but I especially want to pray for our mothers. If you right now are standing beside or near a mother that you know, I would like you to put your hand on their shoulder, and let's pray. So God, we thank you. We thank you for the history and the legacy of strong women of faith. From Sarah all the way to Mary, our salvation story has been carried along by faithful women who stepped up and stepped out in faith to be mothers in hard situations. We ask your favor on them, God. We ask you to bless them. Bless all of us, God, to not be tempted to find joy where it will never last. But especially for these moms right now, deliver them from a comparison culture that's always looking outward. To find out who they are and instead right now May the Holy Spirit help them to see that you are looking at them and you are saying daughter

You are my precious daughter We thank you God we thank you for every person of faith that has poured into us Especially Mothers and we receive their blessing in Jesus name Amen