Enjoy Great Moments, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. You see, are you filled with contentment simply because you're alive? Are you filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for the good things that God has put in your life? You see, do you have joy? Or do you look back on your life with regret and then look forward in your life with anxiety? And for the present, you find yourself busy, stressed.

You find yourself chasing a happiness that almost always eludes you. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. The holidays are upon us. If you're like me, you can't wait. I really enjoy this time of year more than any other. The food, smells, the weather, the decorations, the music, the movies, family, friends, and meaningful football games. The culture sort of feels the same way, or at least wants to. The words we use to describe the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and the all-inclusive Happy Holidays. I agree wholeheartedly with Andy Williams when he's saying it's the hap, hap, happiest time of the year. Should you feel that way? I mean, as a Christian, should I feel that way? Should I think this is a special time of year and I should enjoy it more than any other time? Is it okay for me to feel that way? I think it's not only okay, I think it's mandatory that Christians enjoy the great enjoyable moments of life.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, Joy is serious business in heaven. I'm always exactly right. Unfortunately, an awful lot of Christians don't feel that way. I'm very much aware that the Bible says we are to be of sober spirit, that we are to be serious and steadfast. But it would be remiss not to see the balance that the Bible advocates, how important it is in the Bible that Christians enjoy these great moments of their life. Last week I said that victorious Christians think great thoughts.

They think great thoughts about God, about themselves, about others, about life, about the future, about the past, and even about the challenges of life. And this morning I want to say this, great Christians, victorious Christians, they truly enjoy the great moments of life. Would you open your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 3? And here we'll hear the words of Solomon. And as those people who have been in the church for a long time, you realize this is my favorite book in the Old Testament and a book I truly enjoy preaching.

It is a book of a lot of paradoxes. But there are some things and some moments in this book that Solomon gives incredible insight. And in chapter 3 verse 1, he says something that's become very familiar to us. There is an appointed time for everything and there is a time for every event under heaven. And then in verse 4 he said, there is a time to weep and a time to laugh.

There is a time to mourn and there is a time to dance. In other words, there are times to be joyful in life. In verse 11 he goes on and explains what he means.

He says, he has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime. Moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor, it is a gift of God.

Catch it? Nothing better than to rejoice in one's lifetime. Solomon, nothing better than to rejoice in one's lifetime. And this joy, it's a gift of God, he says, this capacity to enjoy life.

Turn to chapter 5 of Ecclesiastes and he finishes this whole section up beginning in verse 18 and he gives us even more insight. He says, here is what I have seen to be good and fitting, to eat, to drink and to enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him. For this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, he has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor. For this is the gift of God, for he will not often consider, he says, the years of his life because God keeps him occupied with gladness of his heart. God gives riches and wealth and he empowers the people that he gives this to, to enjoy them.

Notice there's no guilt there. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, Paul says virtually the same thing. He says, I want you to instruct those who are rich in this world and I've said often that probably all of us when you think of the percentage of the world and where you are.

But he says, I want them to enjoy it. In fact, Paul actually says that he supplies with all things for us to enjoy. The only thing Paul adds is that we not feel conceited, that we act as though we earned this and that we are ready and willing to share with those who have need. But notice God gives riches and wealth and he empowers us to receive it that we should rejoice.

And I love this last phrase. He will not often consider the days of his life. Solomon is not naive. He understands that life's hard. He understands that they're suffering. He understands there's dark days.

He understands it's not easy. He says, because God has kept keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart. In other words, it's these moments of joy that creates a gladness of heart, this inner sense of well-being that will allow us to be able to endure the days of our life on Earth.

It is a win-win situation. The question is, does this describe you? If I were to ask the people who knew you and they said, tell me about this person, they said, Joyful. This is a joyful human being, because if you are, by the way, that's the one thing that prevails and everybody knows it.

But if you're not, everybody knows it as well. You see, are you filled with contentment simply because you're alive? Are you filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for the good things that God has put in your life? You see, do you have joy or do you look back on your life with regret and then look forward in your life with anxiety? And for the present, you find yourself busy, stressed, and you find yourself chasing a happiness that almost always eludes you.

I fear that many of you are in that second category. And so what I want to do this morning is I want to talk about the reasons that you have joy and the reasons you might not. Let's look how good joy can be for you.

Turn to Psalm 84. And in this Psalm, we're going to see something about joy. You see, joy is important and God has given it to us as a gift for this reason. Joy reminds us of God's goodness.

You see, joy is an ever reminder of the goodness of God. Notice how the psalmist starts out. He says, How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts. My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

Then he says something kind of odd. He says the bird has also found the house to swallow a nest for himself where she may lay her young. Even your altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God, how blessed are those who dwell in your house. They are ever praising you.

What is he happy about? He says, I got a forever home with the Lord. I got a forever home with the Lord.

You know, birds, they got nests. He provides it. But you know what he's provided for me? A forever home.

What a difference that makes. This past Friday, we conducted a funeral for a dear lady from our church. Eighty five years on this earth and now in the presence of the Lord. And you know what made that joyful in the midst of the sorrow? She's home.

She went home. The Lord has prepared a place just for her. But that's joyful.

That should make you happy. And that's what the song is saying. Then he goes in verse five and he says, How blessed is the man. Notice how happy is the man whose strength is in you and whose heart are the highways. Zion, he says, passing through the valley of Baca that they make it to spring. The early rain also covers it with blessings. They go forth from strength to strength.

Every one of them appears before God in Zion. What is he saying? He says, You know what? I have God's home for the future. I have got strength for the present.

He said, That's what I have. I have God's strength for the present. That's why Paul called us more than conquerors. Paul said of God before you.

Who could be against you? I can do all things through him who strengthens me. You see, that should give us joy. I don't just have the promise of a place to go when I die. I have the promise of God's strength to sustain me while I'm here. And then in verse eight, he goes on and he says, Oh, Lord, God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob. Behold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of your anointed.

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand in the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. What is he saying? He's saying this. I've got something infinitely better than temporal blessing. He said, I've got something. In fact, he gives us something else that we have beside the strength of God. He uses the word shield. See, I not only have the hope of God for a future home and the strength of God for the present, but I've got the protection of God.

And so do you. He said, I'll be your shield. And then he closes this little song down by saying, For the Lord God is a son and shield. The Lord gives grace and glory.

What a great statement next. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how happy is the man who trusts in you. You see, I've got the God in my life who will withhold no good thing from me.

And so do you. Shouldn't that make you happy? Shouldn't that give you joy? You see, as you reflect back on your life, the provision and the promises of God. The providence of God, how he has guided your life. Does that give you joy? It should.

God wants it to. Yesterday, Velma was in the kitchen and as I was going by, she said, Here, I want you to look at this. And she had an album that she had put together and she likes to do this. And she put this album together and said, I want you to look at these. And I said, OK, so I'm standing there and I'm looking at the album and it starts out and we begin to see a variety of things in this album. And in this photo of my, you know, I see my parents and I thank God for them.

And I see Velma's mom and her uncle Norman. I thank God for them. Then I see my children when they're born in there. It's sort of a pilgrimage of life. And I see that and I thank God for them. And then it goes on and on.

It shows every house we lived in, every sort of every car we drove, every sport we participated in, which and watched, which are a myriad. And I began to look at this and what happened when this was I began to be filled with. Joy. Because of what God has done.

You see, do you take time to reflect on that? What God has done, how he has brought you here, what he has blessed you with. Joy reminds us of the goodness of God.

There is a second thing. Joy sustains us in adversity. Turn to Nehemiah Chapter eight. Nehemiah Chapter eight. Now, the Book of Nehemiah, at least in the beginning, is not a very happy book. In fact, the Book of Nehemiah has a lot of tears in it, just like our lives do. The Book of Nehemiah is the fact that Nehemiah finds himself disenfranchised away from his beloved Jerusalem. He is in a foreign country and he hears that Jerusalem is falling apart, that the walls have fallen down, that the gates are laying in ruin. And Nehemiah has moved to tears and anguish because what can be done?

For his beloved Jerusalem and then through God's providential care. Nehemiah begins to have connections. And as he gets connections with the Persians and they be able to get a permission and all of a sudden Nehemiah is back in the land and they begin to rebuild. And there's lots of trouble.

There's enemies afoot and there's a lot of trouble rebuilding the walls and the gate. But now we come to Nehemiah Chapter eight and in verse nine. It says, then Nehemiah, who is now the governor and Ezra, the priest and scribe. And the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, this day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep for all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.

And then he said to them, go eat of the fat, drink of the sweet and send portions to him who has nothing prepared for this day is holy to your Lord. Do not grieve. Be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength. What is he saying? Remember this day, make it joyful, put it in your memory, have a party.

You see, that's what he is saying. Look, I don't want you grieving. I don't want you mourning now. Now's not the time. There's a time to mourn, but this isn't it.

It's a time to be joyful, he says. Notice how that sustains them in all their adversity. Small victories.

You do that. You see, one of the things that gives me joy in life is I've been through a lot of life. I've been through disappointments. I've been through failures. You see, I understand. And so have you.

And yet here I am. You see, God has got me through and God has got you through and God got them through. And God says, enjoy that moment when God gets you through something that's very difficult in your life.

Throw a party. You see, enjoy it. Because joy will help sustain you in adversity later when you have to face it on your own. There's another thing that joy does.

James 1. Joy honors God as the source of joy. Joy not only reminds me of God's goodness and joy sustains me in my adversity, but joy honors God as the source of joy.

I'll tell you what I told the first service. I am not going to talk about verse 2, which I do every third week. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.

That's true and it sort of fits, but not really. What I want to look at this morning is verses 16 and 17. He said, Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. Joy honors God as the source of joy. Even the capacity that I have to enjoy comes from God. It's a wonderful thing to be created in the image of God is to be created with a capacity to enjoy. I think one of the things we often miss and it's wonderful to see it in the word of God is God is a joyful God.

And so often we never think of God that way. We don't think of God as joyful. He's joyful. You see, that's one of the great things about God, and he gives us the capacity to have joy. Joy honors God as the source of joy. Joy also does something else.

Joy connects us with other people in a special way. Turn to Luke Chapter two. Obviously, a passage you'll be very familiar with this time of year.

Luke Chapter two. Joy reminds us of God's goodness. Joy sustains us in adversity.

Joy honors God as the source of joy, and joy connects us with other people. You know the story, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is the Christmas story. And I only want to drop in on verse 13 because you get some of the magnitude of the joy of the moment. It says, And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased. And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, Let us go straight to Bethlehem then to see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And so they came in a hurry and they found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger. And when they had seen this, they had made known the statements which angels, he said, which had told them about the child and all who heard it wondered at the things that were told to them by the shepherds.

But Mary. She treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. Notice what the shepherds do. They share their joy with Joseph and Mary. Mary then thinks about this and treasures it and ponders it. Even eight days later, after the circumcision, notice verse 33.

And his father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about him. You see, I think one of the great things that happened in Bethlehem is that Mary shared her joy with Joseph. And Joseph shared his joy with Mary. And the shepherds, they share their joy with Joseph and Mary.

You see how this works? Joy is contagious. It connects you to other people. The birth of your child. Share joy. The birth of a child.

You notice how you connect? What is a wedding? Share joy. You see, graduation. It's a moment where you share joy. The holidays. Share joy.

Events. Share joy. I can still remember as a very young man watching Neil Armstrong step down the surface of the moon, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. And boy, you know what I felt?

The same thing you did if you were fortunate enough to be alive then. Joy. I wasn't alive then, but I've seen the old news clips, the newsreels, VE Day and VJ Day. Victory in Europe, victory in Japan. And you see the people in the streets. What were they doing? They're celebrating. And you know what made it great? It was shared joy. It's shared joy. That's one of the great things about joy. Joy connects you with other people in such a positive way. And that's why, by the way, other people love to be connected to joyful people. One last thing that joy does.

It's very important. It's found in Proverbs chapter 17. Joy renews us. Joy is good for you. Joy renews us. Proverbs chapter 17 and verse 22. A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Wow. A joyful heart is good medicine. What does that imply?

It implies at least this. I need medicine. You see, I suffer from a terrible disease. It's called life.

You're probably a carrier yourself. You see, I need something. He says here that a joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Boy, science has proven this. I mean, they talk over and over again that people who laugh often have stronger immune systems. You know, that's an amazing thing because of how positive it is for them.

That's not a surprise to God at all. A joyful heart is good medicine. And there's something else you might not have thought of, but you should hear. No side effects. No dizziness. No nausea. No irritability.

And yes, you can operate heavy equipment. You see, joy is good medicine. It's good for you. It's available to you. It's there for you. It not only reminds us of God's goodness, it sustains us in adversity. It honors the source of joy, it connects us with other people, and it's good for us.

Why don't we have it? You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.