Can’t Steal my Joy

This past weekend was the 3rd Sunday in Advent and we were in conversation about Joy.  In celebration of the Joy that comes with the Christ child, we encouraged the FaithPoint community to wear ugly Christmas sweaters to worship.  We had some really amazing outfits as a result.

We celebrate because the joy that we have isn’t swayed by fate or circumstances.  The joy we encounter through the life, death and resurrection of Christ gives us sure footing of a hope filled future.  Our response to the unconditional love and grace of God is a joy that bubbles up in ways that make us want to dance like no one is watching.  This is exactly what King David felt in 2 Samuel when he danced before the ark.

This kind of joy is something that cannot be taken away from us, but it can be lost in the clutter of life.

A community in search of Joy

FaithPoint takes seriously the understanding that God’s grace is given to all of us while we are still sinners.  This is evident in all that we do as a community of faith.  It is central to our mission of being a community of real people, living real lives, encountering a real and life-changing faith in Jesus Christ.  Our goal is to take the next step of faith each and every day. This looks different for each of us, but as we move closer and closer to who God wants us to be we encounter joy that changes our personal hearts, our community of faith and the world.

I am so blessed to be the pastor of FaithPoint because of the diversity of the congregation.  I was reminded of this fact this past weekend when one of our young people wore an ugly (awesome) sweater with Yoda on it and I was wearing a Darth Vader themed sweater.  This dichotomy got me thinking about the way we have spiritual Yodas sitting next to others who wrestle with this God thing (think Vader’s struggle to obey the emperor or save Luke at the end of Return of the Jedi).  We have folks who are all over the theological, socioeconomic, employment, family, and relational maps and we come together as one church.  We are drawn together by the things that unify us rather then the few things that divide.

FaithPoint is not perfect.  We don’t get it right all of the time, but we do have joy.  In the times of plenty and lean times we have joy.  Our hearts sing together as we celebrate graduations, new jobs, baptisms and people serving for the first time.  Our hearts also break for the things that break God’s heart.  We mourn together, pray for healing together, long for a better world and partner with God to make that better place a reality here and now rather than wait for it to come to us.

Finding your place

If you are reading this post and are part of FaithPoint I am so proud to be your pastor as we continue to prepare for the Christ child.  I would challenge you this week to find a way to spread your Advent joy to others this week in tangible ways.  Sometimes this is just letting your joy shine through and doing things like starting your own little dance party.  Other times it means listening and then responding in some way to meet the needs around you.

If you are looking for a faith community or just reading through and made it to the end of this post… thank for sticking it out.  FaithPoint would love for you to be our guest on Christmas eve at Urbana Middle School at 7:30pm.  We would be proud to be your church.  We also know that church is not a one size fits all thing, so if FaithPoint isn’t the place where you feel called to be a part of we would love to help you find the right community for you and your family.

May you have a great rest of your week and I hope to see you soon

Be God’s

Chris