The Joy Is Back!

Eagle Mountain International Church • December 10, 2018
Stylized banner with the text “The Joy IS BACK!” over sepia-toned silhouettes of people and a cross, with snowy ground.

by Pastor George Pearsons

 

Where’s the joy of Christmas?

That’s a pressing question these days. Researchers tell us that for many, Christmas is the most stressful time of year. More people suffer depression, worry about finances and grieve over the disappointments in their lives during Christmastime than during any other season.

But as born-again believers, you and I have good news for those people. We have the same message for them that the angels had for the shepherds in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. We have “tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10)!

With a smile on your face and a sparkle in your eye, you can lovingly let them know that Jesus has come to help them and deliver them. He has come to heal and prosper them, and bring them peace.

Jesus has come and the joy is back!

People these days need to hear that message as desperately as they needed to hear it that first Christmas night when Jesus was born. They need to hear believers praising God and saying, “Hey, everyone, you don’t have to be depressed. God loves you. He has goodwill toward you. He has sent you a Savior—Jesus Christ, The LORD!”

 

‘But It’s Just Not Enough’

Some people think that message is too simple to solve the complex problems we face today. They think the world is too dark, that times have become too bad. They think the message that lit up the night sky thousands of years ago of “the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” just isn’t enough anymore.

The truth is, if it was enough for the people back then (and it was!), it’s enough for people today. Those were dark times. Joy had disappeared from the nation of Israel. As the Old Testament prophets wrote:



“The vine is dried up and the fig tree fails; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also…even all the trees of the field are withered, so that joy has withered and fled away from the sons of men” (Joel 1:12, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition).

“Joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field” (Jeremiah 48:33, King James Version).

“All joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is banished and gone into captivity” (Isaiah 24:11, AMPC).

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