How Joy Manifests Through Christian Living | Trinity Talks Podcast

Good morning everybody. Good morning. Good morning and welcome to Trinity Talks. Thank

you. Yes. So this is actually a special little episode we have here because I call these the

original three. We are over half a year into our Trinity Talks. And so we had Martin, Linda,

and Bruce join us as the very first guests on Trinity Talks. And we were just talking about

how we didn't have headphones back then. Yeah. No. We've stepped up and now you've got the

headphones on. And you've got three cameras. Yes. Yeah. That's right. So it's changed. So when

you come back in six months, who knows what will happen. Who knows? We'll have VR. We'll be on

hoverboards. I don't know. Or VR, exactly. All right. Well, we are talking today about joy. And

we've been working as a church through the sermon series all about the fruit of the spirit. So we

are going to be talking not just about fruit, but we're also going to be talking about joy today.

And we're going to be going through some of the sermon questions that we post online. How does

that sound? All right. Sure. All right. So every week here at Trinity during this sermon series,

we are going to be focusing on a specific, as I said, fruit of the spirit, but also a specific

fruit just to keep it fun and interesting. And what fruit was it today? Mangoes. Excellent. You

guys like mangoes? Love mangoes. Absolutely. They're all right. Okay. Perfect. All right. Well,

I've got three mangoes in a dish here. And on each of those mangoes is a letter J, O, or Y

to spell joy. So I'm going to pass each of you a mango. And then I'd like you to think about

something that might spark joy within yourselves that starts with that letter. All right. So I'm

going to pass that bowl over to you now. Thank you.

So can everyone let the camera know what letters you have? Martin? I have an O.

Linda, I have a Y and Bruce. And I got the Sunday School Mango with J. All right. So what

sparks joy with you? Let's start with you, Bruce. It sounds like you've got an answer.

Well, Jesus, of course. Of course. Of course. The Sunday School answer. Jesus.

That's right. Yep. You've got an easy one. Let's continue on by spelling joy. And after J comes

O. So Martin, you've got the O. Maybe a little tricky. That's a tricky one. That's a tricky one.

But how about optimism? Optimism gives me joy. Optimism. That's a great one. Excellent. I was

personally going to say octopus, but I like I almost stole that. But optimism is a good answer.

I could steal that. But I could know. Optimism is great. And now we come to Linda with Y.

And this was a really tough one. But and I didn't steal yours. I came up with Yule.

Christmas brings me great joy because it's good news. Wow. Excellent. All right. I like all of

those answers. Very good. And you guys get the joy of holding onto those mangoes for this whole

show because I don't really feel like getting up again. If you feel like just biting into one,

you're welcome to. We don't have a cleaver. You don't. You don't know. So that might be a little

messy. All right. So I'm going to go through some of the questions like I mentioned. And we do post

them online under services and sermon questions. So if anyone out there is interested in just

sort of following along or in going through the questions yourselves, you can go to them on our

website as well. You can actually email us and we will put you on a mailing list where we will

notify you when they come up and they can come straight to your email as well. Some people

don't know that, but we have people who are on our sermon notes group. All right. So the very

first question is why do you think many Christians, sorry, lack joy despite being a fruit of the

spirit? Joy is one of the fruits of the spirit. But certainly I think we can all admit that like

not every Christian is demonstrating joy all the time. So why do you think that's the case?

Well, Rob mentioned three. And I would, I would guess one of the biggest ones would have to be

disbelief. I think that, you know, not believing that we can have the fruits of the spirit from

from God and not trusting God. Just disbelief. Yeah. I think it's a disappointment.

I think that maybe that goes hand in hand with disbelief, though, because I think that there's

a misconception that if you believe that everything is just going to go swimmingly for you. And I

don't think that there's anywhere that God promises as a rose garden. I think if we go through the

Bible, there's more instances where people of faith struggled than had it easy. And so I think that

the disappointment is something people just have to understand that believing is not a free ticket

to an easy life. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and Jesus tells us that too. Like he says, you are going to

have troubles in your life. That's right. I'm not promising that it's going to be an easy rod that

but that he will be there for us through every step of the way. And that can give us great joy.

Yeah. So disbelief, disappointment can sort of side rail us from joy. Yeah. Yeah.

So how do you think understanding that God loves us unconditionally, which is our belief

and that he has done everything for our salvation can lead to joy? Like having that in our minds

and that in our hearts? Once you believe that, all the possibility for disappointment, for disbelief

vanishes. Yes. You understand that God loved us before we were even born. Yeah. And that God

still loves us. And no matter what we do, God loves us. So nothing that we can do is going to change

that or improve on it. That's good. Yeah. We are unconditionally loved and I can't help but feel

joy when I think of that. When you think about that, it doesn't get much better.

And also, when you have a Savior who died for you on the cross, nothing that happens to you

and can ever match what Jesus endured for us. And how can that not bring joy to you?

It's not always a happiness, but it's a joy. It's an inner... It's interesting because when I was

thinking about joy, I was thinking about inner peace, but that's another week. So we won't steal

that. We won't steal that thunder, but it really is almost like an inner peace, a piece of the song,

a piece that passes understanding. And so I just can't imagine how you can cope through struggles

without realizing that Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for you. Which is so helpful, right?

Yeah. In the long run, isn't it? I mean, all of us want love. And what greater joy to know that

somebody loved us so much, loved us so much that he was willing to do that for us and is there for

us every day. Amazing. Amazing. So how do you think... And I think, Bruce, you alluded to this. How do

you think Christian joy that we're talking about differs from worldly happiness? I think happiness

is circumstantial. That's what I was going to say. I think it comes and goes. We are happy when good

things happen. We are happy when there's an event in our life, like a birthday. My son-in-law graduated

yesterday and a plug for Isaac. Root, root. Yeah, that's right. But it's just you're happy about those

things. But joy is different. Joy is something that you experience no matter what. I remember

Laura and I were in a car accident and it was not just a fender bender. And the couple that hit us

said to us, you must go to church because you're not angry with us. Really? Okay. And it's just that

sort of thing where when bad things happen, you can look at it and put it in perspective and it

doesn't consume you. It just sounds so practical and wise at the same time. Yeah. I was going to say,

add to that about the joy, difference between joy and happiness is you can still be joyful even if

you're not happy. You can still be relishing something coming up in the future or remembering

something from the past. And in this case, when we're joyful, when we're filled with the spirit,

because of what God has done for us, that's all the time. So you can still grieve. You can still

have sadness. You can still grieve. You can still be sorrowful. You can still be, but you can still

have joy at the same time. Very good. I love that. Why do you think Paul says that we can rejoice even

in our sufferings? Do you think that's for that reason? For those reasons. For those reasons. Yeah.

So let's discuss some practical ways that we can remain joyful daily. It does seem like it's

something that needs to be practiced in order to be cultivated by the spirit, to be grown within us.

I think every day focusing on what God has done for us and being thankful, you know, like

start your day. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be thankful in it.

That starts your day off on just the right footing, you know. Just refocusing. Don't

focus on what's happening in your life that's stressing you out or eating your joy, but think

about what the ultimate joy giver. Ah, so focusing on Jesus, on God. Yes. Yeah. Making it a daily

practice. Gratitude, I heard it there too. I was going to say gratitude. Yeah. The attitude of

gratitude or whatever that phrase came from, I really like it. I like it too. Keeping that

foremost in your mind. As you said, I start the day too by saying that same little thing,

that same little prayer that Linda said. Nice. You know, this is the day that the Lord has made.

Let's rejoice in it. Beautiful. Yep. I agree with what they said. I don't think I could

say it any better. Yeah. Amazing. All right. So how can we address maybe these disbeliefs,

disappointments? And I think Rob also mentioned detachment in our lives. So how do you think we

can address those maybe on the daily, even? Disappointments that sort of creep in

probably almost every day, right? Yeah. Or a detachment or even disbelief because we're

thrown so many other messages, right? Every day. I think having practices or habits, developing

habits that keep you in touch with God, Bible study, reading the Bible, praying,

listening, taking time to sort of shut everything out and listen to see what God is saying to you.

Those things help you understand what he's really saying and what he's really doing for you and what

he's done for you and understand the significance of it. Yeah. And when you understand that

significance and realize how, you know, we're such a little tiny, almost insignificant spec

in God's creation and he has his arms around us. Yeah. That you can't help.

The magnificence of God just brings joy. Yeah. And you can think about that in many different

ways. And when you start your, I start my, like to start my day off that way. But even during the

day, sometimes you just stop and, wow, look at all this that's going on. It sounds like a different

perspective. It also sounds like a discipline. Yeah. Yeah. Surrounding yourself with other

believers or other people. And this is going to be a plug for life groups, but getting involved in

in a life group where you've got another support system, people that are walking with you and

that are praying for you, that can help you through the tough times when you're disappointed or

you're feeling detached because we're all going to go through those times. As we said, you know,

God is not a recipe for a perfect life. So we are going to have challenges and to have

somebody that can, you know, steer you off the path. It's destruction or whatever and or the

disappointment. And, and I find that that gives us, it gives me certainly a great deal of support,

help, joy. Awesome. Wonderful. I think there's a few things for me. One of them is intentionality.

It's kind of like what Martin was saying about habits. Just, just choosing to focus on God

at those times where it seems difficult to. But the other thing is I get, I find that the joy

comes to me if I am expending myself. If I'm doing something for others, that gives me much more joy

than anything else. It's not always easy. Sometimes those are the most difficult times. But at the

end of the day, you're ex-op, you might be exhausted, you might be completely worn out, but there's a

joy that you cannot describe by doing that. By serving others. And Jesus tells us that, right?

Yes. He tells us to do this. Yeah. I love it. Actually, it stuck with me, but we had a, I guess

preacher last summer, and he talks to us about how we can deal with heart emotions. And he was

talking about when we have bad emotions, the best antidote for that is serving others. Yeah.

Yeah. Which I mean is certainly, certainly a Biblical base there. Jesus tells us to do that.

It takes you out of, out of your circumstances. And it changes your focus. And as Bruce says,

there is a warmth in your heart when you feel as if you've made it a difference for somebody,

even if it's just a smile or a hug. It's, it's very difficult to not be joyful if you're loving

others. It's almost, it's almost an impossibility. If you're expressing love for others, then it's

absolutely impossible to not be joyful because it's counterintuitive. There's a disconnect there.

So focusing on loving others will automatically bring joy to your heart. Beautiful. Very good.

Beautiful. Yeah. So, and I think Bruce, you mentioned this in your car accident story,

is how can our joy be a testimony to others about the transforming power of the Holy Spirit?

Well, people can see it in your actions or reactions and how you handle the circumstance.

Yeah. Some circumstances. Yeah. We have a woman in our life that has given several circumstances

where she has had people approach her and say, you must be Christian. Can you pray for me?

Really? Yes. All right. And these are people maybe that she doesn't know before?

She's never met before. Okay. In the airport, in the coffee shop. I don't know if I give off that

same aura. I would love to think that I do. But that's my goal for people to recognize me as a

child of God because they can see him in me. Right. And joy would be one of those fruits that come

forth. The bubble forth. Yes. For sure. Many years ago, Laura and I decided that we were going to try

to be, bring joy to people's lives when we interact with them, whether it's a cashier,

whether it's a waiter, server at a restaurant, whatever. Okay. And at the beginning, it was

kind of like one of those things you had to be, as I mentioned earlier, intentional about. And you

had to remember, okay, I'm, this person is here to do their job. And rather than making their lives

miserable, we want to make their lives better. And it, but over time, that intentionality

changed to us just now being in the habit, as Martin said. Yeah. About this is how we are.

And, and so we are great friends with the cashier at our grocery store.

Well, right. And it's just that sort of thing happens over time. And I don't know if we make

a difference in our life, but she, she always, you know, if one of us is missing, she asks where

we are. And it's just one of those things where I think it's, I think it's important for those small,

reasonably intangible things that we can do. That's, that's great. I think it's, I think it's

lovely. Yeah. God encourages us to be relational. And that, you know, like, and this is part of it,

you know, reaching out to other people and, right. So sometimes these interactions, like you said,

you said you could like make their life miserable, or maybe just even insignificant. Yes. But you

have the opportunity every time you're interacting with someone. What's the point of complaining

about a trivial, small thing in a grocery store? Like, when, like when you think about it that way,

we're all laughing at it. We all laughed, but we've all seen it. We've probably all done it.

And it's just one of those things where, where it's just a choice. And soon the choice becomes

a lifestyle. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You can make a habit out of probably any practice, right? It's

just what practice do you choose to do? Yeah. Yeah. And let's choose joy. So maybe we're just

going to end with the last question here on my list, which says, let's share ways to build a

joyful community. And I think we've already touched on some of those. And how can we support each

other in experiencing joy? Do you think it's something that we can talk about freely with

each other, encourage one another? I don't know if it's something that everybody can,

but I think that it's something that everybody should try. Yeah. And as Bruce says, eventually,

with the intention of it, you can develop the habit. Because as I said, God wants us to be

relational. And if you can share your joy with somebody else and be with them when they're,

they don't seem to be having their joy, and you can share some of yours, then I think that's,

the world would be a better place if everybody could do that.

So just be a joyful person. I find it hard to improve on some of the things that Bruce is saying.

Yeah. Yeah. Making it part of your daily life activities and showing that to others. I think

there are times when you can keep your eye out for someone who definitely needs encouragement.

And then maybe needs a shot in the arm. So then you can ask the Holy Spirit to just film,

fill you with joy for a little while so you can go and give something to them.

Absolutely. Absolutely. The change comes from within.

And I think if we're struggling with, we feel a lack of joy or we're

disappointed or something, reaching out to somebody gives them the opportunity and makes

them feel good. But it also allows you to, as in, you know, the proverbs or Psalms to be able to

share what's bothering you perhaps and be supported through it.

Well, thanks for that, Linda, because you're right. We might need that encouragement as well.

Yeah. So reaching out. That's great. Thank you. So we're going to wrap up our Trinity Talks here.

But before we do, I did promise you that I'd ask you all what your favorite fruit was because we're

talking fruit. So I can't forget that. So let's just switch gears. And I'd love to hear everyone's

favorite fruit. We did this last week as well. And we're going to continue through the Sermon

series starting with Martin. Blueberries. Blueberries. That's my favorite color. It's my favorite fruit.

Coming up next week, you don't want to miss it. We're doing blueberries. You stole my fruit.

You're allowed to have the same favorite fruit. You are buried after all. Yes. Blueberries.

Blueberries. Great. Now we know why you guys got together.

I have a lot of favorite fruits. But believe it or not, mango. I think if I had to choose a fruit,

I would probably choose mango. Amazing. Perfect. How appropriate that you are here with us today.

Excellent. So we're going to end off by just saying this is the day Lord has made. Let us

rejoice and be glad. And let's be joyful today, Trinity. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thank you very much.