CHOOSE JOY

Justin has been emphasizing that if you want to read Philippians, you're going to find that everywhere you turn, it's talking about unbreakable joy that the Lord wants to give us.

Unbreakable joy.

And it's a remarkable letter because Paul was in prison when he wrote it.

And so he was writing with the reflection that my circumstances may not make me happy, but I'm filled with joy, and I want to share that.

And all of the message that we've gotten, except for that brief interlude we took on wisdom, all the messages we've gotten since February have been one after another after another.

This is how you find joy.

And it included things like how we pray, that we should be praying with thanksgiving and with joy.

It includes recognizing that we journey now as part of a community, that we don't have to face life alone anymore.

That isn't how it works as believers.

We're all in this together.

Justin helps us to remember that we're on an eternal life path.

And therefore, the the temporal world that we're in, with all of its troubles and struggles, that's not priority anymore.

And that no longer has the authority control us unless we give that up.

Let me just give you a tip that Jill and my wife Jill and I have learned over the years.

There's a difference between happiness and joy.

And as kids, we always want to be happy.

And it sounds so sweet, and it's so unrealistic.

Happiness, I think, is for the most part determined by the circumstances of the day.

Do you have a close friend?

Do you have a happy family?

Are you getting good grades?

Do you have a good job?

And is the sun shining?

And all that kind of yes, they matter, but that's the language of happiness.

Joy is something much, much deeper.

My favorite anacronym, Jesus offers you joy.

J-O-Y.

Jesus offers you joy.

That's what I want to share with you today.

Now the the messages we've already gotten have been amazing.

It's challenging us that it therefore makes us different from the rest of the world, and it's okay to be different.

We don't have to listen to what social media tells us or all of our peers or our boss or anybody else.

We can be different because we're now followers of Christ.

We don't have to worry, we'll get to that in a few minutes.

That we can we can through him.

We can enter into that joy and we can accomplish all things through him.

Yes, we can.

Even in the language last week, that the the way we even give and the generosity that it wants to put in our hearts, it comes out of the joy of knowing who he is and what he seeks to place within us.

So let me ask, how you doing?

How you doing since February?

Are you do you find as you look through the the this year, are you finding that you're you just have more joy?

See, that's what Justin has been challenging us with every week.

There's a choice.

We either choose to motor along in life, putting up with everything and trying to survive and make it with all of our worries, anxieties, fears, and doubts, or we choose to be on a different path.

We choose Jesus, we choose joy.

I I can admit to you, Jill and I, when we got married, we were somewhat churchgoers, but not committed to Christ in a personal way that we keep reminding ourselves is so important now.

But a few years after we got married, we both got really serious about this walk, our relationship with Christ.

And so we've spent these almost 50 years, well, we've been married 50 years, but we've we've spent almost 50 years now on a daily basis seeking to live in Christ.

You know, I'm the vine, you're the branches, seeking to abide in him, seeking to live in this joy that he gives us.

Let me share with you a little bit about the journey that we have been on to discover this.

First, when you get serious about the Word of God in your life, and you really spend more than just listening to it on Sunday or going to a Bible study, but when you really get serious about it, and quantitatively that means at least four days a week, you're in the Word, you're going to find joy is everywhere.

It's throughout the Old Testament, it's in all the celebrations, it's all the giving of children, it's in the interventions that the Lord shows with his people and his work in their lives.

And every once in a while you're finding either a call to rejoice or the people are erupting into a place of joy.

But a real stop point that was for us was the story of Nehemiah.

And I want to just mention that because I think it sets the stage for this business of choosing joy.

Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the Babylonian king in the palace.

And his brother had been in Jerusalem, traveled all the way, and he asked his brother, Hey, how are things in Jerusalem?

And his brother said, It's terrible.

The city is in ruins, the walls aren't even there, there's no gates, it's just rubble.

Nehemiah was overwhelmed with grief and prayed and prayed and prayed and eventually went before the king.

And the king said, You look sad, what can I do for you?

And he said, The city of my forefathers is in ruin.

And uh I'd like to go and make it right.

And of all things, the king said, Okay, I'll make you governor.

He went from cupbearer to governor that quickly.

He heads to Jerusalem, he kind of wakes up all the leaders and says, Hey, we need to rebuild these walls.

And this is in the midst of fierce opposition.

Many people were fighting him.

In fact, in teaching classes on how evil works, I often am turning to Nehemiah to show the intimidation, the innuendos, the written letters, all of it, how we get harassed by the evil one.

And yet, remarkably, they get the wall rebuilt.

They then can begin having safe worship again.

And the priests are out reading the scripture to the people, and they begin weeping.

People are overwhelmed in tears that their lives have not been pleasing to God, that they have not been doing what the word calls them to do.

And they still are in the midst of a whole lot of rubble.

And Nehemiah says, chapter 8, verse 10.

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

I gotta tell you, that's a remarkable setting to proclaim that joy is the strength.

He doesn't say, It's all right, folks, I'll take care of you.

He doesn't go there.

He doesn't say, It's all right, you know, yeah, we'll get better.

He doesn't, he doesn't make any excuses.

He says, there's a strength that we have to find, and it's the joy of the Lord.

And in the midst of those horrific circumstances, that's what he pulls out and says, This is important to us right now, in the midst of all the challenges, the joy of the Lord is your strength.

First time in scripture it appears in that way.

But if you continue on, you find the Psalms talk about rejoicing and joy frequently.

The prophets are often talking about coming into the presence of the Lord and finding that joy.

But remember in the birth of our Savior, the angel came to the shepherds.

Do you remember what he said?

I bring you good news of a great joy.

Of all the things the angel could first announce, I come to bring you good news of a great joy.

That born this day in the city of David is the Savior, Christ our Lord.

God incarnate, man divine, is being birthed in your midst.

Great joy.

Hmm.

And obviously, if you read the gospels, you find, I mean, there's joy everywhere.

People are being healed, people are being uh being forgiven, uh, people are being raised from the dead.

Uh Jesus is bringing good news, the gospel, and people are rejoicing that there's a new way to live, there's something else, and it's this gift that Jesus has of bringing joy.

But what's quite remarkable is even at the end of his life, in the upper room, his last time of sitting with the disciples before he goes to the cross, he keeps bringing up this joy.

That's where we find him teaching that I am the vine, you are the branches.

And he there, he's challenging us to abide in him, and he in us, and so on.

And he's going to grant the Holy Spirit to us.

And then he goes on in chapter 15, verse 11.

He says, These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

So here I am with another question.

Are you full of Jesus' joy?

Oh, it's awful quiet in here.

That's what Jesus wants for us.

He wants us filled with joy.

See what he does, and it's it's it's amazing when we consider the love of God for us.

We live in that place of a fallen, broken world, fallen, broken spirit, broken hearts, struggling minds.

We're in the midst of this fallen world.

It's like we're on the Good Friday side of the cross with all of our struggles.

And Jesus says, I want to I want a complete joy in you.

I want your joy to be full.

So come with me.

Let me take you through the cross.

And I want to take you to the Easter side of the cross.

And I want you to know joy.

Really deep.

This is something we'll never understand, and our feelings might never get in accordance with it.

It's deeper than our thoughts, it's deeper than our feelings.

It's a reality.

The joy of the Lord.

Jesus Himself said that.

What's remarkable is even as he continues to teach, he talks about the fact that he's going to be taken away from us.

And he said, You're going to have sorrow.

He even refers to it like a woman giving birth.

You're going to have sorrow, but then the joy is going to overwhelm you.

The sorrow will turn to joy.

And he says in chapter 16 of John verse 22, you may have sorrow now, but I'll see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

No one can take that away from you.

No human being can rob you of that joy unless you give it up.

That's your choice.

If someone's putting you down, news is putting you down, news is scaring you, social media is taking you out.

Students, listen to this one.

It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about you.

If the joy of the Lord is on the inside.

You don't need to ever give that up.

Are you happy?

Probably, maybe not.

With the number of circumstances we have to face in life, probably not.

Frequently we may not be happy, but the joy is still there.

It's an amazing way to live.

I find it interesting that in Paul's letter to the Galatians, he talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

What is that is that when we give our lives to the Lord, he comes with his spirit as a guarantee that one day we're going to be with him in heaven.

We're now on our walk of eternal life.

That's day one when we have these baptisms for each of those who are baptized.

Day one, they're going to start living this new life.

And the Holy Spirit comes in as the guarantee.

And Paul says it's the fruit of the Spirit.

That is, the Lord is seeking to change our hearts to be more and more like Jesus.

And of course, it's the first expression is love.

That we learned that is agape love is a love that serves others, that surrenders self, that's no longer preoccupied with what I'm doing and what I'm making and how impressed you are with me.

Not that at all.

It's that we're here to serve, we're here to love.

That's the first thing he says.

But what's the very next description of what this fruit is all about?

Joy.

He even puts it before the word peace or patience or kindness or goodness.

Joy is the companion of this love.

Every time we snuggle up to the Lord, we not only come to know his love and his redemption, his salvation, his forgiveness, his spirit.

Joy.

Hallelujah.

Jesus, you love me.

You have a purpose for my life.

You're going to redeem this day.

I have to admit I was caught off guard in the journey that Jill and I have taken over the years.

There's a prayer in the Book of Common Prayer written by one of my professors years ago.

And it said, Lord, thank you for the disappointments and failures that cause me to depend upon you alone.

Did you hear that?

If you're having a difficult time in life, the Lord is allowing it.

He may not be causing it, but he may be allowing it.

Why?

So you turn more to him.

So you get into that place of joy and you realize he's got this.

He's got this because he's got me.

Does that make sense?

That's what this journey that Justin's been taking on us on for for most of this year is all about.

Making the choice, joy.

Making the choice.

So with all of that big long introduction, I'm going to start the message, okay?

All right.

All right, thanks.

Okay.

Now, I want us to return to, and I told Justin I want to do this, and he said, go for it.

So I want us to return to Philippians chapter 4.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

And here it is again.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I say, rejoice.

This is Philippians chapter 4, verse 4.

Philippians 4:4

Let your reasonableness, or some translations are gentleness, be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand.

Your reasonableness, that is, you have figured it out.

You now are living by faith.

You're not going to live by circumstances.

You're not going to live by your feelings.

You're not going to live in the, I've got to figure this out.

That's not going to be your mantra anymore.

You're going to live in the joy of the Lord.

You are redeemed.

You are a new creation.

The old is gone, the new has come, and you're the new.

Isn't that awesome?

I mean, just think about that.

We're new creations every day, because the Lord says so.

Because we're living on the Easter side of the cross.

So he says, let your reasonableness, let your gentleness, let people know.

Let everybody know.

This is just how you live.

They may not understand it, they may put you down, it doesn't matter.

Because you belong to the Lord now.

Rejoice.

Hmm.

But then he goes on and says in verse 6, do not be anxious about anything.

But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Do not be anxious about anything.

Don't worry about anything.

And as Justin said a few weeks ago when he was teaching on this, it sounds so ridiculous to even be told that.

What do you mean, don't worry?

What are you talking about?

How do you not?

Well, he teaches us what to do with that anxiety, what to do with that worry.

And it's also, I find it interesting that in his letter to the Corinthians, his second letter, or at least what we have is recorded as a second letter, in chapter 11, he mentions, besides, I have the daily anxiety for all the churches.

It's not that Paul's saying, you won't have anxiety anymore, and anxiety will bounce off you because you're a Christian now.

It's not that at all.

That's not what he's saying.

He's saying, don't be anxious because now you have a place to give that anxiety up.

Let me tell you a story.

It was a place in my life of high anxiety.

In fact, I don't think my son Josh has ever heard the story.

It was about 47 years ago.

I was uh flying in, I was the back seater, crew of four in an S3.

Our squadron was the last squadron to receive brand new planes out of the Lockheed plant.

And we were learning all the systems and we were having to get training hours in it, of course.

We're in San Diego.

It was December.

And my buddy, one of the pilots, said, Hey, Fred, let's let's go cross-country and get some hours.

And I went, sure, we can do that.

He said, Where do you want to go?

And I said, Well, what are your thoughts?

And he said, Well, it is near Christmas.

Why don't we get up in the Northeast and take Christmas presents to our family?

I said, Well, that's cool, sure.

So we drafted uh another pilot to come with us and one of the sensor operators with us.

And so we take off from San Diego on a Friday afternoon and go, Great, we're gonna go up to New England, deliver Christmas presents, see the family.

This is a great training session.

Come on, it's it's a training session, folks.

This is the military.

We're doing our job.

We just happen to be going to deliver Christmas presents to our family.

So so where are we gonna go?

He asked me, and I said, Well, there's there's a base right next to our town called called Otis Air Force Base or Otis Air National Guard base.

The name was changing a little bit during that time, and I didn't quite know whether it was Air Force or National Guard, but good enough because they were military and they had the kind of fuel we needed.

Because obviously, after cross-country flight in a jet uh in a jet aircraft that's meant to fly off of carriers, we didn't have a lot of fuel by the time we got to the East Coast.

So we're about 45 minutes out, 30 minutes out from Otis Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

And uh the air traffic controller says, uh, by the way, guys, I see you filed to Otis.

Uh, they're closed this weekend.

Who's responsible for the flight?

I'm the airborne navigator.

The pilot who's sitting, you know, two, three feet away from me, my my best buddy, still my best buddy, uh, Bill turns to me and says, Uh, Fred, find us another location quick.

I mean, this is before Chat GPT, I tell you.

This is before the internet.

Find a place to land the plane quick.

I quickly look at the books and go, Well, there's a National Guard uh facility at Bradley International Airport outside of Hartford.

And he said, Okay, we'll go there.

Give me new vectors.

Okay, so it did that.

We notified the air traffic control that we were going to Bradley International Airport.

At this point, the co-pilot, who is a what's a nice, I gotta use a nice word.

A nerd about rules starts screaming, we can't take a secret aircraft into a civilian international base.

And the pilot, my friend, says, Yes, we can.

We have Christmas presents to deliver.

So we fly to Bradley.

We land at the international airport.

Big, beautiful runway.

It goes on forever when you're in the little plane.

And uh we get to the end of the runway, and the tower says, November golf, what are your intentions?

And we said, We're going over to the National Guard base.

And he said, Well, that's fine, but as I'm looking over from the tower, I don't see any lights on.

It's all totally dark over there, but I'll give you a vector.

That is not what you want to hear.

That was certainly not what the co-pilot wanted to hear.

He starts screaming to us, we're gonna be arrested, we're gonna be court-martialed, we don't have fuel to go anywhere else.

It was right at the edge of we're gonna die.

You know, that kind of really, really encouraging and supporting.

So we get the vector, we go off on the taxiway, we get over towards this black building, all dark and no lights.

Bill turns to me and says, Fred, you better get out a flashlight and taxi us in.

Now, my experience with taxing a flashlight is the experience that probably all of you have had if you've been on a commercial flight.

You've seen out the window, there's guys down there with flashlights who apparently know what they're doing, and the pilot follows them.

That was my entire exposure to taxiing an aircraft.

So I'm about To get out of the aircraft, to grab a flashlight, to taxi my buddy in a jet aircraft in a location I can't see and I've never been before.

What was my prayer?

Oh God help.

Just about to get out of the aircraft.

My heart is pounding out of my chest.

The co-pilot is still saying we're going to be court-martialed.

And my buddy says, Wait a minute, wait a minute.

There's a truck coming.

It's got a flashing light on it.

And my first thought was, They're coming to get us.

That's it.

And then he goes, wait a minute, wait a minute.

It's a yellow flashlight.

It's yellow gear.

They might be coming to help.

Oh, please God, yes.

Let it be so.

The guy comes, opens up the hatch.

It's easier to open from the outside.

He sticks his head in and he says, Hey guys, um, sorry.

I'm I'm on duty here for the weekend.

I just ran over to the terminal to get a late dinner.

Um, but yeah, I'm here for the night.

I'll take care of your plane.

I'll make sure you're refueled for your flight tomorrow morning.

Uh, you're good to go.

Come on down.

Deliverance.

It changed that quick because God provided one person to completely change the circumstances.

There's a biblical account of this happening.

It's one of my favorites.

It comes, it goes all the way back to 2 Kings.

It was in the days when you had the nation of Israel to the north and the nation of Judah to the south.

Uh, it was the time that the kings of all the nations would fight each other in the spring to get the food or the summer, whenever they'd they'd always be fighting each other.

And the king of Aram was eager to conquer yet another Jewish settlement in order to get the food and you know, take possession of the land and so on.

And every time he went to move, he found the the Israeli army was already there.

So he c he was certain that he had somebody who was a traitor in his midst.

And his leaders came to him and said, No, no, you're we don't have a traitor.

Uh Israel has this prophet named Elijah, or if you prefer Elisha, and he always tells the king of Israel where we're going to go.

And he said, So he rallies his uh king of Aram, rallies his army and says, Go get this guy.

Take him out.

Interesting story, don't you think?

So the servant of the man of God, the servant of the prophet, rose early in the morning and went out.

Behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city.

The servant said, Alas, my master, what shall we do?

Now picture this a little bit.

The guy's just trying to serve the prophet, just trying to do his job, you know, recording his prophecies and other things.

And he gets up in the morning, and the entire city that they're living in is surrounded by the army ready to destroy them and take them captive.

You can understand the anxiety.

Kind of higher than most of the anxiety we face, don't you think?

And the prophet says, Don't be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

Can I repeat that?

Do not be afraid.

Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

We hear that in the New Testament all the time, don't we?

He who is within us is greater than he who is in the world.

Do you believe that?

Well, maybe three of you do.

Do you believe that?

Yes, he who is within you is greater than he is in the world.

Paul writes to Romans and says, We are more than conquerors through him who loves us.

Maybe it all goes back to this very story.

Now listen to what the prophet says next.

Then Elijah prayed and said, Oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.

So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw.

And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elijah.

Do you get it?

There is a spiritual world that I know we, if we're not paying attention to, we often take for granted, or we don't believe, or we ignore it.

And it's always present.

The angel of the Lord encamps those who fear him and delivers them.

That's right out of Psalms.

We always have spiritual forces at work for us.

We always have an advocate and a guide.

Officially, according to Jesus, that's the Holy Spirit.

But apparently they use angels and all sorts of other things to assist us.

Do you hear what he says?

Just open their eyes, let them see.

They don't have to be afraid.

He doesn't have to be afraid anymore.

The story goes on.

I'll just summarize it.

Elijah says, Lord, blind the all the whole army so they can't see.

And they're blinded.

And the servant says, What should we do?

And Elisha says, Let's let's escort them to the capital city of Samaria.

So they they they guide these troops and they say the troops, you guys are in the wrong place here.

We'll take you.

They're all blind.

They get to the capital city, and the king of Israel says, Father, referring to in respect to the prophet, says, What should I do?

Shall I kill them?

He says, He says, kill them.

No.

You don't kill your guests.

Serve them a nice meal.

And oh Lord, open their eyes.

Their eyes are opened.

They have a big meal with the king of Israel.

They go back home.

The king of Aram never attacked Israel again.

I want to say from my science and engineering background, this story is so crazy, it has to be true.

No one could invent a story like this.

That's the wonder of staying in the Word of God.

You begin believing things that don't make sense, but you know it's true.

And that's the game changer for our lives.

It really is.

So how do we get rid of the anxiety that comes upon us all the time over our jobs, over our health, or over the illness of loved ones, or over all the other kind of stuff we wrestle with?

Paul tells us back in Philippians.

He says, have no anxiety about anything, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.

So when we get something that we're anxious about, what do we do?

What's the first thing we're told to do?

Pray.

Give it up to higher authority.

Say, Lord, I'm getting overwhelmed by this, I can't deal with this here.

Prayer.

And I love that word out of the ESV supplication.

I know we don't use it much in our English language anymore, but it means a humble, heartfelt offering.

Oh Lord, I really need your help here.

Would you please take this, Lord?

And yes, offer it with thanksgiving.

Lord, thank you that I can turn all of this over to you and you have it.

And I don't need to be concerned about it.

To be honest, it's a great daily trip.

If you can't sleep, get on your knees at your bed before you go to bed and give all your anxieties and concerns to the Lord.

Just give them up and say, Lord, you've got this.

If you want me to take it back in the morning, I'll take it, but I need to sleep now and you know that.

So here, Lord.

And it really works as you practice that.

So there's a three-step process.

Do you hear that?

It's a choice to choose joy.

It's to say, Lord, I've got this anxiety, this fear, this worry.

I'm going to give it to you.

And humbly I just turn to you, Lord.

And Lord, thank you that you redeem everything and you've redeemed me.

So I don't have to be concerned about this.

And I give you thanks.

Prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving.

What does the Lord do in return?

We're told in that verse, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

Now, how's that?

Students, how's that?

You give up all the stuff that's bothering you, and God says, okay, I'll give you peace, and I'm gonna guard your mind so you don't get preoccupied with it again.

You don't keep going back to it, and I'm gonna protect your heart with the peace that you have in Jesus.

I'm gonna do that for you.

Wow.

What a transaction.

We give him our crap, and he gives us his peace that we have in Christ to guard our hearts and minds.

Now, if you take it back and you take the anxiety back, give it back to him again.

Give it back and then leave it there.

Let it go.

And if he wants you to have a role in resolving that, he will.

He'll make that clear.

A phone call to somebody else?

A call to an employee or employer or a friend, whatever.

He'll show you what that is through the Spirit.

He'll show you.

But you don't have to be anxious, you don't have to worry.

Because you've given it to the Lord.

It's a wonderful way to live.

It's just like if a student has has a crisis at school, hopefully they go to the parent and say, I've got a problem here.

Or they go to the teacher or the coach and say, I need help here.

That's what we're doing.

We're just turning to our coach, our advocate, Holy Spirit, and giving it to the Lord, lifting it to him.

And he says, Okay, I've got that.

I've got that anyways, but because I've got so many forces at work you don't even see, but I've got that one.

I'm just giving it to you to see if you trust me.

Even in this.

The result, a peace of God passes all understanding.

Now, what's fascinating is the passage doesn't end there.

Listen to verse 8.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Now, what he's saying is, we may not get this all right away, but if there's any sense that this makes sense today, any sense at all that this might be a preferred way to live, listen to how he ends.

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

It's not something that we get overnight.

Because the next day there's gonna be new anxieties, there are gonna be new fears, there are gonna be new worries.

Okay.

Well, we practice, we practice, we practice.

Jill and I have been at this now, as I said, almost 50 years.

Yeah.

And you get to a place where the joy comes a whole lot quicker.

The peace is amazing.

Those of you who've been at this for more than a few years, you know what I'm talking about.

This is true.

You gotta practice it.

You've got to learn that when you're getting things that are robbing you of the peace or the joy or the presence of God, it's time to pray.

Because that's what we do.

We pray to the Lord with humble hearts, and we say, Thank you, Lord, you've got this, and I'm gonna get on with what I feel I need to do for you, Lord.

Let me give you one final picture, one final image.

It's one that you may uh have heard of often, and it's that of a soaring eagle.

Now, I learned a long time ago that a soaring eagle is uh, well, certainly if you've seen soaring eagles, they're majestic.

They're beautiful, aren't they?

Um They're not on the endangered list anymore, they're in all 50 states.

Uh we've had the privilege of seeing the skies filled with angels or uh angels, yeah, eagles up in Alaska.

Um they're different from other birds, as I understand, because they don't actually normally flap their wings.

Often they flap their wings only for balance.

They often don't even take off uh by flapping their wings like a normal normal bird, another bird.

Um they just put out their wings.

They will come to the edge of the tree or the a cliff and just put out their arms and they just soar.

They wait for the wind to pick them up and they just begin to soar.

Interesting, isn't it?

They wait for the wind.

Interesting in scripture that uh one of the common words for Holy Spirit is air, wind, breath, life, spirit.

They wait for the spirit, the wind, to pick them up and allow them to soar.

That's why they always look so majestic.

Oh, sure, if they're caught in a tree or whatever, they're they got to get through branches and then they just start soaring.

But what but and another trivia I just heard this morning back in the in the in the sound booth area.

Um, eagles have to do something else, though.

They they live for many years and their beaks continue to grow.

They actually have to break off the beaks.

Good, I'm seeing some heads nodding.

You knew that.

I didn't know that until about an hour ago.

Um, and they have to grow new beaks.

Can you imagine they have to give up the old to grow the new?

And that's been used in Christian messages, I understand, for a while, uh, because it's like us.

We have to unlearn our bad habits, the old, so we can begin learning the new.

But there's something else I want to show you, because eagles can get harassed by one type of bird, and it's called a crow.

And if the eagle has disturbed the crow, the crow will actually attach itself to the back of the eagle and attack and attack and attack.

But what's very interesting about the eagle, the eagle doesn't try to fight it, doesn't dive into the water to get it off, doesn't twist and turn and agonize.

The eagle apparently just continues to soar.

And the eagle goes higher and higher and higher, going into the cooler and lighter air where the crow can't live.

And the crow has to let go.

You may recall in Isaiah chapter 40 Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

We are not just attached to this ground anymore.

We're called to be eagles for the Lord.

And when that enemy starts attacking us with anxieties or fears or doubts or worries, it just keeps soaring.

Because that that stuff doesn't want to live in the presence of God where we do.

It's a daily choice, often moment by moment choice.

Let me encourage you, as one who's been on this journey a long time, choose joy.

It's the best way to live.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Guess what we need to do next?

Guess what we get to do next?

And again, it's a choice.

If you didn't get a little cup of juice and bread, you're welcome to go back.

They're in the baskets as you come in.

What's interesting is I've I've invited you to consider today there's a transaction.

We give the Lord our worries, anxieties, and fears with prayer and thanksgiving and supplication, and he gives us his peace.

That's a transaction that doesn't make sense.

It doesn't seem fair.

And it's not.

The Lord has died for us, he's given us our lives and his life as well.

But on a daily basis, he wants us to give up the concerns of our lives so that he can give us peace.

It's an amazing transaction.

The same thing happens here.

And I invite you to consider each each Sunday when we do this, we are giving him our lives, and he gives us his.

This is a reminder.

Taking that ancient Hebrew Passover meal of the days of Moses and giving it a whole new meaning.

Because the Passover lamb is Jesus, and the blood that protects us is Jesus.

Why does Jesus want us to be connected with him?

Because his plan for our lives is that we be filled with joy.

Because we're living with him.

Let's take the bread.

Father, we do ask your blessing upon this bread that it would be for us, the body of our Lord.

And as we take this bread, Lord, we give you our lives that we might receive yours.

Let's take the bread.

Because the blood of Jesus has cleansed us.

It is finished.

We thank you that nothing else needs to be added to what Jesus has done for us.

And therefore, Lord, as we receive this cup, may it be for us the reminder that we are new in Jesus our Savior.

Let's drink the cup.

Please, this week choose joy.

Practice it and practice it until it becomes second nature.

And just enjoy the blessings.

Thanks, buddy.