Sunday Words of Encouragement December 5, 2010

The Second Candle in Advent this year for us represents Joy!  Today our Pastor explained that Joy means "cheerfulness, calm delight."
 

• Joy is required of a righteous person - Phil 4:4
• Joy is produced by the Spirit - Gal 5:22-23
• Joy looks beyond the present to our salvation - 1 Peter 1:8
• Joy focuses on our Sovereign God - Heb 12:2
• Joy is possible even in the midst of trials and sorrow - John 16:22, 24; Acts 13: 50-52 and 2Cor 6:4

You have a choice... you can be miserable or joyful.  Which do you choose?  God gives Joy if we accept it!

This is not the ususal Joy to the World 

but rather

Joy to the world - a Christmas Prayer

sung by Nick Jonas

A Verse for today:

Isaiah 35:10

  ...and those the LORD has rescued will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
   everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
   and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

My prayer today matches the song lyrics:

Every year at Christmas
All I can see
Are pictures of the things I want
Around the tree
But this year’s a little different
I’m not thinking of myself
So my prayer for this Christmas
Is for somebody else

(Chorus)
So I pray…
Joy To the World
Peace for every boy and girl
Hope when life is hard
Light when everything seems dark

God I know you’re listening
And you can hear
The need of every broken heart
And all their tears
I don’t have a lot to offer
Just this one simple prayer
That this Christmas everyone would know
Somebody cares…

(Chorus)
So I pray…
Joy To the World
Peace for every boy and girl
Hope when life is hard
Light when everything seems dark

I pray that every hungry soul
Will be filled and will be warm
That not a single, solitary child
Would suffer harm

And Lord we find their ending
As we take another view
My hope is that this Christmas prayer
Would somehow come true


I pray…
Humanity would rise
And join with me
And together we’ll sing

Joy To the World (To all the world)
Peace (Peace) for every boy and girl (for every boy and girl)
(Talking bout hope) Hope when life is hard (when life is hard)
Light when everything seems dark

I pray that (I pray) every hungry soul
Will be filled and will be warm
(Not a single child) That not a single, solitary child
Would suffer harm

And Lord we find their ending
As we take another view
My hope is that this Christmas prayer
Would somehow come true…

Joy To the World
Peace for every boy and girl