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Weimar University

Don Mackintosh

Education and Joy

Wonderful to see all of you today and some of you I've seen more than others this week.

And it's been good to get to know some of you quite well this week and spend some time with you.

And I thought of a text today that we would think about, and this is the idea that we just heard in our scripture reading, that Paul said that I'm laboring to fight for your joy.

How many of you have ever had a problem staying joyful because of things that have happened in life.

And so Paul is saying, look, I'm your servant.

I want to work for your joy, it says in some translations, I want to fight for your joy.

So that's what we want to talk about today, joy and the fight for joy.

Father in heaven, thank you today that we can open your Word And we ask that we would leave this place with your joy in our hearts.

There's a school in Minneapolis, a famous evangelical preacher.

The whole focus of his educational program is joy.

And he talks about how we are most, when we, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

And he talks about how joy should actuate everything we do.

And he says the purpose of education is to develop true joy.

So if what you're looking for in a school, of all the different things you're looking for, underneath it all should be this idea of developing true joy.

And By the way, that's the purpose of all of our clinical programs here people come with heart disease they have with diabetes They come with different things and they kind of have lost their joy They don't have as much pep in their step not as much spunk in their trunk their eyes are not popping their jaws not dropping right and They need help So they come and you know, they come pretty disheveled, pretty, looking kind of rough.

But it's amazing to me, after 18 day program, you see people that were not even walking and then they're walking around the loop, they're walking the trails and they're filled with joy.

It's an education program that leads to the recovery and the development of joy.

Now there are 2 types of joy in the world.

There's a superficial joy And there's what I call a serious, substantive, sustained joy.

A superficial joy would be, you might say, the joy of the world.

This type of joy is based on the benefits you think you're going to receive, the comforts, the creature comforts that you are expecting, the kudos that come from the world.

I have a nice house and therefore I'm joyful.

I have a nice car, therefore I feel great.

I have nice clothes, and therefore I'm filled with joy.

Because if it's threatened or not coddled, it becomes outraged and it seeks to cancel those who would not allow it to happen.

It's almost as if the world or life owes you these kind of things.

And it's a happiness that's based on circumstances.

It's the happiness that's based on chance.

And perhaps it's a happiness that's based on reflecting the culture.

And this is what I would call superficial joy.

But then there's serious joy, which is, I wanna spend the bulk of the time here.

Serious joy, substantive joy, sustained joy.

The Bible speaks of this in Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10, the joy of the Lord is your strength.

So there's the joy, you might say, of the devil, and there's the joy of the Lord.

There's superficial joy and there's serious joy.

This is a joy that's not based on the circumstances.

It's rooted in substance and significance.

It's a joy that's not focusing on the externals, but It's internally driven.

It's a joy that's not based on chance, but it's based on choice.

You see, happiness is temporary, but joy, serious joy, is timeless.

How many of you would like to experience serious joy in your life?

As we develop serious joy, now this is very important, especially in an education system.

As we develop serious joy, we no longer focus on reflecting the culture, but we become a power force to correct the culture.

Now, when you meet people that have this kind of joy, they always get your attention.

Like, for instance, in Matthew 13, 44, there was a person who sold everything he had to get the pearl of great price.

In his joy, he goes and sells everything he has to do something, get something from God.

You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property.

And so it's someone who gives everything so they can advance God's cause.

Sometimes we look at a person like that and say, what's wrong with them?

When we should be saying, what's wrong with us?

It's a joy that's not dependent, in other words, on worldly financial success.

Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds.

This is unusual, but this is what James is saying.

All right, the trials of life, They're not discouraging me, they're encouraging me.

I am joyful because of this obstacle that's come into my path.

I might not be so joyful if I created the obstacles like in our children's story this morning.

Well, I've got a choice to be upset, say I'm a victim, or I can say, wait a minute, I need to master these circumstances for the glory of God.

Bless her to you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you.

I used to run an evangelism school for Amazing Facts for about 5 and a half years, And I had to get people ready for rejection at various doors.

We're going to be rejected most of the time today.

They would just look at me, what are you talking about?

We'd come back and they'd share testimonies And usually, although there were a lot of people that had rejection, there were a few that just had an awesome experience.

And that 1 experience would make everyone joyful.

It's a joy that shines under trial and under persecution.

They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.

It's a joy that glories in saying we must obey God rather than man and if we perish, we perish.

And Paul says, we are fellow workers for your joy.

It seems that he had a team all working together to help people recover or actually discover serious joy.

Because people normally don't even know about serious joy.

And this is the benefit of, you might say, Christianity.

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Education and Joy

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