December 14, 2025 - Joy: Romans 15:13

Devotional

Day 1: Joy is received, not achieved

Have you ever received news that made your shoulders drop and your breath slow before anything around you changed? That is what God’s joy does in weary hearts—it walks into the room before circumstances catch up. This isn’t something you can fake or force; it is the gift God himself pours in. As you trust Him, He fills you with a steady, anchored gladness that sits in the middle of hurt and whispers, “God is still here.” Open your hands today and ask the God of hope to do what only He can do, and watch how your heart begins to rest [33:46].

Romans 15:13 — May the God who is the very source of hope flood you with joy and peace as you keep trusting Him, so that the Holy Spirit causes hope to spill over the edges of your life.

Reflection: Where are you trying to manufacture joy right now, and what simple daily practice (like praying Romans 15:13 morning and evening) will help you receive it instead of striving for it?

Day 2: Joy that knits a divided people together

God’s joy is not private or small; it is big enough to hold a whole community. It calls different cultures, different wounds, and different stories to the same table because we share the same Jesus, the same grace, and the same Holy Spirit. This joy shows up when unity costs something—when we refuse to give up on one another. It lives inside reconciliation and chooses to stay together with gentleness and courage. Ask God to stitch your heart to your brothers and sisters again with His joyful love [31:24].

Romans 15:5–7 — May the God who supplies endurance and encouragement help you live in harmony with one another, thinking and acting with the mind of Christ, so that with one voice you will praise God; therefore welcome one another just as Christ has welcomed you, bringing God glory.

Reflection: With whom is unity currently costly for you, and what one concrete step of reconciliation will you take this week to move toward them in love?

Day 3: Raise a hallelujah in the storm

Biblical joy is not shallow cheerfulness; it does not deny grief or pretend the world isn’t hurting. It is a deep, steady anchor that praises God right in the middle of the mess. We don’t sing because life is easy; we sing because God is faithful and He is working no matter what. Self-help runs dry, but the Source of hope never does. Let your worship rise louder than your worry today [37:28].

Acts 16:25–26 — Near midnight, while chained in a cell, Paul and Silas prayed and sang to God; the other prisoners listened, and then the ground shook, the doors opened, and the chains fell away.

Reflection: Name one hard place you are facing, and choose a simple practice of praise (a song, a psalm, or whispered thanks) to lift there each day this week.

Day 4: Filled with the Holy Spirit for holy joy

God does more than forgive—He fills. When you surrender all you are, all you’re not, and all you hope to be, the Holy Spirit pours in holy joy that leaves little room for crankiness and complaint. This joy does not pull you away from brokenness; it moves you toward it with love, courage, and hope. It steadies trembling hands and helps you raise a hallelujah whatever comes. Ask to be filled, and expect God to answer generously [43:20].

Ephesians 5:18–20 — Don’t be controlled by anything that dulls your heart; instead, be filled again and again with the Spirit, letting songs, gratitude, and the name of Jesus overflow from you in every season.

Reflection: What simple prayer of surrender will you pray each morning this week to invite the Holy Spirit to fill every part of your life?

Day 5: Little yeses knit a miracle together

Joy never stays contained; it overflows into action, moving God’s people toward real needs. When the world treats people like data, the family of God sees beloved image-bearers and says, “Let’s bring them home.” Ordinary “yeses” from many hearts and many places can form a holy pathway of mercy. This is how hope travels across miles, how bodies relax, and how smiles return. Ask God where your “yes” belongs, and be ready to love on the move [59:41].

Luke 10:33–35 — A traveler noticed a wounded man, drew close, bandaged his wounds, placed him on his own animal, and paid for his care, promising to cover whatever else was needed until he was whole.

Reflection: Who is one specific person on the margins you can help this week, and what concrete step (a ride, a meal, a call, or connecting them to resources) will you take to move them closer to home?

Sermon Summary

Have you ever received news that made your whole body exhale before anything around you changed? That’s the shape of the blessing in Romans 15:13. I prayed over us that the God who is the source of hope would fill us completely with joy and peace as we trust Him, so that we would overflow with confident hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Joy like that isn’t manufactured. It isn’t scraped together by willpower or a pasted-on smile. This is God’s joy poured in. It’s a community-sized joy that knits very different people together when unity costs something—joy that moves into reconciliation, holds sorrow in one hand and hope in the other, and keeps singing until the storm remembers who rules it.

We named where we often go hunting for relief—self-help, self-care, distractions—and we blessed each of those in their place, but we confessed none of them can refuel a soul. Only the presence of God can do that. Joy is not achieved; it’s received. It grows in the soil of trust. And when the Holy Spirit fills a people, there’s less room for crankiness, less room for complaint, and a whole lot more room to say “Yes” to God together.

Then we told a story of joy walking into a room before circumstances caught up. Many of you have been praying our brother Edgar home. Systems saw data; God saw a person. He moved hearts in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and across a global Nazarene family. Pastors, lay leaders, friends, and former roommates said “Yes” in the middle of the night, drove long miles, asked first about food and safety, and passed the baton from one town to another. With every state line, Edgar’s shoulders lowered and his smile grew. That is Romans 15:13 with feet on it—joy that overflows into action, embodied by a people who raise a hallelujah together and refuse to let one another stand alone.

So here is our call: Don’t settle for half the glory—sins forgiven but hearts left unfilled. Ask the Spirit to fill you, all the way. Let joy anchor you beyond circumstance, move you toward broken places, and knit us together as one holy “Yes” for the sake of our city. Glory to God.

Key Takeaways

1. Joy is received, not achieved. Joy isn’t a reward for getting life right; it is a gift God pours into surrendered people. Trust opens the door, and the Spirit fills the room. This joy can sit down in grief without blinking and still sing. Receive it; don’t try to manufacture it. [33:46]
2. God alone fuels lasting hope. Hope isn’t optimism or spin; it’s sourced in God’s presence. When we seek replenishment elsewhere, our joy leaks; when we return to Him, joy returns to us. Scripture, worship, and surrender are not escape routes—they are pipelines of His life into ours. [35:47]
3. Joy that costs binds us together. Biblical joy isn’t private; it’s communal, especially where unity is hard. It flourishes in reconciliation, in shared burdens, in the “we” that Jesus forms out of very different stories. When we choose each other for Christ’s sake, joy grows roots. [31:24]
4. Spirit-filled joy runs toward messes. Holy joy does not avoid the pain of the world; it walks into it singing. Not because we know outcomes, but because we know God’s character. This joy becomes courage, presence, and practical love in real crises. [39:41]
5. Small yeses unlock unexpected miracles. Miracles are often a chain of ordinary obediences—texts sent, miles driven, meals shared, doors opened. God weaves decades of faithfulness into today’s rescue. Your next “yes” may be the link someone else is praying for. [53:37]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:58] - Call to worship and prayer
[26:44] - Children’s Christmas rehearsal invite
[27:22] - Welcome home, Edgar
[28:50] - Romans 15:13 blessing
[32:12] - Joy anchored beyond circumstance
[33:22] - The bill is already paid
[35:47] - God, the source of hope
[39:41] - Joy moves toward broken places
[44:56] - We raise a hallelujah together
[46:34] - Nazarene family steps into crisis
[53:37] - A global network says “yes”
[59:58] - Smiles grow as home nears
[63:49] - Lake City handoff and late-night drive
[80:44] - Prayer and Raise a Hallelujah

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Romans 15:13

Observation questions

Read Romans 15:13 slowly. What are the separate ideas or promises Paul includes in this blessing (note words like “God,” “hope,” “filled,” “joy,” “peace,” “trust,” “overflow,” “confident hope,” “power of the Holy Spirit”)? How do those parts fit together in one sentence?
In the story of the church bringing Edgar home, what concrete steps did people take as the situation unfolded (calls, drives, offers of food and shelter, passing the person from one town to the next)? What sequence stands out to you? [53:37]
The sermon named several common places people go for relief — self-help books, self-care, distractions — and then said those don’t ultimately refuel the soul. Which of those have you leaned on most when you felt drained? [36:07]
Paul prays a blessing over a “tired, divided” people. What signs in a local church or group show a church is tired or divided, and which part of Paul’s blessing seems most needed in those moments?

Interpretation questions

Romans 15 is addressed to a church trying to live together across differences. How does “the God of hope” as the source of hope strengthen a community that is tired or divided? [30:23]
Paul ties joy and peace to trusting God. How does trust actually make space for joy to be present even when grief or confusion remains (for example, “joy that holds sorrow in one hand and hope in the other”)? [37:59]
The verse ends with “through the power of the Holy Spirit.” In what specific ways does the Spirit enable people to move from private belief into communal action (the kind of action that showed up in the Edgar story)? [39:41]
The blessing speaks of joy overflowing into “confident hope.” What is the difference between fragile optimism and the confident hope Paul describes? Where does that confidence come from in a practical, everyday way? [28:50]

Application questions

Joy is received, not manufactured. Rather than trying to manufacture joy, what one spiritual practice (scripture reading, a short time of worship, a real act of surrender in prayer) will you try this week to open space for the Spirit to fill you? Choose a day and time to do it. [35:47]
The community’s “small yeses” — a text, a ride, a meal — became links in a chain that brought someone home. Who in your circle needs a small, concrete “yes” this week? What exact yes can you give (call, drive, cook, babysit, pray with) and when will you do it? [53:37]
Where in your relationships or church is unity going to cost something (a forgiven offense, a hard conversation, a sacrificial serving)? Name one costly step you could take toward reconciliation in the next seven days. [31:24]
Consider areas where you default to self-help or distraction when you feel empty. What is one specific habit you will replace with a gospel pipeline (Bible + honest prayer + corporate worship) for the next 14 days? How will you measure whether it is helping?
The blessing pictures joy that sits with grief and still sings. When was the last time you stayed present with someone’s pain instead of offering quick answers or moving on? Who will you commit to be present with in the coming week, and what will “being present” look like for you? [37:59]
The text asks the Spirit to “fill you completely.” Do you tend to accept forgiveness but stop short of asking to be filled? What would it look like to pray, this week, a short, honest prayer asking the Holy Spirit to fill you “all the way”? Pick words now and say them aloud or write them down. [42:50]

Sermon Clips

You see, biblical joy, this word when you go to look it up, it is not simply cheerfulness. It's not this fake smile to pretend like everything's okay when it's an uproar. It's not ignoring the realities of life. It is a deep, steady, anchored joy that knows that true joy doesn't come from circumstance. It comes from the God who is at work doing abundantly far more than we could ever ask or imagine. [00:32:13] (38 seconds) #AnchoredJoy

``Beloved Jesus Christ has already paid the bill. That is why we have joy. Joy does not disappear when life hurts. But joy sits in the middle of the hurt and says, God is still here. That's why Paul doesn't say, go out and find joy somewhere out there down the road. He prays, may God fill you. Joy is received, not achieved. [00:33:27] (41 seconds) #JoyReceivedNotEarned

How do we sing that? Not because life looks great and is easy and is simple, but because our natural response as the people of God filled with his Holy Spirit is not to look at our circumstances, but to praise the one that we know and trust is working no matter what. That is the difference of the people filled with hope, with peace, and with joy. That's what those candles symbolize in this Advent season. [00:34:29] (40 seconds) #PraiseNotCircumstance

The presence that fills us in every circumstance comes from one place, and that is taking something like the word of God and bowing down and saying, you are God and I am not. And no matter the circumstance, I'm going to praise you in the middle of the storm. Louder and louder, you're going to hear my praises roar. Up from the ashes, hope will arise. Death is defeated. The king is alive. [00:36:55] (38 seconds) #PraiseInTheStorm

When the God of hope is present, joy will begin to bloom and flourish. Paul prays for all joy, not just partial, not just Sunday only joy, not just when we're praising with Amy leading us joy, but a joy that doesn't even deny grief, but a joy that says in everything that comes, I'm going to raise a hallelujah. [00:37:51] (30 seconds) #JoyThatBlooms

Joy that holds sorrow in one hand and hope in another. A joy that's honest, that says I don't understand everything, but I trust the one who does. Joy that doesn't wait for circumstances to improve, but this biblical joy. Joy that lasts is born inside trust in God. The joy that lasts is born inside of the relationship with the God who can be trusted. Trust with tears, trust with trembles, trust that whispers, God, I don't know how this is going to end, but I know that you are with me. That kind of trust creates space for joy to move in. [00:38:33] (59 seconds) #JoyWithTrust

Joy never stays contained. It moves us toward broken places. It's a warning. When the joy of the Lord is at work, it doesn't move us away from all the stuff that's happening in life. It moves us by the power of the Holy Spirit right in the middle of a mess to say, I'm going to sing in the middle of the storm. Louder and louder, you're going to hear my praises roar. It stands in the middle of the crisis and says, we raise a hallelujah. Not because we know what's going to happen, but because we know he is faithful and still working. [00:39:33] (49 seconds) #HallelujahInTheMess

Oh man, can you believe it? In a broken and sinful world, brokenness and sin somehow showed up. Could you believe it? In a world that somehow has tried to figure out a way to find hope outside of Jesus Christ, it just doesn't seem to be working. Can you believe it? I mean, it's shock and awe. And we could say, man, the world stinks. The circumstance stinks. Boy, the challenges stink. Or we could be the people of God who say, God, I ask for you not only to wash me clean, but I ask for you by your Holy Spirit to fill me up. [00:41:03] (58 seconds) #HolySpiritFillMe

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December 14, 2025 - Joy: Romans 15:13

Devotional

Day 1: Joy is received, not achieved

Day 2: Joy that knits a divided people together

Day 3: Raise a hallelujah in the storm

Day 4: Filled with the Holy Spirit for holy joy

Day 5: Little yeses knit a miracle together

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

December 14, 2025 - Joy: Romans 15:13

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