Joy in Anticipation: Embracing God's Promises

**Bible Study Discussion Guide**

**Bible Reading:**
- Luke 1:39-45
- Luke 2:8-14
- Hebrews 12:2

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**Observation Questions:**

1. In Luke 1:39-45, what was Elizabeth's reaction when Mary greeted her, and what does this signify about the joy of anticipation? [37:15]

2. According to Luke 2:8-14, who were the first to receive the announcement of Jesus' birth, and why is this significant? [58:38]

3. How does Hebrews 12:2 describe Jesus' perspective on enduring the cross, and what does this reveal about the source of His joy? [01:02:49]

4. What was the main point of the humorous story about the two twins, and how does it relate to the theme of joy in anticipation? [28:42]

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**Interpretation Questions:**

1. How does Elizabeth's response to Mary's visit illustrate the concept of joy rooted in faith rather than circumstances? [37:15]

2. Why might God have chosen shepherds, considered lowly in society, to be the first to hear the good news of Jesus' birth? What does this tell us about the nature of God's joy? [58:38]

3. In what ways does the anticipation of God's promises, as seen in the lives of Mary and Elizabeth, challenge our understanding of joy in our own lives? [31:14]

4. How does the joy set before Jesus, as described in Hebrews 12:2, provide a model for enduring trials in our own lives? [01:02:49]

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**Application Questions:**

1. Reflect on a time when you found joy in anticipation rather than in your current circumstances. How can you apply this perspective to a current challenge in your life? [31:14]

2. The shepherds received the good news despite their low status. How can you ensure that you are open to receiving joy in unexpected ways or from unexpected sources? [58:38]

3. Consider the role of faith in experiencing joy. What steps can you take to strengthen your faith in God's promises, especially during difficult times? [42:13]

4. How can the joy set before Jesus, which enabled Him to endure the cross, inspire you to find joy in the hope of what comes after your current struggles? [01:02:49]

5. Identify a specific promise of God that you are currently waiting on. How can you cultivate joy in the anticipation of its fulfillment, even if it seems far off? [31:14]

6. Think about a person or group in your life who might feel overlooked or lowly, like the shepherds. How can you share the joy of the good news with them this week? [58:38]

7. Reflect on the distractions in your life that might be preventing you from focusing on the joy found in Jesus. What practical steps can you take to minimize these distractions this week? [01:05:17]

Day 1: Joy in Anticipation
The anticipation of God's promises brings profound joy, as seen in the lives of Mary and Elizabeth. Their joy was not based on the immediate fulfillment of God's promises but on the assurance that God was at work in their lives. Mary and Elizabeth's faith allowed them to experience joy even before the promises were realized. This teaches us that joy can be found in the journey of faith, trusting that God is faithful to His word. The story of their miraculous pregnancies serves as a reminder that God's timing is perfect, and His promises are worth waiting for. [28:42]

Luke 1:44-45 (ESV): "For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."

Reflection: What is one promise from God that you are waiting for? How can you find joy in the anticipation of its fulfillment today?


Day 2: Joy Beyond Circumstances
True joy is not dependent on our current circumstances but on the eternal promises of God. In a world filled with pain and loss, joy comes from knowing that God is faithful and His promises are sure. Mary and Elizabeth found joy not in their immediate situations but in the assurance of God's faithfulness. This joy is rooted in the belief that God is at work, even when we cannot see it. By focusing on God's promises, we can experience joy that transcends our present trials and challenges. [33:01]

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (ESV): "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation."

Reflection: In what area of your life are you struggling to find joy due to difficult circumstances? How can you shift your focus to God's eternal promises today?


Day 3: Joy for All People
The announcement of Jesus' birth to the shepherds illustrates that God's joy is available to everyone, regardless of their status or circumstances. The shepherds, considered lowly in society, were chosen to receive the good news of Jesus' birth. This demonstrates that God's joy is not determined by our social standing but by the person of Jesus and His work. The joy of the Lord is inclusive and available to all who believe in Him. [58:38]

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (ESV): "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

Reflection: Who in your life might feel excluded from God's joy? How can you share the inclusive joy of Jesus with them today?


Day 4: Joy in Faith
Faith is the key to experiencing joy, even in difficult times. Like John the Baptist, who sought reassurance, we can find joy in the evidence of God's faithfulness and the fulfillment of His promises. Faith allows us to see beyond our current struggles and trust in God's plan for our lives. By holding onto faith, we can experience joy that is not dependent on our circumstances but on the assurance of God's presence and work in our lives. [42:13]

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV): "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you need to exercise more faith? How can you actively trust God in this area today to experience His joy?


Day 5: Joy in the Eternal Perspective
The joy set before Jesus enabled Him to endure the cross. Similarly, our joy is sustained by the hope of what comes after this life, knowing that God's promises extend beyond our current struggles. By keeping an eternal perspective, we can find joy in the midst of trials, knowing that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed. This eternal perspective allows us to endure hardships with joy, trusting in the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises. [01:02:49]

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (ESV): "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

Reflection: How can you cultivate an eternal perspective in your daily life? What practical steps can you take today to focus on the joy set before you in Christ?

"As you look through the biblical narrative of the Christmas story, what you find is, is you find people in the story, not everybody, but there's some key people in the story, that in the middle of a hard and trying time for their people, they were very optimistic. They had this hope, this anticipation, of good things that God had promised." [00:28:42] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Joy can be found in what will be because oftentimes we are trying to depend on what is right now to find some joy. And what is right now is not that good sometimes." [00:31:14] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, Blessed! Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear." [00:37:15] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His, what? Promises to her. Elizabeth has Mary come into her home, and as soon as Mary speaks to her, what happens? The baby leaps in her womb." [00:39:39] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"That's God keeping his promise in such a beautiful and miraculous way to not only send the Messiah, but to have one go before him, to prepare the way for the beginning of his ministry of what he was going to do while he was here." [00:42:13] (15 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"This joy is not determined by circumstances, but by the person of Jesus, and what He's done for you, and what He's promised to give you, not just here, while you're here, but for eternity." [01:00:03] (13 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." [01:02:49] (12 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Because of Jesus, we can look forward to joy in the future. Sometimes we feel like we must feel joyful to be joyful. I want to explain what I'm talking about." [01:04:30] (14 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Sometimes we think we have to feel joyful to be joyful. But, here's the thing. You're not always going to feel joyful. There are moments where you're not going to feel that joy." [01:05:17] (15 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


"Walking in obedience to Jesus is where you're going to find that kind of joy. Because then you have the promises of God guaranteed for you in your life." [01:07:28] (12 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me. Oh, come all ye faithful, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me. Oh, come all ye faithful, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me. Oh, come all ye faithful, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me. Oh, come all ye faithful, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me, come and sit with me.

In the same family, but still be completely different in so many ways. And so they found this family that had twin five-year-old boys, and they did some interviews with different families. They found out that these boys seemed to be exactly the opposite in their temperament and outlook on life, these identical twins. One was an extreme pessimist. I mean, he worried about everything all the time. The other was an extreme optimist. It's like he was never down, he was never upset, he was never unhappy about anything.

So they thought they would conduct this test to try to dive a little deeper into that to see why they were like that. So they put the pessimistic child in a room full of the latest toys and gadgets, and they told him, "You could be in here for a while and do whatever you want to do," and they closed the door and left him in that room. The optimist, they put into a room that was just filled with horse manure. They closed the door, they told him, "You could do whatever you want to do," and they closed the door and left him there.

Well, a little over an hour passes by, and they open the door to the pessimist's room, the kid in there with all the toys and the gadgets, and he's curled up in the corner, just crying his eyes out. And they came in and they were doing the evaluation. They said, "Now, we don't get it. You've got all these toys, everything you could want in here. Why are you crying?" He says, "I just know I'm going to break one of them, and you guys are going to be mad at me." And he just started crying again. They said, "Oh, okay." So they wrote that down.

They went over to the other room, the optimist, in the room full of horse manure. They opened the door, and they find him head first digging into the manure. He hears them open the door, and he looks up with this big grin on his face. They said, "We don't understand. We got you in here with horse manure. Why are you so happy in here?" He says, "I got to tell you, with all this horse manure, there's got to be a pony in here somewhere."

As you look through the biblical narrative of the Christmas story, what you find is, you find people in the story—not everybody, but there's some key people in the story—that in the middle of a hard and trying time for their people, they were very optimistic. They had this hope, this anticipation, of good things that God had promised. You see, that's the whole thing I want us to get today is, no matter where we're at right now, or what we have experienced in the past, when we understand what the celebration is really about, when we understand the hope that it brings, that God was going to keep His promise to send the Savior for us, when we grasp what that means for our lives and for the lives of the people that we love and care about, then the anticipation of God continuing to keep His promises to us can fill us with hope no matter what, can fill us with joy in the midst of all circumstances.

So, as we look at this narrative today, there are characters in the story that we're going to focus on, and you would think it might be that they would have despair. I mean, it's been hundreds of years of anticipation that God would keep His promise to send the Savior. When we pick up here, it's been almost a thousand years since Isaiah spoke those words, that a virgin's going to conceive and give birth to a son. You would think that despair would have set in. You would think that they had given up all hope. You would think that there wouldn't be much to be joyful about because God had not yet fulfilled that promise.

And yet, just knowing, as the angel announces to Mary, like we saw last week, as the news begins to come out about what God is doing, just that announcement and anticipation of what God is doing filled them with joy again. It filled them with a joy in the midst of that long time of trial and the struggles that they had faced all along the way.

So, today, I want us to look at a couple of those individuals and groups in the biblical narrative of Christmas to see the joy of the anticipation of the Lord. The first thing I want us to look at today is that joy can be found in what will be and not just in what is, okay? Joy can be found in what will be because oftentimes we are trying to depend on what is right now to find some joy. And what is right now is not that good sometimes. I mean, we live in a fallen world, don't we? We're under the curse of sin. There's sickness, there's pain, there's disease, there's loss, there's grief. We all face those things in this fallen world.

So, in the middle of what is, sometimes it's hard to find the joy, isn't it? That's why the entertainment industry is so wealthy today. That's why they make so much money. Everybody's looking for something that could give them a little bit of joy. At least for a little while, right? And we're thinking that maybe in the here and now, in the present thing that we're going through, this thing will give us joy or that thing will give us joy. And sometimes it's really good things, nothing bad about them at all. But sometimes in our desperation, we reach out to all the wrong things to try to get a little bit of joy in the middle of the hard things that we go through.

Drugs and alcohol, sex outside of God's plan for that. We spend money we don't have to buy things we don't need to impress people we don't like, to try to have a little joy, at least for a little while. And the truth is, if those things didn't work to some degree, we wouldn't do it. They do give us moments of joy or happiness or pleasure along the way. But they're not the thing God wants us to do. They're not the thing God wants us to do. God wants us to see as the thing that will actually give us the joy He wants us to have.

Because the joy He wants us to have is not fleeting. And it's not controlled by the circumstances around us. That's what makes it superior more than anything else. You see, it can last because it's not dependent on everything around us going well right now. Because we've talked about it a lot at Lakeshore. You get all your ducks in a row, but how long are they going to stay there? Not long. Ducks wander off. They don't stay in a row. They don't stay in line. We don't keep everything, all the ducks in a row all the time. We can't. You'll kill yourself trying to do that, to find a little joy. It'll just wear you out, trying to keep everything perfect all the time.

Some of you are so stressed out about Christmas because you think you've got to make it perfect for everybody. I've got news for you. You aren't going to do it, and your joy shouldn't depend on doing it. That's the whole point of what we're looking at today. Everything doesn't have to be perfect to have joy. If it did, in this fallen world, none of us could have any joy for very long. We just have these little moments of happiness. But we don't have abiding joy that lasts no matter what's going on around us.

So I want to look at the Gospel of Luke again today. If you want to open up your Bibles there, Luke gives us a little insight into some aspects of the story that really are important details. We're told in Luke chapter 1 that there's this woman named Elizabeth who is pregnant under miraculous circumstances too.

Now if you were here last week, you heard the angel say to Mary that her relative Elizabeth is already in her sixth month. So this is the Elizabeth we're talking about, who is, most scholars believe, a close relative of Mary, probably like a first cousin or something like that, close in their family network that they had, very close. And so they have this news that Elizabeth is expecting, and Elizabeth was beyond childbearing years. They had given up hope of ever having a baby, and God sent an angel to her husband and said, "You're going to have this baby." And yeah, he had a hard time believing it, and Elizabeth did too. I mean, it was impossible at this point, medically speaking, for her to have a baby.

And yet she finds herself with a child, and Mary knows about it. The angel has revealed it to her, and Elizabeth has a visit from Mary right after the angel appeared to Mary. Now I love this because it just makes sense if we think about it. Mary is scared, but she's excited, but she has the news that her close relative Elizabeth is expecting a baby under miraculous circumstances. Wouldn't it be reassuring to go spend some time with this woman, to hear her story too, to see the reality of what's happening to her? Because, you know, early on in the pregnancy, you might believe that it's happening, but you don't feel all the feels yet, right? You don't have all the experiences yet of expecting a baby.

And so she wants to go be with Elizabeth, who is already six months ahead of her in her pregnancy, and she's going through all those things. And I'm sure Mary's wanting some reassurance that, yeah, God's keeping His promises. He's taking care of everything just like He said He would. And so Mary goes to visit Elizabeth while the two are pregnant, and it's during their interaction that we see joy in a very unique way.

Let's look in Luke 1, beginning with verse 39. Right after the angel reveals all this to Mary, we don't know exactly how much time goes by, but we know pretty soon after that. It says, "At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home," that's Elizabeth's husband, "and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, 'Blessed! Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored that the mother, listen to her terminology, the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in the womb leaped for joy.' And she adds this, 'Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His, what? Promises to her.'"

Elizabeth has Mary come into her home, and as soon as Mary speaks to her, what happens? The baby leaps in her womb. Now obviously I've never experienced anything like that firsthand. But I have secondhand, and the pregnancies with my wife, she would say, "Put your hand here, Randy." And I would put my hand there, and I could feel the baby move in the mother's womb. It's amazing. It is a miracle. Just pregnancy itself is a miraculous thing. And what an amazing thing that God designed the woman to be able to grow another human being inside of her and deliver that baby into the world. It's amazing. We should celebrate that as a wonderful thing, instead of what often we hear in our culture today about it. It's an amazing thing.

And here, this baby is a fulfillment of God's promise to Elizabeth and Zechariah. But it's not just a promise to them, it's a promise to the world. The prophets also spoke about this baby being a forerunner to the Messiah. One who would prepare the way for the arrival of the promised anointed one, the Messiah. Now, we have the benefit of knowing the rest of this story. We have the benefit of knowing that this child that was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah, we now know as John the Baptist.

And again, I want to clarify, Baptist is not a denominational title there. We have the benefit of knowing that this child that was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah. There was no Baptist church or denomination at this time. This is John in the original language, the one who baptizes. Now, why would they have to identify him that way? Well, for two reasons. One is, John was one of the most common, it was the, most scholars believe, most common name in the culture at that time, John. So there'd be a lot of babies born then.

Hey, any of you thought you had a unique baby name for your baby, and then after they're born, you see a hundred of them out there? All right. John was a name very, very common. So in order to identify which John they were talking about later on, as John begins his ministry, preparing the way for Jesus, they would need to identify which John they were talking about. And they say, "John, you know, the one who's out there baptizing people." That's how they identified this John. And we shortened it in the English to call him John the what? Baptist, right? Literally, John, the one who baptizes is what it is.

So John begins this ministry of calling people to repentance and preparation for the coming of the anointed one. So he was preaching out of the wilderness, and people were coming to him to be baptized. A baptism of repentance before God to prepare for the coming of the Savior. And you may remember in John's ministry, there was a point where Jesus is about to begin his earthly ministry. And John looks at his disciples when he sees Jesus walking across the area there. And he says to his disciples, "Hey, look, there's the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world."

That's the baby that leapt for joy in Elizabeth's womb when Mary came that day to visit. That's God keeping His promise in such a beautiful and miraculous way to not only send the Messiah, but to have one go before him, to prepare the way for the beginning of His ministry of what He was going to do while He was here. He had this miraculous child, John, that was used in this story in a miraculous way, too, in a powerful way.

Here's what I want you to know, too. Even after all these things, just to cut you a little slack and cut me a little slack, sometimes when we wonder, "Could all this happen? Could all this be real?" when John was in prison and he knew he was probably not going to get out alive, he sent some of his disciples to Jesus to say, "Are you really the one that was promised? Are you really that anointed one that we were looking for?" You see, here's what John wanted to know. He wanted that reassurance. Did I get it right? Did I waste my life on the wrong thing, or did I use my life and give my life for the right thing?

When it comes to the end of your life, you want to know, don't you, that what you believed in and put your trust in is real, it's true, it's something you can have confidence in. And so even though John came miraculously, even though he did the obedient thing of proclaiming the way for Jesus and pointing people to him, he wanted that reassurance. You see, here's what John wanted to know. He wanted that reassurance. And friends, that's part of what we have. We have the rest of the story that John didn't have. We have the death, burial, and resurrection recorded for us. We have the evidence for it. We have something John didn't have.

And yet still, isn't it good to go back at Christmas and be reassured and reminded of how God did keep all these promises and how specific they were and how through the prophets and through the work of the New Testament, we see all the evidence that we have in the New Testament? And we have the evidence that we have. The evidence is there because the signs that God gave were not just a virgin that was going to conceive and bear a child. He gave so many other signs, so much more evidence for us to put our faith in. And John's story is one of those areas of evidence that He gives us so that we can know for sure this was the work of God that was taking place here.

Here's the thing we need to know: Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith. Listen to this. Listen to that last verse again, verse 45: "Blessed is she who believed that the Lord would do what? Fulfill His promises to her." That's the joy of anticipation. You see, Mary hasn't given birth to this child yet. Mary's still very early on in her pregnancy. Elizabeth hasn't given birth to her child yet; he's still in the womb, six months of development in the womb. None of those things have been completed yet, but they already have joy in the anticipation that God is keeping His promises and that He will continue to keep His promises.

You see, it didn't depend on everything already having been worked out, everything having already been accomplished for them to have joy and celebrate this moment that they had together. It was simply the promise that they could believe in that God was keeping His promises and that He will continue to keep them that gave them the joy. It was the assurance that they had that God was doing what only God could do that gave them the joy that they were looking for.

So here's something we need to learn here: What if we can experience joy in our lives today not because of how things are now, but because of what could be in the future by the intervention of God? The hope that we could have that the same God that kept those promises then is the God who keeps His promises to us today, no matter what it looks like right now, that God's still going to do that. You see, the joy God gives is not dependent on having all of that already done, but on the evidence we have that God has always done this and will always do this.

So God's made amazing promises to us as His people today. Can we count on God to keep all of those promises? We have evidence to support that. We have evidence upon evidence, testimony upon testimony that God has always done that. So when we're struggling to have some joy in this holiday season—and I see people that are struggling all the time—we're trying to have some joy in the holiday season because of other things that have gone on in their lives. Don't base your joy on that circumstance. Base your joy on God being a God who keeps His promises to you and to maybe even the people that you lost if that's what's causing you grief right now.

Has God kept His promise to them that if they place their faith in Him, He's got a place prepared for them that's better than anything here? Absolutely. Shouldn't that give us some joy that even the people we miss right now this Christmas are experiencing something far greater than anything they could experience with our traditional Christmas celebration here on earth? Absolutely, it should give us joy to know God takes care of His people. God keeps His promises. God makes sure that nothing He says will go without fulfillment.

Elizabeth and her child are rejoicing at what was going to result from Jesus' long-anticipated birth, and Mary is rejoicing because she trusted enough in what God told her that she's going to visit with Elizabeth to celebrate this event with her of what God's already doing. It requires faith to have joy no matter what the circumstances. Faith is the key element. You have to truly trust that God is a God that keeps His promises to find joy even in the hard things. Sometimes just anticipating God showing up can be enough to lift our spirits and give us joy. Just anticipation that we know we can count on Him no matter what it looks like right now.

And so wherever you're at in your life right now, those of you listening online, at the Smyrna campus, those in the room here at Antioch, listen to me. No matter what the circumstances, you may have wonderful circumstances right now, but friends, they pale in comparison to what God's going to do when He fulfills all of His promises to His people. So let's allow God to give us the joy of faith in His promises and His being a God who keeps His promises.

How many of you love the Charlie Brown Christmas cartoon? You like that? I grew up with that; I know many of you probably did. I love that. But one of my favorite things is to watch how Charlie Brown struggles with Christmas, right? He has trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, one because he got a really bad tree. By the way, if you want to see the most faithful Christian before-and-after picture you've ever seen, look at the tree he got and the tree they end up with in that story. There's no way you can make that tree look like it looks at the end of that story. There's just no way.

So that's what you see those fake before-and-after pictures of people lose weight, and here's how they look now, right? They can really be doctored up, all right? They may not be real. Now, some of them are probably real, but not all of them. We're here, we've got Charlie Brown. He's disappointed because he goes against this tree. Now, nobody likes this tree, right? But that's not the only reason he's not in the Christmas spirit. He's really not in the Christmas spirit because of the commercialization of Christmas, right? Everything that's happened that takes away from the true meaning of Christmas.

And I love what his friend Linus said to him. Here's what he said: "Charlie Brown, you're the only person I know who could take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem." But some of you are doing that. Some of us are doing that. We're taking something wonderful and we're turning it into a problem for us. "I gotta get this, I gotta buy that, I don't have these decorations, I don't... and grandma's not going to be with us," you know, whatever it is. We take something amazing that God has done and we turn it into a problem for us instead of a joyous celebration.

Maybe we got a little more Charlie Brown in us than we want to admit. Maybe we got a little more of that pessimistic attitude in us than we want to admit. I'm not saying you shouldn't miss your loved ones at the holidays; of course, that's a natural, normal thing. But you have to remember the only reason you miss them is because you had time with them and you experienced the love of their relationship. Shouldn't we be grateful for that too? Isn't that a wonderful blessing that we had that?

But Christmas is not even about that; it's about the hope that we have that goes beyond the loss of that person, and it gives hope even to the person that we've lost at the same time if they put their trust in Jesus. And so we need to know that maybe you're sitting there in the middle of circumstances that aren't that good this Christmas, and you're maybe waiting on God to do something for you, but you're not going to be able to do that because you're not going to do something in your life. You're anticipating an answer to your prayers, and it hasn't come yet.

But here's the truth: God's not done yet. He's still working and keeping His promises. He's still delivering on what He promised He would do. It's not over yet. So we don't need to give up hope or lose our joy in the midst of the struggle. Do you really believe what the Scripture tells us that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose? If you believe that to be true, you can have joy even in the struggle and the hard things that you're going through because they're not dependent on the circumstances.

The joy is not dependent on the circumstances, just like Jesus' presence in Mary when she was near Elizabeth brought joy. His presence in our life can do the same for us. The second thing I want you to see today is this: Good news is what brings great joy. Isn't it? Another set of characters in the Christmas account in Scripture: the shepherds, right? In Luke chapter 2, if you want to flip over there, we're to pick up with verse 8.

Now, one of the most amazing things about the Christmas story is who God reveals the good news to—that Jesus, the Messiah, has been born, right? Here's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and so the announcement is going out about His birth. Who would be the ones on the list to get the announcement about the King of Kings being born? Most people in that culture would never have thought, "You know who we need to tell? Those shepherds out there outside of Bethlehem. That's who we need to tell. We need to make sure they know about this." Of course not. They wouldn't have ever thought of as being on the list for the birth announcement of the King.

In that culture, the shepherds were of the lower working class. They were not considered in any way connected in high society to be included in something like this. But God made sure He sends an angel to who? To these shepherds out there on the hillside. Let's read the account here, beginning with verse 8.

"There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified." Now, we've talked about this before. When an angel all of a sudden appears, it's a scary thing in Scripture almost every time because they don't look like the little beautiful little cherubs that we make our little kids look like angels. You know, that's not what they look like. And that was something that would be frightening when an angel warrior would appear all of a sudden. You're out there not expecting anyone or anything else to be there, and then boom, there's an angel there. That would be scary.

"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you what? Good news that will cause what? Great joy for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. The town of David, by the way, is Bethlehem. A Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you'll find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'"

Remember the sign? Remember God gives signs? Where would you expect to find a baby that's just been born? A feeding trough in a stable, right? Isn't that the first place you would look? No, of course not. It'd probably be the last place you would look. So God's giving another sign here that this is Him doing this. This is His work, that this baby is going to be found in a manger in a stable.

"He said, 'This will be a sign to you: you'll find a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger.' Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.' When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.'"

Obviously, in the middle of the night outside of Bethlehem, these shepherds—which, by the way, most likely would have been kind of dirty at the time—they lived out on the land, hadn't had a good bath in a while most likely, and they work with sheep all the time, which are, if you've not worked around sheep very much, they can be pretty smelly animals. So here you are working with sheep out on the land, no access to all the comforts of life out there, and so you're probably looking pretty rough and smelling pretty rough.

But an angel appears to them to announce the birth of the Savior of the world, and they're given a sign to go look for to find the baby that God, through the angel, wants to make sure they make the connection that this is God giving you this announcement. This is God leading you to this child. This is God who's provided this good news that will bring great joy to all people. They are given the reason to rejoice and spread the word because a Savior has been born. He says specifically, "He's the Messiah. He's the anointed one, the anointed one who is the Lord."

And there's joy in the birth of a Savior because what does everybody need more than anything else? A Savior. Not the new coat that you saw online you just thought you had to have. None of those things are bad things, and it's not evil to have any of those things, not at all. There might be one ringing now. It's not something we should ever resent anybody having. It's not having any of that stuff; that's not bad. It's just not what we need the most.

You see, we're thinking those are the things that will bring us joy, and those things bring us a little happiness for a short time. They're not evil; they're not bad. But they're not going to give you the joy you're looking for. They're not because they're dependent on circumstances. The new iPhone 16 Pro is a great phone, but what's going to come out next? 17? And then 18? And if Jesus doesn't come back, we may get to 2021. Who knows, right? How long it's going to go?

You see, that gives you joy for a little while, but the joy of the anticipation of all that God has for you, already guaranteed, already promised, already in place, is far greater than anything this world could do to give you a little bit of joy. So here's the good news: Jesus came, and He died on that cross to pay for our sins, and He gives us access to a holy God. He allows us to enter into His presence and dwell there forever, and this is what makes this such great news.

He says, "Listen to the angel's words again. It will cause great joy for what people? All the people." You see, this joy is something that would come for anyone and everyone who puts their trust in Jesus. It's available to everybody. It doesn't matter where you've come from. It doesn't matter what your heritage is. Remember, I always love to joke about your heritage. If you want to dig back far enough, you came from dirt, and so did I, right? But it's okay that we came from dirt. Why? Because we have been bought at a price. That's how valuable we are. The price is for the blood of the Son of God. It's for all people.

It doesn't matter what race, what ethnicity. It doesn't matter what economic level you lived on on this earth. What kind of car you drove, or what kind of house you lived in, or what clothes you wore while you were here. None of that has any effect whatsoever on this good news bringing you the great joy that you're looking for in your life. Your circumstances don't determine this joy. This joy is not determined by circumstances, but by the person of Jesus and what He's done for you and what He's promised to give you, not just here while you're here, but for eternity.

You see, this is not a temporary joy. This is not like Edition 1, iPhone 1, and now iPhone 2 is coming later. That's not what this is. This is the supreme gift above all others that's for eternity that outshines anything else. There's nothing else that's going to come along that's going to be better than this one. This is the joy you need. The joy that comes from your relationship with the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.

It's not just good news for the shepherds. It's not just good news for the Jewish people and their culture. It's good news for everyone because God was not willing that any of us should perish, but that all of us should come to repentance, it says in Scripture. He wants us all to have this joy. But we have to point people to Jesus to find it. We've got to quit stressing out about trying to make everything perfect here when we understand that He is the perfect gift already if we just direct people to Him.

And if we just keep our trust there. Which leads to the last point today, and that's this: There's also joy on the other side of this world that gives us a joy that's greater than anything this world can do for us. Our celebration at Christmastime only makes sense, considering that Easter's coming behind it. You see, the only reason this birth of this child can give us this joy, the only reason that in the middle of the struggles we have right now that seem sometimes to be winning against us, the only thing that can really make that okay and give us joy in the middle of it is that there's still joy on the other side of that.

Think about this. This baby that we're celebrating at Christmas, we know that He grew up and He went to the cross, right? We know, when you read about what happened to Jesus, it's the most gruesome, awful thing you could read about. The way He was treated, the way He was mocked and ridiculed, the way He was betrayed by His friends, the way He was beaten, flogged, the way He was nailed to a tree to bleed and die in the hot sun outside of Jerusalem. It was the worst thing that could happen to anybody.

We know that even in the middle of that, think about this, the Scripture makes it clear, Jesus still had joy. How is that possible? In the middle of being treated like that, in the middle of the pain and humiliation and the loss and the sorrow that He was experiencing, how could He still have joy? But listen to Hebrews 12. In verse 2, we're told to do something, and it's important for us to do this if we want this joy we're talking about today. Here's what it says: "Fixing our eyes on who? Jesus." All right? Here's why. He's the pioneer and the perfecter of faith. So joy comes through our faith, right? So He's the author of that. He's the source of that. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Him.

But listen to this: "For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." The joy that was set before Him, while He was being beaten, while they spit in His face, while they ridiculed Him and made fun of Him as a king, while they took nails and hammers and drove the nails through His hands and His feet, for the joy set before Him that He was looking forward to, that He was seeing, that He was anticipating, He was willing to endure the pain and go through the agony and the suffering.

You see, there's something that could give us joy, no matter how bad things are. No matter how hard things are right now or will be sometime in the days ahead, there's still something that can give us joy. It's what Jesus had. It was the knowledge of what comes after. What comes after the pain if we hold on to our faith? What comes after the suffering if we don't stop believing? What comes after the loss of somebody we love? If we can trust in what Jesus did when He rose from the dead?

See, there's something that can give us joy, no matter what it is that we're experiencing here, and no matter how long it lasts while we're here. There is a joy in the anticipation of what Jesus accomplished when He did what He did for us. Because of Jesus, we can look forward to joy in the future. Sometimes we feel like we must feel joyful to be joyful. I want to explain what I'm talking about. Sometimes we think we have to feel joyful to be joyful. But here's the thing: You're not always going to feel joyful. There are moments where you're not going to feel that joy.

But here's what I want you to know: It could still be there. It could still be there that you can reach out to it and find it and grab hold of it. And it's not found in the circumstance. I'm so thankful for that. Because remember, we can't keep our ducks lined up all the time. I can't in my life either. People look at other people's lives and they think, "Oh, I wish I had their life." You don't know. You don't know. You just don't know their life. Everybody's got things that would take away joy happening in their lives. Everybody.

But some people still have joy that they're holding on to. How do they do that? I'll tell you how I'm able to do it. I know the rest of the story. I know what happens on the other side, and that can restore my joy and allow me to hold on to it through anything that I have to face. Dwight L. Moody said it well. He said it this way: "Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it. But joy flows right on through trouble. Joy flows on through the dark. Joy flows in the night as well as in the day. Joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It's an increasing fountain bubbling up in the heart, a secret spring. The world can't see and does not know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to Him."

Walking in obedience to Jesus is where you're going to find that kind of joy. Because then you have the promises of God guaranteed for you in your life. We're tempted from time to time to lose sight of where our joy comes from. It's good once in a while, isn't it? Even for us as Christ followers to be reminded to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. That's where the joy is found.

Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians: "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." I love that reassurance that Paul gives, and here's why. Because in the midst of the hard things, one of the biggest questions we have is, "Why? I want to understand. Why is this happening? Why is this going on?" And the truth is, sometimes maybe we can see why. Sometimes it's our own stupidity that caused it, right? We made some really bad decisions, and that brought the pain and the suffering.

But sometimes it's through nothing we've done that we're going through some hard things. And here's what I know: I don't really have to understand it to know there's joy. There's joy on the other side of it. But I know this: when I get to the other side, I am going to see clearly. "God, why did you do this? Why did you allow that? Why did it work that way?" I'm not going to get that here. I need to accept that. But I can have joy because I know on the other side, I'm going to see everything clearly.

And I'm going to be clearly seen by my Father as His child that belongs to Him. And I'm going to dwell with Him forever. You can have that promise too, thanks to what we celebrate at Christmas and every day as those who believe in Jesus.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank You that today we've been reminded of the joy of the anticipation that comes with knowing that You are a God who keeps Your promises, each and every one in every detail. We don't ever have to doubt that. But when we do doubt it, Father, You've given us evidence to go back and see. You've given us the testimony. You've given us the testimony of those who've gone through. You're keeping those promises to them. And we've experienced it, Father, in our own lives, time after time. Help us to remember Your faithfulness.

All my life, God, You've been faithful. All my life, You have been so, so good. And that's why every day we need to give proclamation to Your goodness and Your glory. Father, I pray that if there's anyone here today searching for some reason to have joy, searching for some way to get the joy back that they once had, looking for something that could sustain them through whatever they may face in the days ahead, help them, Father, to know it's not found in the things of this world. It's found in the person that You sent us, Your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.

We're going to stand and sing today. We offer this time of invitation for those who want to take that step of commitment to follow after Jesus or commitment to make this your church home. Whatever the need is, while we're standing and singing, we invite you to come right up front.

Amen. Anybody have a seat, please? Come on up here. We have some prayer requests we want to share with you, some praise items as well. Is everybody your name again? Ada. Ada comes asking for prayer. It's Robin, you said? What's your name? Tell us again what the prayer need is. Yeah. So they're dealing with a lot right now. Let's lift up that family in prayer. Come on up.

This is a praise report. Tell everybody your name again. Sarah comes today. She's got a praise report that she's thankful that she's been battling, that she's been honest with us about this and asked for prayer with battling with depression. And she's been able to get the counseling and treatment things covered so that she could have that. And she wants to praise God that things are getting better. And she's been able to have joy this week in her relationship with Christ and her life. We're so thankful for that. Rose, come on up as well. I'll help you out. I relate. All right, there you go.

For those of you that know, that might know, Sophia was here with them for a while. And we were able to celebrate her baptism and all of that while she was here. And she's gone back to Arizona. And so, you know, she's concerned about it. And we just want to be lifting her up in prayer as she continues her walk with Christ, that good people will be around her as well in the new job. I know there are many other needs within the church family. I am thankful, too, that Mike Scherer is back this week. We're in the middle of the week. We're glad that he's recovering from his surgery.

I am a little concerned about him talking while he's on the pain medication, but I think he's all right. If you would, just pray about that too. All right, let's pray together. Father, we just lift up to You in the name of Jesus all the prayer requests, these that have been made public and front here today, but others that are on the hearts and the minds of the people that are here or listening online. We know, Father, that You are. We know that You are a God who invites us into Your presence through Your Son, Jesus.

He makes it possible for us to come with confidence to Your throne of grace to find the help that we need. So we lift up these requests to You today, Father, in absolute faith and confidence that You are a God who hears and answers and keeps Your promises. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Thank you.

This time, Walter is going to come and lead us in a time around the Lord's table. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

One in the back of the auditorium mounted on a post there and one mounted on a post as you exit the auditorium there in the hallway. There's another offering box there. You can drop your offerings in the top slot of those boxes. You can also give online at lakeshorechristian.com. Just click on the gift tab, or you can scan the QR code in your bulletin shell here, and it'll take you to that page as well.

Just a quick reminder of a couple of things. Each week in the bulletin, we put these inserts in. We've got a Christmas Eve candlelight communion service. We have one here at the Antioch campus on Christmas Eve at six o'clock, and then we have at the Smyrna campus, we're doing a four o'clock and a six o'clock service down there at the Smyrna campus. So whatever works in your schedule, whichever one you can attend, we encourage you to do that.

And I really want to encourage you to invite family, friends, neighbors, co-workers to join you for that service. It's a great time to get some people to come visit that may not always attend, so we encourage you to make good use of that opportunity to invite them. We also have here at this campus an ornament exchange happening on December the 20th at six, and then we have our next welcome lunch already scheduled.

Now, if you are new to Lakeshore and you haven't attended one of these, it's a great time to find out more about the church, meet some of the staff, ask any questions you might have. It is scheduled for Sunday, January the 26th, immediately following the 11 o'clock service. You can register for that at the kiosk in the lobby or online at lakeshorechristian.com. Just click on that welcome lunch graphic; it'll take you to that registration page there.

Again, it's a joy to have you here. If this is your first time with us as a guest today, we want you to stop by the information counter in the lobby there before you leave. We have a gift we'd love to give you and thank you for coming to be with us today.

Let's all stand together. We'll close with a word of prayer. Our God and Father, we are reminded today of Your faithfulness and the joy that we can have in knowing who You are and knowing Your faithfulness to us personally and Your faithfulness throughout all the ages, not just for here and now, the things of this world, but for all eternity. Thank You for what You've done for us. Help us to celebrate in the right way with the joy we should have at what You've done for us in sending Jesus. In His name, we pray. Amen.