Title
The Return of JOY 《喜乐的归回》
Date
12/14/2025
Description
Psalm 16:11: You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
詩 篇 16:11: 你 必 将 生 命 的 道 路 指 示 我 。
在 你 面 前 有 满 足 的 喜 乐 ； 在 你 右 手 中 有 永 远 的 福 乐 。 (page 892)
Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
羅 馬 書 15:13: 但 愿 使 人 有 盼 望 的 神 ， 因 信 将 诸 般 的 喜 乐 、 平 安 充 满 你 们 的 心 ， 使 你 们 藉 着 圣 灵 的 能 力 大 有 盼 望 。(page 1843)
Nehemiah 8:10: …for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
尼 希 米 記 8:10: ...因 靠 耶 和 华 而 得 的 喜 乐 是 你 们 的 力 量 。 (page 802)
John 15:11: I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
約 翰 福 音 15:11: 这 些 事 我 已 经 对 你 们 说 了 ， 是 要 叫 我 的 喜 乐 存 在 你 们 心 里 ， 并 叫 你 们 的 喜 乐 可 以 满 足 。 (page 1749)
Isaiah 61:3: To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.
以赛亚书 61:3: 以华冠取代锡安哀伤者头上的灰尘，以喜乐的膏油取代他们的哀伤，以颂赞的外袍取代他们的沮丧。他们将被称为耶和华所栽种的公义橡树，以彰显祂的荣耀。 (page 1213)
詩 篇 16:11: 你 必 将 生 命 的 道 路 指 示 我 。
在 你 面 前 有 满 足 的 喜 乐 ； 在 你 右 手 中 有 永 远 的 福 乐 。 (page 892)
Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
羅 馬 書 15:13: 但 愿 使 人 有 盼 望 的 神 ， 因 信 将 诸 般 的 喜 乐 、 平 安 充 满 你 们 的 心 ， 使 你 们 藉 着 圣 灵 的 能 力 大 有 盼 望 。(page 1843)
Nehemiah 8:10: …for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
尼 希 米 記 8:10: ...因 靠 耶 和 华 而 得 的 喜 乐 是 你 们 的 力 量 。 (page 802)
John 15:11: I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
約 翰 福 音 15:11: 这 些 事 我 已 经 对 你 们 说 了 ， 是 要 叫 我 的 喜 乐 存 在 你 们 心 里 ， 并 叫 你 们 的 喜 乐 可 以 满 足 。 (page 1749)
Isaiah 61:3: To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.
以赛亚书 61:3: 以华冠取代锡安哀伤者头上的灰尘，以喜乐的膏油取代他们的哀伤，以颂赞的外袍取代他们的沮丧。他们将被称为耶和华所栽种的公义橡树，以彰显祂的荣耀。 (page 1213)
Creator
Pastor: Mike Koger
Contributor
Hillside United Methodist Church
3737 US 80
Phenix City AL 36870
United States
3737 US 80
Phenix City AL 36870
United States
Transcription
ADVENT WEEK 3 - JOY: The Return of Joy
When the Heart Flows Again
"Long before you see spring... you hear it. When winter begins to loosen its grip, the very first sign is not the melting snow or the budding trees - it's the sound. A single birdsong on a cold morning. A crack of ice along the riverbank. A quiet drip of melting snow from a rooftop. Movement. Life. Sound. These tiny sounds are not the fullness of spring - but they are the announcement that spring is coming. And the Holy Spirit whispers: "Joy is the sound of the heart thawing."
Not loud excitement. Not forced happiness.
But the first movement of life inside a heart that is flowing again.
This is Advent Week 3 - JOY
- and today we listen for the sound of signs of an early spring in the soul.
Psalm 16:11 tells us, "You make known to me the path of life; in Your Presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
And James 1:2-3 reminds us that joy can emerge even in trials:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."
We've previously talked about the danger of a hardened heart.
A heart that freezes... cannot feel joy. Even if joy is present - it cannot be sensed.
Many of us live in this winter season of the soul.
Our hearts grow cold through disappointment, through busyness, through the weight of our burdens.
Some of you may feel this today - a numbness where joy once flowed freely.
Romans 1:21 describes this condition: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
When we stop glorifying God, when we stop being thankful, when our imagination drifts away from the truth... the heart grows dim. “survival mode”
Psalm 51:8 speaks to this when David prays, "Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice."
David understood that sometimes our joy is broken, crushed under the weight of sin or sorrow.
This is the spiritual winter we may find ourselves in - not because God has withdrawn His joy, but because our hearts have lost their capacity to feel it.
And in this frozen state, we often make a critical mistake - we try to manufacture joy through our own efforts, through positivity, through circumstances.
We strive and strain to create what can only be received.
Prayer of St Francis – Make me an instrument of Thy JOY
A joyless Christianity is a contradiction.
It becomes heavy religion rather than vibrant relationship.
Without joy, our witness grows dim.
Without joy, our strength diminishes.
Without joy, our hearts grow weary.
Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that "the joy of the Lord is your strength."
When joy departs, our spiritual strength goes with it.
Many believers live in this weakened state - faithful in practice but missing the vitality that should characterize those who know the living God.
Isaiah 35:10 paints a picture of what we're missing: "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."
And even the world will notice when we lack joy.
They see our duty but not our delight.
They hear our words but don't witness our wonder.
A frozen heart cannot flow with the living water Jesus promised in John 7:38:
"Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
Philippians 4:4 calls us to "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
This is not a suggestion - but a command - because joy is essential to our spiritual health and witness.
Weeks ago we began this series with the truth that transformation does not come by trying - but by beholding.
Because whatever we behold... we become. …we magnify.
David understood this when he wrote: "In Your presence is fullness of joy."
Joy is not something we create - it is what rises when our eyes are lifted from ourselves and fixed again on Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 instructs us to fix "our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. 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."
This is why the angel's announcement at the birth of Christ began with: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." (Luke 2:10)
Where Jesus enters... joy begins to flow.
Jesus came with a promise: "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted." (Luke 4:18)
A healed heart becomes a feeling heart. A tender heart. A responsive heart.
And when the heart softens - joy returns.
Romans 15:13 offers this powerful promise: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Not because circumstances improved. Not because life became easy. But because the heart thawed.
Isaiah 52:9 says, "Break forth into JOY."
Joy is the warmth that comes when the ice breaks.
Joy is evidence that Jesus has touched a deep place within you.
Where there is flow, there is joy.
Joy is not the result of human positivity.
Joy is the overflow of divine life moving freely within us.
1 Peter 1:8-9 describes this supernatural joy: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Psalm 126:5-6 promises, "Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."
Joy is not the goal - it is the symptom of a heart where Jesus is flowing again.
Some of you may have rediscovered this in recent weeks. The moment you stopped striving and started beholding... Peace came. Clarity came.
…And Joy began to return
Joy is the echo of a heart looking at Jesus.
Andrew Wommack teaches that joy is not something we pursue - it is something we maintain by staying aware of God. (beholding)
Psalm 51:12 becomes our prayer: "Restore unto me the JOY of Thy salvation."
When we restore awareness - by glorifying Him... by thanking Him... by beholding Him... the heart brightens. And joy returns.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 shows us how to implement this even in difficult circumstances: "… yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
Advent joy is not loud. It is not emotional hype.
It is the quiet confidence that: "Christ is with me. Christ is in me. Christ is moving within me."
Psalm 30:5 promises: "For His anger lasts only a short time. But His favor is for life. Crying may last for a night, but joy comes with the new day."
This is the joy that carried Mary. This is the joy that sustained Joseph.
This is the joy that made unborn Baby John leap.
This is the joy that filled the shepherds.
This is the joy that Simeon felt when he held the child.
The joy of "God is here."
Emmanuel
(will YOU choose to BELIEVE Today?)
Maybe joy has felt distant for a while. Maybe winter has lingered too long in your soul. Maybe your heart has been frozen, or numb, or just plain tired.
But today... listen. There is a sound. A small movement. A flicker. A whisper.
The sound of spring. The sound of joy returning.
Not because everything is perfect - but because Christ is present.
John 15:11 captures Jesus' promise: "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
And Isaiah 61:3 reminds us that God gives us "the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."
And when Christ comes, winter loses its hold, the river begins to move, and joy rises naturally.
The tests and challenges of this current season may have you feeling weak...
…but the joy of the Lord can once again be your strength.
**Prayer**
"Lord Jesus, restore the flow of joy in my heart. Let every frozen place thaw in Your presence. Let every silent place begin to sing again. Open my eyes to behold You.
Open my heart to feel You. Open my spirit to flow with You.
Fill me with the deep, steady, unshakeable joy that comes only from Your life within me. Amen."
Because of you, I know the path of life, as I taste the fullness of joy in your presence.
When the Heart Flows Again
"Long before you see spring... you hear it. When winter begins to loosen its grip, the very first sign is not the melting snow or the budding trees - it's the sound. A single birdsong on a cold morning. A crack of ice along the riverbank. A quiet drip of melting snow from a rooftop. Movement. Life. Sound. These tiny sounds are not the fullness of spring - but they are the announcement that spring is coming. And the Holy Spirit whispers: "Joy is the sound of the heart thawing."
Not loud excitement. Not forced happiness.
But the first movement of life inside a heart that is flowing again.
This is Advent Week 3 - JOY
- and today we listen for the sound of signs of an early spring in the soul.
Psalm 16:11 tells us, "You make known to me the path of life; in Your Presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
And James 1:2-3 reminds us that joy can emerge even in trials:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."
We've previously talked about the danger of a hardened heart.
A heart that freezes... cannot feel joy. Even if joy is present - it cannot be sensed.
Many of us live in this winter season of the soul.
Our hearts grow cold through disappointment, through busyness, through the weight of our burdens.
Some of you may feel this today - a numbness where joy once flowed freely.
Romans 1:21 describes this condition: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
When we stop glorifying God, when we stop being thankful, when our imagination drifts away from the truth... the heart grows dim. “survival mode”
Psalm 51:8 speaks to this when David prays, "Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice."
David understood that sometimes our joy is broken, crushed under the weight of sin or sorrow.
This is the spiritual winter we may find ourselves in - not because God has withdrawn His joy, but because our hearts have lost their capacity to feel it.
And in this frozen state, we often make a critical mistake - we try to manufacture joy through our own efforts, through positivity, through circumstances.
We strive and strain to create what can only be received.
Prayer of St Francis – Make me an instrument of Thy JOY
A joyless Christianity is a contradiction.
It becomes heavy religion rather than vibrant relationship.
Without joy, our witness grows dim.
Without joy, our strength diminishes.
Without joy, our hearts grow weary.
Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that "the joy of the Lord is your strength."
When joy departs, our spiritual strength goes with it.
Many believers live in this weakened state - faithful in practice but missing the vitality that should characterize those who know the living God.
Isaiah 35:10 paints a picture of what we're missing: "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."
And even the world will notice when we lack joy.
They see our duty but not our delight.
They hear our words but don't witness our wonder.
A frozen heart cannot flow with the living water Jesus promised in John 7:38:
"Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
Philippians 4:4 calls us to "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
This is not a suggestion - but a command - because joy is essential to our spiritual health and witness.
Weeks ago we began this series with the truth that transformation does not come by trying - but by beholding.
Because whatever we behold... we become. …we magnify.
David understood this when he wrote: "In Your presence is fullness of joy."
Joy is not something we create - it is what rises when our eyes are lifted from ourselves and fixed again on Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 instructs us to fix "our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. 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."
This is why the angel's announcement at the birth of Christ began with: "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." (Luke 2:10)
Where Jesus enters... joy begins to flow.
Jesus came with a promise: "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted." (Luke 4:18)
A healed heart becomes a feeling heart. A tender heart. A responsive heart.
And when the heart softens - joy returns.
Romans 15:13 offers this powerful promise: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Not because circumstances improved. Not because life became easy. But because the heart thawed.
Isaiah 52:9 says, "Break forth into JOY."
Joy is the warmth that comes when the ice breaks.
Joy is evidence that Jesus has touched a deep place within you.
Where there is flow, there is joy.
Joy is not the result of human positivity.
Joy is the overflow of divine life moving freely within us.
1 Peter 1:8-9 describes this supernatural joy: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Psalm 126:5-6 promises, "Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."
Joy is not the goal - it is the symptom of a heart where Jesus is flowing again.
Some of you may have rediscovered this in recent weeks. The moment you stopped striving and started beholding... Peace came. Clarity came.
…And Joy began to return
Joy is the echo of a heart looking at Jesus.
Andrew Wommack teaches that joy is not something we pursue - it is something we maintain by staying aware of God. (beholding)
Psalm 51:12 becomes our prayer: "Restore unto me the JOY of Thy salvation."
When we restore awareness - by glorifying Him... by thanking Him... by beholding Him... the heart brightens. And joy returns.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 shows us how to implement this even in difficult circumstances: "… yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
Advent joy is not loud. It is not emotional hype.
It is the quiet confidence that: "Christ is with me. Christ is in me. Christ is moving within me."
Psalm 30:5 promises: "For His anger lasts only a short time. But His favor is for life. Crying may last for a night, but joy comes with the new day."
This is the joy that carried Mary. This is the joy that sustained Joseph.
This is the joy that made unborn Baby John leap.
This is the joy that filled the shepherds.
This is the joy that Simeon felt when he held the child.
The joy of "God is here."
Emmanuel
(will YOU choose to BELIEVE Today?)
Maybe joy has felt distant for a while. Maybe winter has lingered too long in your soul. Maybe your heart has been frozen, or numb, or just plain tired.
But today... listen. There is a sound. A small movement. A flicker. A whisper.
The sound of spring. The sound of joy returning.
Not because everything is perfect - but because Christ is present.
John 15:11 captures Jesus' promise: "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
And Isaiah 61:3 reminds us that God gives us "the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."
And when Christ comes, winter loses its hold, the river begins to move, and joy rises naturally.
The tests and challenges of this current season may have you feeling weak...
…but the joy of the Lord can once again be your strength.
**Prayer**
"Lord Jesus, restore the flow of joy in my heart. Let every frozen place thaw in Your presence. Let every silent place begin to sing again. Open my eyes to behold You.
Open my heart to feel You. Open my spirit to flow with You.
Fill me with the deep, steady, unshakeable joy that comes only from Your life within me. Amen."
Because of you, I know the path of life, as I taste the fullness of joy in your presence.