9 a.m.
Please arrive by 8:30 a.m. Downloadable PDF Lesson Plans for 9:00 a.m. Service:
10:45 a.m.
Please arrive by 10:15 a.m. Downloadable PDF Lesson Plans for 10:45 a.m. Service:
Leader Devo
I think joy can best be learned from kids. There’s nothing like hearing children laugh at silly songs or watching tiny babies giggle at funny faces people make at them. Or if you’d like to shed tears of joy, watch a clip of a child hearing her mother’s voice for the first time. These are simple joys.
Joy is the ability to experience deep gladness no matter the circumstances of life.
Sometimes as we grow up, we take things like funny faces and silly songs for granted, or even the sound of the voices of people we love. Sometimes we can be so overwhelmed by our circumstances that joy seems hard to find.
How are your circumstances impacting your joy this season?
The people hearing the words of Isaiah, and those later described in Luke’s Gospel, lived in difficult times. Read Isaiah 35 and note that it describes a day when God will overwhelm His people with joy. Next, read Luke 2:6–18. Notice the angel’s words to the shepherds that this news will bring “great joy for all the people” (v 10).
Born into difficult circumstances and laid in an animal feeding trough, this new baby probably still had funny faces made at Him. And at some point, He heard the voice of His mother for the first time. The difference in this story is that Jesus doesn’t just teach us about joy; He is the source of it!
Jesus is our joy!
—Matt Irvine
Pastor and Editor Contributor to Wonder Ink
*Wonder Ink Video for this series*
Word of Wonder:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.
—Isaiah 9:6
The volunteer schedule, including adults and youth volunteers, is available below.
