Pastor Tony Ashmore begins the series "Outrageous Contageous Joy" with Part 1 in this Sunday morning celebration.
Outrageous Contageous Joy PT1
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, August 5, 2012
www.mylifegatechurch.com
Listen now:
Download today's podcast
Study now:
Download the Sermon Notes (requires Adobe Reader)
Sermon Notes:
Outrageous Contagious Joy Week 1
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
There are only 2 worldviews. There may be many different representations, but there are only 2 worldviews. You either believe God created the heavens and the earth or you do not. And that affects everything else in your life, especially your joy. If your worldview is the other, then everything is based on chance and circumstance so happiness comes and goes—‘Happy go lucky’. Joy is not based on circumstance—it is based on the unchanging character of God and His promises.
Genesis 28:16-18 “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
A lot of us are waiting on ‘happiness’ when we could ‘wake up’ and live a life of joy regardless of what we are facing because we face it with the Creator of the Universe by our side.
John 15:10-12 “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
Joy is infectious, overflowing, contagious and it is outrageous because it isn’t based on what’s going on outside of you, it is based on what’s going on inside you. Everything outside can be crashing and burning, yet you are full of joy. That is outrageous and contagious. Note too the connection between joy and love. Totally opposite the world’s selfish concept of love—‘I love someone because they make me happy’—love is an overflow of joy—it is for the benefit of others and not based on outside action but inside actions.
A Tale of Two Houses
In Dickens’ classic ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, he starts with a line that has become very familiar: “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” How can it be both? Augustine, one of the fathers of the early church, wrote a book called ‘The City of God’ which was a contrast between the 2 kingdoms that exist on this earth. Jesus clearly defined these 2 opposing kingdoms—light and darkness, the kingdoms of this world vs. the Kingdom of God—and the master of each kingdom—the god of this world is satan.
If we believe Jesus and understand the existence of 2 kingdoms, 2 ‘houses’—the Great House of God or the House of satan, then we know it can be the best of times and the worst of times at the same time. Today, for many people, they are experiencing the worst times they have known because of the economic woes we face worldwide, because of a personal health crisis, or due to a relationship disaster, or because their parents have put them on restriction. But even in the worst of times, when nothing is making you happy, when the ‘feel good’ moments are few and far between, you can be having the best of times—a life filled with outrageous contagious joy—depending on the house in which you choose to live.
Psalm 84:4 “What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. Interlude” (House of Pain or House of Joy? Maybe it’s time to change neighborhoods.)
There are 2 Houses (and only 2 houses—whether we believe it or not)
Matthew 7:24-27 ““Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Joy is choosing to see the beauty and blessings no matter what comes our way in life.
Joy can be defined as the positive confidence I possess by knowing and trusting God regardless of the circumstances.
Joy is inner delight derived from an intimate relationship with Christ. Happiness is circumstantial, but joy is relational. The Latin root word of happiness is hap which mean ‘chance’. Happiness is based on chance, on circumstances, which means it is is fleeting by nature.
John 16:33 “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
No matter what life brings my way, no matter what the circumstances, if I have this inner delight derived from an intimate relationship with Christ, joy will flood my soul. It’s the peace that surpasses all understanding.
Is the ‘Man of the House’ home? Each house has a master.
Joshua 24:15 “But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve…But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
Back in the day, traveling salesmen would knock on your door and when you answered would ask, depending on what they were selling, “Is the woman (or man) of the house home?” When we choose which house we will live in (remember, there are only 2 choices), we are also choosing who will be our master, since each house comes with a master. One master is all about our freedom, our good, while the other is a liar who kills, steals and destroys.
Ephesians 2:2 “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.”
Much as we like to think we are our own ‘masters’, our choice of house decides that for us. Funny, how those who think they are ‘free’ because they are following their own way are the slaves, while those who willingly choose the Lord and His ways have found real freedom by acknowledging Him as master.
House Rules
John 10:10 “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
The House of this world, whose master is satan, has the same rules as the casinos in Las Vegas—“House Wins’. You may look like you are winning for a little while, but keep playing and eventually the house will take everything. And the rules are always changing and always changing for the good of the ‘house’. So, just when you think you have a break through, when things seem to be ‘falling your way’, everything changes again.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 “I returned and saw under the sun that—The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all. For man also does not know his time:
Like fish taken in a cruel net,
Like birds caught in a snare,
So the sons of men are snared in an evil time,
When it falls suddenly upon them.”
There is a great effort underway, particularly from Islam, to disavow the existence of Solomon. One reason is Solomon proves the fruitlessness of chasing happiness. Here’s how that chase works: “If I had (fill in the blank) then I would be happy.” The problem is the money always runs out before the blanks do, so we continue to believe happiness is just one more pursuit away. Trapped in a frustrating life that rises and falls with circumstances. The reason Solomon is such a threat to the House of satan is he is the one person in history for whom the money didn’t run out. He filled in all the blanks and found himself unsatisfied. Then, he told the world the truth in Ecclesiastes—that satisfaction and joy are only found in the House of God.
James 1:17 “But every good endowment that we possess and every complete gift that we have received must come from above, from the Father of all lights, with whom there is never the slightest variation or shadow of inconsistency.”
Finding My Way Home
Psalm 42:4 “My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!”
The ‘pattern’ of the Psalms: a shift in focus: Problem to Promise to Praise
1 Peter 1:6-9 (TNIV) “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (‘these have come’—don’t buy into the lie that God is putting you through them which is disproved by the scriptures, specifically James) 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.”
Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "The Table" in this Vision Sunday celebration.
