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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Gospel-Centered Community - A Joyful Community
Join Pastor Tyler Lynde in exploring the profound impact of genuine, gospel-centered joy in the sermon “A Joyful Community.” Drawing from Romans 15:13, this sermon delves into how true joy, rooted in faith and the Holy Spirit, transcends the fleeting happiness often celebrated in our culture.
The sermon begins with a heartfelt story about Pastor Tyler’s son, Benjamin, whose selfless actions during Christmas beautifully illustrate biblical joy. Unlike the temporary excitement typically associated with receiving gifts, Benjamin’s joy in giving to others highlights a deeper, more enduring joy that comes from a life anchored in faith and generosity.
Pastor Tyler emphasizes that biblical joy is a consistent trait that should permeate the lives of believers, as stated in Galatians 5:22 and 1 Peter 1:8-9. This joy, a fruit of the Spirit, not only enhances our personal lives but also serves as a powerful witness to the strength and beauty of our faith. By maintaining a joyful demeanor, believers can attract others to the faith, echoing Martin Lloyd-Jones’s teachings on the indispensable role of joy in Christian witness.
The sermon further explores the theological concepts of justification and sanctification, which profoundly influence our understanding and experience of joy. Justification through faith in Christ offers believers lasting peace and joy by affirming their right standing with God. Sanctification, the process of becoming more like Christ, involves daily taking up this joy as we grow and face life’s challenges.
Through personal anecdotes and reflective prayers, Pastor Tyler invites the congregation to seek spiritual renewal and a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This call to deepen our spiritual practices aims to ensure that joy remains a stable, visible quality in our lives, even amid trials.
In concluding, “A Joyful Community” challenges listeners to not only experience this joy but to actively cultivate it within their communities. Pastor Tyler advocates for a community where joy is not an occasional guest but a permanent resident, shaping how we interact with each other and the world around us.
This sermon is a powerful reminder of the transformative potential of living a life characterized by deep, abiding joy. Tune in to discover how embracing joy rooted in the gospel can transform your life and community, making each a beacon of hope and a testament to God’s enduring faithfulness.
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I'm so excited about bringing this message to you today, and so let's get right into it. Are you ready? You can turn in your Bibles to Romans, chapter 15, verse 13, if you'd like, and it'll be up on the screen in just a minute. We're in the middle of a sermon series based on this book, gospel-centered Community, and we still have some of these left in the coffee bar if you're interested. They're $10 donations. If you don't have $10, give what you can and you can grab one. Okay, please take that and use it.
Tyler Lynde:Over the last few weeks, we've been laying a foundation, a theological foundation, for the concept of gospel-centered community. We've talked about the fact that we are created for community, that the culture of this world since the fall of the garden is individualism right In the place of community, and how God uses community to shape us in the gospel and how the gospel also shapes community. And last week, mark did a great job of showing us how faith works through love. Does anybody practice resting this week in the gospel? If you haven't heard that one yet, please go back and watch that on YouTube it's really important or on the website as well. So today we're going to turn the corner a little bit as we begin to discuss some of the characteristic marks of a gospel-centered community.
Tyler Lynde:The title of today's message is A Joyful Community and it comes from chapter 5 in this book. All right, so let's look at Romans, chapter 15, verse 13. It says May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word. Your word is life and light. It changes our focus, it changes our attention, it changes our way of thinking and, father, we ask that you would do that by the work of your spirit, that you would transform each of us this day, that we would understand in a greater way the joy that you have promised us as believers in Jesus Christ. For those who might be here who do not yet know you, I pray, father, that hearing this message today that you will spark a desire within them to be truly devoted followers of Jesus Christ. And Lord, we just give you the glory and the honor and the praise for everything that you will accomplish this day, in Jesus' name, amen.
Tyler Lynde:Our youngest son's name is Benjamin, and when he was seven or eight years old. He was really excited about Christmas. Have any of you had children that were excited about Christmas? Were any of you yourselves children who were excited about Christmas? Yes, absolutely so. He was really excited about Christmas, so excited that he woke us up at dark 30, which means I don't know what time it was, but it's still dark outside right and he woke us up, woke up the whole household.
Tyler Lynde:We all are dragged into the living room and I don't drink coffee, so it's kind of like you just have to make it right. So we get into the living room and he's so excited he runs to the tree and Amy and I are assuming what that Ben's going to get his presence with his name on them from underneath the tree. But guess what he does? Instead, he starts grabbing everybody else's presence and delivers them to them and stands by with eyes aglow, waiting for each of us to open the presents that he had had some hand in gathering together for each of us.
Tyler Lynde:I have to be honest, I was shocked in a good way, right? You ever been shocked in a good way? And Amy and I glanced at each other, and even some of the older kids. We all glanced at each other. Some tears began to trickle a little bit, although we had to wipe them quickly because we didn't want to ruin the moment. Right, it was a joyful moment, a joyful expression of something really special that Ben had begun to understand. You see, ben taught our whole family a lesson that day. That lesson is it's more blessed to give than to receive. There's so much more joy in giving than receiving. He also understood that there's true joy comes many times from putting others before ourselves. Joy comes many times from putting others before ourselves.
Tyler Lynde:So today, in our passage in our scripture, Paul is praying at the conclusion of a long exhortation where he's encouraging Jewish and Gentile believers, who are at varying degrees of spiritual maturity, to think of others before they think of themselves. And what example does he use? This is the time when you can say the Sunday school answer, and it's the right one. What example does he use? Jesus. He uses Jesus, who came not to fulfill his own desires but his father's right, and to set an example of selfless sacrifice. And what is Paul doing in this prayer? He's asking God to fill these people, this early fledgling church. He's asking God to fill the people with joy, with joy. You see, joy is one of the byproducts of knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Let's give a definition to this, and Lord, let's give a definition to this.
Tyler Lynde:Biblical joy is more than a happy feeling. How many of you know that? That has to be true, because do you always feel happy? But how many of you know that, even though you don't always feel happy, we can always walk in joy, right? So biblical joy is more than a happy feeling. It's a lasting emotion that comes from the choice to trust that God is faithful. How many of you believe that this morning? How many of you know it's easier to believe that when things are going good, if we're honest, right.
Tyler Lynde:But the key that we want to tap into today is joy is not intermittent. It's not like happiness, where it comes and goes. Joy should be an enduring quality, an enduring characteristic that we express in our lives, that we experience in our lives and that we, as a community are marked by. So we're going to start with the ideal this morning. We're going to look at how a gospel-centered community should be a joyful community, and then we're going to start with the ideal. This morning, we're going to look at how a gospel-centered community should be a joyful community, and then we're going to deal with reality, which is answering the question why isn't joy always a defining characteristic of our lives or our community? And finally we will draw some conclusions. We're going to look at taking some steps to grow in joy. Are you interested? I hope so, because here we go. So let's look at that first category. A gospel-centered community should be a joyful community.
Tyler Lynde:The first point underneath that heading is God fills his people with joy. The scripture says may the God of hope fill you with all joy. May the God of hope fill you with all joy. This isn't something that we have to work for or earn or deserve. This is something that is a free gift from the God of hope, free gift from the God of hope. The God of hope gives to his people all the joy that is necessary for us to face, whatever it is that we might face, knowing that we can trust him fully, amen. Second point is believing the gospel is the key to experiencing joy. This seems pretty simple at this point, right? But how many of you know? You can know it, you can understand it, you can tell other people about it, but if you're not experiencing it in your own life, it's not going to make much of a difference. Is it Right? The scripture goes on May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace.
Tyler Lynde:In believing, in believing, scripture consistently describes joy as a result of believing the gospel. Believing the gospel a byproduct of knowing Jesus and believing the gospel is that we should be filled with joy. We're not there yet, are we? I can even tell this morning we're not there yet, but we're going to get there. I didn't start out the beginning of this week filled with joy, but I'm ending it up filled with joy and I'm grateful for it.
Tyler Lynde:We must believe what we must believe that God created human beings, that he created man and woman and placed them in the garden. He made them in his image and in his likeness, and Adam and Eve in the garden disobeyed God's commands and because of that, sin came into this world and caused a separation from God. And then all of us, except for Jesus, have been born in sin and because of that we die. We are spiritually dead to God. Jesus came into this world in a place in time in history and he lived a perfect life, the one that we could not live, and he died the death that we deserve to die. He did it in our place, taking our sins upon himself. This is the gospel that we believe. This is the gospel that, if we believe it, should produce joy in our lives. Not only did he die taking upon himself the sins of the world, he was buried and how many of you sins of the world he was buried, and how many of you know? On the third day he rose again from the dead and he is alive and well. Forty days later, he ascended into heaven, where he was made what King of kings and Lord of lords, and he will rule and reign forever. And, by the way, just in case you need reminding, he will very soon, in my opinion, return to this earth and he's going to make all things as they should be once again. He's going to make all things new.
Tyler Lynde:I love the verse in the last temper of Revelation, where it describes Jesus saying behold, I make all things new. That's his job, that is the thing that he's very best at. Has he made you new? Has your face experienced that newness yet? Experienced that newness yet? Are you expressing the newness that God has created in you?
Tyler Lynde:1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 8 and 9, ties this idea of belief and joy together. Again, it says though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and what you believe in him, and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, overwhelmed by joy. I can't even explain it, I can't even I can't find the words to express it. It's overwhelming, it's overflowing, it's more than enough, it's abundant, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Do you realize that our destiny was eternal separation from God in hell? That was our destiny. We were born headed for hell, and yet Jesus intersected himself and took our place and gave us a way to be made right with God, so that we could live in this life following after him, and that we know in the life to come that we will live with him forever and ever and ever. This is the gospel, this is the good news.
Tyler Lynde:Not only are the first two points true in this category, but the third one is also the Holy Spirit empowers us to live joy-filled lives. We have no excuse. We got God the Father, god the Son and God the Spirit, all three wrapped up in us, being able to live life this way. It says may the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. What is hope? Hope is an earnest expectation. Hope is knowing that God is in control and that I can put my trust in him. You see, the Holy Spirit is God's local agent or representative here in this earth. He works on behalf of God the Father and God the Son, and he also guess what he produces in us the fruit of joy. Where is that found? Come on Bible scholars, galatians, chapter 5, verse 22. My two-year-old granddaughter, emma, who's sitting in here. She knows this verse backwards and forwards, but I have to read it still to get it in the right order.
Tyler Lynde:But the fruit of the Spirit is love. Let's say it together the fruit of the Spirit is love. Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self--control. Against such things there is no law. These are not prohibited. You can get as joyful as you want to get. You can express as much love as you want to express. You want to have peace. That that is overwhelming. Go for it. There's no law against it. It can be ever increasing each one. No law against it. It can be ever increasing Each one of these fruit of the Spirit can be ever increasing in our lives. There's no limitation.
Tyler Lynde:So the conclusion, my friends, is clear God's people, are you God's people? All right, so it's talking about us, right? God's people ought to be consistently and recognizably joyful. Come on, let's go. That's the cry of the generation. I love watching athletes and my kids. Whenever, like when my kids are playing video games, I'll hear them in the other room, levi, who's usually very subdued and subtle, and are playing video games, I'll hear them in the other room, levi, who's usually very subdued and subtle, and all of those things I'll hear him. Let's go. I don't know what he was doing, but it was exciting, you know.
Tyler Lynde:So let me ask this question. Let's bring it down for a minute. Are you a joyful person? Do people see you that way? Because you might say, oh yeah, I'm joyful. What if we did a secret poll of your family, an anonymous poll, no names involved, and we just asked one question Is pop pop joyful? I'm joyful, he is. Is Mom joyful? Whatever the case is, what would the answer be? How about your friends? Well, we meet at Hardee's and talk about all the problems in the world. I guess that could be. You could have joy somewhere in there. I don't know.
Tyler Lynde:Coworkers, oh no, no, I have to be so careful at work. I cannot let people know I'm a Christian. I might get fired. I'm being facetious, aren't I? How about our neighbors? Facetious, aren't I? How about our neighbors? I have been tested in this regard. I'm literally on the HOA and I'm still having problems with the HOA. Can you imagine that I'm on the board Doesn't seem to matter. I'm joyful, though. I'm joyful, though. How about your Sunday afternoon waiters? Would they consider you a joyful people? Oh, how about that traffic incident? Are we joyful people? Let's take it off of individuals, all right. Let's move it to community.
Tyler Lynde:Is tcc known for radical joy? Would outsiders spending some time with us comment on the deep joy that they see our lives displaying within this community? I do have to say this Most people, when they've been around us for a period of time, say that they experience love. That's very rare and I would agree with that, but I haven't heard many people lately and I'm not, there's no, not pointing fingers here but I haven't heard a lot of people lately acknowledging or saying about us that we wow, you guys are a joyful people. Is that a problem. Is that really a big deal? Here's where it's a problem.
Tyler Lynde:Our lack of joy is a missional issue. It's a gospel issue. For the glory of God, for the good of others and for the cause of the gospel, we must relentlessly pursue joy. It's one of the very things that God uses as an attractant to unbelievers. Here's a great quote by Martin Lloyd-Jones. It's great and hurts.
Tyler Lynde:Too, christian people too often seem to be perpetually in the doldrums and too often give this appearance of unhappiness and of lack of freedom and absence of joy. There's no question at all but that this is the main reason. This is back in the 1900s, middle 1900s. This is the main reason why large numbers of people have ceased to be interested in Christianity. In a world where everything has gone so sadly astray, we should be standing out as men and women apart, people characterized by a fundamental joy. My friends, there's a problem. My friends, there's a problem Because I don't believe that I am, and this is what the Lord had to do with me about this week. I am not walking in joy in the way that I should be, based on the truth that I know. So why isn't joy?
Tyler Lynde:Let's move on to our second kind of outlook here. Why isn't joy always a defining characteristic of our lives or community? Why isn't it? What is the problem? Let's look at maybe a few of the reasons why. Number one if we lack joy, our real problem is unbelief. If we lack joy, our real problem is unbelief. We do not believe what the Bible says. If we lack joy Now again, I'm not talking about happiness or being giddy or, you know, silly.
Tyler Lynde:I'm not talking about happiness or being giddy or silly. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this disposition of hope that we carry with us that expresses itself in joy and in peace. If we haven't put our hope and confidence completely in Jesus, we won't experience lasting joy in our lives. If we haven't done that, we won't experience it.
Tyler Lynde:Many times the reasons that we don't believe is because we have confused two theological terms. We're going to take a few minutes and talk about those. The first one is justification, and we're going to give some definitions here. Justification refers to God's once for all declaration of forgiveness and pardon and so much more Justification. It's actually a legal term. Let's look at it like this Imagine that you're in a courtroom, god is the judge and you are guilty of every charge that's been levied against you and you're about ready to receive the guilty plea, except for one thing God, in his mercy, has given you the ability to put your faith and hope and trust and belief in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
Tyler Lynde:And so, when the gavel goes up, it comes down and God says not guilty, we are forgiven. He looks at us and he says Neil, you are forgiven, you are freed and you are pardoned, because the guilty verdict has been placed on my son, jesus, for your sin. That's what justification is. But that's not all that. It is. There's more. I feel like I'm doing an infomercial, but wait, there's more. I've got a scripture, you've got a scripture. Oh my gosh, lord, I didn't plan on being silly. Okay, moving on, lord. I didn't plan on being silly. Okay, moving on.
Tyler Lynde:Not only are we forgiven from all of our sins and we are made righteous just as if we had never sinned. Can you imagine that? Just as if I never had an evil thought, just as if I never had the wrong motivation or wrong attitude, just as if I never spoke a word that shouldn't have been spoken, just as if I never committed those sins that I shouldn't have committed. Justification clears the record, clears my record. It takes it away, it erases it. It's a clean slate. That in itself is amazing, remarkable, miraculous, whatever word you want to use, and that alone should make us joyful.
Tyler Lynde:But there's more to justification. There's a second aspect to it. You see, jesus' record of perfect righteousness is also credited to us. Jesus's record of perfect righteousness is also credited to us. So it's not that he took not just as powerful, it is that he erased all of our sins. But it's like if you went back in time and every wrong thought that you ever had was made right, every wrong word that you ever spoke was made right. Every wrong motive and every wrong attitude and every wrong action and every wrong, all of those things was made right. Every wrong motive and every wrong attitude and every wrong action and every wrong, all of those things was made perfect. That's what justification does. Do you believe it? It so. It's just as if I've never sinned and just as if I did everything right. That's justification, excuse me.
Tyler Lynde:So the next word is sanctification. Let's give a definition for that. Sanctification refers to our ongoing transformation into Christ-likeness, that is, a cooperative effort between us and the Holy Spirit. This is ongoing. This is from the point of our salvation experience and it will be completed when, when Jesus returns or we pass from this life into the next right. And I want to mention this morning, we've had a couple of deaths in the last couple of weeks. Gail Wortley went to be with the Lord and also Patricia Nooner passed away yesterday and we loved them dearly and we pray for the families and for all of those that are around them. Thank you for those, patty and others, that have been such a remarkable example of the body of Christ to people when they're in the very the most difficult, some of the most difficult moments of their lives. So thank you.
Tyler Lynde:Philippians, chapter one, verse six, says and I am sure of this Philippians, chapter one, verse six, says and I am sure of this that he who began a good work who's he who began a good work? God, jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a promise. And when God makes a promise, how many of you know he's not a God that he should lie. It's not a man that he should lie, right. So he's going to complete the process of sanctification in our lives and again, we know that that will happen when we see Jesus, when we're made completely. That will be the fullness of it, the completion of it.
Tyler Lynde:Romans 6, verse 19, says I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification. So we see the cooperative effort. God is going to do his work of bringing us closer and closer to him, causing us to act more and more like Jesus over life and over time. But he also is requiring of us, by faith, to step out and to respond to the ability that he gives us by his spirit to make the change that make sense. So that's the difference between justification and sanctification. Justification is a completed work. It's all the way done, doesn't need to be redone, doesn't need your addition or your addendum. It is finished, right. The work of sanctification is an ongoing process. It's us continuing to grow and to change and to become more like Jesus.
Tyler Lynde:How many of you smoked cigarettes when you came to know Jesus? And you don't have to raise your hand. Whoa, this is a judgment-free zone, right? No, but many people smoke cigarettes or cursed a lot, or were addicted to drugs or alcohol whatever it is told lies all the time. And over time the Holy Spirit began to remove those things, the desire for those things, out of our lives and we began to respond to his conviction and him drawing us closer to himself and further away from those things. Right, that makes sense. That's the work in the process of sanctification. It's called maturing, growing up as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde:Now here's the real problem. The great mistake that often steals our joy is this Our confidence in our justification tends to be based on how we're doing in sanctification. Does that make sense? Let me make it as real as I can. So I prayed for three hours yesterday. Man, I'm on fire. I can do whatever God wants me to do. I can stand before you today and preach with confidence, because I'm not like the rest of you who prayed for less than three hours.
Tyler Lynde:I read my Bible yesterday. I opened the door for somebody to walk into the store. I was. I really that person deserved for me to yell at them and curse at them, and I decided not to, except for underneath my breath. They were a lot bigger than me and I was concerned they might harm me. So because of that, god must be really happy with me today. So I'm feeling good. So you know what Today's going to be a joyful day.
Tyler Lynde:Is there anything wrong with that? What about when there's three days in a row where there's no real dedicated prayer and Bible reading? And you've had those thoughts that are lingering thoughts that you're working on but it doesn't seem like you're making much progress on, and you just got in a fight with your wife. Your kids aren't happy because you're not happy. All of a sudden, the joy just flies away, fleeting. All of a sudden the joy just flies away, fleeting because God must not be happy with me. Now are we talking?
Tyler Lynde:If we equate our justification based on how we're doing with sanctification, we're sinning. That is a sign of unbelief in our lives. It's not the same thing. So, unless we're doing well in holiness and obedience, we doubt whether we're even forgiven by God and credited with Christ's righteousness. We struggle with sin over and over and over. We can't seem to get our act together spiritually. We question whether God would really accept us. I mean, I wouldn't accept me. I don't accept me. How could a holy God, a perfect God, accept me and love me? God, a perfect God, accept me and love me. We end up living how, instead of joy-filled lives, we live what All the Ds defeat, doubt, depression, despair, discouragement, all of the things instead of joy. Do you recognize this pattern? Let's say it like this Do you recognize this pattern in other people's lives, those people out there? I recognize it in my life. You see, as believers, when we doubt God's love and acceptance, what we're actually saying is that Christ's death didn't matter, because we need to make ourselves righteous. Jesus, I appreciate what you did, but this wasn't quite enough.
Tyler Lynde:Another reason why I feel like that we struggle in this area is because we often think that joy is based on circumstances. It's not happiness, right, happiness can be based on circumstances, but joy should not be. If things are going well, there's no known trouble, then we tend to lean into joy, right, although it's probably best described, like I said, as happiness. We've got money in the bank, we've got a clean bill of health, we've got good relationships, everything's good. We lost three pounds. Sorry, I didn't mean to write that down. That was my own notes.
Tyler Lynde:For me, that is not what scripture teaches us to do. What does it teach us in James 1? Count it all joy, my brothers. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Rejoice in the Lord when, Always and again, I say rejoice, joy is something that should be expressed, no matter what our circumstance or situation says. It should be something that's underlying, that's with us at all times.
Tyler Lynde:Here's the problem, in my opinion, one of the problems. We expect God to move on our timetable and in our way. Isn't it interesting that when Jesus modeled the prayer for his disciples, how did he pray? The second part of the prayer your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I'd like to rewrite that prayer. Let my plan come to pass in my way and in my timing. And how many times do we pray that way? But we're instructed your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We can count it all joy when we're looking at life like that, when we're trusting him.
Tyler Lynde:Now I want to be careful to say here all of us have moments of sorrow, all of us have grief. That we experience here in this life, that's normal, that's expected. To grieve, to have sorrow means that you love. It's one of the side effects of love. But there's another precious promise that says Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Happiness is based on circumstances, but joy is based on the person of Jesus. We have this secret. You know what the secret is? He's with us. How can I live a joy-filled life when my life is falling apart? Because Jesus is with me and even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. In the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy, and the joy of the Lord is our strength. He's with us and he's in us by the Holy Spirit.
Tyler Lynde:So let's look at some practical steps that we can take to grow in joy. Are you convinced yet that we need to grow in joy? At least your person next to you needs to grow in joy. Don't look at them and tell them though right, we're not doing that. We're not that kind of church. All right, step one make sure that you're truly converted.
Tyler Lynde:This promise that we've been talking about this morning is reserved for followers of Jesus Christ. In this world. There is no joy, we can't experience God's joy without first experiencing godly sorrow. Why is it so unfortunate that the modern day gospel leaves out the fall of mankind and goes directly to God loves you and he has a plan for your life? Because how can we experience what the joy of the Lord is unless we understand how bad things actually were, how desperate of a situation we found ourselves in, destitute, lost, without him? So the gospel message, importantly and necessarily, starts with bad news. We are sinners who deserve the wrath of God, but we can go on with the rest of the good stuff.
Tyler Lynde:Martin Lloyd-Jones, going on, says it may sound paradoxical, but you must be made miserable before you can know true Christian joy. Indeed, the real trouble with the miserable Christian is that he has never been truly made miserable because of conviction of sin. He has bypassed the essential preliminary to joy. I think Aaron might have mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but the woman that came with the alabaster box and opened it up, and all of those around her judged her for wasting this. And Jesus said you don't know what this woman knows. She's living this way because she understands she's been forgiven. She believes the gospel.
Tyler Lynde:So how do you become a follower of Jesus Christ? Well, first of all you must repent. What does that mean? It means to turn away from an ungodly life. It means to acknowledge the fact that you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It means saying to a holy God I cannot save myself. Second, we must believe the gospel of what God did through his son and we went through that earlier. We must believe the gospel of Jesus Christ and then, third, we can receive the assurance that we have eternal life. What a great gift.
Tyler Lynde:Sometimes I think the reason that we struggle with joy is because we forget where we've come from. Like if you thought about your salvation experience every day a little bit, you think you might live your life a little differently. You just took a few minutes to remember how you were without Christ, or for young people that got saved in an early age. If you concentrate and think about what you've been saved from, what you could have been involved in, the types of sins that you would have naturally been drawn to and said yes to that you've been able, by God's grace, to say no to. You must be born again.
Tyler Lynde:Secondly, preach the gospel to yourself. All of you are preachers. You may not ever stand on a podium and wear a microphone and do all of that, but you are preachers and you should be preaching to yourself first, to your family, to your co-workers, to those at Walmart and around everywhere. I know I always say Walmart. I don't know why there's a universal need there. I guess that's the. So what kind of gospel do we need to preach to ourselves? Well, the word of God is filled with it. Let me just give you four or five examples.
Tyler Lynde:Number one Romans 5.1 says we have peace with God. Preach that to yourself, tell yourself that, acknowledge it, pray about it. Ask God to make that real in your life, help you to understand it more. Ask the Holy Spirit to expose it, to expound upon it in your life. 1 Peter 2.24,. Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross. Think about that, consider it, talk about it to yourself. Again, none of this is to change God's mind on anything. He's already convinced he wants us to be changed, right. So speaking the truth to ourselves begins to change us.
Tyler Lynde:How about Romans 4, 5? It says that God has credited Jesus's righteousness to me by faith. Preach that to yourself until you believe it. And how will you know when you believe it? I'm asking a question how will you know when you believe it? I'm asking a question how will you know when you believe it when you start sharing it with somebody else? That's why joy is so important for mission. How many mouths have been silenced because of a struggle with sin, not believing that I'm worthy? Of course you're not worthy. You don't have to argue with Satan about that. That's not what it's about. It's outside of me. It's much larger than me. The God of all heaven and earth chose me to be his child and made me righteous.
Tyler Lynde:How about John 19.30? This is one of my favorites. It is finished. Period exclamation point. There's not a question mark there. It is finished. Jesus paid it all. I don't contribute a single thing to my righteousness, to my justification. It's Jesus's righteousness that guarantees my acceptance before God, and I need to believe that and I need to preach it to myself. Relying completely on Christ's work on my behalf is crucial to deep and abiding joy. And then, finally, in conclusion, we're going to finish early today, unless the Lord just does something special now, and I'm open to that.
Tyler Lynde:The last thing is be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you want to live a life of joy, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit Ephesians 5.18,. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. You know what that phrase there actually in the Greek, what it's rendered to mean Be being filled. Be being filled. Do you know how many times the same people in the book of Acts asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit, multiple times? If we're going to live this life as joy-filled believers, we cannot do it outside the grace of God, based on the gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit in us, working in us and through us. Amen.
Tyler Lynde:Would you stand to your feet with me? We've got a couple other things we're going to do in a minute, but I want us to pray together. But I want us to pray together. And the first prayer I want it to be for those in this room who don't yet know Jesus as your Savior. I want you to pray either one of two prayers and either one is fine. I want you to either pray, if you would, that God would reveal himself to you in a greater way. That's a simple prayer. If you just would pray that prayer this morning, I promise you God will be faithful to answer that prayer.
Tyler Lynde:Second prayer maybe you're here this morning and he's already revealing himself to you and you recognize your need for a savior. And today, you believe, is a day that you want to respond to the gospel message and put your faith and hope and trust in jesus christ. Would you do that this morning as well? Call on the Call on the name of the Lord, acknowledge your need, acknowledge the sin that you have in your life and ask him to forgive you and cleanse you, and tell him that you believe in him, you believe what Jesus did and you put your faith and hope and trust in him and then accept and receive salvation from God this morning.
Tyler Lynde:The second so I guess the third group probably would include most of us, because it included me this week and that is the prayer of asking forgiveness for unbelief when it comes to us truly believing the gospel. And the reason that we're asking forgiveness in this area is because we're not living fully joyful lives. Our lives are not marked or characterized by joy the way that they need to be. And so let's acknowledge this morning our need. Let's just be honest with God and say you know what I want to believe. It's one of the most beautiful prayers.
Tyler Lynde:Remember when the disciples could not help the father whose son was possessed, and so he brought him to Jesus and he asked Jesus if he could do anything to help him? And Jesus said, do you believe? And he said, lord, I believe. And then he paused, I think for a minute, and he prayed the most honest prayer maybe in the whole Bible Help my unbelief. Jesus didn't scold him or anything like that. You know what he did? He reached out, he touched his son and healed him, restored him, set him free. So maybe that's our prayer this morning Help, lord I believe, but would you please help my unbelief when it comes to the gospel? Okay, but would you please help my unbelief when it comes to the gospel, okay.
Tyler Lynde:And then, finally, there may be some here who are just dry and weary and you need a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit. We're gonna pray for that too, and I just want you to put yourself in a posture of receiving from God this morning. He loves to give good gifts to his children, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself, said I need to leave so that I can send you this precious promise, this precious gift. So would you pray together with me, in whatever category you fit in? You just have a moment between you and God right now. Talk to him, be honest with him, be real with him. Thank you, lord.
Tyler Lynde:Father, we thank you for this day and, lord, we do pray for each one of these groups of people. We pray for those that are here in this room and those who are watching online and, father, for those who are just learning about you and they're not at a point of being fully convinced yet of their need for salvation. Would you give them the ability to ask you that you would reveal yourself to them? We pray for that, lord. God, in the name of Jesus, show yourself in strong ways, in powerful ways, to those who are questioning, to those who don't know. They're wondering, they're seeking, but they're not sure that they have found the answer. Pray, father, reveal yourself, show yourself to them in powerful ways.
Tyler Lynde:And, father, we also pray for those who might be here, who are ready to commit their lives to you, who have recognized the truth of the gospel and are choosing this day to believe on you. Just pray, lord, that you would empower them now by your spirit to be converted, father, that you would cause them, that you would breathe the breath of life into their dead spirits and that you would cause them to be made alive in God. Give them the gift of repentance to be able to acknowledge their need and to put their faith in you for salvation. We pray for them right now. Save those, father, god, save the ones in our families and in our extended families, lord, our coworkers and friends and neighbors, and those that we even have problems with and that we struggle with, Lord, because of whatever reason. We just pray that you would save, bring salvation near.
Tyler Lynde:In Jesus' name and Lord, now, together, as one body, we confess to you that we're struggling in the area of unbelief and one of the ways that we know that is because we're not living to the fullest potential, the joy-filled life that you've promised us. And so, lord, right now, together, as one group, we acknowledge our sin. We repent, lord, god, we say to you that we know that it is sin to not believe you, to not trust you, to not put our faith and hope in you. We ask that you would forgive us and cleanse us right now, in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, lord, god, that you would set our feet on solid ground, that you would help us, father, god, from this point forward, to believe the gospel, to believe justification, is absolutely true for those who are followers of Jesus Christ. Help us, lord God. We pray, lord, we believe and we also pray. Help our unbelief In Jesus' name. Lord, we believe and we also pray. Help our unbelief in Jesus name.
Tyler Lynde:And now, lord, we pray for each person, everyone in this room and beyond. Father, and we pray, by the mighty name of Jesus Christ, that you would fill us with the Holy Spirit From the top of our head to the soles of our feet. We ask you, lord, god, for divine intervention. We ask that you would give us your spirit in greater measure in each of our lives, so that the fruit of the spirit can be displayed for others, to be able to see the goodness of God and rejoice in, not in our works, but in the God who has saved us. Father, we pray for a fresh filling of your spirit, fresh fire, fresh wind.
Tyler Lynde:Lord, god, new beginnings, lord, that the gifts of the spirit would be activated within each and every one of our lives and, father, that we would be changed, that we would be transformed we pray in the process of sanctification that you would help us to be cooperative with the work of the Spirit, that we would say yes when the Holy Spirit asks us to say yes and we would say no to the things the Holy Spirit asks us to say no. To Give us your strength to be able to do this In your mighty name. Thank you for doing this, father, jesus' name, thank you for it. Would you, just, as an act of faith, just begin to say I receive in Jesus' name. Thank you for it, father. Thank you, jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you, lord. God Praise you Jesus. Thank you, lord. Thank you, lord.
Tyler Lynde:I believe that this week could be like the first week of the year for some of us, because it's a time of new beginnings, and I want to encourage you to view it in that sense. Today, sunday, july the 28th, I believe, is a day of new beginnings. Mark it on your calendar, believe it. Preach the gospel to yourself and believe it and be saved Amen.
