Seek the Joy That is Above

December 14, 2025
Seek the Joy That is Above
Sermon Audio

CENTRAL TEXT: John 16:16-24; James 1:2-4 

John 16:16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  

CALL TO WORSHIP: Luke 1:46b-55; 72-73, 77, 79  

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

  1. First words you think of when you hear the word Joy? Don’t think–just speak. Go. Based on what you’ve just blurted, how is what you’ve tried to express different from happiness? But how, then is joy distinct from happiness? Now go again. Recall what we said in the sermon to reach for a definition of joy. Why would that be a desirable thing to seek and set our minds upon?
  2. If you had to summarize the substance of His joy in them (from John 16), what would you say? In what does that joy consist?
  3. Why will the disciples’ joy never be taken from them?
  4. To refresh your memory, why does James say trials of various kinds are an occasion for joy? How is that different from him saying trials are in themselves joy experienced?
  5. Have you ever seen, or ever yourself experienced, something that sounds like the joy of which we’ve spoken, though in the context of sorrow? Would you be willing to share what you saw or remember?
  6. Here’s a group exercise that starts as a personal exercise. The exercise of joy in sorrow is in part to “pray your tears.” Though you may feel silly doing this–and then sharing it!--but if you could imagine yourself in a vale of sorrow, what would you pray to the Lord? What would you seek to pray to the Lord as part of your reaching for that joy that the sorrow has suddenly sought to squelch? (We think you can see that prayer of this sort means prayer is more than merely requesting, but sometimes reminding yourself.) You can pass if it’s too personal, but share with the group what you might pray in that setting? It may be that you are already in that setting. So pray in a way you think seeks to rest in the truth that you are His because of the sorrow he endured but for the “joy set before Him.” 

ILLUSTRATIONS

Dec 14, 2025

Quotes:

I struggle indeed to go beyond merely owning my grief toward owning it redemptively. But I will not and cannot disown it. I shall remember Eric. Lament is part of life. A friend told me that he had given copies of Lament to all of his children. “Why did you do that?” I asked. “Because it is a love-song,” he said. That took me aback. But Yes, it is a love-song. Every lament is a love-song. 
Every beauty suffers. 
- Makoto Fujimura
I am quite certain that neither love nor grief can ever be excessive; each is its own absolute measure, and knows its own proper proportions. And, as a rule, we generally fail to love or grieve nearly as much as we ought to do." 
- David Bentley Hart
To know God as the sovereign disposer of all good, inviting us to present our requests, and yet not to approach or ask of him, were so far from availing us, that it were just as if one told of a treasure were to allow it to remain buried in the ground. 
- John Calvin

BOOKS / DOCS

Wandering in Darkness, Eleonore Stump