Keep Rejoicing (#1041)

Keep Rejoicing (#1041)

Good morning, glad to be here with you again. We met last time on Palm Sunday on the church calendar, this past Sunday was Easter for the Western or Latin Church, and this Sunday, today, when we are meeting is the Orthodox Easter. So, if you have any friends who were Greek Orthodox, they’ll be celebrating. But as we’ve said before, we don’t really notice the church calendar; it says in Colossians not to be observers of days and times and hours, but as I’ve said many times: if the whole world is going to take a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I’m all for it. And a good chunk of the world is doing it today.

Well, were going to go back to a topic we’ve talked about other times, but with a little different twist on it, but we’re going to talk about keep rejoicing. We have to work with our minds to continue to rejoice. A lot of people think happiness is based on their circumstances and happiness might be. But the rejoicing is something we can decide to do, God commands it; so, it is something we can decide to do with our minds. We can either sort of grumpily and morosely dwell on problems and difficulties in life, or we can choose to actively rejoice in the things God has done, is doing for us and will continue to do. In a sort of foundational verse to this topic for us today is in Proverbs 4…

Verse Listing and Notes

Proverbs 4:23                    Keep (guard, watch over) thy heart with all diligence

Proverbs 15:13-15             A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance (vs. 13)

He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast (vs. 15)

Proverbs 17:22                  A merry heart doeth good like a medicine

Ecclesiastes8:15                I commended mirth – be merry

Ecclesiastes 9:4-10            Eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart (vs. 7)

Romans 5:1-8                    Rejoice in hope of the glory of God (vs. 2)

Romans 12:9-21                Rejoicing in hope (vs. 12)

Galatians 6:1-4                  Rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another (vs. 4)

Philippians 3:3                   Rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh

Philippians 4:4-9                Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, Rejoice (vs. 4)

I Thessalians 5:16-18         Rejoice evermore (vs. 16)

Teaching

Keep Rejoicing (#1041)

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