Happiness vs. Joy: What the Bible Actually Says

e e [Music] praise God brothers and sisters today I'd like to start off with Matthew 7: 24 therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the The Rock and uh this verse that CS us to build our lives on Christ teaching and like the wise man who built his house on the rock and it's it's not just about hearing but living out his words and with Christ as our foundation we can endure any storm anything that comes our way we have a solid foundation that will be that will hold itself whenever something comes our way so let's commit to making Jesus the Bedrock of our lives and with that being said let's stand up and pray Lord God we thank you for this time that you given us today Lord God for this service Lord we ask you God fill this place with the Holy Spirit God and help us also to build our lives Lord God on this Bedrock of Jesus Christ and his teachings Lord and we pray and we ask God bless the singing bless the preaching today Lord and we ask you Lord fill this place and help us to learn something new in Jesus name we pray amen good morning church today we're going to be singing a song by the name of Great Is Thy [Music] Faithfulness Great Is Thy Faithfulness oh God my father there is no shadow of JY with thee thou changest not thy compassions they fail not as thou H has been th forever will be great is thy faithfulness Great Is Thy Faithfulness morning by morning new mer mercies I see all I have needed thy hand ha [Music] provided Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lord unto thee summer and winter spring time and harvest sun moon and stars in their courses of Joy with all nature and manyfold withness to thy great faithfulness mercy and love Great Is Thy Faithfulness Great Is Thy Faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I seek all I have needed thy hand has provided Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lord unto thee pardon for sin and a peace that endureth thine own dear presence to cheer and to God strength for to today and bright Hope For Tomorrow blessings all mine with 10,000 beside Great Is Thy Faithfulness Great Is Thy Faithfulness morning by morning new mercies I see all I have heed thy a has provided Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lord un to [Music] me Come Thou found of Every Blessing tune my heart to sing thy Grace streams of Mery never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise teach me some melodious Son some by flaming tongues above raise the mountain fixed upon it Mount of th unchanging love here I raise my eer hither by thy help I come and I hope by thy good BL meure safely to arrive at home Jesus s me when a stranger wondering from thef of God he to resue fromer interpose his precious blood oh to Grace how great a de daily I'm constrained to be let thy great like a f by my wondering Heart To Thee grown to wonder Lord I Fe it prone to leave the God I love here's my heart oh take it seal it seal it for thy cour [Music] of uh to today we're going to hear uh B Shara poen with us and uh but before she comes up I'd like to read for from Psalms 633 and 4 because your love is better than life my lips will glorify you I will praise you as long as I live and in your name I will lift up my hands and today we praise our God we glorify him because he is worthy and uh like I said earlier Bella uh prepared a poem of uh praise and glory to our god so Bella please come out and then uh brother Vlad he will say his sermon day by day and with each passing moment strength I find to meet my trials here trusting in my father's wise bestowment I have no cause for worry or for fear he whose heart is kind beyond measure gives unto each day what he deems best lovingly it's part of pain and pleasure mingling toil with peace and rest every day the Lord himself is near me with a special Mercy for each hour all my cares he gladly gladly bears and cheers me he whose name is counselor in power the protection of his child and treasure is a charge that on himself he laid as thy days thy strength shall be in measure this the pledge to me he made help me then in every tribulation so to trust thy promises O Lord that I lose not Faith's sweet consolation offered me within thy holy word help me Lord when Toil and Trouble meeting heir to take as from a father's hand one by one the days the moments fleeting till I reach the promised land amen praise God brothers and sisters and good morning to everyone so as you can see here my topic is going to be on happiness and and what the Bible says about it um so I'd like to read from Psalm 16:1 you make me know you make known to me the path of life you will fill me with joy in your presence with external Pleasures at your right hand hand so what is happiness how do we get happiness is it happiness we should be striving for or something else all of this we will explore today so have you ever actually asked yourself you know what what is happiness have you really thought about it like really dive deep into it and there are three ways people generally generally look at it and the first is achievement the second is pleasure and the third is comfort and in our culture happiness is often linked to personal desires comfort and success things like you know Career Success educational titles reaching a higher status in life by having nicer things than other people and the idea especially in America is that material wealth produces happiness as you don't need to worry about money or you can experience anything that you want to experience so people are always trying to achieve these things which in itself is not completely a bad thing at all but is it for the right motive and there's also strong emphasis on Pleasure and enjoyment as indicators of Happiness this can be seen as things like entertainment you know leisure activities vacations dining at nice restaurants engaging in through in activities um all those types of things and the third one is usually comfort and security and this includes having a stable job a secure home good health and usually good social network around you and cultural narratives often suggest that avoiding pain and discomfort is the way to achieve Happiness and happiness itself it can vary from person to person but it's usually deeply rooted in one's personal experiences as well uh like for example for one person that might be spending time with family or for others it could be achieving personal goals or exploring new places for example so uh let's dive into the science of happiness and now that we kind of have looked at What happiness means in our culture and personal lives let's take a closer look at what science has to say about happiness and today many many people are caught in Relentless pursuit of PR of pleasure uh believing that more enjoyment and fewer struggles that will usually lead to a happier life and this idea it's deeply rooted in a concept that you might might have heard of called Hedonism and it's the belief that pleasure is the highest good and should be the ultimate goal of our lives and in our society you know these hedonistic ideals are often reflected in behaviors such as Indulgence in luxury constant entertainment and seeking your own personal gratification uh but what if I told you that this Pursuit might actually be a trap and modern psychology introduces to us something called the honic treadmill which suggests that no matter how much pleasure we Chase we eventually return to the same level of happiness and the hedonic treadmill refers to a like a phenomenon where people return to a stable level of Happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes and it suggests that no matter what happens to people their level of happiness will eventually return to a baseline level and for example that's um you know after getting a new job buying a new house or starting a new relationship however over time they adapt to these changes and their level of Happiness returns to Baseline level and similarly After experiencing negative events such as uh a job loss breakup people may feel unhappy initially but over time they adjust on their happiness level their levels return to a norm and the hedonic Treo implies that people Contin continually seek new Pleasures or achievements to maintain that happiness uh but these are often short and at least to cycle of new desires and striving without lasting fulfillment and in fact this endless cycle of seeking more pleasure and avoiding discomfort can often leave us feeling more dissatisfied and anxious and now let's look at another part of science which is called dopamine and the chemical that it produces and dopamine is a chemical in the brain that plays a key role in the reward system influencing you know feelings of pleasure uh and certain motivations and when people engage in activities that are enjoyable or rewarding such as you know eating delicious food exercising or receiving praise dopamine is released every single time and it creates a sense of pleasure and and a desire to keep repeating this behavior and while dopamine driven activities you know they produce intense feeling of pleasure these effects they typically end pretty quickly so the brain quickly adapts and the initial burst of pleasure goes away uh leaving people to seek out more and more of this stimuli to get to the same level of satisfaction and this cycle can create a craving for more pleasure inducing activities and it potentially even leads to addictive behaviors and people might turn to substances experiences or activities that often give them immediate gratification and uh for example you're scrolling through your favorite social media app and you come across a post that makes you laugh or a photo that gives you inspiration for example and instantly you feel a little surge of happiness and that's dopamine at work and this chemical it's released in your brain as a reward making you feel good and encourage encouraging you to keep scrolling to find more posts that give you the same amount of that pleasurable feeling but here's the catch this dopamine induced pleasure it's completely temporary and after a moment the initial Rush Fades and you might find yourself scrolling endlessly looking for that next post that will make you feel the same again and this cycle can go on and on and each hit of this dopamine uh you know feels great at the moment but does not lead to Lasting happiness so let's take a look at happiness versus Joy what are the differen with them what are the similarities um you know we often Chase happiness thinking it will bring us lasting satisfaction yet the happiness from you know a new purchase like you get a brand new car or something like that it quickly Fades away and the Bible tells us that happiness and joy they are not the same and happiness it can be it it depends on circumstances of your life and it can be fleeting but biblical Joy is deeper and enduring rooted in a relationship with God so let's contrast happiness versus Joy um happiness is based on external factors and situations and it's a temporary emotion that comes and goes depending on what is happening around us uh for example you might feel happy when you get a promotion you win a a video game or you have a good day and uh unlike happiness biblical Joy is not dependent on circumstances Joy it's a deep rooted sense of peace and contentment that comes from knowing god and being in a relationship with him and joy remains even in difficult times because it is grounded in the Assurance of God's love and promises and joy is described in the Bible as a fruit of the spirit uh which it says that in Galatians 5:22-23 but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law this means it is a characteristic that develops as they grow in their relationship with God and and they allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives and joy it goes completely above emotions and it's a state of being that reflects a believer's trust in God in his plan and goodness regardless of life's up and downs so how do we attain This Joy there's a connection between righteous living and joy according to the Bible living according to God's word and commands brings true joy and this Joy is not just a feeling but a result of living a life that is aligned with God's will for instance in Psalms chapter 1 uh verse 1-3 it talks about the blessedness and joy of a person who Delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night and when we live righteously we experience a sense of peace and fulfillment that goes beyond temporary happiness and this peace comes from knowing that we are doing what is right in God's eyes and that our lives are pleasing to him and Jesus often spoke about joy in relation to following him and his teachings uh which It also says this in John 15: 10-1 Jesus says if you keep my commands you remain in my love I've told you this so that you that my joy May in you and that your joy may be complete and looking at Apostle Paul's life despite him facing many hardship Paul often spoke of the joy found in serving Christ and being connected to other believers and his letters if you read them they show a deep joy in his faith and even in the midst of suffering so let's also look at a different part of the Bible which is Ecclesiastes and its wisdom on happiness The Book of Ecclesiastes it's known for its Reflections on the fleeting and often meaningless nature of worldly Pursuits and the offer which is believed to be King Solomon repeatedly declares that everything under the sun is Vanity or it's meaningless as said in Ecclesiastes 1:2 the words of the teacher son of David King of Jerusalem meaningless meaningless says the teacher utterly meaningless everything is meaningless and he goes on explaining how fleeting and meaningless our life is further and further down that chapter and you know you're reading it and you're thinking to yourself man life is really is meaningless and he says that everything is Vanity and this term is used to describe the emptiness or futility in Earthly things and Solomon he was known for his wealth wisdom power and he shared his whole personal jour journey of seeking fulfillment in various ways and despite him having everything one could desire he found that none of these Pursuits provided lasting happiness or meaning and in Ecclesiastes it highlight it highlights that Earthly pleasures and achievements are temporary and ultimately do not satisfy the deeper needs of the human soul and Solomon experimented with all forms of pleasures and luxury but each time he concluded that it was just chasing after the wind and everything that you have tried to achieve in your own life Solomon has probably done a thousand times that so Solomon also reflects you know on the inevit inevitability I could barely say that of death and the realization that material gains and achievements are left behind so what's the wisest man's conclusion on this matter we see towards the end of the book Ecclesiastes it reaches a a pretty powerful conclusion on the purpose of life and it's fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man says this in eclesiastes 12:3 and this summarizes the realization that true fulfillment and joy comes from a relationship with God and living Accord to his will and the final verses in this book remind us that despite all the searching for meaning in life and his pleasures and achievements it is only fearing God and obeying his commands that one finds true purpose and contentment and it also encourages us to shift our Focus from temporary things and worldly Pursuits to a uh a life centered fully around God and this shift it leads to a deeper understanding of what truly matters and provides a foundation for lasting joy and fulfillment so what's the role of hard times and joy the Bible teaches that trials and hardships play a crucial role in refining our character and our faith and just as precious metals are refined by fire our faith our faith is uh refined through difficulties and this process helps us grow spiritually and mature in our relationship with God and in James 1: 2-4 it says we are encouraged to consider it pure joy when facing trials because they produce perseverance and lead to spiritual maturity consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters when You Face Trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything and similarly Romans chapter 5 verse 3-5 speaks of rejoicing in sufferings because they produce endurance character and hope and it says not only so but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance pers verance character and character hope and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us and hard times they push us to rely more on God and seek his strength and comfort and when we Face difficulties we often realize our limitations and turn to God for help which deepens our relationship with him and in the midst of Trials we can experience God's presence and faithfulness in a more profound way than if we weren't going through that and this strengthens our faith and helps us find Joy even in difficult circumstances and we can find some bib biblical examples of joy and trials for example job's faithfulness despite him losing everything you know his wealth Health and Family job remained faithful to God and throughout his suffering job learned more about God's nature and ultimately found restoration and deeper joy in relationship with God and we can also look at Paul's joy and suffering the Apostle Paul he faced numerous hardships including imprisonment beatings shipwrecks yet he frequently wrote about joy in his letters such as Philippians chapter 4 verse four where he says rejoice in the lord always again I will say rejoice and Paul's Joy was not dependent on his circumstances but it was deeply rooted in his faith in Christ and his hope in eternal life and Jesus himself is also the ultimate example of finding joy and trials we can read this in uh Hebrews 12:2 it tells us for the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame and Jesus endured the greatest suffering knowing that his sacrifice would bring Salvation and joy to countless people that's why we are followers of Christ today okay so principles and practical application so you know what are the principles that the Bible talks about how do we apply this in our daily lives um as we think about finding true Joy it's important to remember that Jesus Christ he is our foundation and just like a house that's built on Solid Rock and it stands firm during a storm a life built on Jesus is unshakable no matter you know what comes our way and to experience this joy we need to deepen our relationship with him and we we need to spend time in prayer reading the Bible engaging in worship you know things like that and when we stay close to Jesus and keep his commands we remain in his love and our joy becomes complete so how do we achieve this joy in our daily lives here are a few practical steps deepen your relationship with God make time every day for prayer and reading scripture this helps us stay connected to God and reminds us of his promises the second would be uh practice gratitude focus on what you're thankful for you know even in tough times and regular regularly thank God you know because it can shift our perspective third one is serve others there's great joy in serving others you know when we shown kindness and generosity we reflect Christ's love and find fulfillment and fourth is maintain a half H uh Heavenly perspective remember that our ultimate Joy is found in heaven and not in Earthly things and keeping our eyes on God's promises helps us to stay joyful no matter what so finishing up uh let's remember today what we have learned about the differences between worldly happiness and true lasting joy and worldly happiness is fleeting and dependent you know on our circumstances and it comes and goes with ups and downs of life but the joy that comes from God is deep unshakable and it's completely Eternal and it's not based on what we have or what happens to us but on our relationship with God and his promises and we've also seen how hard times can refine and strengthen our joy helping us grow closer to God so instead of chasing after temporary Pleasures let's focus on what truly matters and that is building a strong relationship with Christ Living according to his word and finding our joy in him so uh I challenge each one of you today to seek true joy in God and let's choose to live with Joy No Matter our circumstances and also to share that Joy with other people so remember that true Joy it's only found in God alone and with that being said let's pray e e [Music] the savior is Wai to enter your heart while why don't you let him come in there's nothing in this world to keep you apart what is your answer to him time after time he has waited before and now he is waiting again to see if you're willing to open the door oh how he wants to come in if you'll take one step toward the savior my friend you'll find his arms open wide receive him in all of your Darkness will end within your heart he abide time after time he has waited before and now he is waiting again to see if you're willing to open the door oh how he wants to come in oh how he wants to come [Music] well praise God my dear friends I think we all heard a good message thank you uh brother of vad um and you know it's a good reminder it's a good reminder where Joy comes from because sometimes we do get carried away with the pleasures of this world but the true Joy is only found in God and God Alone um and you know our service has come to an end and um after service like like always we will go downstairs and have our good time with some coffee some tea but that's not the important food you know this is what the important uh meal was that is the the happiness this is the joy right here praise God for that uh does anybody have any needs um if not then let's pray Lord God we thank you for the message that was spoken today Lord Lord God it's a good reminder Lord where Joy comes from and where true happiness is and that is in you may we understand this and use this message God in our life like in in this week Lord God to understand that maybe we were seeking uh like for things that are not making us happy Lord God and may we shift our eyes on you thank you for everything in Jesus name we pray amen Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from the evil one for your kingdom your power for forever are yours amen be blessed