2. Christmas Hymn Hakuna Matata The Lord is come.
Let earth receive her king.

3. Hakuna Matata
No worries
Problem-free philosophy

4. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!

5. The Gift of Joy! Come in a spirit of honesty.
You don’t have to cast aside your worries to unwrap this gift of joy
Inexpressible and glorious joy
1 Peter 1:8

7. Re JOY cing
Psalm 96:11–13:
“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for He comes.”

8. What if you just don’t feel joy this season?
Suffering, loneliness, pain, grief, busyness, stress, or boredom?
How we can anticipate, recognize, and choose joy.

9. How to Anticipate Joy Israelites Some gave up hope
Some just carried on with life
Others held out hope

10. How to Anticipate Joy We can anticipate the coming of joy
We can prepare to move from our state of discouragement or oblivion into an experience of life-giving joy.

11. How to Anticipate Joy

12. How to Anticipate Joy
Let’s experience Advent as a season when we anticipate the arrival of joy, even when we struggle with the realities of today.

13. How to Recognize Joy

14. How to Recognize Joy We expect joy to be free of worry and hardship
Joy is found in the midst of, and even because of, hard things.
James 1:2–3

15. How to Recognize Joy
When we recognize that joy comes from trials—because they produce perseverance that makes us into the people God wants us to be—then we can experience joy even in the midst of hard times.

16. How to Choose Joy Joy is a gift. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.
So we can’t just create it by trying harder—but we can choose to live the way that God says bring joy.

17. How to Choose Joy We can choose to give thanks We can choose to obey
We can choose to abide
When we do these things, we open ourselves to the gift of joy.

18. Choosing Gratitude Give thanks Giving thanks opens our hearts to joy
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
Gratitude leads us toward joy
When you feel anything but joy, give thanks

19. Choosing to Obey
John 15:11
We often want joy to just appear from out of nowhere, but Jesus said it comes from obedience.

20. Choosing to Abide
The second part to the secret of joy!

21. Joy!
Our joy is made complete by imitating Christ’s love and obedience.
Let this season of Advent be a time of gratitude, obedience, and abiding in His love as we anticipate the joy He brings this Christmas.