Collection › LCMS Convention Proceedings (St. Louis, Missouri) › 2016 · 66th Convention, Milwaukee › Page 91

LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2016, Page 91

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

CONVENTION
SERMON • 10

Joy in Jesus
1 JOHN 1:1–4

by t he R ev. Dr . Scott R. Mu rray, L C M S Fo urth Vic e-Pre s id e n t
66th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod • July 14, 2016 • Matins

I Joy in another
II Joy in the face of hatred

joy is in His mission to save the world. His joy was to
endure the cross for sinners like us (Heb. 12:2). And
our joy is in Him!

III Jesus has joy in us
IV Complete joy in heavenly fellowship

Our joy is in Jesus. Because it is in another, our joy
does not depend on us, our mood, the company we
keep, the pressures we feel in our daily life, or the
anxiety we experience because of our sin and spiritual weakness. It cannot be taken from us. There
are many opportunities for us to feel anxiety in the
presence of a holy and righteous God. This anxiety
so easily cheats us of the joy that we have in Christ.
As the psalmist says, “In your presence there is
fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). There is fullness of joy in
Jesus (1 John 1:4).

The world hates us because our joy is not settled in
the things of this world. The sacrilege of the world is
to love itself, rather than to find joy as the beloved of
Jesus. This is why the world must hate those who find
joy in Jesus. We Christians know who we are because
we have fellowship with the God who reveals Himself
to us in Christ. The world is lost and always has been,
but its wandering has gotten clearer recently. We
know who we are, while those who love the world are
trying to create an identity out of thin air. We know
who we are because we have fellowship with the God

I
Our joy is in another. It is not in ourselves. John the
apostle was writing of his experience with the Lord
Christ, whom he heard, saw, experienced, and even
touched. What was written about Christ joined John’s
readers in the divine fellowship with the Father and
with His Son, Jesus Christ. The apostolic Word unites
John’s readers with the God who manifested Himself
to His people in the person of His Son. Jesus says,
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may
be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).
Our joy is in Him, not ourselves, and because it is in
Him, it is full and complete. Jesus found His joy in
others too. His joy is to seek and save the lost. His

“Joy in Jesus”

U P O N T H I S R O C K • Sermon