A Reason to Rejoice

Do You Have a Reason to Rejoice?

Today, laughter and comedy are commodities to be purchased or streamed. Laughter is easily found on YouTube or your social media feed. For most people, reasons to be happy, joyful, or rejoicing are a struggle to find and difficult to maintain.

Unfortunately, the internet has not yet presented an option for filtering out the many reasons for discouragement, fear, and anxiety. In order to escape the constant barrage of bad news and hype people often live in denial or battle with disillusionment.

The Advent+Christmas season can provide a much-needed distraction from the busyness and negativity of everyday life, but that is just another temporary fix. Within the birth narrative of Luke's account of the events preceding Jesus's birth, we find a deeper cause for rejoicing.

In Luke 1:26-56, we find the record of Mary, a young virgin girl, discovering God had shown mercy and favor upon her, appointing her to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah. Mary's response wasn't temporal happiness, but a deep soul-satisfying joy! Mary was so overwhelmed at God's mercy upon her and upon her people that she broke out in spontaneous song of praise.

If you struggle to find reasons to rejoice, join us this Sunday. The reasons for the soul-satisfying joy Mary experienced are still available for you.