There is something special. When you get that notification. On your phone or in your email. That simply reads, package out for delivery. Right? That's an exciting time, unless you're the spouse that doesn't know what your spouse just ordered. But um that's an exciting time when you place an order, and then you get that notification, it's on its way. Right? There's a feeling, there's a joy before you even receive the thing that you ordered, you can actually experience joy while you're waiting. Right. That's just a tiny, tiny glimpse that shows us that joy is possible before you receive the thing that you're longing for right? This morning's message is entitled The Joy of Worship. It could also be called the timing of joy, because we think joy is something that is the end result. Of a met expectation. When in reality, it is possible to have joy in the valley. It is possible to have joy in the pain, and it is possible to have joy while you're waiting. And we're gonna take a deep dive today into 3 verses found in Matthew chapter 2. And if I'm being transparent with you in preparation for this sermon, this, this morning's message is my favorite. Uh, I know you're not supposed to have favorites of sermons, but this one is mine, just like you're not supposed to have favorites of kids, but we do. And uh. And those that are nodding, know they're probably the favorite in the family, right? And, and so the reason is, is because the deep dive into these three verses really helped me unlock something in my life that helped me experience joy in a deeper way imaginable. And so if it's helped me, my prayer is that it will help you. And so let's jump into these three verses together. Matthew chapter 2, verse 9. So we're gonna pick up our story here, the wise men, they're from the east. OK, they come a long way. They're following a star. They, they almost get there. They don't go to Bethlehem right out of the gate. They go to Jerusalem instead, and they're asking people, where is this king of the Jews? Where had he been born? He referring to Jesus. And so they don't, the people don't know. Herod finds out the king, and so he says, go find this baby so that I can worship him as well. And we talked about last week, where the wise men really found peace. Herod, the great, same Jesus, same area, same time, his response to Jesus was not one of peace, but one of panic. And so he sends them on their way, and we pick up our story this morning in verse number 9. And after listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that had seen that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Now some of you might be thinking, OK, that's a nice story, John, we've heard that before. Why is that so impactful? Uh, just, just give me a few minutes here. Uh, one little insight that's gonna kinda drive our discussion today is something that I hadn't really thought about before, is in verse 10, when it says, when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. The light bulb moment for me was that They rejoiced before they saw Jesus. Do you ever think about that? They had come from far away, days, months, maybe even a year's journey, we don't know. And they had come so close, but the reality was they did not receive the outcome that they had been hoping for yet. So before they received the results, They rejoiced in the revelation. So if you're taking notes, I encourage you to write this down, that what we're learning from the wise men today is that joy doesn't wait on outcome, joy rests in God's promises. Joy doesn't wait on outcome, joy rests in God's promises. See, joy is not about your outcome, it's about your outlook. It's about your perspective. It's not just simply what happens to you, but rather, how do you view what's happening to you and through you. You can receive a revelation from God before you receive the results. And in that you have joy. You can receive blessing before the breakthrough. Famous writer, author, Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, all these incredible stories and books, CS Lewis spent most of his life as a skeptic and an atheist. But his autobiography is is called Surprised by Joy. Cause he, he goes on to describe that the thing that kept him going in his search for Jesus. With this nagging feeling that joy was possible. And joy ultimately was a signpost pointing to the presence of God. And what he found was as much as he didn't want to believe, there was a hole in his heart that nothing in the world was filling. And so, and it was in that search for joy, he ultimately came to find his search for Jesus. And then it's in that search, that when you find the presence of God, that's where joy is. OK. See, in these three verses, we, we quickly scan over them. Yeah, wise men, they came from afar, they saw a star, they gave some stuff, and they went home. Bless you. But when we see in these three verses, it actually gives us a template for worship. And these 3 verses actually gives us a structure and a pattern for worship. That has remained for the last 2000 years. And they give us the example, the model to follow, that can unlock joy in our life, even in the midst of struggles. Here's what I mean. Here's the pattern, OK? Joy or God finds. Joy fills, worship flows. God finds joy fills, worship flows. So one more time here so we can connect with it cause we're gonna walk back through the passage and see this. God finds joy fills worship flows. Here's how this works out, OK? Verse 9. We see in here that God finds. And after listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. You see, in this verse, we see that God is leading the wise men. God is guiding them, God is revealing to them. God is giving them the sign. Why is that important? Because Herod thinks that he is leading them after they saw the king, after they met with Herod. They went out But it's not Herod directing them, it's, it's God directing them. See, God is directing your story. Right? They saw the sign, they saw the star, right? It's, they're sitting there walking on the path from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, only about 5 miles, right? And they're saying, I saw the sign. I hope, OK, maybe not. But what I find interesting about this is that The star didn't show back up until they moved. Do you ever think about that? They saw the star, led them to Jerusalem, they don't see it. So what do they do? They start asking around. In between, when they see the star and don't see the star, they need faith. And so that when the sign appeared, when the star appeared. They followed What I find interesting here, it says, and they went on their way, and behold the star that they had seen when it rose went before them. That means that the star didn't move until they moved. Right. Joy is on the other side of obedience. Sometimes we're asking God for a sign. And yet, God's like, why would I give you a new sign when you didn't obey the last one? Right. Let's, let's be real. Have you ever prayed that prayer, like, God, if you just give me a little something, right? I'll trust you, right? If you can just give me the answer in the clouds, right? Or God, if if if if you ever, let's be real, let's, we've all prayed those prayers, haven't we? God, if you just show up. And fill in the blank. Hm The reality is we have a sign. We have thousands of pages of science. And if you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably looked back on your life and like, wow, I'm so glad. Right? Have you ever found yourself asking God, where are you? Only to look back on the situation after we're like, oh, there you were. I just wasn't paying attention. Do you ever stop to think That the star was visible for other people besides the wise men. So why the wise men? Simply put, they were paying attention. They were looking for it. Are you looking for God? See, God surrounds us and is continually revealing himself to us on a daily basis. And I think it's not so much that we wanna destroy God, it's just that we're distracted. And in the busyness of the season, we go through all of these things, and we miss the sign that God has given us in place right before us. But the wise men saw the sign, they saw the star, and they obeyed, they followed, and so their journey was still going. And they realized because God was directing. God finds. We see this in other places in Scripture. Psalm 23 verses 1 to 3. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. There's leading, there's guiding, there's restoring. Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 and 6 says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. God finds us, meets us where we are, and ultimately directs our story. The Wiseman's story was not directed by Harry the Great. Your story is not directed by the bad circumstance that you're in. By the brokenness that you've experienced, by the boss that you can't stand. By the, by the something that you fill in the blank, I can't believe they're making me. No, God is leading you. Right, you're right where you need to be. And God's right by your side, giving you the next step to take. So God finds. But after we see that God finds, we're gonna next step of worship is then joy fills. Joy fills, that's found in verse 10. It says, when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. Think about that. I, I, I, this is the impetus or the beginning, the genesis of this message was recognizing they had joy before they saw Jesus. Meaning that while they were still on their journey, while they didn't get the answer that they had been praying for, hoping for, searching for, longing for, they still had joy on the journey. Why? Because joy is a choice, but they didn't just have joy. Notice these words, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. That's 4 levels of joy. I call that like s'mores level joy. Think about any any s'mores fans in the house, OK? Uh, why are you ashamed of s'mores? They're nectar from heaven. Come on now. Heaven come down, OK? Think about it. First layer, graham cracker, delicious, right? And then you got the second layer, you got marshmallow. OK, that's our exceedingly, right? We got rejoice, graham cracker exceedingly, that's the marshmallow. You need you and come on now, like there's different levels. You got your burn people, right? And they got your sanctified, slowly rotate and get that golden crisp brown people. You know what I'm saying? Right? That's the exceedingly. And then with great, that's, that's a Hershey's chocolate, right? If you wanna get crazy with it, substitute Hershey's chocolate with a little Reese's cup. Mm, Amen. OK, now we're preaching. OK. So you don't amen when I talk about God and joy, but Reese's cup, that gets the amen. OK, got it. Tracker. That's why I know where we are. But also why we're friends, I resonate so deeply with you. Um, and then you got joy, the 4th layer. OK, Graham cracker again. OK, we got 4. Layers. If you're not a s'mores person, OK, substitute for your food category of choice, right? If it's Mexican food, you got that multi-layer dip, you know what I mean? You got beans, you got cheese, you got corn, you got salsa, right? If it's not that, think Italian, right? How boring would a lasagna be if it was just one layer? You know what I mean? That's why like lasagna almost tastes better the next day, right? Cause those layers get to kind of mix and, and marinate together, you know what I mean? And if, and for me, you're saying like, wow, he's so unhealthy. OK, throw in a kale salad, OK? You need layers for kale salad because no one's just eaten kale, you know what you call someone who eats kale by itself? A rabbit, that's what you call. That Look, I'm, I'm for it, right? You put the enough ingredients in a salad, that can be delicious too, right? That's what I love about this joy. They didn't just have a simplified one time joy, that when they saw the sign of God before they even got the result that they had been praying for, they had rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. This is something deeper and bigger than they could ever imagine. They joy is not the result of revival, it is the response to revelation. Right? They're responding to who God is and what God was going to do, and that was enough. Think about that. They didn't get the answer. They were still on their journey. They didn't know they had a king that's gonna threaten them later, but in the middle of all of that, they had joy exceedingly with great joy. Why? Because of who God was and what God was going to do. They didn't get the result. They did get the revelation, and that was enough. It's not just for them though. In Luke's version of the Gospel story, Luke chapter 2, verse 10 and 11, it says, and the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, right? We're joystacking, right? If you, if you follow productivity, right? Like the power of habit, atomic habits, you've heard of habit stacking, right? Putting things together. These people are joystacking. And it multiplies. Why do they have good news of great joy that will be for all people? Verse 11 says, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior, who is Christ the Lord. You see this power You see, our joy is not based on results from life, but from revelation from God. I'm gonna go old school church on you for a minute. Sunday school. Midwest Baptist Church, flannel graph, board, right, the characters don't even match cause they're mixed from previous stories, right? You got the shepherd and then like, there's a sheep, there's always like a cloud with a big lightning bolt somehow, right? You know what I'm talking about, right? We sing these classic songs, right? I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Yes. So my people. Down in my heart, down in my heart, I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Down in my heart to stay. We sing that as kids. And then we completely forget it as adults, right? In adulthood Like, I got the joy, joy, joy, joy in my promotion. Where in my new car, where in my reputation, I got the joy, joy, joy, joy in my 401k. Right. And joy becomes this thing that is outside of us that we're chasing. It's like we're playing hide and seek with joy. Joy, oh joy, where are you? There's praise before. It's a revelation from God. Uh, Old Testament story. Go quickly cause we got a lot more good stuff coming. Joshua leads the people of Israel into the promised land. They come up to this fortified city, Jericho with walls, they got weapons, they got soldiers. So Joshua is like, OK, I'm obeying you guys. What are we gonna do? He's like, OK, day one, you're gonna walk around. OK, it seems a little odd. Got it? OK, OK, OK. It's good, right? Warm up, right? Every, every workout's got a warm up, right? We're gonna get like survey the land, right? Right, day two, you're gonna walk around the city. OK, cool, cool. Got it, got it. OK. And day 3, yeah, for 7 days, you're gonna walk. So, like we had a We little beasts, God, like, why are we just go all this walking? Like, are we getting ready for the battle? What's going on? What are we gonna do on, on day seven? And walk around it 7 times. Like, think about how crazy this is. OK, you got a whole city, you got like a million people, just was like, All right guys, here's how we're gonna take them down. Ready? Follow me. Huh? That's battle right there, right? They do that for 7 days and on the 7th day, they go around 7 times. I, I'm not gonna go around 7 times cause I'll get dizzy and I'll fall over. But what's wild, OK, two thoughts from that Old Testament story. What happened if They stopped on day 4 They stopped on day 5. See, they would have missed the miracle. I see, I think they had joy in the walking, in the waiting. And the reason for that is that when it came time, after going around 7 times, they blew trumpets. Do you know what kind of trumpets they blew? They actually didn't blow war trumpets, they blew praise trumpets. They praised God before the walls came down and before the battle was won. Why? Cause they had a glimpse and a promise from God of who he is and what he was going to do. Some of you are aren't seeing anything. And God's telling you, you just gotta keep walking. I know you don't get the cure. I know you didn't get the job. I know you've been hurt. I know you don't see what's coming next year. But I do. Trust me. The wise men had it. They had it to where they could rejoice exceedingly with great joy before they got the answer to prayer. They got a sign and a revelation from God, and that was enough. God finds Joy fills Worship flows. Verse 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Now some of you might be thinking, OK, John, but is that really worship? I mean, he's a baby. Maybe they're tired, right? Do you know the same word for worship in this story? It's the same word for worship in John chapter 4, verse 23 and 24, when Jesus described worship for us. Jesus says this, but the hour is coming, and now it's here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is worship, and those who worship must worship in spirit and in truth. That ultimate picture of worship was lived out by the wise men, right from the beginning. And what I love about it is that the first people to worship God were not these religious leaders who had it all together. They were these pagan wise men from far away. Who recognized and valued God for who he was as King. See, in this one verse here in verse 11, we see 3 components of genuine worship. Three components. Number 1, we have our posture. Our posture They fell down They humbled themselves. Their attention and intention was on God. Isn't it so easy for us to enter church on a Sunday morning just distracted? When's the last time you genuinely prepared your heart to worship God? It could be here in a service. But it could also be in your quiet time with him. Entering the throne room with God. They came from such a far distance, and when they came and saw him, their posture immediately was someone who fell down. And humbled themselves. Right? It's so easy as as humans to be distracted and stressed and anxious and worried, and we come down and we sit down, we're like, all right, God, give me something. I, I need a little something for the week. Give me a little Jesus caffeine. Right? When we don't have to worship, we get to worship. We come in of our time, talent, treasures, preparing our hearts and our minds to see God move. What if we approach the Sunday morning gathering? It's like, wow, in the world of chaos, I get to gather with my brothers and sisters who've been saved, redeemed, and Given and loved, and together we can ascribe value and worth to the one who loves us and saves us, and all of our anxieties, all of our worries and sins, we get to place at the foot of the cross, and we can fall down and repent of our sins and humble our lives before the throne of the living God. Or do you just walk in? Oh, hey. I The wise men give us the example. Come in with the posture of humility. But 2, then we need to look at our proclamation. They worshiped They called him out for who he is, King. Reigning and ruling in our lives. Even at his infant state, he had infinite value. Because I had a glimpse of who God is, and a promise of what God was going to do. And that was enough. The third They worshiped through personal sacrifice. They opened their treasures and they offered him gifts. Now does God need anything per se? Not really. I mean, Acts 17:25 says that he doesn't need to be given by human hands, like, he doesn't need it. So why do we do it? Cause we're laying down what we think we need. To receive, honor and value the one that we ultimately need. Because when we give of our time and our possessions, and our gifts, we're saying we value you more than me. Who are putting in priority the things that matter in this life. That's why when Jesus was having dinner with the Pharisees, and this unnamed woman comes and and anoints his feet with oil, it's very expensive, and they're like, isn't this person a sinner? And aren't they wasting? He's like, what Nothing given to God is ever wasted. Right? Cause here's what I've learned to be true over 20 years of ministry. Worship that costs nothing changes nothing. Worship that costs nothing changes nothing. We give God our leftovers. Right? God, you're first in my life, when it's convenient and I feel OK. You're first in my life, except for when everything else I wanna do. See, they gave gifts intentionally, sacrificially. As worship. It says in Romans 12:1 that in view of God's mercies, right? God finds joy fills. Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. See, that's almost harder than just a dying sacrifice, because a dying sacrifice happens one time, a living sacrifice happens every day and in every area. Offer your bodies in view of all that God has done, in view of his mercies and who he is, we offer our bodies as living sacrifice, holy and accepting. Why? And, and because this is our spiritual act of worship. Worship is giving what you have to whom you value most. You worship something. It's not do you worship, but what or whom do you worship? Where does your time, talent, and treasures go? Where does your thought life go? How do you respond with people? How do you treat people? How do you treat God? Does God have your attention, your affections, and then your actions? My wife and I are celebrating 19 years of marriage. Right, awesome. Yeah, she's in the room, people, come on, help me out. OK. We got away this weekend for a night. It was great. Just, just enjoying time together. And, you know, I love my wife. I love my wife more than today than ever before. But if I had a conversation with you, and it's like, yeah, I love my wife. You're like, do you talk to her? No. Do you spend time with her? No. Do you spend money with her? No. Do you serve? No, but I love my wife. Do you? We do that with God, right? You know, the book Five Love Languages, right? Different ways. Do you have 5 love languages with God? And are you using any of them? I See, love, agape love for each other and for God requires sacrifice. It's because you're receiving and worshiping and honoring something so much greater and someone so much greater. Same. And actually, if you pay attention. The Christmas gifts actually tell the gospel story. It's pretty cool, actually, we've never studied it. See, I always thought it was weird, those gifts, right? Gold, frankincense and myrrh. I don't think any of those were on the baby registry, right? Like if they're throwing a baby shower, I don't know, maybe start with a crib, right? Like our guy was born in a manger, like a feeding trough, like maybe go crib, you know. Like I don't know what a baby's gonna do with frankincense, you know. I remember my wife and I were getting married and we were going through the wedding registry. We were walking through Bed Bath and Beyond, and they give you the little scanner gun. Uh, this might be hard to believe, but I get antsy and distracted easily. And, uh, and so we're walking through and it's like plates, you know, blender, like towels, like bedding, like all this stuff, but I was getting hungry, we were going to dinner after. So I just started scanning snacks and it's like a laser, right? It's just kind of cool. So we're like, we're like picking bedding and I'm like, I don't know what color, oh, trail mix, boop, yes. So we get 2 weeks later or 3 weeks later, we get to our uh wedding shower, we're opening gifts, right? It's great. And then I open up this giant thing of trail mix. I'm like, yes. And my wife looks at me like, what are you doing? You scan, you trail mix? I was hungry. I was excited. OK. And kind of feel like the wise men here are giving gifts that they didn't ask for. It wasn't on the list. One, they're very valuable, and in fact, some commentators say that it might have actually funded their life for the next couple of years cause they didn't have anything. But 2, these gifts actually tell the Christmas story. Here's what I mean. Gold represents royalty. It's, it's a gift for the king. It doesn't make sense for a baby, but it does make sense for a king, right? I wanna honor you with gold. So it demonstrates God being king. Frankincense. is something that represents priesthood. Priests would use frankincense and and incense and sacrifice in the temple in on altars as an act of worship. So frankincense really connects to this idea that Jesus is the great high priest, and ultimately, Jesus was in fact God. So gold shows that Jesus is king, frankincense shows that Jesus is God, and then you get myrrh, and myrrh was a very expensive spice, but the primary use of myrrh was actually in and around embalming around death. We know that to be true. In John 19, when Jesus' body was to be buried, he was wrapped with myrrh. And spices So it seems weird, hey, congrats on your new baby, here's a spice of death. Right? Thanks, you know, Baby Bjorn would have been great, but sure. But put these three things together, and what you get is actually the foreshadow of the gospel. How awesome is this, that the gifts of Christmas foreshadow the story of the gospel, and that a king, who is God, will die for all. So from the very beginning of the Christmas story, it's tied to the Easter story. That Jesus, who is king and who is God, will give up his life for your life and mine. Joy doesn't wait on outcome. Joy rests in God's promises. Some of you are in difficult situations right now. But I want you to know that God's here. I want you to know that it says his promise right now that he's with you, that he is for you, he is in you, that he works through you, that he loves beyond you. I want you to know that God is coming back. And someday there is no more tears. There is no more mourning. There is no more loss. There is no more wanting, that every need and desire is fulfilled, and the God who will spend eternity with you and me. And the acknowledgment of who God is, and the promise of his return is enough for you and I to have joy in the waiting. So let me close with this. 3 questions. Number one, does God have your attention? Does God have your attention? We see from our story that God finds, God reveals. But he reveals himself to those who are paying attention. Are you looking for God in your daily life? Is your posture one of humility? Are you looking for the signs in his words, in your prayer, in your relationships that God is present and God is moving? Does God have your attention? Don't get so distracted by the season that we missed the reason for it. 2, does God have your affections. Everyone's worshiping something or someone. When you look at your life, can you say that in through your life, you're worshiping God as King? Do you have the 4 layers of joy, rejoicing exceedingly with great joy. You can do that when God has your affections. And then 3rd, Does God have your actions? Does God have your actions? The wise man came from a distance. Intentionally seeking. After the king. And when they came, they fell down, they proclaimed him, and they gave of their gifts. Why? Because they said, my actions are my worship, my sacrifice is my worship, my words, my humility, what I give, how I speak, how I love. I lay this at the foot of the King of the universe, of the King of eternity, God. We're gonna celebrate and end the service today with a few ladies getting baptized. And then we have a few more next hour as well. So we're excited for Tammy and for Emmy. Who they're worshiping God today. They're worshiping God In their humility to say, you know what, I can't go to heaven on my own. They're worshiping God by saying, I believe Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. And then with their action by getting baptized, symbolizing publicly what they believe personally. That's their act of worship today. What action of worship do you need today? Is it giving? Is it sharing? Is it inviting? Is it serving? What in your life reflects who you value most? If you do that You'll experience joy. Will you pray with me? Dear only Father, we love you. God, we're praising you for who you are. God, for those that are in the middle of a journey. May they experience your joy that goes beyond comprehension. That here we are to worship you, that even in the valley and in the dry seasons in the dark times, God, we can experience you and experience joy, because our joy is in our heart and our joy comes from you, and our joy comes not from our outcomes, but from resting in your promises. Help us rest in those promises today and experience the joy that only can come from you. We love you, Jesus, and your sins, and we pray. Amen.