Today, we will be meditating on laughter!
Church does not have to a somber occasion every time we meet. Laughter helps Foster our church family: Shared laughter helps break down social barriers, build relationships, and create a sense of unity and camaraderie among church members.
A joyful laughter and a less somber atmosphere can be more welcoming to visitors, showcasing the hope and gladness inherent in the Christian faith.
However, our enemy has influenced comedy. People laugh at things that are not humorous. There is a mean, spirited that passes for comedy today.
The Bible tells us this is not good..
Ephesians 5:4 states that “no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving” should be heard among believers. The verse is a command to avoid unwholesome speech and instead speak words of gratitude. This is part of a larger passage that encourages believers to live a life worthy of their calling by being imitators of God, living in love, and avoiding immoral or impure speech
Where is the childlike laughter? Where is the innocence of joyful delight?
Children laugh, 300 times per day, but adults only live 4 to 15 times a day.
Why does scripture tell us a merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones? Proverbs 17:22.
Proverbs 17:22 teaches that one’s emotional and mental state has a direct, significant impact on their physical health and overall vitality.
- A “merry heart does good, like a medicine” means that a joyful, positive, and contented attitude promotes health, strength, and healing. Joy is a source of inner strength and resilience that can help a person navigate difficulties and even resist physical illness. This “medicine” is an inner state of peace and hope, often rooted in faith and gratitude, that benefits both the soul and the body.
The source of strength that Nehemiah 8:10 exclaims is that joy is a Source of Strength: And a True spiritual strength to face life’s challenges and overcome grief and guilt comes from a deep, abiding joy rooted in a right relationship with God, not from our own abilities or favorable circumstances.
Now, I’ve given some congregational members some scriptures to read this morning.
- Let’s have Becky read about what Paul said in Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” This scripture indicates that joy is not a passive emotion, but an active choice and a duty for believers.
- Now let’s flip back a couple of scriptures in the Bible. Genesis 21:6 6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
The story of Sarah laughing at the seemingly impossible promise of having a son (whom she named Isaac, meaning “he laughs”) is a prominent example of holy, faith-filled laughter in the Scripture. Jesus also used humor and irony (e.g., a camel through the eye of a needle) in his teachings.
- Job 8:21 21
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter
and your lips with shouts of joy.
- Ecclesiastes 3:4
“a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,”
- Psalm 5:11
“But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”
- Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
- John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
- John 16:22 “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
- 1 Peter the message 1:8-9 “You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.”
- Proverbs 17:22 “a merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”
Now let me give you a couple quotes from Reverend Charles swindoll and Martin Luther.
Reverend Charles swindoll said “Laughter is the most beautiful and beneficial therapy. God ever granted humanity.”
Martin Luther said “ you have as much laughter as you have faith. If the Earth is fit for laughter, then surely heaven is filled with it. Heaven is the birthplace of laughter.”
Martin Luther “ I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face and tell him that through God, I am more than a match for him.”
God said, lift up your eyes in psalm 122:1-2
Lift up the Lord John 12:32
Lift others out Matthew 12:11
A song of ascents. Of David.
1
I rejoiced with those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord.” 2 Our feet are standing. in your gates, Jerusalem.
- Verse 1: The psalmist rejoices when fellow worshipers suggest going to the house of the Lord, indicating that this is a joyful and anticipated event, not a burdensome one.
- Verse 2: The phrase “Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem” signifies that the journey has been completed and the participants have arrived at their destination for worship
Lift up the Lord John 12:32
Lift others out Matthew 12:11
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