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good morning morning I'm Jasmine smothers and I get to serve as the lead Pastor here at Atlanta First United Methodist Church in downtown at Atlanta Georgia and it is my joy to welcome you to worship both here in the historic sanctuary and in the online community I want to extend a very special welcome to our online community this morning because most people don't know how much you are a part of this church you amen M Ruby every time we call for donations like through our wellb children for our wellb children and Midtown Assistance Center every time we give a call to give generously or to serve God in some way or another this online community steps up and make sure that we the church are able to be the hands and feet of Christ amen so I want to thank you for worshiping as a part of this Community of Faith for being a part of this Community of Faith and for allowing us to be in Ministry one with another it's the Advent season it is the season of preparation the word Advent comes from the Latin Adventist which means what anybody remember coming right waiting expecting and during the Advent season we declare Come Thou Long expected Jesus Come Emmanuel God With Us come last week we celebrated the week of Hope and we the white family uh lit the first candle of hope for us with us last week and this week we light the Advent candle of peace I don't know about you but I am so expectant for peace in this world and this city and Beyond amen so this morning the Advent candles are lit by two members of our leadership team Lisa Peterson and Alisa Smallwood the prophet Malachi calls us to watch for the messenger of God will send us a messenger who burns with a passion for God's coming salvation for he is like a Refiner's Fire and like a Fuller's Soap he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness Malachi 3: 2 through three in a world driven by a passion to maintain the status quo we choose to live with a passion for God's peace to listen to those who call us to righteousness and to submit ourselves to God's grace that we might be refined and purified until we reflect God's love throughout the Earth we light this candle of Peace as a sign of our commitment to passionately pursue the work of making peace in our hearts our families our communities and throughout the Earth until God's kingdom comes on Earth as it is in heaven for [Music] come the long expected Jesus born to set thy peace people free from our fears and sins releas us let us find our rest the is strength and hope of all the Earth [Music] [Music] of [Music] every Joy of longing [Music] for thy people [Music] to child and yet the King born a child and yet a to forever my king now thy gracious K bre spirit in all heart [Music] of [Music] allent us to thy glorious [Music] PR us to th Glory strong [Applause] [Music] Come Thou longed [Music] Jesus the expected Jes come now long expected [Music] Jesus [Music] expect [Music] Jesus [Music] come come [Music] what a great way to uh bring us to a time of prayer together that should be our prayer Come Thou Long expected Jesus so I invite you to take a posture of prayer uh whatever way is comfortable for you uh our kneeling rails are open for this time of prayer if you would like to come and kneel before the Lord and lay down your burdens there but I invite you in whatever way you feel comfortable to take a posture of prayer this morning direct your attention to our prayer list if you haven't looked at it in a little while has a a a long list of folks who who need our prayers and who need God to intervene in their in their lives and so I uh invite you to take a couple of those names this week and be in prayer we believe in the power of prayer but more importantly we believe in The God Who we pray to and the power of that God to to really heal and bring peace and [Music] comfort so let's be in prayer this [Music] week Lord this morning we come seeking your peace we have made made list after list in preparation for this holiday season we may have shopped until we feel like we might drop we baked and decorated and sent cards and planned festivities gone to concerts and school performances gotten ready for the coming Christmas Eve we're in a whirlwind of preparation Lord but we may have forgotten to place your presence in our lives and what place your presence deserves in our lives we may not have prepared for the peace that you seek to bring us you remind us that it is we who have created and succumb to hectic schedules not you slow us down oh Lord bring us again to those those moments in which we are not running lists of obligations through our heads but really waiting for you to arrive we pray this morning this peace Sunday of Advent for your peace to come again and rign in this world a world filled with conflict and violence we pray for the family of the CEO of United Healthcare who was Gunn down in the streets that they might experience your peace that passes all understanding we pray this morning for the millions of folks suffering from a broken Health Care system that denies so many claims and leaves so many with a choice of receiving the care that they need or crippling debt we pray that these might also experience your peace we pray for those who are frustrated and angry with the way that things are and many of us join them in that anger that they would direct it healthily and holy and holy ways Lord not with violence we pray for those working to bridge the gap of coverage and to bring Justice and peace to the healthc care system even for those in our own church church we pray for Syria and for Gaza and for Israel and for Ukraine and for all of those who know the terror of war and violence that they might also experience your peace we pray for those who live in fear and anxiety not knowing how they will survive in the cold not knowing where they will get their next meal not knowing how they will pay that next bill we pray that you would continue to provide and that we as a church might be part of your Providence for those that need to know your peace tangibly as we bring you the names and needs of people near and dear to us into your presence and for your healing and comfort remind us that we also stand in need of your healing love ourselves this morning we lift up Pastor Jasmine and her family my family the Atlanta First United Methodist Church as a whole our staff our development initiative our shut-ins the Adams Williams family Maddie Brock Rosa Freeman Courtney Kirby Bonnie Lane Reverend Ed and Anne Nelson Steve Pearson Wayne Pierce Charles Rice Ruth Richardson and family and Bruce Shields we pray for Amy Annis for Henrietta banks for Angeline Bassinger for Mary Francis and Gordon Cooper for Bishop Robin De for D's Edwards and the gtis family Mitsy Smith Dr Byron Thomas an and Ed Wimberly and for all of our active duty and First Responders and their families Lord we lift them up to you this morning you know their situations you know what they need in their lives most of all they need you and so we ask that you would respond in ways that only you can do this morning we just acknowledge our need of you Lord we cannot do life on our own we're not created for isolationism we're not created to do it all ourselves help us to lean on one another and most of all help us to lean on you this morning we pray the prayer Lord make us instruments of your peace and we pray it in the name of the Prince of Peace who taught us how to pray saying Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen [Music] amen through it all I learned to trust in Jesus and I've learned to trust in [Applause] God through it all through it all I learn to depend upon God's [Music] word amen [Music] amen it's giving time and this is the time where we celebrate the opportunity to give back to God a portion of what God has so generously poured out unto us we are grateful that God gives us an opportunity to give generously to show our generosity our fruit of the spirit through our tithes and our offerings our tithes are what we owe God we give God back 10% of what God has given unto us and our offerings are what we give in sacrifice to God so that God knows how grateful we are and so that we might continue to be a blessing to each and every person among us as we receive this offering today you can give through the offering plates here in the historic Sanctuary you may give online through cash app text to give through the mail and through the finance office for special gifts is the season T the season T the season let's finish the year strong and well let's give so that people are warm and so that we can continue to be the hands and feet of Christ in this city and Beyond amen amen oh God accept these gifts and bless the givers so that we might continue to be for you your hands and feet right here on pet stre Street and literally all around the world of oh God take these gifts and multiply them blow our minds so that we might be prepared for the Christ child and we can say that we gave to you in Jesus name we pray amen praise God all blessings praise God All Creatures [Music] here praise God Heavenly Host PR son and GL [Music] we're continuing our sermon series this morning unwrapping joy and today we're going to focus on the theme Joy the antidote for an anticipating people and we're going to the great prophet Nehemiah this morning y'all know I love me some Nehemiah Nehemiah is sort of in the middle of your Bible in the Old Testament it's front middle in the Old Testament and I want to invite you to open your Bibles or turning your electronic devices to Nehemiah chapter 7 and we're going to um verse 73b and in some of your Bibles it may look like 81 eight um chapter 8 verse one or 73b depending on the version that you are using it says when the seventh month came the Israelites being settled in their towns all all the people gathered together in the Square before the Watergate they told Ezra The Scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel ingly Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly both men and women and all who could hear with understanding this was on the first day of the seventh month he read it from facing the square before the water gate from early morning until midday in the presence of the men and women and those who could understand and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of law Ezra The Scribe stood on a wooden platform form that had been made for the purpose and beside him stood ma mtia Shima anniah UAH hilia massia on his right hand and padah mishel milia hasham hash badana Zechariah and mesulam on his left hand and Ezra opened the book in the sight of the people for he was standing above all the people and when he opened it all the people stood up then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God and all the people answered amen amen lifting up their hands then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground also the levite jesua Sheria Jamon akub shabi hodah Massi kelita aaria jbad Hanan Pia helped the people to understand the law while the people remained in their places so they read from the book from the law of God with interpretation they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading and Nehemiah who was the governor and Ezra the priest and the Scribe and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people this day is Holy to the Lord your God do not mourn or weep for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law then he said to them go your way eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared for this day is Holy to our Lord and do not be G grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength so the Levites stealed all the people saying be quiet for this day is Holy do not be grieved and all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing because they had understood the words that were declared to them this is the word of God for the people of God thanks be to God let us pray Lord here we are to worship here we are to bow down here we are to say that you are a worthy and holy God lord we've come expecting a word from you so break open this book oh God break open this bread of life for us speak for your servants are listening and hide this your servant behind that Old Rugged Cross so that everything that is said and everything that is heard comes straight from you oh God this is your servants prayer in the name of Jesus the Christ we pray amen the people are finally home they've been gone some Scholars say for 70 years in Babylon and other Scholars say for a 100 years the people who have returned to Jerusalem and to Judah those people have never lived in their Homeland we are gen Generations removed from people who remember the good old days we are Generations removed from people who remember the Grandeur of the temple and marching into the temple for the first time bearing gifts for God these people have never heard the law it it's not like they had these Bibles laying around Miss Ruby they had no iPads and no T tablets they had no cell phones and no interwebs they had no Facebook and had no Bibles to put under their arms and carry into the house of the Lord so that they might be holier than the next one they have been in Exile they have been told to make someone else's land their home they have been told to marry and multiply to till and to reap the Harvest they have been told to settle in and settle down and oh by the way the going is going to get rough and things are going to get tougher than you can imagine but you will not be abandoned you will not be left alone you see these people thought that God only dwell in the Ark of the Covenant which could only be held in the temple when the temple was destroyed oh some Melanie some got it wrong they thought that when the temple was destroyed that their God was no longer with them and 100 years later they've come back and Nehemiah the cup bear to the king the poison screener Nehemiah has rebuilt this wall and in the chapter before the seventh chapter at the end of the sixth chapter it says and they kept on trying to intimidate us they kept on trying to convince us that God was not with us they kept on trying to convince us that we could not restore our home they kept on trying to convince us that God has abandoned us they kept on trying to convince us that things were so bad that there was no turning around they kept on trying to convince us that God is not [Applause] God and and then at verse seven it says and we completed the wall I mean it's just just a little bit of space there Courtney not not even a breath to take from 6 to 7 if you have your Bibles open you you'll see you'll see that it says in in chapter 6 verse verse verse 19 and Tobias sent letters to intimidate me and and then 71 the wall had been built yeah in the midst of the headlines that told you that the world is ending in the midst of the fall of governments in the midst of Martial law in the midst of coups in the midst of a health care crisis in the midst of people being gunned downed in the streets in the midst of people not being able to eat in the midst of people being in pain in the midst of people not knowing that tomorrow is not promised in the midst of everything that's going on in our lives God is still God Amen people will try to get in the way they'll try to convince you that you are crazy they'll try to convince you that you don't know what you're talking about they try to convince you that because something is hard that you can't do it they'll try to convince you that you yourself are out of your ever loving mind they will try to convince you but [Applause] God Amen and they will tell you that they are to people of faith except Pro they're not projecting Faith they're they're projecting doubt and pain and intimidation they're trying to tell you that that that what you see in front of your face is all that will ever be they'll intimidate you so you'll give up so you'll give out so that you'll forget that you are endowed with joy that Joy is a part of your DNA that Joy is a part of who you are that that that God God took the Costco sound size Lowry season saw and put some extra joy in you hallelu and that whatever the headlines are do not determine your situation you can keep believing the naysayers if you want to but but but Nehemiah teaches us in chapter 6 verse 16 that when the enemies heard that the wall was almost finished they were afraid of us and they fell greatly in their own esteem for they perceived that the god they thought was dead had been done had accomplished this work with the help of our God you don't hear me this morning you you don't hear the word of the Lord this morning you you're you're not hearing Nehemiah who is saying do not get discouraged do not be afraid your joy is in you why are you not living as people of Joy why are you letting them frustrate you why are you letting them tell you that God is not God why are you letting them convince you that what you see right now the destruction and the despair is what is now when the wall had been built and I set up the doors and The Gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites had been appointed and and the city was was wide and large but the people within it were few and no houses had been built then my God this is Nehemiah 7:5 then my God not not tobias's God not tobias's God um not baraka's God not ELO's God but nehemiah's God when my God put it into my mind to assemble the Nobles and the officials and the people to be enrolled by genealogy and I found the book of genealogy of those who were the first to come back and I found in it written the following written in it these are the people of the province who came up out of the Captivity of those Exiles whom King Nebuchadnezzar of B Bon had carried into Exile then hear this they returned they returned to Jerusalem and Judah each to its own town they told Nehemiah it can never be done he wasn't trained for it he didn't get a certificate in it he had never built a wall before in his life and neither had anybody in his family his whole job was to be the poison control and now he was controlling the poison out of the people of God Nehemiah teaches us to stop projecting your doubt and your despair on God's people it's okay if you're having a crisis it's okay if you can't believe God it's okay if you can't see beyond what is happening right now but stop infecting other people with your Despair and your doubt with your poison and your [Applause] pain people of Faith are supposed to project Faith but instead we spend our time projecting fear faith means facing the reality of what is and living into what God is doing even when other people tell you that it's impossible Nehemiah teaches us to stop projecting our doubt and our Despair and project faith the Hebrew people didn't know what it meant to live by faith and not by sight but but we have something on them we're carrying these around and and and and we're carrying these around and we always have the word of God in us we always have the the promises of God available to us we know the rest of the story The Hebrews who were in Exile did not have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story but you have the benefit of hindsight you know that there's a baby about to be born in Bethlehem again and again and again you know the rest of the story you know what Joy looks like you know what Joy feels like you know what faith can bring you've experienced the promises of God so why are you abdicating your faith and your joy we're literally holding the stories in our hands literally holding the promises in our hands these people gathered with Ezra and Nehemiah they heard it for the very first time can you imagine living in Exile never hearing the word of the most high God and surviving that we know the story culminates in joy we also know that the people didn't come back from exile to Perfection the wall was restored there wasn't anything there no homes to live in no Farms to till no food to eat but they came back anyway and they came back to work and they came back to build and they came back to till and they came back to something that they had never seen before they had only heard the promise of what would come if they would go [Applause] home Faith Miss Ruby so how do we do this how do we live in this kind of faith that leads to this kind of Joy first we prepare not despair did did you hear that this morning prepare don't despair it is so easy these days to walk around like well I don't know what's going to happen I don't know how much eggs are going to be next week I'm not going to give to the little children because gas might be too expensive next week I'm I'm I'm going to I'm just going to gather up everything I can gather so I can make sure I can take care of me and mine we have a scarcity mentality and God is saying prepare for abundance prepare for restoration prepare for joy and what we are doing is waiting for the other shoe to drop the opposite of preparation Nehemiah could have quit on that wall any day they worked hard to get him to quit but instead he was prepared to ride out any frustration or interruption or despair or doubt are you [Applause] ready how do we prepare when the seventh month came the Israelites settled into the town and they asked they asked they asked they told they told they told the Scribe who was also a priest read to us the good news we've heard about it but we haven't heard it read to us the book of Moses read to us the book of the law read to us the word of the Lord how did they know to ask for it somebody else told them about it somebody told them about how they all used to gather together and go into the temple March into God's gates with Thanksgiving and go into God's house with praise singing this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it somebody told them about I heard the word of the Lord that said you are created in the image of God I heard the word of the Lord that said I will never leave you nor forsake you I heard the word of the Lord that said that there's no King but King Jesus I heard the word of the Lord that said I will never leave you nor forsake you I heard the word of the Lord that said light cannot be overwhelmed by Darkness I heard the word of the Lord that said I am the Alpha and the Omega the first and the last the beginning and the end the bright and Morning Star I heard the word and now it's your turn good news good news Hallelujah so who are you telling who you telling you just come in here sign on oh Pastor that was a good word and keep it moving who who are you helping to anticipate good news who who are you saying that Fox News and CNN don't have the corner on the gospel who are you telling that that that that NPR and and CBS don't know everything amen prepare don't despair second thing is we have a propensity we have a a bent we we tend to live for the promises of God in the future trouble don't last always right what if we said trouble don't last right now what if Abundant Life is available to us right now what if the kingdom of God is available to us right now what if eternal life is available to us right now what if the promises of God are available to us right now we tend to live for the promises of God in the future when we can live in the promises of God right [Applause] now the Bible said the people told the priest to bring the law out and and he brought it before the assembly both men and women and anybody who could understand this was very unusual usually the women and the children were told to stay behind it was The Men Who heard the word of the Lord and now that they have returned from Exile they realized that everybody needs to hear the good news anybody who could understand was gathered and and Ezra read it from the facing of the square before the water gate that was the the the main gate and from the early morning until midday nobody was going well when is my reservation who am I meeting for lunch when is she going to wrap this up Ezra read the good news from morning early morning until midday in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand and the ears of all the people who were attentive to the book of the law and when he was standing above the people and he opened it all the people stood up expectation anticipation they stood up and Ezra blessed the Lord the great God and all the people answered amen amen amen means it is so amen amen lifting up their hands then they bowed their heads and Worship the Lord with their faces to the ground and so they read from the book from the book of law with interpret ration so that all the people could understand the reading huh H prepare not despair live in the promises of God right now and know that Exile is never the end of the story say that with me Exile is never the end of the story Death defeat despair is never the end of the story it doesn't mean it's not real it doesn't mean it doesn't exist it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt it doesn't mean it's not hard it just means that God is not finished yet [Applause] Joy comes in the morning the m o you r n i n g morning Joy comes in the grief is what it says joy comes in the moment right now in the midst of in the circumstance in the situation Joy comes in the morning the a.m. when the sun comes back up in your life Joy comes in the worst memory Joy comes in the now moment Joy comes in the best future expectation and anticipation in your life Joy is not put in a box joy cannot be contained Joy cannot be stomped on or suffocated Joy God is God was God will be therefore Joy is Joy was Joy will be just because life is not what you expected right now do not [Applause] forget and Nehemiah who was the governor H Poison Control architect cheerleader planner Project Director owner's rep rejector of all things that might stop the project block Setter wall Builder Nehemiah who was the governor and Ezra the priest and the Scribe and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people this day is Holy to the Lord your God do not mourn or weep for all the people wept when they heard the words of the law for the first time then he said to them go your way you've heard the good news so go go your way and and eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to them for those who have nothing to eat and for this day is Holy to our Lord and do not be grieved but y'all remember they don't have houses yet there's no infrastructure in place they've just come home to a place that they don't know as home but do not be grieved do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength [Applause] y'all didn't hear it you missed it CZ cuz God has brought us too far to reject the Lord's Joy God has done too much for us to be walking around as defeated people how are we going to make it the joy of the Lord is our strength Joy is the antidote for everything that ails us what is an antidote an antidote ing to the Oxford dictionary is a medication taken or given to counteract get this a particular poison the poison of doubt the poison of defeat the poison of hopelessness the poison of anger the poison of illness the poison of death the antidote is always [Applause] Joy antidotes make us strong The Joy antidote reminds us that we are children and Heirs of the most high God the antidote reorients our pain it overcomes our fear it kills our doubt it comes through worshiping together they all gathered in the same place and they told the Scribe not the priest telling them but they told the priest come and tell us the good news Joy breaths hope Joy breeds peace Joy breathe love and the greatest of these is the baby born in Bethlehem The Hope Bearer The peacebringer The Joy injector the love infector and all that's left to say is that God has spoken the joy of the Lord is what's going to get you through this the joy of the Lord is your strength not just to get you through but to bring you into Abundant Life the joy of the Lord is what's going to make it the joy of the Lord is what's going to stomp out hopelessness the joy of the Lord is what's going to provide for you the joy of the Lord is your strength to make it through Ezra bless the Lord the great God and all the people answered amen amen lifting up their hands this day is Holy do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength be quiet go home make great rejoicing make sure everybody has something good to eat and something good to drink because they all stood that what that which had been declared to them that they had already made it and that they were going to keep on making it and that their job was to tell everybody else that it was God's [Applause] joy come on Choir God has spoken Let the church say Amen do you have an amen in you this morning do you have an amen in you this morning do you have an amen do you have it amen do you have it it is so it is sealed God has done [Music] it you have the joy Hallelujah God has spoken Let the church oh can I get a weakness in this place this morning let the chur St let the chur say amen God has spoken Let the church say Amen Let the church say [Music] amen hallelujah Let the church say amen God has spoken Let the church you know there's somebody out here this morning who doesn't understand why their tears rolling down somebody's face there's somebody online this morning who do understand coreli they don't understand what this amen means that God is doing exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask see imagine somebody be the way that they [Music] are Let the church say am [Applause] spoken Let the [Music] church keep playing that Mr Nar because I want to extend an invitation to you today if this just sounds like a good story to you I want to invite you to meet this Jesus this baby that's going to be born in Bethlehem in just a couple weeks because this isn't just a story this is a release this is restoration this is life and life in abundance and if you're wondering how am I going to keep going how am I going to keep moving moving how am I going to keep breathing how am I going to keep waking up the only answer is Jesus yeah [Applause] [Music] yeah the word so I invite you to reach out and say I need to meet this Jesus I know I've been going to church for a long time but I need to meet this Jesus and for those of you who don't just believe in Jesus but you know Jesus I invite you to come home to come home to the place where God is strengthening you where God is giving you Joy where God is giving you [Music] peace where amen changes your life because it means that you believe God and you believe what God is saying about your life tomorrow is not promised but the gift of God in abundant life is so don't wait live it now if we can be helpful to you reach out come and say Pastor I need to I need to know more about this I need to know how to do this I need to know how amen makes a difference in my life I need to know what it was like for people to come home to a home that they did not know send us an email come and find us after church give us a call whatever it takes you are welcome home cuz you need Poison Control chur and that's is Joy Let the church am say Amen Let the church say am God has spoken Let the [Music] church God has spoken Let the [Music] church has [Music] the [Applause] [Music] church amen amen go in peace amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]