Jesus, the Gospel and Joy

In his gospel, the Apostle John recorded these words of Jesus:

"I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."  John 15:11

Joy.  Is joy simply overcoming our inner Eeyore, where no matter what amazing circumstances come our way, doom and gloom seem to dominate our thoughts?  Is joy more like Tigger, bouncing through life without a care in the world, seemingly unfazed when things go wrong?  In our daily lives, it's easy to have the attitude of Eeyore while wishing we could have the outlook of Tigger--two very extreme viewpoints of life. 

Having biblical joy does not mean simply overcoming our inner Eeyore.  Joy does not mean that we are never sad, that we never cry.  Instead, joy is a quiet confidence, a state of peace found in our relationship with Jesus.  Joy is produced in our hearts when we know that Jesus loves us and when we have a close personal relationship with Him.

Join us this Sunday at 9:30am, as we talk about Jesus, the Gospel and Joy.  We will be looking at I John 1:1-4, where John drives home the point that the outworking of a deep, spiritual union between God, Jesus and the believer, as well as between brothers and sisters in Christ produces a joyful life... joy that overflows!  

As we gather for our in-person service, Parkside church staff and leadership will be wearing masks and we are asking everyone to do the same. 

I want to invite you to stick around after our service, as we offer two opportunities for you to connect in community:

• Study of the Gospel of Luke
• Study in Wisdom

Parkside Fellowship Annual Meeting
Our annual church meeting will take place on Saturday, February 26th at 2:00pm in the Fireside room.  At this meeting, our church council will share ministry highlights from last year, along with some goals for this year.  We will also be voting on our 2022 budget and the nominees for church council.  Please circle Saturday, February 26th on your calendars and plan to attend.

Finally, attached is this week's prayer list.  Thanks for being a church committed to praying for one another.

See you Sunday.

Doug