Contagious Joy 2/19/2017

February 19 2017 Contagious, it’s that word we just really don’t ever give a positive spin to. Your kid gets sick, you take them to the doctor and they give them medicine and they tell you it is extremely contagious. Some of us plan to avoid it and go into hiding, the rest of us just accept the fact that we are next. I hear it, I get my phone out and look at my schedule for the next few weeks and face the fact that I will be next. But, I make a lot of hospital visits and I used to walk the halls with Dr Shelly and he would make a visit and then hit the rest room, now they have hand washing stations everywhere making it easier. He told me he wasn’t concerned for himself, he was worried about carrying it to the next room. Well, Ms Laurie was in the hospital a while back and I went by one day and visited. The next day I went later in the evening. Day three I come up to the door and they have masks and gowns and tell me that you have to cover up because she may be very contagious. I just laughed, because I had been in there the past few days. So if she was contagious well I had it already. Aren’t you glad life doesn’t work that way when sharing God’s love with others. You usually get another shot at it, and you get another chance at trying to make it contagious. And to be honest, if you are trying to make it contagious it won’t be. People are drawn to real people who are walking with Jesus. That is the short version of what we are talking about. Someone who is loving and compassionate and so in love with their Savior that other people begin to want that for themselves. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. Well, as Christians it is our job to make others thirsty. 4. Contagious Joy, Not Secluded Cliques When I first read these verses in Acts 2:42-47 I saw it as a recipe. A recipe for success in ministry. So you start meeting more, eating together, giving sacrificially and poof you have a booming church. Orrrrr you fall in love with Jesus, you find yourself more grateful every day for God’s grace, love and mercy and you very soon find yourself with a group of people who want that for everyone. “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). All the devotion and affection and compassion became irresistibly contagious. We do not measure our community strictly in numbers, because only God gives the growth, not us (1 Corinthians 3:7). Every single church in the world has a mission statement direct from our Lord himself: “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). God didn’t mean for some of us to make disciples and others to do other kinds of ministry. Every Christian and every Christian community is called to win the lost and build into Christian maturity. God intends to make every genuine expression of true love, joy, and worship contagious. Too many churches have become cliques or country clubs. People go and they post on social media that they were there so that they appear to be good people, they appear to be a part of something big. One of my little cousins went away for college and while he was finishing up school he became a personal trainer. He would go into the homes of really rich people and help them get into shape. Soon, he realized that some of the women were whole heartedly devoted to staying in shape or getting into better shape. And, well some of them were devoted to having the image of someone who was attempting to stay fit. HE said there were even some people who would pay him full price to come to the house and not even train. They just wanted to be able to say they had a personal trainer and give off the appearance of healthy lifestyle. How scary is it that this resembles the life of many Christians today. Many are just putting on an image, and if they are then they become a part of a secluded clique. If, they are living a life full of loving and being loved by Jesus daily then it will be all inclusive and extremely contagious. But, do you know what makes it so contagious? Romans 15:13 If we are totally honest with ourselves there are people in our lives that just make us feel better. You feel better and invigorated after you spend time with them. Talking, eating, exercising it just doesn’t matter. The reason you feel better is not scientifically proven. But I am go out on a limb and tell you it is because of the multiplication of Joy. Happiness is circumstantial, I can be happy today and sad tomorrow. The same things that bring us happiness can some day bring us sorrow, but Joy stands the test of time through all of that. Joy is far greater than happiness and when two people get together who are filled with an abundance of joy