CELEBRATION

What are the first 3 things that come to your mind when you heart the word Celebration

Do we really understand what Celebration is?

A few questions:
1. Could we have a party and not be celebrating? 2. Can you celebrate by yourself? 3. Is there such a thing as a fake celebration?

Lets understand Celebration - WHAT

There is no way of talking about Celebration without talking about Joy.
Joy makes us strong, it produces energy Without joy we cant continue anything (Motivation) Eg Woman and Child Birth (Joy of Motherhood) Young Couples and their adjustment years (Joy of a long life together) Joy IS part of the fruit of the Spirit No wonder Ancient Israel was commanded to celebrate the Goodness of God several times of year. In order to be celebration, there must be a joyful spirit, characterized by a sense of Thanksgiving.

We can say that true Celebration is an EXTERNAL expression of something that is happening INTERNALY

How do we get this Joy and sense of thanksgiving that are characteristics of True Celebration?

Only Obedience will produce Genuine Joy. Without Obedience joy is hollow and superficial
When we live a life aligned with God and His word we live a life of love and service And these brings us joy. Joy is the result of something God has done in our lives. Without the action of God, there can be no joy. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Ultimately Joy is the result of the Spiritual Disciplines functioning in our lives No wonder we are talking about this at the end You thought it was because we would be celebrating that we are done with one more step on our academic career.

HOW TO CELEBRATE? (SO what?)

Philipians 4:4-8 - Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it againrejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
6 Dont

worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience Gods peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
8 And

now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from meeverything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (NLT)
We are called to do 4 things V6 Dont Worry about Anything. The Spirit of Celebration will not be in us until we have learned to be not worry about anything

This is not a call to be reckless, but rather to TRUST GOD. V6 - Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving your requests be made know to God. This is a call to Pray and to be thankful V8 Fix you thoughts on the higher things of life. It is up to us to choose on what we focus. We should focus on what matters most and not on our problems and difficulties.

WHAT DO I DO NOW?
How is it practiced?
Make sure is not mechanical and plastic. (Can you remember throughout the year celebrations that are like this?)

Bible Singing, dancing, shouting, psalms David and Miriam Laughter Learn to laugh, let go the burden of always sounding profound. Creativity People can express their joy and thankfulness by being creative. Songs, Paintings, Dancing Family Events CELEBRATE THE SMALL THINGS FESTIVALS OF OUR CULTURE Easter, Christmas
We have reasons to be together to celebrate GOD

John Ortoberg Suggests to create a weekly day of celebration.

Finaly a Story.