Gary Wilkerson introduces a version of Jesus most believers have never met, the joyful Jesus, showing that the same God who is a man of sorrows is also the most joyous being who ever walked the earth, and that his full, unspeakable, unstealable joy has already been placed inside every believer, waiting to be uncovered.
Preached: July 7, 2026
Main Points:
• Most Christians, if asked to list the top five attributes of Jesus, would never think to include joy. We picture him militant, sorrowful, or perpetually disappointed in us, like an eyebrow forever raised, but Hebrews says God anointed Jesus with joy and gladness above his companions.
• Jesus created joy itself, along with laughter, humor, and delight. Picture him at 20-something with a group of rowdy young disciples, some still teenagers, swimming, racing, cooking fish together. Being a Christian was never meant to mean you're not allowed to have fun.
• First Peter calls this joy unspeakable and full of glory, and the Hebrew and Greek words for glory mean thickness and weightiness. This isn't a thin, occasional joy. It's a thick cloud of glory resident inside every believer, whether or not they feel it in the moment.
• Gary's own life proves the joy isn't circumstantial: 14 grandchildren, the most joyful season of his life, yet also traveling to war-torn countries that aren't safe. Joseph had joy in the pit and the prison. Abraham had joy while wandering into an unknown land and fighting battles on his nephew's behalf.
• The secret to this joy isn't positive thinking or a good mental attitude. Jesus repeats one word throughout this passage: abide. As you abide in him, spending time with him, being his friend, his joy becomes yours, not manufactured but resident and full.
• No person, no subway shove, no unfair ticket, no gossiping church member can take this joy away, because it was never dependent on circumstances to begin with. It was given, it's full, and it's permanent.
• Gary invites all believers to become the most joyful people, so that a world drowning in anger, despair, and loneliness would look at us and wonder how we could have this much joy, and find their way to the joyful Jesus behind it.
https://wcmin.us/SS260719c
