JOY

Imagine a church family united in JOY, where laughter and fun abound. That's precisely what happened at our recent gathering at Overcome. We embarked on a unique journey with our new series, "FINDING JOY." This series isn't just about learning and tangibly experiencing joy. We had a Joy photo booth, smiley face donuts, a joy jar, and a joy journal to record how God uses you to create and experience Joy. It was an extraordinary experience that you wouldn't want to miss.

If I could describe Overcome in one word, it would be JOY, which looks like this. It's about all ages, families, singles, young and older, coming together to worship, sing, pray, laugh, learn, and praise. We do that TOGETHER as a church on Sunday. If you arrive, you will find kids, youth, older, and anything in between together in worship. Yesterday, we celebrated a young kid getting his bible, and he led us in prayer. We heard from someone over fifty who shared an experience of how they shared joy in a grocery store. We had a young woman sing for the first time in front of a church using her God-given gifts. She was amazing! It was just remarkable. It's always special. It's just JOY.

We hope you will discover that joy is not dependent on a church or a pastor. Just like a church can't do much with your kid for one hour on a Sunday (it's up to the family every day throughout the week to nurture and teach), so it is with how we are lifted up in life. Joy is not a one-hit wonder or a song that gets us emotional. Joy can be found only in a relationship with Jesus. Jesus says, "Remain in me and let your joy be complete!" The question is, are we walking with Christ in this way?

Check your footsteps today. Where are they leading you? Do they walk with Jesus or the world? Do they take you to the foot of the cross or your idol? Do they lead you in fear or courage? Your daily walk determines who is leading your life and where it takes you.

Today, let the joy of Sunday's events lead you on a deeper walk with your Lord. When you do that, we guarantee you will experience joy like you have never experienced before.

Have a week of JOY!
Rev. Jim