Deut 16:10+11, Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name. 
    	We are at a point in our discussion of scripture that brings forth a very intense reaction in my heart. If you will bear with me, this morning, I would like to take us all through a very necessary and timely consideration of where we are as the Church of Christ on this earth. There seems to be something amiss in our character and nature, as Christians that needs to be urgently addressed by the Holy Spirit, at least in my heart, if not in all our hearts. 
We are so often caught up in all the cares and the worries and the pains of this age which rob us of the complete joy that should be forthcoming as the evidence that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ with our whole essence and being! Rather than exuding that full nature of joy and rejoicing in the truth of to Whom we belong, we tend to present a face of solemn suffering and hardship and lack of rejoicing in Christ. We get so caught up in the ills of this age and the frustrations and the worries and the strife that we forget that we are to keep our eyes on Christ in the midst of it all. This has been the urging of the Lord, Himself, throughout the scriptures. He was giving this encouragement and this very command to His people from the beginning. They were, and we are to be the expressed witness of living under His Supreme Sovereignty and His Boundless Grace and His unmerited Mercy and His continual Blessing and His all-sufficient Provision within the nations that were and still are so lacking. This was not to be something lorded over others. It was simply the evidence in their demeanor and in our actions and attitudes of the fact that God was so blessing them, and is so blessing us with His eternal and unlimited love.
We find this encouragement given earlier in this very Book of Deuteronomy, as in Chapter 12, verses 5-7. Deut 12:5-7, But you shall seek the Lord at the place which the Lord your God shall choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. And there you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the first-born of your herd and of your flock. There also you and your households shall eat before the Lord your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you. 
    	There was to be in evidence the willingness to bring unto the Lord all the representative offerings, sacrifices, and tithes, and freewill gifts that would express their gratitude and their acknowledgment that He was so fully caring for them in the land of His Promise. They were to do so with absolute rejoicing. They were to be celebrating the goodness and the blessing of the Lord with such demeanor as to bless Him for so blessing them.
	There is a tremendous difference that is evident when we bring forth the tithe and our sacrifices of praise from some sense of obligation and custom rather than from truly rejoicing in the splendor and the majesty and the tremendous privilege that it is to come before the Lord God Almighty! So many Christians, and I fully include myself with shame at this point, come to church, not to celebrate and not to rejoice. We do so because that is what we have been told we have to do. We bring our tithe begrudgingly because we are fearful of what the Lord might do and might withhold if we fail to tithe. 
We withhold any freewill offerings because it is not required and we are doing only the minimum that must be done. We sit in the assembly of the First born, not with joy-filled hearts that are thrilled to be here, but with that attitude of it being Sunday morning and people would think less of us if we failed to make an appearance.
	Where is the joy? Where is the rejoicing? Where is the thrilled essence that God desires to know us in Spirit and in Truth because of His so tremendous love for us in Jesus Christ? Where is the evidence that all that we have completely belongs to the Lord and we joyfully proclaim that truth with all our hearts in freely giving above and beyond that which is required?
	This is in nowise a message to stir up something that is not in our hearts. It is not a methodology effort to make us express a joy that we are truly lacking. No! We need to ask the Lord to do all that is necessary for us to come into a full appreciation for Who He is and what He has done! 
We need to earnestly call out to the Holy Spirit to teach us, first of all, to be grateful! To learn how to say thank You Lord for all that You do every moment of every day in our lives! Thank You Lord for the salvation that is freely given to us for all of eternity! Thank You Lord for every provision of every breath that we take! Thank You Lord for meeting the every need of every day in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones! Thank You Lord!
	We will continue with Deuteronomy, as in Chapter 12, verse 12. Deut 12:12, And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. 
    	Notice that we will rejoice together with our families. This is a familial relationship with the Lord that was established and to be celebrated! How many of us are truly thankful for the families that God has created and put us into? So often, all we hear are complaints and guttural moanings and depressing and demeaning things about the families that we have to endure. We slander one another freely and liberally without consideration of the truth that our family members are the gift of the Lord to each one of us. We are to come together and rejoice together in the manifested thanksgiving for the way in which the Lord has saved us from ourselves! In that familial rejoicing others will find blessing and refreshment and joy that is shared in abundance. What a difference it would make if we so honored the Lord in honoring our parents, our siblings, our children, our in-laws, and our extended families! How different would be our lives if we would come together with rejoicing hearts that learned to have great appreciation for one another rather than cursing and defaming and resentment and jealousy and unforgiveness?
	Consider verse 18 of this Chapter 12 as the Lord’s reinforcement of this familial rejoicing in His goodness in partaking of the sacrificial offerings together. Deut 12:18, But you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God will choose, you and your son and daughter, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all your undertakings. 
    	The Lord again reiterates the fact of our rejoicing together in the evidence of His love which we express with one another in the text of our morning’s reading, verses 13+14. As is so true of scripture, when the Lord repeats His commands and His stipulated requirements over and over again, we do well to pay attention. One time should be sufficient, but the Lord makes His heart fully known again and again in the truth that we are to be joyfully celebrating His goodness together. 
Deut 16:13+14, "You shall celebrate the Feast of Booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat; and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns. 
      	This rejoicing and thanksgiving in the overwhelming work of the Lord is reinforced for us in the Psalms over and over again. Consider just a few examples, such as Ps 19:7+8, wherein the Psalmist declares just how much the precepts of the Lord should mean to us and what they should accomplish in us.
	Ps 19:7+8, The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 
     	Then reflect on the whole of the 100th Psalm. This is such a glorious declaration of how our rejoicing should be displayed in the fullness of our hearts and our appreciation for Who the Lord is and all that He has done! Our assembling together should be characterized by our absolute indebtedness to the glory of God’s every provision in our midst. As we try to comprehend even the minutest details of His so great Love to us, we should find our hearts overwhelmed and overflowing with His joy unspeakable!
	Ps 100, Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him; bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, And His faithfulness to all generations. 
	The Prophet Isaiah found the need to also encourage the Nation of God’s Chosen people to rejoice in His goodness. They had become so complacent and were such a complaining community like their fathers of long ago in the wilderness. They could not find true satisfaction and joy in the goodness and the provision and the protection of the Lord God Jehovah. 
Therefore the prophet, as in Isa 66:10-14, called to mind the great love of God toward His people. He heralded the manner in which the Lord had always and would always meet the needs of those whom He had chosen unto Himself. As a direct result of His care and comfort for His people in the midst of all that they were undergoing, they should be rejoicing and glad in Him.
	Isa 66:10-14, "Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her, That you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts, That you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom." For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; And you shall be nursed, you shall be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees. "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem." Then you shall see this, and your heart shall be glad, And your bones shall flourish like the new grass; And the hand of the Lord shall be made known to His servants, But He shall be indignant toward His enemies. 
    	An additional Old Testament scripture of this attitude of the people of God set in vibrant and unfettered rejoicing for the Lord’s goodness is found in Hab Chapter 3, verses 17-19. Despite the fact that there will those times when the crops will fail and the harvest will be fruitless, the Lord is still in charge and He is to be celebrated for the fact of His saving grace and mercy. This life is not easy, but we are not in it by ourselves. The God of our salvation is with us. He is holding us in His power and His Grace and His Love. We should find our hearts rejoicing in Him and not beset by any woe or circumstance!
Hab 3:17-19, Though the fig tree should not blossom, And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail, And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold, And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my high places…   
       	As we move into the New Testament, in Acts 2:44-47, we have the account of how the early church became that expression of the grace and the mercy of God in the midst of all the trials and persecutions that they were daily facing. Many of them were put out of the social fabric of the religious order and were removed from all the daily opportunities that had been their life before becoming Christians. In spite of the intense and derisive stigma that was attached to the name of Jesus, their testimony of joy and rejoicing was such that their numbers continued to grow despite the abuse that was meted out upon them. Because of their attitudes of joy and thanksgiving in Jesus Christ, they were finding favor as the Lord made their joy complete.
Acts 2:44-47, And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. 
 	The Apostle Paul will conclude this morning for us in several of his letters to the Christians whom he so encouraged in the grace and the mercy and the love and the joy of the Lord. He was not lax in heartening the readers of his letters to rejoice in the Lord with all their hearts no matter what they were facing in this realm. We will begin with his letter to the Roman Church, Chapter 5, verses 10+11. Here, he highlights how we were formerly at enmity with God. But now, we should be rejoicing that the Lord God Almighty so chose to love us unto Himself. Therefore we should be exulting in our so great salvation through the love of the very One Whom we once despised and slandered by choosing to reject Him in our futile attempt to live our own lives by our warped and vile human nature. Rather than hold anything against us, God chose to love us unto Himself!
	Rom 5:10+11, For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 
    	Because of this tremendous love of God, the Apostle then plainly and unequivocally, in Phil 4:4-7, entreats us to rejoice in Christ. No matter what, rejoice! All the ills of this age should not cause us to lose our joy in Jesus! 
Phil 4:4-7, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 
The last passage that we will read together this morning is that which was written by the Apostle in his first letter to the Thessalonian Church, Chapter 3, verses 6-10. Please turn to it. 1 Thess 3:6-10. Herein we come to the wrapping up of the testimony and the reason that our rejoicing is to be the inherent characteristic of everyone who is born anew in Jesus Christ. It is in our continual attitude of rejoicing and thanksgiving that we encourage one another with the value that Jesus is to us and in us. This is what kept the Apostle Paul going forward in the service of Christ, for the sake of any who would so call out and receive the salvation of the Lord. We encourage each other through our familial connection in Christ with our complete joy in and thanksgiving unto Christ for what He has done by His so great salvation! 
1 Thess 3:6-10, But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith? Amen.
Then you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give just as the Lord your God blesses you; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite who is in your town, and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst, in the place where the Lord your God chooses to establish His name. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Deut 32:3+4. "For I proclaim the name of the Lord; Ascribe greatness to our God! "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. Amen.