PRINCETON UMC
"Contagious Joy"
The Holy Spirit comes, fills the people, yet the biggest joy is the communion the Spirit brings - with God and with one another.
Acts 2:1-24
Rev. Jenny Smith Walz, Princeton
Rev. Skitch Matson, Kingston
"Joyfully Responding to God's Grace"
In order to understand who Christ is, we sWe look at our mission statement: “..joyfully respond to God’s love and grow as disciples of Christ, so that together we may experience the fullness of life.” When we respond to God’s love and love(feed) one another as Jesus has loved(fed) us, Jesus’ joy may be in us and we will experience the fullness of life& joy.
John 15:9-17
Rev. Jenny Smith Walz, Princeton
"Joy as Resistance"
Real joy is the antidote to a life of numbness. Joy is the powerful ‘holy no’ that our soul speaks to life denying forces. God, our exceeding joy (Psalm 43:4), is subversive and lifegiving.
Psalm 42-43
Hyelim Yoon, Princeton
Rev. Skitch Matson, Kingston
"Joy as Practice"
Joy comes when we are fully aware of what is going on in our world, able to know that we can walk through the darkest valley and God will be with us, leading us to the House of God Forever. And yet, this type of walking in Joy takes practice, takes faith, and takes a deep connection and reliance upon God.
Psalm 23
Rev. Jenny Smith Walz, Princeton
Rev. Skitch Matson, Kingston
"I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy
Down in My Heart"
Joy is something that comes from within and beyond us. It is bound up with God’s liberating work, and bursts forth because of what God is doing in, through, and around us. God’s desire is that our joy might be complete, and this is made possible by dancing with the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 5:1-12
Rev. Jenny Smith Walz, Princeton
Rev. Skitch Matson, Kingston
"Joy as Flourishing"
Joy as flourishing is being fully present and active in your life – not passive. Just as food can be something we savor, or eat for “fuel,” so, too, can we see life as a recreational space for joy to be found in acting with God, or, we can let it passively pass by.
Joy comes when we are actively engaged in the moment, caught up in the glory of God’s work in the day to day.
1 Corinthians 10:23-31
Rev. Jenny Smith Walz, Princeton
Emma Worrall, Kingston