“Joy is a substance in our lives that is often conflated and mistaken for happiness. Indeed, you can experience happiness and joy at the same time but there is something long-lasting about joy. Happiness is a wonderful feeling that we get to visit from time to time but we don’t live there…Joy, on the other hand, is a place where we live not just visit. Joy is that substance that keeps us going through difficult times. It’s the good soil where hope can thrive. It’s the guarantee behind encouragement, endurance, and the ability to keep going,” begins Dr. Chris Burton, Director of the Leadership Institute at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, operator of an antiracism consulting firm, Di Baddist Consulting, and co-host of the podcast CrossStreets. Burton says, “Joy is a discipline.” How do we exercise joy in our lives and how does that impact those around us? Listen as Burton answers these questions in his sermon called “Exercise of Joy” from Philippians 3.
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Amy Butler, is a former Senior Minister of the Riverside Church in New York City, Founder of Invested Faith, and a popular preacher, speaker, and writer. Visit her website at www.pastoramy.com
Michael Curry is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (USA), and the author of Love is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times
Brian McLaren is a speaker, an activist, and bestselling author of We Make the Road by Walking, Faith after Doubt, and his latest, Do I Stay Christian?
Will Willimon is a retired bishop in the United Methodist Church, a powerful preacher, and a prolific author. His most recent books include The Accidental Preacher and Stories by Willimon