Good News of Great Joy | Rev. Philip Allred
The angels announce it plainly in the Christmas story: “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people.” Not a command. Not a task. Not something to achieve or manufacture. Joy arrives as good news, a gift given before anyone asks for it, earns it, or even knows what to do with it.
So often we treat joy like a responsibility. We assume we have to feel it, create it, or prove it. But Advent reminds us that joy comes to us the same way Christ does. Unexpected, unearned, and beyond our control. The gospel is not advice about what we must do, it is news about what God has already done. Joy flows from that reality. It is rooted in the truth that God has come near, that love has taken on flesh, and that the world is being healed from the inside out.
We cling to control, especially in anxious seasons. We prefer producing to receiving because producing gives us a sense of power. Receiving requires surrender. And that is what makes joy difficult for many of us. Joy asks us to loosen our grip, to stop striving, and to trust that God’s gift is enough. Grace changes us precisely because we cannot control it. It meets us where we are and transforms us from the inside.
This Advent, you do not have to create joy. You do not have to feel joy on demand. You do not have to prove joy with a smile or a song. You are simply invited to receive it. Let the good news of great joy penetrate your heart. Let it interrupt your fear, soften your resistance, and reshape your life. The beauty of Christ coming to save us is that it means we could not do it on our own.
Joy has come.
The gift has been given.
The question is…
Will you receive it?