Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - The Joy You've Been Missing | Book Club: Part 4

Episode Date: June 28, 2026

Have you ever been told that happiness is shallow? What if that's not the whole story? Pastor Tauren Wells is bringing a message that might change the way you think about joy, and why it's available to you no matter what you're facing. NEXT STEPS Have you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://go2.lc/podcastcommittochrist Get Ready For At The Movies Movies speak to our circumstances, connect us to one another, and inspire us to action. But there’s more we can learn from them. During At the Movies, we’ll look at films in a whole new way. It all starts this July! See what it’s like: life.church/atthemovies ABOUT THIS MESSAGE Some of our most meaningful growth happens when we hear someone else’s story. During Book Club, we’ll get fresh insights and practical ideas for living with confidence and purpose. How Do I Find Joy?: https://finds.life.church/fruit-of-the-spirit-joy-that-lasts/ Start the Bible Plan Joy Bomb using Plans With Friends: www.go2.lc/joybomb ABOUT LIFE.CHURCH Wherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.church Find locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/app/download FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.church TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.church CONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHEL YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschel TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35447748/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So I have to start this message off by asking for your forgiveness, because I'm going to ask you to bypass your religious reflexes just for a moment today. I'm going to ask you to forget the scowl of that mean Christian that you encountered at some point in your childhood. I want you to for a moment move to the side the disdain that some people happen to carry for just the idea. of a happy Christian. Some people are tormented by this idea that we are following Jesus and we're happy about it. That we serve a God who is not endured, but a God who is meant to be enjoyed. I want you to set aside for a moment the notion that happiness is based on personality,

circumstances, temperament, emotional state. And I just want to investigate a wild idea that you were created by the God of infinite joy. And if you're created by the God of infinite joy, can I dare tell you today, that your happiness matters to God. Y'all remember Myth Busters? This was a TV program, as the old heads would say, where they tested ideas, and they busted these myths that had been absorbed as truth, but they didn't know if they would really hold up. And so I want to do a little bit of myth busting before we get into this conversation today.

I want to deal with a few misconceptions. The first misconception is this, that the Bible makes a distinction between happiness and joy. This is a modern day misconception. The distinction between happiness and joy does not exist in scripture. Words like joy, blessed, delight, happy are you? used almost interchangeably in the scriptures. They dance around each other in the text. And this distinction between joy and happiness is a fairly modern development in Christian circles. Even John Piper has said, if you have nice little categories for joy is what Christians have

and happiness is what the world has, you can scrap those when you go to the Bible because the Bible is indiscriminate in its uses of the language of happiness and joy and contentment and satisfaction. Myth busted. Okay, I'm just going to pretend like you believed everything I just said. Second misconception that holiness and happiness are enemies. I'm going to deal with this one for a moment because some teaching in religious circles creates a false dichotomy.

and you'll hear this type of preaching. I think I've said this at some point. God doesn't care about your happiness. He only cares about your holiness. This actually mischaracterizes God, and I get it. What we are trying to emphasize is that God's character being formed in us is more important than our comfort.

And to that I wholeheartedly agree. That's right. But the character of Christ being formed in us produces something. It produces happiness. It produces joy, not just temporarily, but eternally. Here's a big idea connected to this whole thing that we're going to set aside for the rest of this conversation, but I want you to think about it. Holiness produces joy. holiness produces joy we cannot divorce joy and happiness from god's own character the scripture says that in his

presence is the fullness of joy well how could god produce that which he does not possess in the new testament we find that the spirit of god in a person produces something fruit and the fruit is love Joy. So I get joy when I'm in God's presence, and I produce joy when God's presence is in me. And so these ideas are inseparable. His process of sanctification and holiness in you does not kill happiness. It rerout and deepens the reservoir from which it flows. Now, there is an indelible quality to last words. Y'all know this. Last words. Famous last words. Weady words that seal the end of a moment, a season with great finality. Like this. Ain't going to be no rematch. Apollo Creed, Rocky Ford. You know what I'm talking about?

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. Nathan Hale, you must do me this honor. Promise me you'll survive that you won't give up no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Rose. Promise. Let's go. I'm just saying, Rose, you robbed us of Titanic 2 because you were selfish.

There was room on the door. That's all I have to say about it. There was room. Why you have to do Leo? Famous last words. But what about famous first words? Words that carry weight not because of their finality, but because of their primacy. The reality that they were spoken first.

Famous first words like, I have a dream. That little black boys and little white girls were procreate and have little beige children. Praise God, that's the dream, Martin. Living the dream, Martin. I don't know if that's exactly what he was talking about, but we did it anyway. How about this? A long time ago, and a galaxy far, far, y'all some nerds, y'all some nerds.

Star Wars. Famous first words. Last words, first words. Last words, first words. Last words, first words. You know the last word of your Old Testament is the word curse? The story of God's people did not end on a high note. They could not keep up with their traditions and the requirements and the regulations of God's law.

And so all that they were left with was a curse until you fast forward to your New Testament. And you explore this set of scriptures in Matthew 5 where Jesus sits down with a group of people and brings forth his inaugural message, and the very first word out of his mouth is blessed. Do you think the people on the hillside caught it that day? That this wasn't a coincidence. This was a reorientation of a heart posture, a belief system to a people who have been burdened,

down and beat down with the law, with the entanglement of the law and religion and politics to oppress the people of God. And finally, when all you've done is lived underneath a curse, this new feel-good preacher comes to town and says, I've got good news for you. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Famous first words. He was pointing the heart of the people back to the original intention of God. Because the first interaction God ever had with humanity was he blessed them, told them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.

This was a reorientation of the heart. And here's what you have to understand. The word blessed in the original, language was not heard or received by the people in the way that we receive it today. When we hear blessed, we hear like shout out 2016 hashtag blessed, car, house, Buddha, promotion, all of these types of things. No, no, no, no. These people heard this word, happy. In the original language, go look it up. Happy. Happy. It forces us to ask the question, how important is your happiness to God if it's the first thing he chooses to teach about in his first message ever?

Now, y'all walk with me here. Y'all walk with me here. The audience that they could not believe what they were hearing. You had these people who were going to become disciples. You had the religious scholars of the day, and they're all getting this information at the same time. And this was problematic. This sent tremors through their traditions. This sent rivets through their rituals and their religious routines.

And like some of those in that audience, you've been told that joy is only possible for those with some great religious resume, and Jesus flips it and says, blessed are the poor in spirit. In other words, the spiritually bankrupt, those who are willing to say, I have nothing to offer to this great and holy God. And yet that is exactly what he receives from me. And he gives me in exchange purpose and life and destiny and joy. That it was not through some great impressive religious resume that you earn through your works righteousness from God, but that you can receive it through humble faith. Like those listening that day, you've been told that happiness is impossible for those caught in a storm of grief. And Jesus says, happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Even in our Christian culture, sometimes we have misled people with emotional ideas that are empty, like faith over feelings. Faith it till you make it. Just because it looks good on a bumper sticker doesn't mean it's true or scriptural. No, what Jesus is saying, when he says the words, blessed are those who mourn, he's reinforcing the reality that we will mourn. That you have permission to feel what you feel. Now, you don't have permission to stay in what you feel, but you have permission to bring the work of the gospel even into the dark emotions of your life. And you'll realize that the gospel even works there. That because of the love and the grace and the goodness and the joy that Jesus offers, you don't have to fake a Christian smile. You can actually go find

one because you realize that even beneath the depths of your sorrow and despair, there's something even deeper. It's the joy of the Lord and it's your strength and comfort. You've been told that delusional self-confidence brings opportunity. Jesus says, happy are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Intentional humility, strength under control. Let me tell you the best definition of meekness I've ever heard. Meekness is the evidence of a sanctified ego. meekness is the evidence of a sanctified ego. I found that God more often puts his greatest gifts and opportunities on the bottom shelf where only the people who are willing to get low can reach them.

Jesus is revealing a shift in the human condition, and yet here is the challenge. Many of us will agree ideologically that Jesus is the only way into this great joy. But then when you look at our lives, practically, our lives tell a different story. The only access point into true lasting happiness and joy is a doorway called Jesus. And yet so often we expect to find joy from our spouse, get joy from the achievements of our children, get joy from whatever the next acquisition is. And what you realize, after a certain amount of time, is you can walk through every one of those doors

and find nothing but empty space on the other side. I've been there. I was at my house. This was back when we lived in Houston, Texas, and I was so excited because I had my own writing room. Now, I'm a songwriter. But for most of my songwriting career, I had to hide from my children in a closet to record my songs. I had to be at the dining room table with a blanket over my head as a signal, don't talk to me right now.

I'm working. So when I finally got a room to write songs in, it was amazing. I painted the room green because Lorna told me I could paint the room any color I wanted, and I chose green because I like green. And then I found out later that geniuses choose green. But I'm just, I didn't know that before. I found that out after, and it was just a coincidence. But I was in my writing room, and we got family that are about to come over to the house.

Because I'm about to be on an award show where people are going to say, hey, this guy was nominated for something. This is crazy to me, okay? Upstairs, I'm hearing little feet just running around. It's my little boys up there having a great time chasing some imaginary monster or something like that. In the kitchen, Lorna is cooking like one of my favorite meals, And we're about to celebrate this night together. And I think, you know what, this is perfect.

I'm going to walk over to the piano, and I'm going to sing some great praise song. If I were to write a song right now, it would be a song of joy, honor, and glory to the most high God. I went over to that piano. These melancholy chords started coming together. And I started singing, you could have it all. You could have the whole world at your feet. Every little thing you think you need and still feel empty. And I thought, how in the world could I be surrounded by so much goodness from God?

And still what floats to the surface of my heart is a feeling of emptiness. And I realize it's because even when good gifts come from God, they're still not God. and nothing can satisfy your soul like God can. In my research for the book Joy Bomb, I came across an author and a pastor's name is David Murray. He identifies seven categories of happiness, seven categories. Social happiness, vocational happiness, physical happiness, intellectual happiness, nature happiness, which I can't relate with. Why would you want to go outside when there's a perfectly air-conditioned room somewhere?

Have you heard of Peloton? You can be in your house and on a mountain. And humor happiness. And all of these, all six of those, are available to anyone because of God's common grace. That's why people who are outside of Jesus can find a certain element of fulfillment and career. They can sit at a table with friends and laugh until they cry because of God's common grace. But there's a seventh category. Spiritual happiness.

And what we often do is we try to use the other six to fill in the void that the absence of the seventh creates. So it's more friends and more opportunity and more busyness and more calendar appointments and more money saved and more stuff trying to. to fill this void. But that seventh category is spiritual happiness. And spiritual happiness acts as a seal around the human soul. Without that seal, you can consume the whole world and your soul still leak. But if you have the seal of spiritual happiness around your heart, all of a sudden work is different because you're not doing it for people. You're doing it unto the All of a sudden the sky's a little brighter even when it's gray because you know all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. There is a different sense of joy and expectation and hope with spiritual happiness.

But the true genius of Jesus isn't just what he says. It's where he says it. A friend of mine tried to give me good advice when we first started having kids and I mean tried. He offered this idea to me. He said, as you have kids and have more kids, it's hard to spend one-on-one time with them. So what you should do is take each one of them on a five-year trip every five years with just you and Lorna. Well, this sounded like a good idea when there were two of them things. Now we got four of them things. But I'm like, okay, this is cool.

We'll try it. And so I go to my first son, Canaan. about to turn five years old, I'm like, hey, bro, we're going on a five-year trip, where you want to go. How many of y'all know this little big-headed little dude picked the trip of all trips, the locations of all locations? He said, Dad, I want to go to Disney World. I said, I don't know who you think your dad is, bro, but we figured it out, though. So we went to Disney World, and then here comes the second son, turning five years old. I'm like, hey, Lawson, where you want to go.

I kid you not. This little dude looks to be dead in my eyeball, not even three feet tall, and says, Dad, I want to go to Japan. I said, bro, you can't even speak English. How are we going to go to another country? This Japan? I said, bro, I'm sorry. My fault.

My fault, little brother. My fault. Where would you like to go within the intercontinental United States? of America. This man melted into a puddle of tears. By the time he finally wiped his last tear, he said, fine. I'll go to Disney World. Say, you ain't going to Disney World. We took him to Disney World. Then we had our third son, Disney World. And now our youngest son is about to, youngest son is about to turn five years old. Guess what we're taking to him? San Antonio.

No, we're not doing that. Here's some Mickey Mouse ears. That's the Alamo. Let's take a picture. You know, Disney World has a reputation. It's the happiest place on Earth. I have seen more people throw fits, temper tantrum, stomp their feet, cried their eyes out,

and the kids misbehave too. Y'all know what I'm talking about. They were a great couple. They were a great family until they went to Disney World. It all fell apart. All of a sudden, Dad's got a backpack on with a water straw. It's like, who is this guy? It was you.

The happiest place on Earth. Isn't it funny how we assign certain expectations to certain locations in life? Not just geographic locations, locations that we feel like we would be in our. lives. Some of us think, if I can just graduate from high school and get rid of my parents, I will be in the happiest place on earth. And then you go to college and you realize that's actually kind of challenging to do your own laundry and cook your own ramen. And then you're trying to figure out how to do all that stuff. You think, if I can just get out of this college, I will be in the happiest place on earth. But you know what you get for graduating college?

A job. Yeah. And then you think, well, the job isn't exactly what I wanted, but if I can just get the right spouse, and then if we can get in this apartment, and then if we can get from the apartment to the townhouse, to the townhouse, to the home, and then the home has an old kitchen, so I need a new sink. And then we're just constantly moving the goalposts of what happiness is further and further and further and further down the line, not realizing that Jesus anticipated that we would

be like this. And so when we study the geography of Matthew 5, we discover the theology of joy. Because Jesus did not choose to teach this message on a mountain. I know we call it the sermon on the mount. I looked it up. It's not a mountain. It's a hill. No, it wasn't Mount Sinai, 7,500 feet in elevation.

just glory of God, 10 commandments, glory cloud, divine revelation. No, it wasn't Mount Zion, a place that was prophesied by prophets and psalmist is this great beacon of hope and possibility, 2,500 feet in elevation. No, it was a little place that you've never heard of called Aramis, 410 feet in elevation, and ordinary. place. And Jesus chooses an ordinary place to teach a master class on joy. Why? Because we don't live life on Zion. And we don't live life on Mount Moriah. And we don't live life in these spectacular places. And yet, just because it isn't spectacular, doesn't mean it isn't significant. God wants to give you a joy that works in Aramis, because you are going to spend more time in traffic than on vacation.

You are going to spend more time getting crushed in life than being celebrated in life. And if the joy doesn't work there, the joy doesn't work. So Jesus begins to reveal this possibility of joy. You know what Aramis means? desolate, isolated strength. And Jesus shows us that joy is possible when you're in a desolate place, when you're in an isolated place.

He actually shows us where the strength really is. It has nothing to do with where we are. And it has everything to do with whose presence we're in. Because the greatest revelation, of Matthew 5 is not eight keys to becoming more Christian. It's not some set of ideals that will give you a better, more prosperous life. No, Matthew 5 is Jesus revealing himself. He was the one who became poor in spirit.

Being equal with God, thought it not robbery. You know what I'm talking about? He was the one who would sew in tears. so that we could reap in joy. He was the God man who cried. If God cried, why do you have to be so strong? He was the king crowned in meekness. He was the one who made peace amongst each other possible and between God the Father and us possible. He was the one who was persecuted for righteousness sake, but not for his righteousness. He already had it for us.

So if I'm going to reintroduce you to the idea of joy, I got to tell you, it's more than an idea. It's more than an ideal. It's more than a principle. It's a person. And for some of us, the person of Jesus has been so mischaracterized in our lives. We do not recognize him. and I want you to allow joy to reintroduce himself. Would you pray with me?

Jesus, would you open our hearts and our lives to seeing you for who you really are? That we would experience your power, your goodness, your glory, that we would understand that the joy of the Lord is our strength, but it's not some abstract concept. it is an intimate relationship with you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, church. Let's tell Pastor Toran, thank you. That speaks to me. How many would say that speaks to you? Raise your hand.

How many say you want some of that joy? Raise your hand. God, we thank you that the joy of the Lord is our strength. God, that you are present with us now. God, turn our mourning into joyfulness and laughter. God, we thank you that the blessings from you are not even you. you are what fulfills us. You are the one that satisfies us. God, you are the one that our hearts long for.

God, fill us with your joy. That we can know you and overflow your goodness in those that we meet. God, thank you for that word today. I pray that it would be planted into our hearts and bring a harvest of joy and righteousness that we could honor you. As you keep praying today, no looking around. Just staying in the Lord's presence and an attitude of prayer. I love how the pastor talked about,

just the different areas of happiness and fulfillment. And the final area is that spiritual part. I wonder how many of you today recognize that you've been looking for joy and looking for meaning and looking for happiness and outward accomplishments and being recognized by people and what you can accumulate and what you have and where you can go and who you know and who you're with

and recognize you've been looking for it in every area outside of the only one who can truly give it to you. You're trying to fill a spiritual void with everything that's not spiritual and what you really need is Jesus. Today, if you don't know where you stand with God, if you find yourself longing for something more,

maybe you're trying to fill that void with something that only Jesus can fill. Who is Jesus? He is the son of God, perfect in every way. He came to earth, not for the righteous, but for the sinners, not for the healthy, but the sick, the broken ones who needed healing and salvation.

He was the Lamb of God who died on a cross and was raised again to life so that anyone, and this includes you, could be broken free of the curse and find the blessing of joy and new life in Christ. What do we do? We stop searching for it in this world. We step away from our sin. We surrender to the lordship of Christ. He makes us new.

All the old is gone. The sin is forgiven. And you can become new. And I'm so thankful that there are those of you that God brought here today for this moment. You recognize something's missing. It's not more of this world. It's more of Jesus. It's not more of this world.

It's more of Jesus. So step away. Repend of your sin. Call on him. When you do, he'll hear your prayer. He'll forgive all of your sins. He'll enter your life. He'll fill you with a fullness of joy, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

You'll never be the same. If that's you today, you know. You need his forgiveness, you need his grace, you want his joy, you want his life. Today we're stepping away from our sins, and we're saying, yes, Jesus, take all of me, be my Savior, be the Lord of my life. If that's your prayer, forgive my sins, Jesus, I give my life to you. Would you lift your hands high right now? All of our churches say yes, praise God for you at all of our churches,

if we have people today saying, yes, Jesus, I surrender to you. Be the Lord of my life. All of our churches, people coming to know Christ online, just type. In the comment section, I'm surrendering my life to Jesus today, and as the work of the Holy Spirit is moving in hearts, would you just pray aloud with those around you pray? Heavenly Father, I receive eternal life. I receive forgiveness of sins and confess the Lordship of Christ.

Fill me with your spirit. Fill me with your joy. Fill me with your peace. That I could know you, that I could walk with you, that I could be overflowing with your love. Thank you for forgiveness. Thank you for your joy. Thank you for new life.

I give you all of mine. In Jesus' name, I pray. Today, church, can you celebrate who he is, what he's done, the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, new life in Christ?