The name Spirit of Joy was chosen so that people might be inspired to live lives of Joy.   Happiness is connected with things and events and is often fleeting.  Joy is a state of the Spirit!  You can have a Spirit of Joy in the middle of a bad situation.   C.S. Lewis wrote a book entitled, “Surprised by Joy” we hope that God will surprise you and change your life!

Joy is found first of all by connecting to Jesus!  It is Jesus!  that comes to this earth out of love.  It is Jesus that wants to be in relationship with everyone.  It is Jesus! that took the sins, pains and hurt of the world upon himself on the cross.  It is Jesus! that wants to be in relationship with each and every one of us.  Thus our first focus at Spirit of Joy is on the one who saves us!   We build our love relationship through prayer, worship, Bible Study, Holy Communion and Huddles.

Joy is also found by reaching out and being a servant to Others! Jesus came to show the world that God cares about everyone who is far from God’s grace and love.  Jesus showed how he was the servant King by washing the feet of his disciples, something a slave would do at that time.  Jesus showed how to serve those who do not even deserve to be served by dying on the cross and living so we can have life.  Thus at Spirit of Joy we hope to constantly be aware of those that are not connected to Jesus.  Thus Evangelism and mission will always be a part of what we do.  The Others! Also mean that we have an eye on the poor of the world.

Scripture says that to love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself.  We hope to make love of God and love of neighbor central for all that we do.

Joy is also found by growing as people of God.  God wants to be connected with You! Thus Spirit of Joy wants You! to know that you are created Good by God.  That You! have a great and wonderful life to lead.   It has been said that God loves you just as YOU! are but loves You! too much to keep you the way You! are.  We hope that Spirit of Joy becomes a place where You! can grow as family and individuals.  A big part of the growth is to be involved in a Huddle!

Lastly in the middle of JOY is the world.  We hope to be a Green-Eco friendly congregation.  This will involve modeling how we care for the earth and finding ways to conserve in the face of Global warming.  We will provide opportunities for education and witness as a Green congregation.