Celebration | Pastor Carrie Erikson
Celebrating God's Goodness: Why, How, and What We Celebrate
Celebration might seem like an unusual core value for a church, but it's fundamental to creating a welcoming environment where people feel loved, seen, and valued. A place of celebration is one where people look forward to coming, not out of obligation, but anticipation. It's a place where everyone can come as they are and feel accepted.
Why Do We Celebrate? You Attract What You Celebrate
The word "celebrate" means to acknowledge, honor, or praise publicly. While we often think of celebrating only good things, sometimes we inadvertently celebrate the negative by constantly acknowledging, honoring, and talking about what's going wrong in our lives:
How Celebrating Changes Our Perspective
When we start praising and celebrating positive things, we see more of those things. Our perspective changes, and we begin to experience more of God's goodness.
God wants us to expect good things. When disappointment happens or doors close, we can see it as an opportunity for God to do something better. Every "no" becomes a chance for God to go above and beyond.
Scripture reminds us that:
How Do We Celebrate?
In our culture, we naturally celebrate birthdays, weddings, and sporting events. At sporting events, we can get crazy and enthusiastic without judgment. Yet when we show the same enthusiasm in church, people sometimes think it's weird.
Celebration happens in moments of overflow - when we're overjoyed or overflowing with excitement. These values shouldn't be hidden inside us; they should be evident to everyone around us. As the Bible says, "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."
Why Is Spiritual Celebration Sometimes Uncomfortable?
It's interesting that celebration is comfortable in natural settings but can feel uncomfortable in spiritual contexts. We'll jump and scream at a sporting event without hesitation, but many feel self-conscious about expressing the same joy in church.The problem is that many of us never reach that place of overflow. We come to church on Sunday empty because we haven't taken time during the week to refill - to spend time in God's presence, to think of His goodness, to celebrate what He's done.
Celebration is:
Praise is an expression of celebration, and celebration is an expression of praise. They go hand in hand through cheering, clapping, singing, jumping, dancing, and even crying.
Who Do We Celebrate?
1. We Celebrate God
In Psalm 103, David was overwhelmed with celebration of who God is. Interestingly, this psalm wasn't written after a great victory but after David was confronted about his adultery and murder. Even in his darkest moment, David chose to celebrate God's goodness, mercy, and forgiveness rather than sitting in shame and guilt.
2. God Celebrates You
The God of the universe celebrates you. He delights in you. Psalm 103 tells us:
3. We Celebrate People
When we truly understand how God celebrates us, we can genuinely celebrate others. We celebrate when people serve, when they give, when they give their lives to Jesus.
God doesn't hold our past against us or say, "You really messed up, now your calling and purpose are done." He wants us to move forward, but sometimes we refuse to let ourselves be forgiven. We sit in our pity, shame, and condemnation while God is saying, "Let's get moving."
Life Application
What kind of life could you live if you would let yourself be forgiven? If you would fully experience God's forgiveness? It's not until we receive God's forgiveness that we can extend it to others. It's not until we realize that God celebrates us that we can truly celebrate others.
This week, challenge yourself to:
Remember, it's a celebration circle: I celebrate Him, He celebrates me, and we celebrate everybody together. That's who we are as God's people.
Celebration might seem like an unusual core value for a church, but it's fundamental to creating a welcoming environment where people feel loved, seen, and valued. A place of celebration is one where people look forward to coming, not out of obligation, but anticipation. It's a place where everyone can come as they are and feel accepted.
Why Do We Celebrate? You Attract What You Celebrate
The word "celebrate" means to acknowledge, honor, or praise publicly. While we often think of celebrating only good things, sometimes we inadvertently celebrate the negative by constantly acknowledging, honoring, and talking about what's going wrong in our lives:
- How sick we always are
- How much difficulty we're experiencing
- How betrayed we feel
- How our family is the worst
How Celebrating Changes Our Perspective
When we start praising and celebrating positive things, we see more of those things. Our perspective changes, and we begin to experience more of God's goodness.
God wants us to expect good things. When disappointment happens or doors close, we can see it as an opportunity for God to do something better. Every "no" becomes a chance for God to go above and beyond.
Scripture reminds us that:
- The Lord determines our steps
- We can trust in Him
- He has good plans for us, not to harm us
- God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him
How Do We Celebrate?
In our culture, we naturally celebrate birthdays, weddings, and sporting events. At sporting events, we can get crazy and enthusiastic without judgment. Yet when we show the same enthusiasm in church, people sometimes think it's weird.
Celebration happens in moments of overflow - when we're overjoyed or overflowing with excitement. These values shouldn't be hidden inside us; they should be evident to everyone around us. As the Bible says, "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."
Why Is Spiritual Celebration Sometimes Uncomfortable?
It's interesting that celebration is comfortable in natural settings but can feel uncomfortable in spiritual contexts. We'll jump and scream at a sporting event without hesitation, but many feel self-conscious about expressing the same joy in church.The problem is that many of us never reach that place of overflow. We come to church on Sunday empty because we haven't taken time during the week to refill - to spend time in God's presence, to think of His goodness, to celebrate what He's done.
Celebration is:
- A gift
- A choice
- An act of thanksgiving
- Both personal and corporate
Praise is an expression of celebration, and celebration is an expression of praise. They go hand in hand through cheering, clapping, singing, jumping, dancing, and even crying.
Who Do We Celebrate?
1. We Celebrate God
In Psalm 103, David was overwhelmed with celebration of who God is. Interestingly, this psalm wasn't written after a great victory but after David was confronted about his adultery and murder. Even in his darkest moment, David chose to celebrate God's goodness, mercy, and forgiveness rather than sitting in shame and guilt.
2. God Celebrates You
The God of the universe celebrates you. He delights in you. Psalm 103 tells us:
- He forgives all our sins (not just past sins, but ongoing)
- He heals all our diseases
- He redeems us from death
- He crowns us with love and tender mercies
- He fills our lives with good things
3. We Celebrate People
When we truly understand how God celebrates us, we can genuinely celebrate others. We celebrate when people serve, when they give, when they give their lives to Jesus.
God doesn't hold our past against us or say, "You really messed up, now your calling and purpose are done." He wants us to move forward, but sometimes we refuse to let ourselves be forgiven. We sit in our pity, shame, and condemnation while God is saying, "Let's get moving."
Life Application
What kind of life could you live if you would let yourself be forgiven? If you would fully experience God's forgiveness? It's not until we receive God's forgiveness that we can extend it to others. It's not until we realize that God celebrates us that we can truly celebrate others.
This week, challenge yourself to:
- Make a "Good Things List" or "Celebration List" - Write down the things God has provided for you, no matter how small.
- Start your day by giving God the hard stuff and actively looking for good things to celebrate throughout your day.
- Ask yourself: What past sin or mistake am I still holding onto that God has already forgiven? Can I accept that God has removed it "as far as the east is from the west"?
- Consider: Am I celebrating the negative in my life more than the positive? How can I shift my focus to what God is doing rather than what's going wrong?
- Practice celebrating others this week - acknowledge, honor, and praise the good you see in the people around you.
Remember, it's a celebration circle: I celebrate Him, He celebrates me, and we celebrate everybody together. That's who we are as God's people.
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