Last Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Advent, I preached a sermon I called “A Symposium on Joy” which was really just a series of loosely connected quotations. If you want the sermon, you’ll have to go listen to the podcast. Here are the quotations, without comment.

The joy which the Spirit brings to our lives lifts us above circumstances. Joy can be ours, even in the midst of the most trying situations.
—Billy Graham

this joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me,
this joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me,
this joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me,
the world didn’t give it, and the world can’t take it away.
—Contemporary African American Lyric

Yes, a few things in life are absolutely tragic, no question about it. First among them, a joyless Christian
—Chuck Swindoll

We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.
—Helen Keller

I’m out of joy. Stop at Albertsons and get me some.
—Kim Greening

Surprised by joy—impatient as the wind.
—William Wordsworth

Weeping may tarry for the night,
But joy comes in the morning.
—King David of Israel

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
—Mark Twain

preserve a quiet conscience, and you will always have joy
—Thomas a’Kempis

the time of preparation for the Lord’s Supper will be filled with brotherly admonition and encouragement, with prayers, with fear, and with joy.
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

You give me joy that’s unspeakable; and I like it
—Peter Furler

Joy is the serious business of heaven.
—C.S. Lewis

we must preach for joy in the glory of God if we would produce true grief over falling short of the glory of God.
—John Piper

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
—Jesus