Oct 19, 2025
Dr. Christopher M. Brooks
Pastor to Pastors | Local Church
Joy Is The Serious Business of Heaven
Abide in Love, Joy FULL
John 15:5–11
I. Key Theme: MENO AGAPE HARAH PLAYRAO
("Abide – Love – Joy – Full")
II. Abide (Meno) – Remain in Christ
Definition: To dwell, endure, make your home.
- Spiritual Practice:
Training the mind to return to God like a compass needle to north.
Reflection: What are you abiding in today?
III. Love (Agape / Hessed) – Steadfast Love
Definition: Loyal, never-ending, sacrificial love.
Scripture:
• “No greater love…”
• “Perfect love casts out fear.”
Reflection Questions:
• Who loves you well?
• Who or what taught you to love better?
IV. Joy (Harah) – Strength from the Lord
Definition: Gladness, delight, cheerfulness.
Scripture:
• “The joy of the Lord is our strength”
• “Everlasting joy will crown their heads” (Isaiah 35:10)
Reflection Questions:
• What fills or drains your joy?
V. Full (Playrao) – Living in Wholeness
Evidence of abiding:
• Keeping His commands
• Loving God and others through the Spirit
• Repenting quickly and returning
Not a strategy to avoid problems, but a skill to endure them.
VI. Neuroscience of Love & Joy
Dr. Allan Schore: Joy and attachment form brain development.
Right Brain (Fast Track):
• Relational identity
• Emotional connection
• Character formation
Left Brain (Slow Track):
• Logic, strategy, problem-solving
Critique of modern discipleship:
• Left-brain heavy (doctrine, willpower)
• Right-brain light (attachment, joy)
Call to become “full-brained” Christians
• Combining emotion, intellect, and identity in Christ
VIII. Joy as a Spiritual Discipline
Joy is a theological virtue, not just an emotion.
Seen throughout Scripture:
• Even in suffering (Paul: “sorrowful yet rejoicing”)
• Jesus Himself was "for the joy set before him endured the cross”
Joy empowers us to face trials with strength and hope.
Quote: “Joy is the serious business of heaven” – C.S. Lewis
IX. Practical Steps to Abide in Love & Be Full of Joy
Abide
• Spend time in Scripture and fellowship.
• Make room for God’s Word in your life.
Love
• Rebuild relational attachments to God and others.
• Ministry without love is empty.
Joy
• Joy is transmitted face-to-face and through voice.
• “You make us joyful with your presence” (Ps. 21)
Full
• Let the Spirit fill you.
• Be delighted in God’s presence—and delight in others.
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