Welcome to the Motion Church Podcast — and welcome to the launch of a brand-new series we’re calling “The Great Joy Heist.”

This week, we open with a striking story — a real heist, carried out in the dead of night, around three o’clock in the morning, when a team slipped in and stole nearly a hundred million dollars without anyone noticing. It’s shocking, bold, and almost unbelievable… and yet, it’s the perfect picture of what happens spiritually every day.

In this series, we’re confronting a reality most of us don’t slow down long enough to recognize: There is a thief. He is active. And his target isn’t your bank account — it’s your joy.

Just like the heist in the opening story, the enemy doesn’t always break down the door. He often works quietly… subtly… slipping into the cracks of our schedule, our thoughts, our emotions, our disappointments. Before we even realize it, something precious has been taken. The captions from today’s message paint this truth clearly — that joy isn’t lost all at once. It’s stolen, bit by bit, moment by moment, through distraction, discouragement, comparison, and the lies we start believing about ourselves and about God.

But here’s the good news of this series: Joy is not optional. Joy is not fragile. Joy is not out of reach. And joy can be reclaimed.

This week, as we begin The Great Joy Heist, we’ll learn how to identify the schemes designed to drain us, how to guard what God has given us, and how to take back the joy that was never meant to be taken from us in the first place.

So wherever you are listening today — in your car, at home, on a walk, or starting your morning — lean in. Something powerful is coming. Something liberating. Something that will help you live with strength, clarity, and joy that actually lasts.

This is Week 1 of “The Great Joy Heist.” Let’s dive into the message.