Whoa to Woe

Posted by kellitempleton

Again, we have only provided five questions due to the Thanksgiving holiday AND Pastor Dave is actually going to spend at least 50 minutes talking about a 1 Thes. 5:16 ” be joyful always”, thus, we had difficulty coming up with the regular expanded version.  The only problem with this week’s sermon questions are there are no verses to look up.  Consider taking the time to read together 1 Thes. 5: 16 and perhaps Phil. 4:4. 

I pray your Thanksgiving provides meaningful time, memorable experiences, and joy as you celebrate with your friends and family.

• What are some of the world’s lies concerning what is supposed to be fulfilling and satisfying but is not? Which have entangled you personally?

A contrast to God’s plan for joy is always a good learning device.  This question is designed to help you assess some lies and then personalize it.

A possible lie might be “I will be happy when…..I get married, get a job, finish school, my spouse changes, etc.  Dave will provide some examples also.

• Discuss: “God commands us to be joyful always, so that must be a choice I can make rather than a feeling.”  How do you put that choice into practice?

Our goal here is to hammer home that joy is a choice NOT a feeling.  What can people do to choose joy practically – what do they do, think on, act on, etc.  The next question is actually some things we can think on to develop joy….

• What are some things God has done for you, promised you, or revealed about Himself that help you rejoice in Him?

Our hope here is that it will be a rich sharing time of God’s work in individual lives within your group – a time of rich fellowship – where you share of God in your life.  Life-long “promise verses” are good to share (a good opportunity to look them up together in the Bible), things you have known about God but just recently experienced, etc.  For example, I will most likely share about how God has shown himself good by leading our daughter Hannah (12) to true belief in Christ through her struggle with Crohn’s disease.

• What are some of the enemies of joy? (Can you list some that weren’t given in the sermon?)

The sermon will provide distrust, disobedience, and distance as enemies of joy.  Most of 1 Peter is written to encourage believers  to maintain their joy while suffering due to persecution.  I am sure your group will have plenty of examples from personal experience.

• Have you ever been in a place where your heart is too hard to be joyful (with bitterness, unforgiveness, etc.)? If so, can you share about it?

This might be a good time to have someone share who has come out on the other side – their testimony may minister to someone else in the group.  This question might also be good fodder for the sharing/prayer time.