Sermon Response Guide

PRIMARY SCRIPTURE: 1 peter 1:3 – 9

Key Points

• Extraordinary joy is rooted in salvation
• Guilt + Grace + Gratitude = Joy
• 3 Barriers to Joy:

1. Sinful Foolishness (turning to other things)
2. Spiritual Amnesia (forgetting the gospel)
3. Temporary Happiness (settling for good things not God things)
    

Memory Verse

Ask God to write this word on your heart this week:
 “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
-John 15:11
 

Questions for Reflection

Take time to reflect and respond to these questions on your own in the presence of the Holy Spirit, or with trusted friends or family members:
 

1. If happiness depends on what happens, what does joy depend on?
    
2. What does extraordinary joy look like? Who is someone you know who is marked by the joy of the Lord, and how would you describe them?
   
3. How does your understanding of Philippians 4:4 change when you read it as a command? “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”
   
4. What do you think about that tends to steal your joy? What can you choose to think about instead to spark your joy?
   
5. Why is joy contagious? Who do you know who needs extraordinary joy these days? How can you spread joy to them this week?
    
   

Pray

Lord, we are desperate for your extraordinary joy. We are sorry for how we have forgotten all you have done for us that gives us a reason to rejoice always. Help us to believe the joy of the Lord is our strength in every circumstance (Nehemiah 8:10).