Just Living My Best Life: Joy
Speaker: Pastor Pierre duPlessis
Read: Genesis 3:9-10; Nehemiah 8:10; Psalm 16:11; Matthew 28:20; Colossians 2:11-15; 1 John 3:1; 4:18
Jesus commanded His disciples to form believers into the practices and postures that He taught. When born in God, believers are like a newborn babe and are in need of the milk of the Word to grow and eventually be transformed. Such growth is not only based on the content of the Word but also the condition of one’s heart to receive it. We have already learned that healthy soil is needed for a harvest. In His parable of the sower, Jesus noted that the condition of the soil under which the seed fell determined whether it grew and how lasting and fruitful the growth was. There are three places that believers need to cultivate healthy soil: (1) in our hearts, (2) in the community of faith, and (3) in the table of our lives which is the place of gathering. Cultivating heathy soil in these areas requires establishing a secure bond with God. Such proximity and bonding with Him will become the birthplace of resilient joy. This resilient joy is relational and based upon our understanding of the unconditional, perfect and everlasting love of God. It is our place of refuge and where we can be refreshed and strengthened. It allows us to withstand the difficult challenges that come our way and yet be assured of God’s acceptance of us. We are not only recipients of His love, but as we grow, we become conduits of it. Thereby we can share a bonded love of togetherness with othersDiscussion Questions
1. What resonated with you as listened to this sermon and reviewed it?
2. What is the word you would use to describe what God is feeling when He looks at you? Considering your response, do you see God as a judge and punisher or a loving Father?
3. It was said that our identity in relations to God’s love is keystone to our resilient growth. What does that mean to you?
4. Read Romans 8:35-39, 1 John 3:1,and 1 John 4:7-12. How would you describe God’s love?
5. It was said that if we do not understand God’s love, then joy will be elusive to us. What does this mean to you?
6. Read Matthew 13:1-23. Explain this parable in your own words.
7. It was said that joy that comes from God’s face will (1) give us the freedom to share our hearts with God and others, (2) create space for others to belong, (3) give us the freedom to live without masks in spite of our weaknesses, (4) give us freedom from fear of vulnerabilities or exposure and (5) give us the freedom from fear to live from the heart Jesus gave us. What does one or more of these mean to you?
