Sermon Prep for October 2, 2016. Week 1 of Joy [Fruit of the Spirit]
note: feel free to take just one question grouping over ~5 days, one/day to allow yourself to be steeped in the scripture over a longer period of time, allowing it to sink deeply into your heart
READ John 15: Jesus as the True Vine
What strikes you? What encourages you? What challenges you? What questions does this passage raise for you?
Continuing in our series on the Fruit of the Spirit, this passage launches us into the topic of Joy. This may be somewhat surprising as the chapter begins with the challenging topic of pruning. What do you learn about Joy in this chapter? What does that teach you about pruning?
REVIEW Galatians 5:22-25
What do you learn by holding these two passages together?
Apply yourself to this message:
What would it look like for your joy to overflow?
Apply your group to this message:
Think back to last month’s topic: Love, which is so bound up in these verses with joy. What would your group look like if you followed Christ [were discipled!] in the way He calls you to in these verses? What would it look like for joy to overflow in your group context?