A Semi-Charmed Life

"Most Christians I know have just enough of the Gospel to make them miserable, but not enough to make them joyful" -- Tony Campolo

"Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian." -- G.K. Chesterton

1. What words come to mind when you think of the word "joy"?

2. Biblically speaking, is joy the same thing as happiness?

3. How joyful are you right now in your life? What factors are producing it? Or hindering it?

4 . "Thirst, seek, and settle" is a common life cycle for unbelievers and believers alike. What do you think that cycle is?

"I want something else to get me through this semi-charmed kind of life." -- Third Eye Blind, "Semi-Charmed Life"

5. Have you experienced this cycle in your life?

6. What is the common, almost clichéd response to settling?

"I know see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked." -- The Screwtape Letters

7. Read John 15:11, Luke 6:23, Gal. 5:22-23, Phil. 4:4, and 1 Thes. 5:16. Constrast these promises and exhortations with something Tony Campolo once said,"Most Christians I know have just enough of the Gospel to make them miserable, but not enough to make them joyful".

8. Does the joy that is described in these passages reflect what you regularly experience in your Christian walk? If not, do you think this joy is something realistically attainable on a day-in, day-out basis?

9. Read Ecc. 1:2, 18. How is Solomon an example of a believer living a joyless life? Can you think of other people in the Bible or Christian history who suffered a similar "joy gap"?

10. How does the dynamic "real time" nature of our lives influence our ability to live joy?

11. What are some ways in which we water down biblical joy and live out "pidgin joy"?

12. How big of a deal is joy to the Christian life?

Announcements Next homegroup: Jan 30 instead of Feb 6

Friday Night Lights: Lars and the Real Girl 7:00pm, Worcester State, Room: Sullivan 101