SOAR DISCUSSION GUIDE

Finding Joy When Life is Anxious

Moses Khor

Scripture
Read Philippians 4:4–13

Observation
CS Lewis pointed out: to those who are without Christ, whom he likens to people who “are lost in the woods”,
joy is like a signpost of great significance that points them towards God. So, the joyful Christian can be a
powerful witness of God’s work in his or her life.
1. Share either:
A. How “joy” has been a signpost that pointed to Christ for you.
OR
B. How your “joy in the Lord” has been a signpost for your friends / contacts.
As we are finishing the series on Building Our Lives With Joy
2. Share how the book of Philippians has been used by God to build joy into your life.
The Greek word for “be anxious” in verse 6 comes from the root verb merimnao, pertaining to the mind mnesis.
It has among its meanings, “to be divided [in the mind]” or “to go to pieces”.
3. In what ways are these definitions appropriately translated as “anxious”. Give examples of how anxiety
is characterised by “going into pieces”.
4. If you are able, share a situation that is causing anxiety – great or small – in your mind?

Application
Paul encourages us to present our requests to God in all circumstances.
1. Do you often avoid going to God in prayer as the first step to solve your problems? If yes, share why is
it so. If not, how would you encourage your life group members to do likewise.
Paul’s encouragement to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and
praiseworthy, may be appropriately redirected to “think about God’s word” – to meditate on God’s word.
2. Apart from distracting us from worrying or “being anxious”, what other benefits of meditating on God’s
word could you think of? List them out, and share from your own experiences of meditating on God’s
word.
3. Share among yourselves some of the Bible passages that you meditate to – this could be a Psalm, a
Bible devotional, or even a Bible passage sent from Bible Gateway!

Response
Philippians 4:4,5
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
When we present our requests to God, his peace guard our hearts and mind, restoring joy into your hearts. Joy
and Peace. Joy then leads to Gentleness, another fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23).
Let us make up our minds to Build Joy, Love, Peace, Gentleness, Goodness, Self Control – all the fruit of the
Spirit into our lives as we live out our mission for God. Pray prayers of commitment before each other as
witnesses, and lovingly encourage each other towards this goal.