December 14, 2025 – Advent 2025 – Great Joy

Great Joy

Psalm 51:7-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

When will David, the psalmist, “be whiter than snow” (verse 7)?

What does David want to hear (verse 8)?

How does David want God to treat his “iniquity” (verse 9)?

What does David want God to “create” in him (verse 10)?

Who does David not want to be taken from him (verse 11)?

What kind of joy does David want restored (verse 12)?

Why does David want a “willing spirit” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about Christian joy?

Luke 2:8-12 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Where were the shepherds (verse 8)?

What were the shepherds doing (verse 8)?

Why were the shepherds “terrified” (verse 9)?

Who will the “good news” the angel brings cause “great joy” for (verse 10)?

What has happened in the “town of David” (verse 11)?

What will be the sign (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about Christian joy?

In your opinion, how does knowing that David was pleading with God to restore the “joy of your salvation” in Psalm 51:7-12 after Nathan had confronted him about Bathsheba add richness to the “good news that will bring great joy” the angel brought in Luke 2:8-12?

Acts 16:25-34 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. ³⁴ The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

When were Paul and Silas “praying and singing hymns to God” (verse 25)?

What caused the prison doors to fly open and the chains to come loose (verse 26)?

Why was the jailer about to kill himself (verse 27)?

Who shouted “don’t harm yourself” (verse 28)?

How did the jailer respond (verse 29)?

What did the jailer ask Paul and Silas (verse 30)?

How did they answer the jailer (verse 31)?

What did they speak to the jailer and his household (verse 32)?

When were the jailer and his household baptized (verse 33)?

Why was the jailer filled with joy (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about Christian joy?

In your opinion, how does the joy of the jailer in Acts 16:24-34 compare to the joy that David was pleading for in Psalm 51:7-12?

In your opinion, how is the joy announced by the angel in Luke 2:8-12 related to the joy of the jailer in Acts 16:25-34?

1 Thessalonians 1:2-8a - New International Version (NIV)

² We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. ³ We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵ because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶ You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷ And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸ The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. 

How often does the church of the Thessalonians appear in the prayers of Paul, Silas and Timothy (verse 2)?

What do they remember about the Thessalonians (verse 3)?

Who has God chosen (verse 4)?

How did the gospel come to them (verse 5)?

How did they welcome “the message in the midst of severe suffering” (verse 6)?

What did they become (verse 7)?

Where did their “faith in God” become known (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about Christian joy?

In your opinion, how does Psalm 51:7-12 help us understand how the Thessalonian Christians could have had joy “in the midst of severe suffering” in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-8a?

In your opinion, what does 1 Thessalonians 1:2-8a help us understand about the “good news that will bring great joy” announced by the angel in Luke 2:8-12?

In your opinion, how do both Acts 16:25-34 and 1 Thessalonians 1:2-8a prove that Christian joy is not related to physical circumstances?  What is Christian joy related to?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Psalms, Luke, Acts and 1 Thessalonians teach us about the source of Christian joy?

In your opinion, how can we model Christian joy today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)