DISCOVERY QUESTIONS

Series: I Have Decided
Sermon: Thankful
Passage: I Thessalonians 5:18

Main Idea: How can we choose, every day, to look at what we have—not at what we don’t have—and be grateful for what God has given us, and the opportunities that we still have in this season?

Leader GuidePDF Version (Participant)PDF Version (Leader)

GROUP DISCUSSION

Lean In

Purpose: Introduce topic and get the group talking.

1. What were your family’s traditions around the Thanksgiving holiday?


Look Down

Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text

2. Read I Thessalonians 5:16-18 together. Why do you think Paul used the descriptors “always,” “continually,” and “all” when giving these instructions to the church? What is unique about these kind of words?

3. What do you think the phrase “this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” means?


Look Out

Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.

4. Think about the most grateful person you know. How do they live and how would you describe them?


Look In

Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.

5. Considering your personal practice of gratitude, why is it so challenging and yet so important to practice gratitude in all circumstances?


Live It Out

Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s for direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.

“I learned that gratitude is the best feeling I would ever have, the ultimate joy of living. It was better than sex, better than winning the lottery, better than watching your daughter graduate from college, better and deeper than any other feeling. It is perhaps the genesis of all other really good feelings in the human repertoire. I am sure that nothing in life can ever match the feeling of being held by a gracious energy percolating from the abyss where beats the loving heart of God.”
Lewis Smedes – “A Life of Distinction: What It Takes to Live with Courage, Honesty, and Gratitude”

6. Spend a couple of minutes in quiet, personal prayer. Ask the Lord to show you what you can be grateful for.

7. Share your experience in prayer with the group. How did God meet you? What will it look like this week to walk in continual joy, prayer and gratitude?

LEADER GUIDE

Lean In

Purpose: Introduce topic and get the group talking.

1. What were your family’s traditions around the Thanksgiving holiday?


Look Down

Purpose: Observe the passage and interact with the text

2. Read I Thessalonians 5:16-18 together. Why do you think Paul used the descriptors “always,” “continually,” and “all” when giving these instructions to the church? What is unique about these kind of words?

These words are non-stop. They’re inclusive, all-of-life descriptors. What’s interesting about these words is that they don’t leave room for unique circumstances to stop you from rejoicing, praying, giving thanks. No exceptions to the rule.

Another interesting point is that these are commands, not suggestions. Typically, emotions feel optional. But in these verses, we’re commanded to choose these ways. When we try to figure out “how” to be thankful all the time, the solution is right there in the text (see the next question).

3. What do you think the phrase “this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” means?

Jesus’s purpose was to bring a new life of joy, prayer and gratitude. He changed our ability to live in this constant state. It’s not just something God commands us to do, it’s also something that God empowers us to be! This is a supernatural state of being, one made possible only through the total renewing work of Jesus.


Look Out

Purpose: Connect observations in God’s Word with observations in our world today.

4. Think about the most grateful person you know. How do they live and how would you describe them?

With this question, you may also want to ask the opposite: “Think about the most ungrateful person you know.” The goal of this question is to help your group see that gratitude isn’t situational, especially when you have hope in Jesus (remember last week’s topic of hope?).


Look In

Purpose: Internalize God’s Word and apply the truth to your personal life.

5. Considering your personal practice of gratitude, why is it so challenging and yet so important to practice gratitude in all circumstances?

It’s challenging because it takes effort to move our focus from what is negative, missing, or problematic to what is positive, good, and helpful. Our hearts and minds naturally trend away from contentment and gratitude.

One of the ways we keep the reality of heaven and the hope of Christ in view is through practicing gratitude. As we focus on God and what he has already given us through Christ, he changes our perspective and minds.

When we practice gratitude with others, we find that gratitude begets more gratitude. In our last section, we are going to have an opportunity to practice gratitude together.


Live It Out

Purpose: Spend time listening for God’s direction and guidance as you seek to live out the truths of this passage in your everyday life.

“I learned that gratitude is the best feeling I would ever have, the ultimate joy of living. It was better than sex, better than winning the lottery, better than watching your daughter graduate from college, better and deeper than any other feeling. It is perhaps the genesis of all other really good feelings in the human repertoire. I am sure that nothing in life can ever match the feeling of being held by a gracious energy percolating from the abyss where beats the loving heart of God.”
Lewis Smedes – “A Life of Distinction: What It Takes to Live with Courage, Honesty, and Gratitude”

6. Spend a couple of minutes in quiet, personal prayer. Ask the Lord to show you what you can be grateful for.

7. Share your experience in prayer with the group. How did God meet you? What will it look like this week to walk in continual joy, prayer and gratitude?

In this last section, read the quote and then go directly to prayer. Encourage your group to listen to what God brings to mind. They may be surprised that God brings something hard or negative to mind, but encourage them that God calls us to give thanks in ALL circumstances. Might it be possible that God wants to redeem even the hard things in our lives, to turn those into occasions for gratitude and praise?

Close in prayer for each other.