Joy: A Community Event

Acts 8:4-8

But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went. Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah. Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did. Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims. And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.


Alright, this is where our discussion of joy (Greek: chara) begins to turn a corner. In the past two passages, we've seen that joy should cause us to worship, that joy should cause us to sacrifice. In this passage, however, joy displays itself in a new way. Take a look. What I think this passage can teach us about joy is that it is not just about us.

What we see, in this passage, is demons being cast out of many of the lame and paralyzed people of the city and then the whole city experiencing joy. There is a command in Romans 12 that we should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn; to me, that is exactly what we see here. The ideal situation seems to be that we would not just experience joy in our personal, local church, or denominational bubbles, but that the whole body of Christ would experience joy together.

Does that strike a chord with you? Do you see how this is probably the most important aspect of joy that we've touched on so far?