In our world, there is so much sorrow, misery, and sadness.

We see indicators all around us that reveal to us that most people are looking for something,

anything, that can bring them true joy. In this study on joy,

Scott Pauley will take us to God's Word and help us discover the source of true, lasting joy.

And as we study the Bible together, we will find that God's joy is readily available to us

through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am a local church man, and I hope you are a local church member. I believe that every

sincere follower of the Lord Jesus Christ should connect

themselves to a body of believers.

Right where you live, you ought to connect your life, your influence to a group of brothers

and sisters in Christ so that you can worship together, fellowship together, study the word

together, pray together, work together

for the furthering of the gospel of the Lord Jesus. This is the wonderful gift Christ has given us

through the local New Testament church. Now, when you deal with people in a local church, there are

always things to deal with, and there are always individual issues that have to be

addressed just the way there is. Where there are people, there are things to be dealt with. And that is

why Paul wrote First and Second Corinthians, because he wrote to individual believers in a local

assembly who had things they needed to learn. And don't we all, in our last study, we were

in 2 Corinthians, chapter 1 and chapter 2, we learned something about the joy of faithful ministers.

And we thank God for faithful pastors, faithful preachers of the gospel, faithful servants of the Lord.

God bless them, pray for them. But I want to remind you that it's not just

the leaders who have a responsibility in the local church. Every member does. And when you read

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