The Joy Multiplier

Message Listening Guide

Guiding Thought: Gratitude isn’t complete until it’s expressed.

The Grateful Leper (Luke 17:11-19)
Near the end of Jesus’s ministry His reputation as a miracle worker and someone who includes outcasts has spread. Ten lepers (who were not only sick, but also excluded from their families and society) beg him for healing (Luke 17:11-14).
All ten are healed, but only the Samaritan returns to thank Jesus. While gratitude is expressing thanks for the gift or blessing or experience; praise is admiring and lifting up the kind of God who would give these kinds of blessings (Luke 17:15-16).
The Samaritan receives a deeper and greater healing than the other nine. Note the inverse relationship between entitlement and gratitude. The less entitled you are, the more grateful you are, and the more you practice gratitude, the less entitled you become (Luke 17:17-19).

The Point: Gratitude doesn’t simply express joy—it multiplies it.

Application: Return to the Giver and thank and praise Him three times a day. 
“God, thank you for the gift of __________ just now. And, thank you for being the kind of God who gives gifts like this to His kids.”

Reminder:
Christians have a greater Giver to thank.
Christians have a greater gift to celebrate.
So Christians have a deeper well of joy to draw from—always.

Connection Group Conversation Guide

Get-to-know-you Question: Share your name with the group and the answer to the question: What’s one of the best meals you’ve ever had?

Review: Last Sunday's message focused on how gratitude, when expressed, becomes a “joy multiplier.” Using the story of the ten lepers from Luke 17, the message explored the relationship between gratitude, praise, and joy. We were reminded that gratitude isn’t complete until it’s expressed to the giver, and that cultivating gratitude helps combat entitlement and increase our joy.

Discuss: When something good happens in your life, do you naturally thank God—or is it something you have to intentionally remember to do?

Read: Have someone read Luke 17:11–19 aloud.

Discuss: Only one leper returned to thank Jesus. Giving the other nine the benefit of the doubt, why do you think they didn’t? What may have happened in their hearts and minds?

Discuss: The sermon said, “The less entitled you are, the more grateful you’ll be.” Do you think its true that if someone practices gratitude consistently they will become less entitled automatically?

Discuss: Randy Alcorn wrote: “Living by grace means affirming our unworthiness daily. We’re never thankful for what we think we deserve. We are deeply thankful for what we know we don’t deserve.” How would you rate your level of gratitude?

Discuss: The application challenge was to thank and praise God three times a day. Did you do this? How did it go?

Discuss: How do you think your life would feel different if your joy level was increased by 25% starting tomorrow?

Pray: Share prayer requests and close in prayer.