Contagious Joy!

Supplies:

"surgical" mask like one wears to prevent spread of disease (most drug stores carry these).

Say:

One of the themes of the book of Philippians is joy.  Paul encouraged the Philippians to be FULL of joy!  WHY do you think Paul encouraged them so often to be full of joy?  Let’s see if we can figure it out by looking at this illustration.  Hold up the type of mask people wear when they are sick.  What are some reasons people might wear one of these?  Sometimes people wear them when mowing the grass to prevent breathing in pollen and dust.  Sometimes people who are very sick might wear one when they have to be around other people to prevent breathing in germs that might make them sicker or to prevent breathing their sick germs on other people.  When we are sick with something that other people could get if they breathe our germs, we say we have something contagious.  That type of contagious is bad, but did you know there is a type of contagious that is good...VERY good???  It’s joy!  Have you ever been around someone who is full of joy and you couldn’t help but feel joyful too just from being with them?  Think about a baby laughing.  When you hear a baby laughing, you can’t help but laugh too!  Their joy is contagious!  Paul knew that joy is like a secret weapon.  People are drawn to other people who are full of joy.  When someone asks why you are so happy, what a wonderful opportunity to share Who Jesus is to you!  What a wonderful opportunity to share what life was like before knowing Him and what life is like now!  The enemy knows about this secret weapon of joy and that’s why he wants to steal our joy.  That’s why he brings fear into our lives.  He wants us to forget about being full of joy, because he knows that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  He knows that joy is contagious and can draw others to Christ.  That’s the last thing he wants to happen!  Let’s spend some time now with the Joy Giver.  Let’s ask Him to release full joy into our hearts and to make us contagious to spread His love and joy wherever we go!  Encourage students to get alone with Jesus and allow His joy to fill them up.