Most Christians resist the idea that we are to pursue happiness. We are more comfortable with the idea of finding joy or being blessed. But seeking happiness seems too superficial or too flighty for people of faith.In Happy Church, Tim McConnell offers a radical call for Christians to reclaim happiness. Happiness flows from the joy of the Lord and being glad in Christ. When the church expresses happiness, we are making a countercultural choice that the world cannot help but notice. It's time to bring the happy back," he says. "It's time to get serious about happiness."This is a book to read with your small group or congregation, with discussion questions to help you become happy together. You'll discover that God's call to the church is to radiate happiness—because we live in a world that desperately needs it.



Tim McConnell is senior pastor of Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Marietta, Georgia, and holds a PhD in early Christian theology from the University of Virginia. He and his wife, Abigail, have one daughter, three sons and one (mostly) happy dog.







John Ortberg is teaching pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and author of many books, including God Is Closer Than You Think and Who Is This Man?



Foreword by John Ortberg

Preface

1. Getting Serious About Happiness

2. Where Is the Happy Church?

3. Satisfied in the Word

4. God's Instrument of Praise

5. Prayers of the People

6. Laughing Matters

7. The People of Limitless Hope

8. Suffering the Mission of Joy

9. The Future Feast We Taste

10. When the Church Is Heaven's Sunlight

Acknowledgments

Small Group Discussion Questions

Notes