Something to Talk About 

May 12-18 Grow Groups

Sermon Discussion Guide

FILL MY CUP

Psalm 23:5 & John 7:37-38

INTRODUCTION:

Every Christian has life, but is it a trickle, or is it full and overflowing?

How would you describe the overflowing life?

 

John 10:10 (NKJV) I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Why did Jesus come? Are you living the overflowing life or do you live the overwhelmed life?

What is the difference between the overwhelmed—shortage mindset and the overflowing—surplus mindset?

How do these mindsets effect our lives?

 

Two mindsets:

• A shortage mindset.

How would you define the shortage mindset?

A shortage mindset means I never have enough, and I never will. What does this mindset do in people?

 

2 Kings 4:42-44 (NIV) says, A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God [Elisha] twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³ “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴ Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

Do you see the shortage and surplus mindset in these verses? Describe it.

 

v.43 ⁴³ “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

v.43b For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”

v.44 … they ate and had some left over.

What mindset should we approach the Lord with?

How does a shortage mindset hold us back?

 

• A surplus mindset.

How would you define the surplus mindset?

A surplus mindset means God has more than I’ll ever need. How does this mindset effect our faith? Why is this important?

 

TEXT:

Psalm 23:5 (NIV) My cup overflows. (NLT) My cup overflows with blessings.

John 7:37-38 (NIV) (NLT) On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

What do these verses teach us about God?

Can we really live worry free about running short if God is the source of our lives?

 

Highlight:

Psalm 23:5 (NIV) My cup overflows. (ICB) “You give me more than I can hold.”

What does the cup represent here?

Are you living right now in the overflow? Or are you drowning in the overwhelmed?

 

John 7:37-38 (NIV)…anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink… as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Are you living with a river of life flowing in you? If so, describe it.

 

John 7:38a (NIV) “Who believes in me.”

What is fully meant by “believes” here?

 

John 10:10 (AMP) I’ve come that you may have real life and enjoy it in abundance – to the fullest, until it overflows!”

How does someone go from overwhelmed to overflowing in life?

 

FOUR HABITS TO DEVELOP:

1. STAY CONNECTED

John 15:5 (NIV) “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Why must we stay connected to Christ?

What is the best way to stay connected to Christ?

 

John 15:7-11 (NLT)  ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

What is Jesus telling us about the overflow? What does he say we must do to walk in the overflow? Do you live like this or is there something in the way, if so, what might it be?

It says my words remain in you…. How does meditation on God’s word work? How can one simply and seriously think about God’s Word? What will the effect of this kind of meditation be?

 

2. STAY GRATEFUL

In order to be grateful, you must stop complaining, how does one master this?

How does being grateful effect our health?

Studies have shown that when you are thankful, when you’re grateful, it produces serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin in your brain. These are the key things that produce smarts, peace, and happiness. Those chemicals – dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin – happen every time you’re grateful. So how thankful are you? How can a person learn to become more thankful?

 

Philippians 2:14 (NLT) “In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing.”

When you complain about something, how does that help you? Does that work out well for your mindset?

 

Colossians 2:7 (NLT) says this: Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all God has done.

How can we put this verse into practice?

 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT) No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

What is God’s will for us? How can we know step two of God’s Will if we are not following in step one?

 

3. STAY CONTENT

How does one stop all the comparing, and start being content with where you’re at, and what you have?

 

2 Corinthians 10:12 (NIV) We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

Why is it so unwise to compare?

 

1 Corinthians 4:7 (NCV) Who says you are better than others? What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given to you, why do you brag as if you did not receive it as a gift [from God]?

Do you believe everything you have is a gift from God? If so, how does it make you approach things differently?

 

Proverbs 14:30 (NIV) A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Why does envy make us so unhealthy mentally and spiritually?

 

Ecclesiastes 4:6 (NCV) It is better to be content with what little you have. Otherwise, you will always be struggling for more, and that is like chasing the wind.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Have you learned how to be content? Explain how it works for you.

 

4. STAY GENEROUS

Why does staying generous break the cycle of being stingy?

 

John 3:16 (NIV) God so loved the world that He gave…

Are you glad that God gave to meet your need?

What does His giving to us require of us?

 

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NIV)  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

Do you trust God? Do you have a shortage mentality, or do you have a surplus mentality? How does our giving represent our heart for the Lord?

How much should we give?

Have you ever wondered why you don’t have enough?

 

Do you remember the story of Daniel? When God took the nation of Israel and they were taken captive in Babylon for 70 years. Then later God said, “You can go back home.” But he gave this instruction – here’s the key – “I want you to put me first in your time, in your life, in your money, in your day.” He said, “When you go back home, just to prove it, the first thing I want you to do is I want you to rebuild the temple,” which was destroyed, which is a symbol that worship comes first. God comes first in my life.

All those people went back home to Israel, and you know what they did? They forgot it, and they didn’t put God first. They didn’t build a temple. There’s a whole book in the Bible about this, misplaced priorities. God says, “If you put me first, I’ll bless you.” It’s called the Book of Haggai.

Haggai 1:5-11 (NIV) ⁵ Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁶ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

⁷ This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. ⁸ Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. ⁹ “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. ¹⁰ Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. ¹¹ I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

What did God do to their unfaithfulness having not put Him first in all of their ways?

 

Malachi 3:10 (NASB) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

Have you ever read God’s “challenge verse” of the Bible? Do you want the overflowing blessing of God? Have you tested God with your tithe?

 

Luke 6:38 (NLT) Jesus said, Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.

Do you trust Jesus?

 

Psalm 23:5 “My cup runs over.”

It’s the overflowing life. How do you get that life? He just says it: “Whatever measure you use in giving – large or small – it’ will be used to measure whatever is given back to you.”

 

CONCLUSION:

Do you want the overflowing life?

Four habits to develop.

• Stay Connected to Jesus
• Stay Grateful
• Stay Content
• Stay Generous

Which habit(s) do you need to surrender to the Lord?

PRAYER:

For each other and the Church… that we develop a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.