MAIN POINT:

Love starts at the intersection of a need and a willing heart.

ICEBREAKER:

We have all made excuses as to why we can’t do something we don’t really want to do. Tell about the funniest or most memorable excuse you have ever given or heard someone else give.

INTRODUCTION:

Every great story begins with a need and someone willing to do something about that need. God just wants us to bring to Him what we have, whether it is ideas, talent, skills, or knowledge. He will take it, bless it, and do with it only what He can do. Love starts at the intersection of a need and a willing heart. There your faith grows, hearts are mended, lives are changed and souls are saved. Love is a verb, meaning action is taken. So in other words when you see a need do something about it!

ENCOUNTERING GOD THROUGH BIBLE STUDY:

Read Matthew 14:13-29.

1. Jesus was mourning the death of His cousin John the Baptist and was trying to find some alone time. The crowds followed Him, they always needed feeding (spiritually), or healing. Why do you think Jesus taught the disciples and us to share in the ministry of meeting needs?

2. Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the crowds. Discuss which needs you see that move you to compassion. What do you do about those needs?

3. The disciples wanted to send the crowds away to get food. They asked Jesus what He would do about it. He turns it around and tells them to do something about it. What did He teach them about bringing what they had to Him?

4. God is always trying to increase our faith. Our faith grows more each time we leave our comfort zone and serve others. Tell about a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

5. After just witnessing Jesus perform the miracle of feeding the 5,000 with two fish and 5 loaves the disciples are terrified when they see Jesus walking on the sea toward their boat. They think he is a ghost. Peter connects the dots and asks Jesus to command Him to get out of the boat. Discuss what you think the other disciples might have said or thought after seeing Peter actually walk on water for a few steps.

5. Peter sinks after he allows fear to overcome him and he takes his eyes off Jesus. In your opinion why is it important to keep your eyes (focus) on Jesus?

6. Jesus will use what we have and then do with it what only He can do. What does this mean to you? Do you have any examples of when you offered Him your skills, talents, or willingness?

7. Do you begin each day looking for a need to meet or opportunity for God to use you to meet someone’s need?

8. How have you seen God open the door to show you a need someone has?

9. What was your response to God showing you a need? When you began serving others did you feel the intersection of tension that Pastor Chris talked about? How did you deal with the tension?

LEADER NOTES

Faith Promise small groups: do not forget that we are starting a serving alignment this month. Here is a note from the groups office:

We are so excited about our new series and alignment starting this week, Love Starts Here. As you’ve already heard, this alignment is different than the alignments we have done in the past. Instead of asking groups to study a specific curriculum, we are asking all of our groups to align through serving at least once between now and the end of the year. We know finding a time for your entire group to get together to serve the community can be difficult, that’s why we want your group to meet during one of your regular group times for the purpose of serving someone. Even if you don’t meet around the Bible between now and the end of the year, live the Scriptures out by serving our community.

We’ve created a few resources to help your group find a way to share the love of Christ. These resources can all be found here. Included in these resources is a Leader Toolkit that will help your group begin the discussion about how to use your gifts to serve someone in your sphere of influence. We also have created some pre-planned opportunities for your group to serve together that you can find here. These are some of our strategic partners who have specifically asked for our help this time of year. Once you’ve served as a group we would love to hear how it went! If you can take a few pictures and send them, along with a short description of how you served, to [email protected]. Also go to http://faithpromiseweb.com/forms/view.php?id=5666 and let us know how it went! Please take the 1 minute it will take to fill out that form so that we have an idea of how many of our groups served. We can’t wait to hear all the stories of how God moved in your group!