#cupoverflows

[This was a conversation on Facebook I copied and pasted.]

If you want your community group to do well, just make sure you keep the "Big Four". 1. Love 2. Prayer 3. Scripture 4. Worship. Make sure every single week your group does three of these every week and you do all of them by the end of the month. Each can be broken down into more detail and sub groups. But those are what will keep any small group / community / Church going

1. Love can be just talking and listening to one another. Love can be going out on a mission trip together. Love is anything done with love together. Love doesn't love alone. We have to love others or it isn't love. 

2 Everyone needs to pray listens. It must be clear that GOD is the center. Prayer FORCES a community to show that they believe GOD is the center focus of the community. A whole night of prayer is NEVER done by fakers, atheist or baby believers. You can quickly see where your group is based on prayer.

3. Reading through the Bible is essential. Some want to worship but never want to read through scripture. Some want to read scripture and study all the time but never actually worship. We MUST do both. Reading through scripture is just as much a spiritual act as it is mental. It confirms what we believe and brings all true believers to life. 

4. Worship. Make sure that the apologetic people who love head knowledge are clear on how vitally, utterly important worship is. They get so far in the books sometimes, that they act like worship isn't important. And vice versa. I've noticed that people who worship all the time don't always read the bible or study any type of apologetics. So make sure the group does both. Worship is instrumental in spiritual warfare. Worship is also key to us releasing and letting go of all our worries and stress and giving it all to GOD who can handle those worries for us. 

I assure you, do the Big 4 and there is NO way your small group will fail.

Especially over the course of a year. The group will only grow. 

In fact... I think I should tell you this now. Make plans six months in for who will lead the split in a year because it's grown to large. Make plans for a split and remind them of the big 4. GOD provides the growth, even growing leaders. 

You do the "Big Four" individually with no one around as well as in a group setting. BOTH. You pray and listen to GOD alone AND in a big group. You worship GOD in the shower alone or in your car alone as well as in a group. You read the bible alone as well as with others. You love GOD alone as well as with others and love others in small group as well as large. Do both. Not just one. What you get, how you feel and what you receive from being alone doing these things is WAY different than what you get doing this in a group.

You really really want to spend time with GOD and know HE loves you and you get to love HIM alone and then come together with others also. And of course it's all about being in love with GOD. That's the foundation. Being filled with HIS love FIRST. 1 John 4:19. No Love for a believer that is still working in ministry = BURNOUT! Love is our fuel. A glass can only spill what it contains. NO ONE will last in ministry without love fueling the fire.

To push and finalize what I am saying. Tying it all together. GOD loves me. And I'm filled with HIS love. I then read scripture and see Jesus say astonishing things. Especially in John. Making promises. I believe those promises, and I read more, I want to see more. He promises living water rising within us and that we never die. Is this true or is Jesus a liar? I don't believe He is a liar.

So I begin to talk to Him, asking, seeking, knocking for this life, love, energy and passion He talks about, He gives it freely.

I receive it. I have more energy than I can handle and begin to worship

I sing all day long. Sing in my heart. Sing out loud. I want to do something, do anything. I can't contain it. I can't.

So I begin to talk to people around me about it.

I talk to other believers to encourage them. I then talk to non believers about how I feel.

I have to talk about it. I have no agenda on who, just anyone.

And then I want to show them in scripture what it says.

I want them to feel the same love. Share the same joy I've been given.

And they get energized / excited and begin to encourage me and give me even more energy. And it rinse, cycles and repeats. Over and over and over springing up into eternal life. It never stops. And I never want it to.

But ultimately... this is the part of the story I don't get to often with too many people. The purpose of this conversation is this...

Eventually ALL mature believers reach this point. The point where we are dissatisfied. Not with our lives and this love Jesus has for us. But we can't wait to see Him face to face. We are dissatisfied with not seeing Him in person. This is NOT acceptable. HE NEEDS TO COME HERE OR WE NEED TO GO THERE TO SEE HIM AND BE WITH HIM FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is flat out unacceptable. We NEED to SEE Him face to face, not just as a dim reflection.

All this love He gives everyday. All this mercy. All this forgiveness. All this restoration. All this love, joy, peace. He keeps giving and giving and we never run dry. We feel alive because of Him. We feel hope because of Him. We feel loved and share love because of Jesus. We have to see Him. Have to.