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Needers & Feeders

Discussion Guide

Conversation Starters

  • You have to spend the night away from home, but you can only take three things with you — what three things do you need the most?
  • Which animal would you rather feed from your hand: a porcupine, a bobcat, or a skunk?
  • If you had to feed 5,000 people, what would you cook?

Review

Ask eGroup members to share their favorite points from the sermon, what spoke to them, a phrase or moment from the sermon they related to the most, or questions they have. If members have a hard time recalling the sermon, talk through your notes and share your favorite points.

Make It Personal

  • Who’s someone you know who is always available when you need something? Describe some ways they’ve helped you out.
  • What are some ways you make yourself available to others? How would you define “being available to God”?
    • In verse 7, Paul says God loves a cheerful giver. Talk about some ways we give. (e.g., time, attention, emotional support, financially, prayer, etc.) In which ways is it easy for you to give cheerfully? Are there any ways where it’s difficult? (God doesn’t need what we give. Encourage your group to talk about how knowing this can help us be more cheerful when we give.)
  • Think about the ways it’s difficult for you to give cheerfully. How are you in “me mode” when you think about giving in those situations?
  • Read Matthew 14:13-16. The disciples were in “me mode” because they needed rest, but they found a crowd, and Jesus told the disciples to feed them. What have you been asking God to do for you? (How are you in “me mode” right now?)
    • Jesus moved the disciples from “me mode” to “sow mode” (from needers to feeders). Are there any needs God is showing to you in this season? Why do you think God sometimes shows us a need instead of directly answering our needs? 
  • Share about a time in your life when you were in “sow mode.” What were you sowing into? How did it affect your perspective and your availability to God?
  • Read Galatians 6:9. Are there any ways you’ve “grown weary of doing good”? How has that sowing started to look like a sacrifice? (Paul is making a point that God will bring a harvest at the right time, but that it is ALWAYS the right time for us to do good for others.)
    • What can you do to see that as sowing (or as a privilege)?

Act On It

Where have you been focused on yourself and your needs? Make the transition from “me mode” to “sow mode” this week. Focus on making yourself available to God and to the people around you. (Share some ways you can do this — can you give to someone what you’ve been asking for from God?)

Prayer Requests and Prayer

Ask eGroup members to share any prayer requests they have. Record any notes or prayer requests to pray for members during the week.
Father, thank You for the seeds and gifts You’ve placed in us and for the opportunities You give us to sow them. Shift our hearts away from “me mode” and into “sow mode” — help us be cheerful givers who meet the needs around us while trusting You to meet our own needs. In Jesus’ name, amen.