Table of Contents
PRAYER
Our goal today is to grow in relationship and learn how to walk with one another in all God has called us to be and do. Let’s begin by praying for each other.
Does anyone have prayer requests or stories of how God has been moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
THE BELONGING PROJECT TOPICS
THE FATHER’S LOVE :: THE SON’S SACRIFICE :: A LIFE THAT OVERFLOWS
THIS WEEK
We’re in a brand-new series called The Mission: The Unfolding Story of God’s Redemptive Purpose. Over the next few weeks, we’ll discover God’s ultimate purpose is to fill the earth with his glory through Christ’s redemptive work. Through the Gospel of John, we’ll arrive at the revelation of knowing the why, the who, the how, and the goal of God’s mission.
This week in A Life That Overflows, Pastor Alvin looks at John 17 and invites us into a moment just before everything changes for Jesus, going to the cross. Right before the cross, Jesus pauses to pray, not for escape or an easier road, but for something deeper that would carry His people to live out God’s mission long after He’s gone.
To help us start our time together, consider these questions (CHOOSE ONE, and don’t feel obliged to use any or all of them):
During the ice days, were you more of a stay productive person or a this is forced rest person?
What was your go-to survival move during the winter storm: snacks, coffee, naps, movies, or pacing the house?
What’s one thing you realized you really missed while being iced in?
What was the best unexpected part of being stuck at home?
What was the first thing you were excited to do once things started thawing?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
SCRIPTURE
Have someone read John 17:20-26 aloud. As you listen, notice any words or phrases that stand out, and ask the Holy Spirit to highlight something for you.
Johb 17:20-26
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Jesus’ prayer in John 17 shows us what truly holds God’s mission together when life feels heavy. Just hours before the cross, Jesus doesn’t turn to strategy or self-preservation. He prays.
And in that prayer, specifically in verses 20-21, we see that God’s mission isn’t carried by pressure or performance, but by shared life. A life rooted in love that doesn’t wear us down, but flows through us.
Before the church even exists, before anyone believes, Jesus is already praying for future followers. That includes us. He prays that His people would be one, not by all being the same or agreeing on everything, but by being deeply connected to God and to one another.
And when people see that kind of love at work, it points them to something real and life-giving. Which raises an honest question for us: what does that kind of unity actually look like in everyday life?
Leader Note:
Ephesians 4:1-16 speaks of Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ as well as Instructions for Christian Living in verses 17-32. God doesn’t call us to create unity. He calls us to maintain the unity set by His triune nature since before the beginning of time.
Where do you see real unity happening in daily life where you live, work, and play?
When you hear the word unity, what comes to mind positively or negatively?
What makes unity difficult to sustain when life gets stressful or complicated?
Why does Jesus connect unity among people to how others come to believe?
Where do you personally feel the tension between wanting connection and protecting yourself?
Love That Forms Us, Not Pressure That Drains Us
Jesus shows us in verses 22-24 that unity isn’t held together by pressure, but by love. And that changes how we think about following Him. He doesn’t pray that we’d try harder or behave better. He prays that the same love He shares with the Father would live in us.
That matters because pressure might push us for a season, but it never carries us for the long haul. Pressure wears us down while love shapes us. When we try to live faithfully out of fear, guilt, or the need to prove ourselves, we eventually run out of steam.
But when we live from a place of being loved and accepted, obedience stops feeling like a burden and starts becoming a natural response.
What’s the difference between doing something because you have to and doing it because you want to?
In what ways does pressure show up even in good or meaningful commitments?
Where do you feel pressure most often to perform or prove yourself?
What would it look like to return to love, rather than effort, in that space?
This is where the cross of Jesus matters and becomes central. Jesus doesn’t speak about love from a distance. He carries it all the way to the cross, taking on our sin, our failure, and our need to prove ourselves. He gives His life so we no longer have to live under pressure to earn God’s approval.
That’s the good news of the gospel: God’s love isn’t something we achieve. It’s something Jesus has already secured. Through His death and resurrection, we are loved, accepted, and invited into life with God.
And that’s why love, not pressure, shapes us. The mission doesn’t start with what we do for God, but with what God has already done for us in Jesus. Why? So a lost world could be found to know His overflowing love.
A Love That Overflows Into the World
As Jesus brings His prayer to a close in verses 25-26, He asks that God’s love would live in His people and keep growing in them. That’s really the heart of the mission. God’s love was never meant to stop with us. It naturally moves outward.
Not because anyone is forcing it, but because that’s what love does. And that means God’s mission isn’t something we have to manufacture or hype up. It’s what happens when God’s life takes root in ordinary people, living ordinary lives, with hearts that are open.
What causes love to shrink or stall instead of moving outward?
When have you experienced love that didn’t feel forced or transactional?
How does knowing Jesus gave His life for us change the way you think about love, effort, or belonging?
Where do you see opportunities for love to overflow in simple, everyday ways?
What’s one small, practical way love could move outward through you this week?
Who might God be inviting you to love more intentionally right now?
Leader Close:
Remind the group that Jesus doesn’t call us to strive harder, but to live from a love that’s already been given.
CLOSING THOUGHT
In John 17, Jesus doesn’t finish by giving instructions. He prays, entrusting His people to the Father’s love, just as He entrusted His own life to the Father’s mission so we could truly know Him. That means we’re not called to live by striving or proving ourselves. We’re invited to live from love, the same self-giving love Jesus embodied. And when His love shapes us, His mission flows naturally through our lives into the everyday places where we live, work, and play.
Let’s close in prayer: God, thank You for Your love that meets us before we try to prove anything. Help us live rooted in that love and let it shape how we care for others. As we go, let Your love flow through us where we live, work, and play just as you did with Jesus. We trust You with what You’re doing in us. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Alvin Brown, the Lead Pastor of Mosaic Church Fort Worth, brings over a decade of pastoral ministry experience and more than 20 years of operational and technical leadership expertise. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications Management from DeVry University and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. He enjoys spending quality time with his wife, Mallary, and their three children and contributing as a writer to various media outlets.
