The Overflow

As we prepare to become empty nesters, we process our thoughts and feelings about grief, changing roles, and the different ways we walk through transition. We share how to make room for the sadness without allowing it to determine your direction, fill the silence with God’s presence, and intentionally invest in your marriage and purpose. No matter what you are being asked to release, the way you let go will shape what comes next. 

QUESTIONS

1. How are you responding to the natural changes taking place in this season of your life? 
2. How can you make room for grief without allowing it to determine your direction? 
3. What are the new quiet spaces revealing about your relationship with God, your spouse, or others? 

READ MORE ABOUT

• Letting go of one season to follow God into the next in Matthew 16:24–26 
• Grieving with others and honoring their emotions in Romans 12:15 
• Husbands living with understanding toward their wives in 1 Peter 3:7 
• Filling quiet seasons with God’s presence and wisdom in Psalm 46:10 and James 1:5 
• Keeping your marriage intentionally strong in Genesis 2:18 and Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 
• Releasing what you cannot keep to receive what God has next in John 12:24–26 

Is tithing still biblical for Christians today, or was it only an Old Testament practice? 

We look at the pattern of giving throughout Scripture, from the Garden of Eden and Abraham to Malachi, the teachings of Jesus, and the early church. We discuss why tithing is ultimately not just a money issue but a matter of trust, worship, and the position of our hearts. We also share what it means to give God our first and best, support the local church, and experience the freedom and blessing that come from following His design for our finances.

QUESTIONS

1.     What does your approach to money reveal about where you place your trust?

2.     Are you giving God your first and best or only what feels comfortable or manageable?

3.     Where is God asking you to trust Him more fully with your finances?

READ MORE ABOUT

·    Abraham giving a tenth to Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18–20

·    Jacob’s commitment to give God a tenth in Genesis 28:20–22

·    Bringing the full tithe into God’s storehouse in Malachi 3:8–12

·    Choosing between serving God and money in Matthew 6:19–24

·    Jesus affirming tithing while emphasizing the heart in Matthew 23:23

·    Giving regularly through the local church in 1 Corinthians 16:1–2 and 2 Corinthians 9:6–8

We expand on Sunday’s message and ask a challenging question: What are we bowing down to without even realizing it? Small compromises can grow into powerful idols that shape our hearts, our homes, and even future generations. From relationships and success to sports, politics, and cultural influences, we examine the modern idols competing for our worship—and what it looks like to tear them down and put God back on the throne of our hearts.

QUESTIONS

1.     What is quietly competing with God for first place in your heart?

2.     Where have you allowed a small compromise to grow into something more powerful?

3.     What practical step can you take this week to tear down an idol and put God back at the center?

READ MORE ABOUT

·    Gideon tearing down his family’s idols in Judges 6:25–32

·    Putting no other gods before the Lord in Exodus 20:1–6

·    The danger of idolatry and spiritual compromise in 1 Corinthians 10:14–22

·    Guarding your heart from misplaced worship in Proverbs 4:23

·    The trap of fearing and elevating people in Proverbs 29:25

·    Finding true satisfaction in God alone in Psalm 37:4; James 1:17

We discuss the power of honor in a culture trained for dishonor. From marriage and parenting to every other relationship, honor changes the way we see and treat people made in the image of God. We must learn to reject sarcasm, accusation, gossip, and contempt and begin building relationships marked by truth, grace, humility, and respect. Dishonor blocks the work of God in our lives, but honor creates an environment where He can move.

QUESTIONS

1. Where are you most tempted to treat someone lightly instead of seeing them with the weight and dignity God gives them?
2. How can you speak truth in love without slipping into accusation, gossip, flattery, or blind loyalty?
3. What would it look like to build a culture of honor in your home, church, workplace, or friendships?

READ MORE ABOUT

• Jesus being dishonored in His hometown in Mark 6:1–6
• Outdoing one another in showing honor in Romans 12:9–10
• Speaking the truth in love in Ephesians 4:15
• Honoring God with your body as the temple of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 6:19–20
• Honoring parents and spiritual leaders in Exodus 20:12 and Hebrews 13:17
• Covering others with love and grace in 1 Peter 4:8

When Elle and Tyler (our daughter and son-in-law) received a heartbreaking infertility diagnosis, they were told there was zero chance of becoming pregnant naturally. We share how our family learned to hold both grief and faith and kept praying for miracles in the lives of others while waiting for God’s answer in our own. Miracles are not the endgame of the Christian life, they are signposts pointing us to Jesus, glimpses of Heaven touching earth, and reminders that God is still able, still kind, and still worthy of our trust.

QUESTIONS

1. What heart-cry do you need to bring before God in this season?
2. What does it look like to remain faithful while waiting for His answer?
3. How can you let God shape your heart in the waiting, not just change your circumstances?

READ MORE ABOUT

• Jesus healing as a sign of the Kingdom in Matthew 4:23–24
• The now-and-not-yet in Romans 8:18–25
• Asking God with faith and humility in Mark 9:23–24
• Hannah praying for a child at Shiloh in 1 Samuel 1:9–20
• Prayer, faith, and healing in James 5:13–16
• God doing immeasurably more than we ask or imagine in Ephesians 3:20

SUMMARY

God expanded our understanding of the Holy Spirit from something cautious and confusing into something biblical, beautiful, and deeply personal. With gratitude for our spiritual roots and honor for those who hold different views, we explore the questions, Scriptures, and encounters that shaped us along the way. 

QUESTIONS

1. What messages did you receive about the Holy Spirit growing up, and how have they shaped your openness to Him today?
2. What does Scripture teach about the Holy Spirit’s role in the believer’s life, and how should that shape the way you follow Jesus?
3. What would it look like to pray with humility and openness, “God, if there’s more of You for me to experience, I’m open”?

READ MORE ABOUT

• Jesus promising the Holy Spirit as Helper in John 14:16–17, 23–26
• The Holy Spirit empowering believers in Acts 1:8
• God pouring out His Spirit on all flesh in Acts 2:17–18
• Believers drinking of one Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:13
• Being continually filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18
• Biblical order and love in the use of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12–14

SUMMARY

As parents of four incredible kids, we had a lot to learn! We talk honestly about the moments we wish we had handled differently and the ways God helped us grow in patience, discipline, and even fun. The goal is not perfection—no parent gets it right every time. We all need the Holy Spirit to help us own our mistakes, ask for forgiveness, and lead our children toward Jesus.

QUESTIONS

1. What patterns from your own upbringing do you want to repeat, and what new patterns do you want to develop?
2.  In what area(s) do you most need the Holy Spirit’s help right now: patience, discipline, fear, fun, or connection?
3. How can confession, repentance, and forgiveness strengthen your relationships?

READ MORE ABOUT

• Being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger in James 1:19
• Bringing children up in the training and instruction of the Lord in Ephesians 6:4
• The Lord disciplining those He loves in Hebrews 12:5–11
• Confessing sin and finding healing in James 5:16
• Love covering a multitude of sins in 1 Peter 4:8
• God’s compassion for His children in Psalm 103:13–14

SUMMARY

We sound the alarm on the growing cultural crisis around marriage, family, and children. Marriage is God’s design for covenant, companionship, sexuality, and family. We challenge the lies that keep people delaying marriage, avoiding commitment, fearing children, or building life around comfort instead of calling. God’s design is still good. Strong marriages, healthy families, and babies raised in faith are the keys to our future. 

QUESTIONS:

1. What cultural messages have shaped the way you think about marriage?
2. Why did God design marriage to be the foundation for family?
3. What would it look like to make room for children in the way you plan your future?

READ MORE ABOUT:

• God creating man and woman in Genesis 1:27
• God’s command to be fruitful and multiply in Genesis 1:28
• “It is not good for man to be alone” in Genesis 2:18
• Leaving, cleaving, and becoming one flesh in Genesis 2:24
• Children as a heritage from the Lord in Psalm 127:3–5
•  Marriage as a picture of Christ and the Church in Ephesians 5:31–33

SUMMARY

We share a sneak peek into Susan’s latest project, Can I Please Just Eat in Peace?—a book and Bible study coming soon! Every person struggles with something, even if they don’t realize it. But God designed us to live in freedom, and He wants to reveal the places we’ve been held captive. Your testimony matters, your pain is not a competition, and Jesus does not want you to get comfortable in chains He came to break. 

QUESTIONS:

1. What chains have you become so used to carrying that they almost feel normal?
2. How has fear, trauma, addiction, or past pain shaped the way you seek comfort or control?
3. What testimony might God be inviting you to share so others can see the power of Jesus in your life?

READ MORE ABOUT:

• Overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony in Revelation 12:11
• The first temptation involving food in Genesis 3:1–7
• Jesus resisting temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1–11
• Freedom in Christ in Galatians 5:1
• Jesus setting captives free in Luke 4:18–19
• Taking every thought captive in 2 Corinthians 10:5

We believe the Church cannot stay silent when it comes to hot topics and current events. We talk about how we personally discern when to speak, what to address, and how to help families stand firm. Speaking up is not about chasing controversy, pleasing people, or joining every online outrage—it is about shepherding souls with clarity, courage, and love. 

QUESTIONS:

1.   When the culture is being loud, where do you most need the Church to bring biblical clarity?
2.   What makes it difficult for you to receive truth when it touches a personal, political, or cultural issue?
3.   How can you respond to hard topics with both conviction and compassion instead of fear, silence, or outrage?

READ MORE:

• Leaders keeping watch over souls in Hebrews 13:17
• Speaking the truth in love in Ephesians 4:15
• Salt and light in the world in Matthew 5:13–16
• The enemy coming to steal, kill, and destroy in John 10:10
• God creating male and female in Genesis 1:27
• Testing everything and holding fast to what is good in 1 Thessalonians 5:21