Listening is THE Love Language

When was the last time someone really listened to you?

For many this is a matter of weeks and months, not days.  Listening is a lost art!

Reflecting on the story of Jesus visiting the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42), Pastor Rob reflects on Mary listening to Jesus.  This passage not only uplifts listening as a love language, but reveals ways in which we can be a better listener, to each other and ultimately, to Jesus.

Given how hard it is truly to listen, especially to one who lived 2,000 years ago, we dare ask the 

question:  Who is this one who summons us to listen to him?

Photo Source:  Case Kenny, https://cheezburger.com/19582213/36-wholesome-love-languages-for-singles-and-those-who-are-in-relationships

Becoming a neighbor

In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), a stranger has compassion on an injured man and heals him.  Not only is the extent of care surprising, but Jesus pushes the ancient world's buttons by surprising his listeners that the one who showed mercy was a Samaritan, definitively "the other."

We continue to live in a world, much like Jesus'  time, when there are all sorts of division and boundaries that exist, which make it challenging for us to become neighbors to each other.

But this happens -- at the holy cross-section of wounds and compassion.

The artwork is a sculpture by artist Daniel Borup

Packing List: Faith, Hope and Love

What is on your packing list?

Jesus sends out his disciples on a mission trip (Luke 10).  He begins by warning them that he is sending them out as sheep among wolves.  Then he gives them a very strange packing list - no bags, no sandals, instead

Faith, Hope and Love

A reflection on how each week, Jesus sends us out as his disciples, into a weary and broken world with simply this:  Faith, Hope and Love.

Freedom FOR

For Freedom, Christ has set you free! Paul to the Galatians (5:1)

We love our freedom as Americans and later this week will celebrate our independence.

Yet, freedom can go awry, as Paul warns; in fact, he tells us not to use our freedom for our own self-indulgence.  

How shall we live then?  Relish our freedom or discipline ourselves against it?  It can often seem as if we live (and especially try to raise our kids) caught in between a Scylla and Charybdis, between a "Do whatever I want-ism" and a "Legalism that becomes exclusiv-ism."

Paul offers a different way of thinking and moving forward: focus on how Christ has set us free FOR loving and serving our neighbor.