Family Fest Speaker Podcast

Jesus's first miracle was extravagant but only known to a few. His time to let other know of his Greatness was yet to come.

Whether comforting or unsettling, hometowns are significant to us. In Luke's Gospel, we hear the story of Jesus returning to his hometown of Nazareth and how he upsets the townspeople with his message. When we invite Jesus into our lives, his message can be both comforting or unsettling.

In the parable of the seed falling on different ground, we often try to define ourselves or others as one of the different types: the hard ground, the rocky ground, the thorny ground and the fertile ground. However, each of us has all the types within ourselves. 

In Luke 10, we hear the story of Mary and Martha. Mary violates social norms and hosting duties by sitting at Jesus's feet while Martha serves the guests alone. When confronted by Martha, Jesus sides with Mary. He teaches us the importance of sitting quietly to receive God's peace. Jesus settles our souls.

John 21 tells the story of the disciples struggling to fish as Jesus shouts from shore to throw the net over the other side. When the disciples recognize that it's the resurrected Jesus, they rush to him. Jesus addresses Peter 3 times, "do you love me?" and Peter affirms him 3 times. In doing that, Peter understand that his pat denials are forgiven and his job going forward it to tend the Lord's p...

God in a trinitarian from can show up in a wide variety of ways. How do you see God-Jesus the Human, Holy Spirit the Breath, Abba the loving Father, God the Creator? Remember who you are and that you belong to God.

How do you understand you? Identity work is one of the most helpful tools to discover how you best connect with God. Are you The Speculative, The Heart, The Mystic or The Social Justice Seeker? When we live in a world that values independence, we think we don't need anything or we're not tied to anything. However, we have a great human need to be connected to God and each other. 

Knowing who God is and knowing who you are, think about the people God has put in your life. What stones are you asked to move? God calls us to love all people, including our enemies.

It is by love that you are here, by love that you live and by love that you serve.  We are called to express God's love into the world. Be radical in the way you love for perfect love casts out fear.

God has much to say but often we're to busy to hear his words. In the presence of Jesus, we have to opportunity to be completely surprised by the God's goodness. Pray each day to hear God's word.

The Trinity is the most foundational dogma of Christianity: within God, there is three. God is community. God is Love. God's love is infinite and always raining down on us. He doesn't love us because we are worthy, we are worthy because he loves us. What umbrellas do you put up that stop God's love from raining on you?

Crucification is the worst way to die and yet it's the central moment of Christianity. We hold this painful story as the symbol of God's infinite love for us. The physical suffering that Jesus experienced was nothing compared to what he experienced spiritually.  Salvation is a free gift but discipleship costs everything. Are you willing to take up the cross?

Evil is name we use to mean less goodness. There is no such thing as evil. Evil only exists as an absence of good.  God is good and God created everything in goodness. He also gave us free will and as we make choices of less goodness, our world becomes "evil". Follow God's path for he always leads us in triumph.