NBC Weekly Sermons

1.3 Marriage Advocate Training Video 8:43 ↓

1.3 - Forgiveness / Trust Forgiveness and trust are foundational for a healthy marriage. As trouble enters a marriage, it may appear that those foundations are eroding. It is important to have a proper understanding of these two words, as well as establish appropriate verbiage to communicate concerns.

1.4 Marriage Advocate Training Video 10:53 ↓

1.4 - Reversing Negative Conversation Momentum Isaac Newton’s first law of motion states that “an object will not change its motion unless a force acts on it.” The same is true in conversations with the momentum in either a negative or positive direction. Without intentional and active change, a conversation with negative momentum will continue to become more and more negative. In this training we...

1.5 Marriage Advocate Training Video 12:45 ↓

1.5 - Reacting vs. Responding If we pay attention it is possible to determine if our mind or our emotions are in charge of us during a conversation. When emotions, and more specifically negative emotions, are driving our words the brain is typically out to lunch. When the mind is in control we “respond” in a rational manner. When emotions are in control, we often “react” in a harmful “knee-jerk” m...

1.6 Marriage Advocate Training Video 11:09 ↓

1.6 - Marriage “Breathing” Long term marriages “breath”. Healthy marriages “breath-in” (connect) by spending time together, and “breath-out” (distance) by spending time apart. The connecting times are not simply being in the same place at the same time, but rather are times of engaging with each other. Likewise, the distancing times are not simply time apart, but rather intentionally doing somethi...

2.2 Marriage Advocate Training Video 9:13 ↓

2.2 - Simple Miscommunication It seems like we seldom understand what each other is saying. Rather than pause and verify correct understanding, we tend to simply repeat what we said previously. When both of us get stuck in this cycle, understanding goes nowhere and both of us become preoccupied with being understood.

2.3 Marriage Advocate Training Video 4:06 ↓

2.3 - Negative Assumptions It often appears easy and efficient to anticipate what your spouse is about to say. There are two problems with this: (1) our assumption might be incorrect, and (2) this approach means we think we don’t have to listen to our spouse because we already know what they are going to say. Both of these problems can result in unsuccessful and damaging conversations.