ICYMI: Take Heart // “A Heart for Blessing”
If you missed Sunday's service or could use a refresher, here's a quick recap featuring sharables and takeaways from our gathering. Scroll to the bottom for the full sermon recording.
📖 Focal Scripture
🎯 Reflection
We are called to live in two places at once—grounded in our present reality while embodying God’s future promises. In a world that pushes us toward cynicism, we’re invited to “think about these things”—whatever is true, honorable, and just—and then to act on them. This practice of living out God’s future in the present is the secret to finding joy and liberation on the way of Jesus.
🗣️ Key Quotation
“Stop it. Don’t do it. Don’t be cynical. Everything wants you to be cynical. Everything out there in the world wants you to be pessimistic. If you’re cynical, they win. You have to keep hope alive.” — Andre Gregory to Rainn Wilson
🙏 Prayer
God of surprising joy, who meets us in both desolation and celebration, grant us the wisdom to recognize your presence in every moment. May we, empowered by your Spirit, live out your future promises in our present circumstances, becoming conduits of your love, justice, and reconciliation for all of creation.
➡️ Next Step
In Philippians 4, Paul urges the church to think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, and pleasing. Often, the words we use inform what we see and how we live. So this week, whether stuck in traffic, running behind, feeling cynical, or not sure what's next, only use words of blessing, encouragement, and hope for yourself and others. (And be sure to give yourself plenty of grace along the way!)
