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Episodes
The work of the people. Our weekly rhythm of being together as a larger community to worship and confess, to engage scripture and prayer, to celebrate eucharist, and to be sent back into the city with a benediction each and every week.
Episodes
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
As we continue in the Advent season, Nic Acosta reflects on what it means to experience the deep comfort that God promises [Isaiah 40:1-5].
Reflection
- What kind of comfort do we long for?
- What would it take to live as though our lives are God’s home, and to consider God as the most hospitable, comforting host?
Practice
- Compile a list of what God’s comfort means to you. List reflections under one column for “What is comfort in God like?" and another column for "What keeps me from this comfort?
Resources
Thursday Dec 03, 2020
Thursday Dec 03, 2020
As we start the season of Advent, James Alison reflects on what the Holy Spirit is seeking to prepare us in this season [Mark 13:33-37].
Reflection
- What did Jesus mean by talking about a “coming” and then setting up a parable about a “going”?
- Why is it so difficult for us to understand the ancient Hebrew way in which the Prophet is not so much asking for some blanket forgiveness from God, but begging God to make possible a human way of finding ourselves able to forgive and be forgiven – even blaming God for God’s failure to do that so far?
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Monday Nov 23, 2020
Virginia Cumberbatch considers a reframing of what a radical and relentless grace is asking of us especially in the season we are living in [Ezekiel 34:11-16].
Reflection
- How can you extend grace to yourself in this season and in reflection of this year, as a part of your healing?
- As we navigate discord, challenge one another in love, and continue to disrupt injustice to work toward shalom / equity what does active, radical grace look like this week and in the weeks to come for those I’m in community with?
Resources
- Song: Love is a Miracle
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Judy Peterson reflects on how Jesus invites us to love our nearby neighbors with whom we have conflict with [Luke 10].
Reflection
- You are sheep and not a wolf. How would you approach your nearby neighbors with whom you have conflict differently if you believed not only that you are sheep, but also that there is a Good Shepherd involved?
- How might you consider letting Jesus turn your "Fire" into "Woe"?
MWG Discussion Questions
- Who are the nearby neighbors in our lives that we have conflict with? Who do we hold a grudge towards and how holds a grudge against us? What is the source of the conflict that comes between us and our nearby neighbors?
- When Jesus invites his disciples not to take any possessions with them as they are sent out, what would it look like practically for us not to take our ideologies, theologies, and loyalties to defend when we interact with others? How might that impact our conversations?
- If the one who shows mercy is a true neighbor, what would showing mercy look like with our neighbors we have conflict with? How might we begin to break down barriers that have been put up over time? How can we rely less on their response and more on our invitation to love and extend peace?
Thursday Nov 12, 2020
Thursday Nov 12, 2020
Weylin Lee reflects on how we are invited to live in the gap between what is and what could be, especially in a divisive season and political landscape [Psalm 70].
Reflection
- What is our lament in this current moment and season?
- How are we moving away from or toward God’s active presence as we live in this gap?
Resources
MWG Discussion Questions
- What is your tendency towards expressing lament during moments or seasons of struggle and challenge? How has your personal or faith upbringing impacted your practice and approach to lament?
- How do the images of consolation (moving toward God’s presence) and desolation (moving away from God’s presence) provide a framework for discerning your internal movements during times of distress? How might you describe what a movement of consolation has looked like in your own life? How about a movement of desolation?
- How would you describe the tension between effectiveness and faithfulness as you have seen it in your own experience? What might a practice of faithfulness look like for you right now in this moment and season of your life?
Tuesday Nov 03, 2020
Tuesday Nov 03, 2020
On All Saints Day, Scott Erickson reflects on how we connect to God through our vulnerabilities and the shame we house in our bodies [Luke 7:36-39, 44-50].
Reflection
- In what ways do you feel on the outside of a religious gathering?
- In what ways are you “seen” by Jesus?
Resources
Thursday Oct 29, 2020
Thursday Oct 29, 2020
Weylin Lee reflects on how Jesus reminds us to center ourselves and our lives around love especially in these divisive and heavy times [Matthew 22:34-40].
Reflection
- In this current season, what would it look like to shift from being right to being more loving?
- How might you practice fully loving both your neighbors and yourself?
Spiritual Practice
- Put on a lens of love. Take out our lens of judgement, or comparison, or critique. Use a lens of love to soften our gaze towards people.
- Explore love with playfulness. Incorporate playfulness in how you engage and connect with God this week. Consider the different ways God has made you to express love and care.
Resources
Video: Ted Lasso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u7EIiohs6U
MWG Discussion Questions
- What are the tensions we experience when we explore whether it’s more important to be right or be more loving with certain people in our lives? How are those practices opposed to one another and how might they be in alignment with each other?
- What does it mean to us when we hear that God invites us to love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? If we adopt a more playful posture and perspective, what might be some expressions of love that we have not considered before?
- How have you experienced loving your neighbor and loving yourself? How might one come at the expense of the other and how has that looked like in your life? Which of these practices might you need to lean into more this current season and why?
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
James Alison reflects on how Jesus navigated the tension of rivalry between divine and human power [Matthew 22:15-21].
Reflection
- How might we re-imagine our obedience to God to be without rivalry to others?
- How might the tension of divine and human law invite us towards following God?
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Tuesday Oct 13, 2020
Insil Kang reflects on why we might turn down an invitation from God and how we might make space to navigate our response toward participation [Matthew 22:1-14].
Reflection
- What are the reasons I refuse an invitation to a party/event?
- How does the dynamic between an invitation by God and my response actually play out in my day? How is it affected by the dumpster fire of 2020?
Thursday Oct 08, 2020
Thursday Oct 08, 2020
Scott Erickson reflects on how not having it together allows us to connect with God and God’s grace [John 1:43-51].
Reflection
- What activities in your life seem to draw you to God? What activities in your life seem to pull you away from God?
- When or where are you most likely to be aware of God’s presence? When or where are you least aware of God’s presence?
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Gena Minnix reflects on how learning to humble ourselves might help us live into our unique, authentic story as individuals and collectively as the church [Philippians 2:5-8].
Reflection
- What’s on the inside of the masks we’re wearing?
- How might our humble stories be a doorway to our authentic calling?
Spiritual Practice
- Benedictine practice of humbling ourselves. Connecting with the created world. Embodied practices. Small experiments.
- Reflect on your story. What is our unique story? How might we practice humbling ourselves and owning it?
Resources
- Video: The Masks We All Wear (Ashanti Branch)
- Song: The Last Leviathan (Fisherman’s Friends)
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Weylin Lee reflects on how our generosity can more accurately reflect the divine generosity that God offers us [Matthew 20:1-16].
Reflection
- How might we practice generosity in a way that’s more expansive and inclusive?
- How does our value and desire for fairness impact our ability to receive and practice generosity?
Spiritual Practice
- Expand your circle of generosity. Examine who you already practice generosity with ease. Consider stepping outside your circle of generosity with one person this week
- Imagine being the late worker (Ignatian practice of reflecting on Scripture). Imagine standing in the marketplace all day waiting to be hired. Imagine being offered a job at the end of the day. Imagine getting paid for the whole day after working only an hour. How does that imagination impact your perspective and experience of divine generosity?
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
Thursday Sep 17, 2020
Gideon Tsang reflects on what our invitation is to be born and live as people of the Spirit [John 3:3-8].
Reflection
- Where have you seen the delightful breeze of God’s Spirit in your life?
- What might it look light to pause and listen for the breeze of the Spirit this week?
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Jason Minnix reflects on how we’re invited to live in a debt we’re never meant to repay [Romans 13:8-14].
Reflection
- How do I live in the debt of love I’m never meant to repay?
- Where do I sense invitation into the love that liberates this week?
Spiritual Practice
- Surrender to your debts of love this week. Let go of repayment.
- Where is my love for self and others asleep now? Where is it waking up?
Resources
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Tuesday Sep 01, 2020
Scott Erickson reflects on our invitation to create a space of silence and solitude to hear and listen to God’s voice in our current season [Matthew 6:5-6].
Reflection
- Where have been the places, spaces or moments in this season that you feel like you can connect with God?
- What have been your experiences with silence and solitude? And what has come from them?
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
Wednesday Aug 26, 2020
Gena Minnix reflects on how Jesus' loving response to his enemies revealed that God is non-punishing and utterly trustworthy. [Matthew 16:13-18].
Reflection
- How does reflecting on God as Jesus help restore my trust?
- As my trust in God increases, how will that change the way I respond to my enemies?
Spiritual Practice
- Who is Jesus? What word or phrase captures the core of who Jesus is to you? Notice perceptions that are in us and open ourselves up to the possibility of Jesus revealing something surprising about who God is which we may not have perceived as clearly before.
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Wednesday Aug 19, 2020
Weylin Lee reflects on how we might be blocking the flow of mercy in our lives and what barriers we might have built that limit the flow [Matthew 15:10-28].
Reflection
- What expectations and hidden biases do we have that limit our flow of mercy?
- How might we practice mercy as a mutual flow that feeds the cycle of giving and receiving?
Spiritual Practice
- Journal Our Expectations of Others. Reflect on people we have difficulty extending mercy to. List out what expectations we’ve put on them. Examine which expectations are actually limiting your ability to practice mercy.
- Seeking Understanding. Life experiences or relational trauma we haven’t been through. Cultural backgrounds and upbringing we’re not familiar with. Being a different gender or ethnicity in the workplace.
Resources
- Podcast: Cancel Culture (NYT The Daily)
- Podcast: Mahzarin Banaji (On Being)
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Wednesday Aug 12, 2020
Virginia Cumberbatch reflects on the promises of God and how our calling and purpose invite us into living out “good trouble” [Psalm 85:8-13].
Reflection
- What is God calling you to in this moment?
- How can you show up in a meaningful way to be a purveyor of #goodtrouble?
Spiritual Practice
- Create time to meditate on what God has promised you and us as people of God (ex: peace, assurance, strength, vision, calling, etc.). Reflect on how those promises can and are manifesting in this moment, despite uncertainty, despite “trouble.”
- Prayerfully identify what gifts / resources God has bestowed to you that can show up this week in a meaningful way that pushes “love and truth to meet [one another] in the street”, in your community. Write down what God is unearthing in this moment for you around your purpose and your calling to bring shalom to your neighborhood, our city, or this country.
Resources
- Ideas and organizations to consider in being a purveyor of “good trouble”:
- Voting rights: The Poor People’s Campaign, She the People
- Racial justice: Black Lives Matter
- Just Policing: Austin Justice Coalition, Measure Austin
- Covid-19 impact on vulnerable communities: Community Resiliency Trust
- Education equity: Community Resiliency Trust
MWG Discussion Questions
- What are some of God’s promises that you’re reminded of during challenging and difficult times? In what ways to do we let those promises guide our choices? How might we have disregarded those promises?
- What does the image of righteousness and peace (or truth and love) kissing in the street bring up for you? How might they seem to conflict with each other? What meaning and invitation do they capture for you?
- How has our own faith experience encouraged us to participate in what John Lewis calls “good trouble” and how has our faith sometimes discouraged us from participating? What might be some practical opportunities for us to consider during this current season?
Thursday Aug 06, 2020
Thursday Aug 06, 2020
Jason Minnix explores how new possibilities open up when we bring our real struggles into our connection with God [Genesis 32:23-31].
Reflection
- Where am I being called to pull away and be with my deeper work?
- How am I being invited to wrestle with God?
- Where do I sense a new day emerging?
Spiritual Practice
- Take an hour for solitude this week and meet God in your shadow. (Take any intense emotion or judgment you have of another person and see it as a mirror to your own healing and unfolding.)
- Forgive your life for being what it is.
- What kind of wrestling is meaningful to me now?
Resources
- Video: Sheena Melwani
MWG Discussion Questions
- How does the metaphor of our unaddressed struggles as a beach ball, forced underwater until they break out above the surface with equal force resonate with you? In what ways have you experienced this dynamic?
- If “shadow boxing” with God is where we learn to process the negative emotions that can be overlooked/buried/blamed on other people, how might this practice look like for you and how can solitude help in that process?
- If God seeing the dirty, messy, and undone parts of you is a sacred opportunity to build intimacy with him, what are the challenges that prevent us from engaging in this way (e.g. our need for control)?
- Wrestling with God can be as diverse as playful banter or cursing God out. Do either of these (or the other examples) feel particularly resonant to what you’re experiencing in your life right now? Are there any that make you feel uncomfortable? Are there ways you can bring more joy to your struggle with God?
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Wednesday Jul 29, 2020
Matt Inman invites us to reflect on where God’s love is working within our story during this season [Matthew 13:33].
Reflection
- How has love matured you in the last 5 years?
- Where do you sense love wanting to work in your life in this season?
Spiritual Practice
- Meditation. Consider where Love became active in your life. Spend time meditating in that mental and emotional space of love and enough-ness.
- Journaling. Journal through what facets of your life you struggle accepting or receiving in this current season. If you were to receive in Love into that internal space, what experiences might open up to you? (Rest? Repentance? Celebration? Good Trouble?)
Resources
- Framework: Johari Window
MWG Discussion Questions
- When was the kingdom/love first activated in your life?
- Matt asked, “the kingdom is not coming TO us, but INTO us. Not affecting us, but infecting us.” What does this call your attention to today?
- How does the Johari window help us conceptualize the kingdom working through all of our self/all of our present moment?
- Where might Love be speaking care and confrontation to our default settings?