Vox Veniae Podcast

Liturgy: Doxology

As we begin our fall vision series on our rhythms of liturgy, Gideon Tsang reflects on how we know God and why love is the deepest form of knowing [1 John 4:7-12].

Reflection:
What images come to mind when you think of God?
How does the act of loving help you understand God?

Resources:
MWG: Discussion Guide

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Practicing Mercy

Weylin Lee reflects on an encounter that Jesus has with a foreign woman and how that brings awareness to what limits and facilitates mercy [Matthew 15:10-28].

Reflection:
In what ways can we withhold evaluation and judgment in order to practice mercy more freely?
What might be some of our cultural blindspots that hinder our ability to practice mercy?

Resources:
Book: Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
Podcast: Oh No Ross & Carrie
MWG: Discussion Guide

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Mirrored Healing

Gideon Tsang speaks about how we see ourselves, God, and our healing [Matthew 18:15-35].

Reflection:
Who has permission in our lives to help us see what we can’t see?
How does that feel to know that God’s love and forgiveness is limitless?

Resources:
Podcast: This American Life -Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville
Book: Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
Book: The Way to Love by Anthony De Mello
MWG: Discussion Guide

Poem: “For Love in a Time of Conflict” by John O’Donohue
When the gentleness between us hardens
And we fall out of our belonging with each other,
May the depths we have reached hold us still.

When no true word can be said, or heard,
And we mirror each other in the script of hurt,
When even the silence has become raw and torn,
May we hear again an echo of our first music.

When the weave of affection starts to unravel
And anger begins to sear the ground between us,
Before this weather of grief invites
The black seed of bitterness to find root,
May our souls come to kiss.

Now is the time for one of us to be gracious,
To allow a kindness beyond thought and hurt,
Reach out with sure hands
To take the chalice of our love,
And carry it carefully through this echoless waste
Until this winter pilgrimage leads us
Towards the gateway to spring.

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Fulfillment

Gena Minnix speaks about fulfillment and how Jesus invites us to meet our needs creatively [Matthew 14:13-21].

Reflection:
What “self-talk” messages do I tell myself about my needs?
Do I have a need that never seems fulfilled? How might I name that need to God and my community?

Resources:
Video: The Prestige
Book: Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg
Video: Sharing Food
MWG: Homily Discussion Guide

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Compassionate Giving

Jason Minnix reflects on why it’s so complex to give to others and how we might give in free and compassionate ways [Matthew 6:1-4].

Reflection:
Is my giving motivated by compassion or by guilt, shame and/or fear?
How can I receive compassion today from others, myself, and God when I don’t have much to give?

Resources:
MWG: Homily Discussion Guide

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Receiving Others

Jason Minnix reflects on how Jesus listens to our lives with empathy and how we receive insights about ourselves through others [Mark 10:17-22].

Reflection:
How can I bring my giving out of places of guilt, shame and fear into the light of compassion?
What does compassion look like for the feelings and needs of someone I’ve been struggling with?

Resources:
Video: The Big Sick
Book: The Way to Love by Anthony De Mello
MWG: Homily Discussion Guide

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Living from the Heart

Sarah Bingaman talks about how identifying emotions and needs can reveal our hearts [Matthew 5:1-4].

Reflection
What am I feeling or needing right now?
How can I practice emotionally responding to my own feelings and the feelings of others this week?

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Light Living

Gideon Tsang reflects on the burdens we’re carrying and how are we invited to live in a lighter way [Matthew 11:28-29].

Reflection:
What does it look like to receive God’s gentleness this week?
How can your inherent worthiness free you from the burden of needing to be greater than you already are?

Resources:
Book: The Way to Love by Anthony De Mello
Prayer: Prayer of Reflection Script
MWG: Homily Discussion Guide

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Freedom

Weylin Lee talks about the paradoxical freedom that God invites us to experience [Romans 6:12-18].

Reflection:
What areas of our lives might need to experience death or for us to let go of?
How might we practice discernment through a lens of grace?
Who or what are we imitating?

Resources:
Podcast: This American Life: Alain de Botton
Podcast: Fresh Air: Jay-Z

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What Do You Want?

Jason Minnix talks about our desires and examines the question that Jesus asked his disciples [John 1:35-42].

Reflection:
What am I being invited to let go of and return to a relationship of enjoying?
What desires am I being invited to carry with compassion this week?
What does it mean that God is delighting in me today, as I am?

Resources:
Exercise: Nonviolent Communication Handout

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Being Good Guests

Matt Inman reflects on who we direct our compassion towards and how we sometimes get in the way of living it out [Matthew 10:5-16].

Reflection
Where do you over-complicate your life and love by carrying around extra “equipment”?
What is one small, humble act that would exercise your compassion and put you in the position of being a good guest?

Resources:
Podcast: Inefficiency

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Belonging

Gena Minnix talks about what it means to belong and the vision Jesus left us with for Christian community [Matthew 28:16-20].

Reflection:
Who among us needs to hear the message, “You belong”?
How do I enjoy being playful with God and others?

Resources:
Article: Don’t Think You Have a Yoga Body?
Video: Whose Line is It Anyway Improv
Video: Don’t Think Twice – The Art of Improv

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Pentecost Sunday

Gideon Tsang talks about how God’s creative energy, the Holy Spirit, moves us towards transcendence in how we understand God and others [Acts 2:17-21].

Reflection:
How can we reflect on what the experiences of our lives mean?
In what ways can our use of language be a means to unite rather than divide people?

Resources:
Book: The Circle by Dave Eggers
Video: Darjeeling Limited: How Brothers Communicate
Book: Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg

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Gospel According to Trees

Tim Brosnan talks about what we can learn from trees and what it means to humbly stand firm [1 Peter 5:6-11].

Reflection:
In what ways can we choose to live closer to the humus until the canopy opens up?
How can we cultivate a deeper understanding of God and ourselves through Nature?

Resources:
Podcast: On Being-Richard Rohr
Poem: “When I am Among the Trees” by Mary Oliver

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Community

Gideon Tsang talks about the way we interact with community and how we might do it in a way that creates gratitude and joy [Philippians 1:3-9].

Reflection:
What would it look like to participate in sharing your beauty in community?
Who’s a safe person you can share a face plant story with this week?

Resources:
Video: Kids Kissing
Podcast: On Being: Carlo Rovelli
Book: Community and Growth by Jean Vanier
Video: Andrew Bird
Video: Beirut
Podcast: This American Life: Grand Gestures

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Troubling Questions

Kelly Cutbirth reflects on the questions we ask in vulnerable places and how God responds to them [John 14:1-14].

Reflection
What are the questions, at the surface or buried a little deeper, that are most troubling in my relationship with God today?
What does it look like to rest in God’s love this morning, in the midst of unknowns and unanswered questions?

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Shepherd Sunday

Matt Inman speaks about the rest and care that God is guiding us to rather than the versions we try to set up for ourselves [Psalm 23].

Reflection:
In what ways do you seek rest that ends up obscuring your view of God and others?
When was the last time you felt led into rest and comfort that grounded you to God, yourself and others?

Resources:
Video: Green Pastures
Video: Stars and Light Pollution

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Live as Foreigners

Weylin Lee talks about why we’re invited to live as foreigners and how it captures the new way of life Jesus offers us. [1 Peter 1:17-23].

Reflection:
How can we put aside our entitlement to create space for a posture of humility?
How can we move towards sincere love that doesn’t carry expectations?

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Waters of Baptism

Jason Minnix talks about being immersed into change as we hear the stories of Grace Minnix, Noah Tsang, Zachary Lee and Madeline Strickland [Matthew 3:1-6,13-17].

Reflection:
How does it feel to be chosen and marked by love, the delight of God’s life?
What if it’s true that God accepts every part of us without hesitation?

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Easter: Surviving Death

As we celebrate Easter, Gideon Tsang reflects on what it feel like to survive death and to be birthed into a new way of life and living [Jeremiah 31:1-6].

Reflection:
What grace can you find in the desert seasons of your life?
How can God’s unchanging love revise your life story?

Resources:
Video: Angel’s Landing Hike
Video: James Turrell- The Way of Color
Video: James Turrell- Second Meeting

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