It’s been such a long time.
Yup.
Well. Basically my summer was spent seeing how I like dating in my mid 20’s.
It’s going pretty well.
Obviously meeting new peopke has a lot of things involved.
Also actually spending a significant amount of time introducing myself, first impressions, trying to figure out how I should act. Yknow. All the things that I find stressful.
Church @ The Gathering
Eric Bateman speaking tonight
Take care! How to deal with stumbling blocks Matthew 18:1-9
I did the reading of Matthew
Readers of fantasy
Tolkien and George rr martin
How they portray those who are evil.
Tolkien created black and white
Rr Martins goal was to have a much more gray area.
Quote from the Russian writer.
People doing the right thing for the wrong reasons, the wrong thing for the right reasons
Tolkien has evil out there in the world, Martin has evil in our heart.
Tolkien’s evil is this vast unstoppable force. Hopelessness is felt when you think that evil will steamroll you. The only way for good to survive is for the world to fundamentally change.
Our hopes and dreams can feel like we’re slugging through evil, those stumbling blocks
Many of these are thugs that stem from ourselves. We’re our own enemy.
Evil out there, evil in here.
How do we navigate this evil, how do we thread the needle and achieve our goals.
...
Quote from _____ Katie’s message
Saving ourselves from the blind spots of our own hearts.
We neeed to care for one another, we all need care.
A care. Something that weighs us down, it makes us stumble and be weary.
Jesus says to take care. (Take heed, watch out, be diligent, be watchful, be careful!) strongly worded passage.
We are weighed down with responsibility.
Are we causing our brothers or ssidters to stumble?
Is there something that I’m hanging on to and not letting go.
Care is a responsibility. To love them, to feel deeply for them and to want them to thrive!
How can I love mu children well if I’m not being watchful, and being aware of their needs?
This vogilence can feel like a burden.
The anxious burden of care is the cost of living and of being loved.
As the church we accept this burden. And we are especially careful not to put obstacles in someone’s way.
First part of the Hippocratic oath.
Doing no harm.
We cannot even leafs the starting line if we are acting as stumbling blocks.
Don’t contribute to the evil out there
Don’t add to the evil in here.
Do no harm.
Luckily it is not all vigilance and anxiety and a burden.
Once we learn this, we can enjoy the second type of care
We can actively provide the thing our brothers and asieters need. The mutual love that comes of acting in each other’s best interest.
Watching the children to make sure they aren’t playing in traffic vs playing with them, reading them a story.
For followers of Jesus there is an even greater hipe. We have the happy ending of our world to look forward to.
When Christ removes all stumbling blocks, in the world out there and in here!
Discussion questions:
1.a) What kinds of care does the church excel in?
B) What kinds of care does the church need to improve?
2. What kinds of things do we need to be more careful of, or watch out for better, so that we can enjoy more caring relationships with others?
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