Related Message
When you hear the sermon on Sunday do you ever wonder how you can draw some of its ideas or challenges into your day-to-day life? Come and explore the spiritual exercises presented here to reflect on how you can physically walk the sermon out this week. Read through the suggestions and try one or more. Or, better yet, let them inspire you to create something even more in tune with how you personally meet God. Either way, use this space to become more deeply engaged with Christ, as you open up to the love of God, and listen to the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit. May you enjoy the presence of God as you... Reflect.
Conversations With God...
Take a few moments to sit down and think about what your conversations with God look like.
- Do they happen at a set time or at different times?
- Are they structured or spontaneous?
- Are there equal amounts of talking and listening?
- Do you follow a set form, or do you experiment?
Next, consider what your conversations look like with your friends, with your family and with your co-workers. Compare these conversations with each other.
- What do your conversations with God tell you about how you relate to the various people in your life?
- What does your conversations with others tell you about how you relate to God?
- How do your conversations with friends, family, and co-workers inform how you relate to each one of them.
Choose an attitude (like listening, patience, or love) or a practice (like asking questions or stopping your inner monologue) and incorporate that attitude or practice into all of your conversations this week. Be sure to take some time to reflect on how it may or may not have changed your conversations after the week is through.
Conversations With Each Other…
Take a moment to think about how you generally converse with others.
- What is your primary mode of communication, the one you use most often (e.g. face-to-face, phone, facebook, email, text, IM, etc.)? Why do you use this one the most?
- What is your preferred mode of communication, the one you’d like to use most often? Is it the same or different than your primary mode? Why?
- How does your mode of communication shape your ability to have or avoid a conversation?
Take a moment to think about when and where you generally converse with others.
- Is there a place where or a time when you communicate or converse best? Why is this time or place so significant?
- What is the largest factor in creating great conversations: the place, time or your frame of mind? Why?
- In what ways does technology enhance or hinder your ability to create or have conversations?
Create a time and place this week to have a great conversation with someone.
Learning to Listen…
Read Proverbs 18:13. Take some time to think about how your conversations generally unfold.
- How “organic” are your conversations? Do you genuinely and patiently listen to the other person or are you busy crafting your response while the other is still talking? Why?
- Do you easily enter into a conversation with a predetermined agenda or outcome in mind or are you content to just letting the conversation happen in an open-ended way? Is it an exploration or a conquest? What is it that drives the conquest?
Commit yourself to a Listening Week:
Embrace a listening posture for a whole week, always entirely attentive and focused on the other person. Keep your opinions to yourself. Don't check email or texts while in a face-to-face conversation. Intentionally adopt a posture of exploration rather than conquest.
- What would that do to you physically and/or emotionally?
- What does that tell you about your ability to have genuinely caring conversations with people?
For this week's reading recommendations, check out READ
For this week's conversations starters, check out TALK
