No Place Like Home: Crafting and Cultivating a Space Centered on Jesus

What makes a house a home? What makes a home “Christian”? What are its markers? Is it the Bible verses on the walls? The mom in the kitchen? The dad in the garage? The kids playing outside? Is it their choice of education? Or policy on screen time? Or household budget, diet, or weekly schedule? Or is it more?

The world wants us to label ourselves and others, to define our Christian home by some arbitrary, man-made criteria instead of the posture of the hearts within its walls. But we don’t want a world-driven home. We want a Christ-centered home.

So what is a Christian home? Well that’s what we are discussing today.

ALSO:

—Being a woman in the 1500’s

—When to submit and when to step in

—Homes that look like heaven

—How does Jesus want me to treat this person?

—Three specific ways to nurture and protect your family

References:

—“I Like Me” documentary about John Candy

—“Last One Laughing” TV show

—Ephesians 5:22-31

—Matthew 19:10-12

—“Crowded Table” by The Highwomen

—“Home Alone”

—“I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist” podcast by @drfrankturek

—Kirk Cameron podcast @kirkcameronshow on “Dangerous Questions”

It All Starts Here

Hi, friends! We are in our second week of looking at relationships in the Bible as well as our everyday lives, mining for truths in order to make some sense of how this is all supposed to work.

Last week we found the starting line—the Garden of Eden. And when the starting gun went off, there was a trip and a fall, and the whole world toppled into sin.

But God gave us a new starting line. While we were sick with sin, enemies hostile to God, He made a way for us to be right with Him again. He gave us Jesus. And now we stand in a waterfall of grace.

That’s our new starting line. In every relationship we are standing in grace, drenched in grace, and breathing grace in and out. So today we are going to sit in that truth a bit and let it wash over us, and we are so glad you decided to join us!

ALSO:

—Why we rejoice in suffering

—All the little gardens where heaven and earth collide

—Jesus alone makes us good with God

—Honoring God’s boundaries

—Lauren and Monica reveal their points of pride

—Going to the Word because lies sneak in

References:

—Romans 5-6:2

—Ephesians 4:26-27; 5:22

—“Life Together” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

—“Beloved” by Francis Chan

—“Come Home” by Caroline Saunders

—Blurry Creatures podcast episode 389: Where Heaven Meets Earth with N. T. Wright

—“The Vision of Ephesians” by N. T. Wright

Not Your Average Separation Anxiety

Why do relationships take so much work? We are tempted to believe that relationship work is a result of sin, but what if God always intended for us to work on relationships just like He always intended for us to work in the Garden?

What if the real question isn’t “why do relationships take work,” but “Why is relationship work so hard and painful?” Why can’t I manage to treat people the way I want to be treated, and vice versa? Why is loving God with my whole heart and loving my neighbor as myself a complete impossibility on my own, no matter how much I want it?

Well, the quick answer is “sin,” but we are diving deeper into what that means in our discussion today. We are walking through Genesis 1-3 and marveling at the miracle of life. Then we will witness the moment when all confidence in God disintegrated with a single bite.

We were made for relationship—with God, with each other, and with the world around us. But for now, let’s stick with the relationship that literally started it all. Thanks for joining us.

ALSO:

• Reading Martin Luther
• Talking about being naked
• Going to bed angry
• Sanctification in community
• Hard people remind us we are hard people
• Blaming God and running away

References:

• Martin Luther’s commentary on Genesis Volume 1
• Genesis 1-3
• Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org
• Ted Dekker Circle Series
• Malcolm in the Middle