Liz Gill: Talking with God

"A few years back, I was in a situation where I had to make a decision.

I was in the process of working with a team to open a coffee shop and community center in Worcester, Massachusetts. And I was really excited – I had written in a journal years before that I wanted to open a coffee shop and community center where kids could learn how to use video equipment and make videos and put together stories, like in the news business where I had worked before.

Also on my team was my boyfriend. . . and things were pretty cool. But then the boyfriend surprised me with a breakup, and not very nicely. I tried to stay on that team but I couldn't. It was too painful to be near him and I was pretty broken up – so I quit. 

Crazy, right – I quit my dream job? 

And then I started looking for a new job. . ." 

Want to hear more of Liz' story? Check out the audio message below, or read the notes to hear more about how she has cultivated a practice of listening to God! 

Tuning In

"So... 1968 was the peak of a season of great unrest in our country.

There was a lot going on: the Vietnam war was raging, there had been protests happening for years, the civil rights movement had protests going on for years.

And it came to a head on April 4th, 1968, when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated... in the wake of King's death, there were more turbulent demonstrations, particularly black activists who were protesting police violence. There was a shootout in Oakland... this kind of thing was happening throughout the country. 

And it was an election year. There were campaigns going on. So, it probably feels very resonant for us..." 

....This week we start a series called "Listen," asking how we can hear God amid everything else in our lives. Starting with the present day, we go back to 1968 and then back to the time of the Roman Empire, when Jesus gives us the story of a good shepherd whose sheep hear his voice.

Early Roman image of Jesus as a good shepherd.

Early Roman image of Jesus as a good shepherd.

But what can we learn from sheep about hearing from God in the midst of chaos? Listen in (or read the notes!) to find out, below:

Love Serves

"I'm going to share with you a meme that came up multiple times in my facebook group this week. Perhaps you saw it: 

blessed-are-all-lives-jesus.jpg

Obviously this is a response to the conversation over #blacklivesmatter versus all lives matter. How do we interact with that? If Jesus was here today in this conversation, what would his response be?  

...But Jesus didn't tweet. Social media wasn't a thing in the first century. What was a thing was going to hear somebody in person. He preached, that was his version of communication..." 

And yet Jesus preached as much with actions as with words. In our final talk on living the love, listen in (or read the notes) for a practical example from Jesus about how "love serves" in the midst of inequality: