The Living Room: Recent Episodes
The Living Room
Feel free to come and listen to the conversations in the Living Room. Our time together exists to inspire each of us in to a deeper connection with God, to encounter Jesus and be inspired to allow God to shape our every day.
Today we take some time to think about what ‘putting faith in to action’ might look like, consider the things that are important to God and look at how we can make a difference to the people in our lives, not just individually, but as a community.
Feel free to listen in xxx
We live in society that is full of noise. It can be incredibly difficult to reduce the noise around us and experience the benefits of silence.
Today we look at the types of noise that impact our ability to function in life, what difference pursuing silence can make and learn from Jesus in the way that He chose to pursue silence.
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Having the courage and bravery to stand up and say that something is wrong can be incredibly challenging, but it’s always right to do it.
Today we take a look at some of the reasons that people choose to stay quiet, highlight some of the damage that can be caused by silence and look at the importance of defying the silence.
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If anything in this chat resonated with you then feel free to get in touch with us on facebook (search for ‘This is The Living Room’) or email us at info@thisisthelivingroom.com
In today’s podcast, we spend some time talking about the first 6 years of The Living Room, acknowledging some of the challenges that we’ve faced as well as looking ahead to some changes we’re making as we move forward. We’ll also hear from some of the people who will be helping us in this next phase.
Feel free to listen in xxx
Just a side note - my iPad died before the end of the talk so it ends a little abruptly! The main info is still communicated, feel free to email us at info@thisisthelivingroom.com if you have any questions.
Jesus’ stories were so effective at communicating a clear idea of what God was like.
The story of the Lost Sheep is such a great example of how God feels about each and every one of us.
This story challenges us to not only check our attitude towards others but also remember how God feels about us.
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Jesus was such a great story teller. He was able to communicate such clear messages by using examples and scenarios that really resonated with His audience.
Today we look at the story of the Good Samaritan, the key points that Jesus wanted to make and what the crowd would’ve been thinking as He told the story.
We hope today’s talk makes you think.
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The teachings of Jesus are timeless. There are always things that we can learn and then apply to our lives. Today we look at the story of the prodigal son, discover some new information about the story and talk about the challenge that this story brings to us.
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Sometimes we feel like just need to survive in life. At other times we feel the need to create connection and impact others.
We can find that our focus in life can shift according to the kind of things we experience in life.
Today we take a look at this subject and consider what God says about us and the role he’d like us to play in this world.
Feel free to listen in xxx
We’ve been running The Living Room for over six years now and today we take a look at how we came to start and what we feel we’re all about.
If you’ve ever wondered if church could be for you - maybe you are interested but have loads of questions, maybe you’ve been involved in churches in the past and aren’t sure if you could feel comfortable somewhere, maybe you’ve been hurt by religion in the past - then feel free to have a listen to why the living room exists.
If you feel intrigued by this then feel free to get in touch with us at info@thisisthelivingroom.com
Today we had the absolute privilege of interviewing one of the loveliest people from the Living Room.
Jeff’s story is so interesting and full of a ridiculous amount of surprises. It’s completely worth a listen and contains so many gems of wisdom and lessons for us all to learn from.
Feel free to listen in xxx
If you’ve ever been brave enough to ask some big questions about faith then you may have experienced some challenges around how you communicate your findings with others.
It’s sometimes hard to see how much we change, but change is inevitable if we remain curious. Today we take a look at this subject and look at some of things we need to consider when we try to maintain relationships with people who might think differently.
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Courage looks different for each person. Some may be able to take a leap into the unknown, others may need the courage just to keep going each day.
It can be hard to muster up courage and there are so many things that can work against us being courageous.
We take a look at this subject today and attempt to inject some hope into the whole idea of us finding courage to be able to keep moving forward.
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Today we finish our series on wellbeing by looking at the benefit of looking after your spiritual health.
We can sometimes think that spiritual health is about grading how good you are at being a Christian?
That mentality skews so much to do with spiritual health - and that’s what we take a look at today, the importance of having a healthy perspective on what spiritual wellbeing is and looking at the positive things that we can do to benefit our spiritual wellbeing.
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The relationship that we have with money has a huge impact on how we feel and function as a human.
When we are stretched financially it can add a burden that is so heavy to carry. Not only does this limit what we can practically achieve in life it also has a profound effect on our mental and emotional capacity to cope with life moving forward.
Today we take a look at some of the challenges that so many people face as well as looking at some of the key things we should consider to develop a healthy relationship with and mentality towards money.
We really hope this is helpful.
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Social wellbeing isn’t something that we talk about that much.
The basic gist is seeing the benefit of having social connections that positively impact your life.
As we move through life we can find that friendships alter and shift, but we all need friends.
Today we take a look at some of the social challenges we face, the importance and benefit of connection and the difference it makes when someone can remind you of who you are.
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Managing our emotions can be quite a task. The current time we live in is full of so much stress, demand and expectation, so managing how we feel and how we function can be a real test for us.
Today we’ll take some time to talk about understanding the weight we have to carry, some of the signs that can show we’re stressed and take a look at how we might begin to lighten the emotional load on us.
If this subject resonates with you then feel free to get in touch if you need a chat. You can email us on info@thisisthelivingroom
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Our latest series is looking at wellbeing and this episode looks at the challenges around looking after our physical health.
This is a difficult subject to talk about as it’s so personal but taking care of our physical health is so important.
I hope this conversation helps you think about some positive actions you can take to look after physical health.
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When we think about how Christianity works, so many people feel like there are a set of rules that need to be followed in order to be accepted. The better you are at following the rules the better ‘Christian’ you are.
This mentality is riddled with so many problems and actually goes against so much of what Jesus said.
We’re taking a look at this subject today, challenging that thought process and then presenting a different way of looking at this whole idea.
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The relationships that we have with those closest to us are so important in our lives.
We can sometimes find that agenda creeps in and begins to affect these relationships - today we take some time to look at how this can happen, the impact that it can have and how we can recognise it and make a change.
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When we find a connection with God it can have a huge impact on how we function in our lives. Agenda can still have an impact on this relationship - in fact, it can easily be the foundation of the relationship. Getting rid of agenda in the way we relate to God becomes transformative.
We’re taking a look at this today, learning to recognise agenda and how we can develop a stronger and healthier connection to God.
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It's so easy to feel overwhelmed with everything that we need to do in life and we can often neglect to effectively refill ourselves.
Today, Becky talks to us about the importance of loving ourselves, shares some stories and advise on how we can begin to address this issue.
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Great friends are such a gift to our lives. We need the input of numerous people to help us feel fulfilled in our lives.
We can sometimes find that agenda plays a role in our friendships and can spoil the impact that we can have on our friends and vice-versa.
Today we look at the importance of friends, the role agenda can play and how we sometimes need to be prepared to move on.
Feel free to listen in xxx
We don’t choose our neighbours, so we have to work out how to relate to them.
How do we love our neighbours? What does that look like? And how can agenda influence the way we behave in those relationships?
Those are just some of the questions that we’ll be considering in this talk.
Feel free to listen in xxx
We spend around half of our waking ours in the workplace, so who we are in that environment is incredibly important.
Today we’ll look at the kind of worker we need to be, think about how agenda can affect our contribution and consider what love looks like in the workplace.
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If we’re meant to become love to all people then does that mean we need to be best friends with everyone?
The thought of that is pretty daunting and, luckily, the answer is no.
Today we look at the different dynamics of our friendships and how we will function differently depending on the scenario.
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Bob Goff writes in ‘Everybody Always’ that love with an agenda is no longer love.
Today we introduce a series that aims to help us work out how we can become love to the people that we meet in our lives.
Our hope is that we can begin to be the kind of people that Jesus would be if he was in our shoes.
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Reports of spiritual abuse are becoming increasingly common. With that in mind, we wanted to take some time to understand was spiritual abuse is, how to effectively support people who’ve been spiritually abused and how we can create healthy cultures that can stop spiritual abuse taking place.
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When we experience difficult things, the natural response is to run away from those emotions and attempt to eradicate them from our lives. Emotions like fear and anxiety can become debilitating, but in those times we can also harness some positives that can equip us to move forward.
That’s what we’re looking at today - feel free to listen in x
We all need a certain amount of ego to have the confidence to do things. Getting the balance with ego can be a lot trickier than we realise, if left unchecked, it can begin to subtly impact so many things and affect how we feel and how we act.
This is what we’re thinking about today - feel free to listen in x
Today we have the pleasure of listening to Sadie talking about our mentality towards other people.
It’s easy to make love conditional, especially when people have made mistakes, but God continually models to us what real love look likes like, with no buts.
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We can easily reduce repentance down to a single moment of saying sorry and treat that as the point of change.
The reality of repentance is that it is way more than that and is more of a process that we need take time with.
Today we look deeper in to this area and begin to look at ways of reframing our thinking around repentance that aims to give us a healthy perspective as we move forward with God.
Today we had the privilege of interviewing Penny. She told us about her life, the challenges she’s faced and how her perception of God and relationship with Him has changed over the years.
We were all really inspired by hearing Penny’s story and we hope you are too.
Feel free to listen in x
The Lord’s Prayer is something that can roll off the tongue, becoming a routine that can make us feel like we’ve ticked the prayer box.
Today we look at the reason Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer and the wider message contained in the prayer.
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Have you ever felt guilty for not praying enough?
I think most of us will have felt that at some point.
There’s no doubt that having a positive discipline of regularly talking to God can be really beneficial to our lives but when we struggle to find the time and capacity to do ‘prayer’ then we can end up beating ourselves up about it.
Today we take a look at this subject and how we need to not forget about the importance of ‘presence’.
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In this podcast we take some time to reflect on some of the questions that we discussed before Christmas and begin to consider what kind of things we could do in The Living Room to help us grow together, grow spiritually and make a difference to other people.
Feel free to get in touch with us if you’d like to get involved in any of the things that we mention. You can email us on info@thisisthelivingroom.com
This is a talk that we recorded a couple of months ago and forgot to post - it’s looking at the importance of empathy and the difference that we can make when we use our experience and understanding to be able to best understand and support people.
Empathy isn’t just about knowing what to say in the moment, it also allows us to read the signs and the signals when someone may need support - it’s something we can all do, using our own experiences.
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When we need to find spiritual inspiration we can often go to those tried and tested places in order to have that revelation. Throughout history God has a proven track record of showing up in unexpected places.
Today we ask ourselves the question, what might we be missing?
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Today we take some time to reflect on some of the barriers that we construct that can make us feel like we aren’t good enough.
If we’re honest, we can all feel like that.
We hope this message helps to give you perspective for this year and hope as you move forward.
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This episode looks at one of the key words behind The Living Room.
Creating refuge is foundational to The Living Room - today we explore what that means and what it looks like in practice.
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This episode focuses on the second key word for The Living Room.
Hope isn’t a superpower that we inherit when we connect with God, today we look at how we engage with hope and the impact it can have on us and on other people.
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This episode explores the final key word for The Living Room.
We can often find we treat purpose like this golden target to reach. That mentality can lead to frustration and disappointment as life unfolds before us.
Today we’ll look at some important perspective shifts that will help us have a healthy relationship with purpose.
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Having recently celebrated 5 years since the beginning of The Living Room, today we take a look at some of the key things that we’ve learnt over that time and take stock of how much has changed.
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Faithfulness is a trait that we’d all love to be known for.
Today we take a look at what faithfulness looks like in terms of our relationships with our friends, our families and in our connection to God.
We hope todays sessions inspires you to be more faithful in all elements of your life.
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Gentleness comes naturally to some but can be a real challenge for others.
Today we look at the importance of gentleness and look at some practical ways that our words and actions can make a difference to the people that we meet.
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Kindness is so powerful, we all have the ability to do it.
Today we listen to a whole range of stories from within the living room and then take a look at a few of the challenges that can creep up on us when we choose to be kind.
Our hope is that today's talk will inspire you and help you to bring kindness to the forefront of whatever you are doing in your life.
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Finding peace can be tough.
Today we talk to Victoria about how finding peace has been a constant challenge, especially as life has thrown some epic curve balls her way.
This is an honest and real reflection of facing life’s challenges - there’s nothing glib or flippant about it - but there is still hope.
If you’ve struggled to find peace then we really hope today’s talk will resonate with you and be helpful.
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Self control can be an issue in so many ways. In this podcast, Sandra takes a look at this topic, shares her challenges around self control and how we can learn to recognise ways of improving our ability to control ourselves.
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We know that patience is a virtue but it can be so hard to put patience in to practice.
Today we take a look at some of the main challenges with patience, why we often feel frustrated and how we can alter our approach to allow patience to grow in us.
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We can probably all relate to the emotion of love. Maybe you've had experience in a positive way, but some of us know more about love because we've experienced a lack of love.
Today we look at what love looks like, when it's easy to love and when it's a challenge to love people.
Whatever your experience, we really hope that there will be something that resonates with you from today's talk.
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It's very easy to feel like we are truly valuable when we achieve success, or at least are seen as successful by other people. This can be a pretty painful pursuit, especially if life throws you various curve balls that can change your trajectory.
Today we introduce our new series which aims to remove the pressure of needing to succeed and instead looks at encouraging us to focus on the fruit that grows in our life. If we can be committed to seeing this fruit grow ion our lives then it can not only have a high impact on us bit also those around us.
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Becky explores the journey of losing her mum during the pandemic and what her life, grief, and faith, has looked like through it all. Becky is honest and vulnerable about her story in the hope that those battling through grief and loss would find a little hope in what she has to say
When was the last time you thought about your breathing?
It’s something we do all of the time but barely give it a thought.
Today we take some time to think about the importance of breathing and the opportunity to connect with God through something we do so naturally.
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Jesus’ death will always be the most significant moment in Christian history. When we take a step back and look at Christian history, we can find different theories around why this had to happen.
Today we’ll look at a range of atonement theories and consider some of the most significant elements of the crucifixion and what that means for us today.
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When we think about the importance of connecting with God we can sometimes end up thinking that the whole thing hinges on making the right decision in order to avoid going to hell.
That can seem pretty heavy.
Today we’re taking the time to look at some of the questions around hell and look at some different perspectives.
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When we read the Old Testament we can often see an image of a God that seems pretty angry. Fast-forward to the New Testament and the image seems to change.
Today we look at the contrasting images of God and discuss some thoughts around the question - Is God angry?
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Have you ever read something in the bible that has made you confused or that you've found hard to understand?
This can sometimes be a tricky subject to talk about - but it's essential.
Today we take some time to think about some questions to do with the bible: What is it? What is in it? What was in it? and how has it changed over time?
When we can read the bible in the context and understanding of the time, not only does it clear up some confusion but it allows us to see what was good was doing in the lives of this people and how He was gradually shifting humanity forward throughout history.
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What do you think about when you hear the word judgement?
That word can conjure up a multitude of feelings, often a lot of negative emotions and some fear and shame.
God is often linked to judgement, but how does that work?
Today we look at what we may have been taught about judgement and discuss someone perspectives that bring hope into play.
Feel free to listen in.
Throughout our lifetime we can find that so many things shape our thinking and understanding about God.
It's worth stopping and thinking about what you believe and where that came from. We can sometimes find that what we believe doesn't necessarily come from Jesus but from different interpretations, translations and agendas.
Today we're taking a look at the range of things that influence our theology, asking some tricky questions and trying to find a simple way to approach this whole area.
Feel free to listen in.
Doubt is often seen as the opposite of faith but the two are actually very closely linked. As we pursue God, our faith begins to change, today we'll look at the various faith stages that we can go through and the role that doubt has to play in the process.
Feel free to listen in.
As we continue to be curious and pursue God, we can sometimes find we make new discoveries that challenge some of what we've previously been told.
What do we do with that clash? - It's hard to move forward if we just choose to ignore those dilemmas.
Today we look at the importance of unlearning and how, by choosing to unlearn some things that we may have acquired, we make room for the new perspectives that God might want to show us.
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The world is strange at the moment. It can be hard to keep moving forward but we can find hope in this time.
As we reflect on the words of the carol 'Oh Holy night', the thrill of hope arrives in the person of Jesus - today we look at how we can cling on to that hope when the world is feeling pretty weary.
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Today we look at the importance of advent and particularly the way that God chose to reconnect with the world.
It's classically unorthodox and far from glamorous - there's so much we learn about God when we take the time to think about this.
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Today we take some time to talk to Hannah Lamberth about her blog.
She bravely challenges the status quo of church communities and pushes the need for these communities to function in a way that not only represents the person of Jesus, but also is aware of the impact that we have on those who exist within our communities.
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There are so many positive elements of being in a Christian community. There's a challenge though. Sometimes those environments can function on a set of rules that cause some people to feel like they don't really fit. Sometimes people get hurt and feel like they can't trust the institution anymore.
Today we look at challenging the way we function as Christian communities and how we need to make sure that the day we function really does reflect who Jesus was.
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When we look at the life of Jesus, He was the kind of character who would consistently stand up for the outcast and the marginalised. That's not always that easy to do, but He calls us to do the same.
One of the greatest stoppers to us actually doing this is the fear of what other people think.
Today we look at this whole topic and challenge ourselves to be brave and not be held back by that fear.
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It's easy to assume that God most reveals himself in successes and achievements, but when we read the sermon on the mount, we see a real challenge to this concept.
That passage suggests that God is most close to the people that suffer and go through hardship... if that's the case then we need to realise that, when we step in to love and support those people, we may be the link to them connecting with God.
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Jill Rowe from Oasis Trust shares some thoughts with us around the importance of inclusion.
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What do you do when you've had change in the way that you think but others aren't quite in the same place as you?
It can be a pretty isolating place, but it's important that we learn how to sit alongside people but also know when it's time to move on from things that may be holding us back.
That's our discussion today.
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Today we take some time to look back over the last year of the Living Room and pull out some ideas of what God has been teaching us over that time.
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Being free to ask question is essential in enable us to feel free to grow. Today we look at the importance of curiosity and the positive impact that it can have on our connection to God.
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We grow up on a set of beliefs that help orient us in the way to live our lives.
As we grow, we can find that our desire to love people, the way we want to live our lives, can sometimes cause a conflict with our belief system. Which one do we follow? Our belief system or our ethic of love.
Today we take a bit of time to think about this issue.
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We've spent a few weeks thinking about curiosity and the importance of questioning.
A key question for us to consider is this: Is there any room for change in the way you think about God?
That's what we're talking about today.
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When we read through the bible, the image of God that we see in the old testament can at times be tricky to reconcile with the image of Jesus and the image that He presents of God.
Today we spend some time thinking about how we see God.
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We can often assume that suffering and struggle will be the greatest challenge to our connect with God but that might not be the case.
When the honeymoon is over and the dust has settled, apathy can have a real negative impact on our pursuit of God and connection to Him.
Today we talk about that challenge and look at how we can avoid falling in to that trap.
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Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of who we are. Go back to those moments that help us connect with ourselves and with God.
Today we take a look at the importance of doing this and the strength it can give us to truly be ourselves.
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What is at the core of us has a chance to provide a firm foundation for our identity. Today we look back over the various layers, how they can dominate who we are and how, when given the chance, God can shape all of these elements and help us to become the best we can be.
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The way we were raised, the things we were told and the people that surrounded us; they all play a huge role in shaping the person that we become.
Today we look at the importance of what we learn as we grow, the need for us to be confident to question what we may have been told and how we can learn to walk with God as we move forward.
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So many things can happen in our lives that leave a scar. These can be incredibly painful times to go through and it can often be difficult to see where God was in the process.
If we can cling on to God through these times then the scars that we bare become a reminder that we survived, that we came through it and that God was with us.
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When we make mistakes or get caught up in negative habits, we can find that we get wrapped up in things that hinder our us and restrict our ability to move forward or grow.
If we can invite God into this stuff, as difficult as it may be to process, we can find hope that life doesn't have to be this way and experience freedom.
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So many things happen in our life that shape our character. When we initially connect with people, our character is often visible to those we meet.
Today we look at the elements that impact our character and the importance of inviting God to shape and mould us to be more like Jesus.
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Our second layer of Identity is based around the things that we are passionate about and skilled in. People will quickly notice these elements of our identity and that will ultimately lead to opportunities to develop connections and relationships.
The challenge with passion and skills is that they can easily become the most important thing to us and, as a result, we can sometimes close God out of this layer. Today we look at how important it is to get God into the right place and allow him to shape, influence and enhance this area of our identity.
Feel free to listen in.
The first thing that people see about us are our preferences. Our likes, dislikes, tastes and styles are what we present in that first contact with people.
We can often find ourselves playing down the value of these elements and falling into the trap of comparing what we have and who we are with what we see in the lives of others.
Today we take a look at the those challenges, the importance of diversity and the need to welcome God to be present and influence these elements.
Feel free to listen in.
'Discipleship is becoming who Jesus would be, if He was you' - this is a statement that we focus on in the Living Room, but in order to work towards that, we need to understand who we are.
Today marks the beginning of our re-worked series on identity. helping us see all of the layers that contribute to the person that we are. The overall aim is to understand ourselves better and to allow God the opportunity to shape each of those elements that make up who we are.
Feel free to listen in.
We've been looking at how choosing to love affects our approach to people. Today we tie all of this together by looking at how we live this out on a day-to-day basis.
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The idea of being welcoming to all is pretty common practice in most churches. That's the way it should be, all should be welcomed in and loved. We need to acknowledge that there is a huge difference between welcome and acceptance. If we really want to emulate Jesus and be love to all that we meet then we have to make sure all people feel accepted.
That's what we're talking about today.
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Sometimes it can be hard to know how we should respond or deal with certain situations. What if someone thinks differently to me? What if they have different values or behaviours? How do I respond in a way that remains true to who God wants me to be?
Today we look at how choosing to love will always win.
Feel free to listen in.
We all have a perspective of what transformation should look like. How do we cope when it doesn't happen in the way that we expect and how can we have a healthy approach to allow real transformation to take its course.
Our experience of life in this current pandemic can feel like it's far from ideal. How do we cope with that and where is God during this time.
We're all experiencing some form of lockdown, it's not necessarily peaceful, but we are forced to stop and that gives us the chance to ask an important question, when all of this is over, what will I change?
In the middle of these strange and uncertain times, we can find ourselves overwhelmed with fear. Today we look at how we face fear with faith.
The journey of discipleship seems fairly straight forward. In an ideal world people travel on an upward trajectory, growing in knowledge and faith, enabling them to get closer to God through the process.
This ideal pathway seems to fall apart when we experience moments life that cause us to doubt, wrestle and question how life, and God, actually works.
Today we look to redefine our understanding of the foundations of discipleship and look at a framework that truly allows people to grow, even through the most challenging of times.
Feel free to listen in. We hope it resonates with you and makes you think.
When we talk about Salvation, it usually centres around the decision that people make to follow God. Salvation is actually way bigger than that. It's a much wider story about rescue, deliverance and preservation from harm - not just in the future but in the here and now.
When we grab hold of this, it makes the world of difference to the way we live our lives.
That's what we're talking about today. Feel free to listen.
When we go to church, we're often looking to be inspired, educated and connected to God. This is such a worthwhile pursuit, but balance is also important. There are some days when we might feel like we can't change the world - and that's okay.
Today we discuss the importance of balancing the push to be better alongside the need for us to be real and honest about where we are at.
Feel free to listen in.
When we are trying to work out what we should do, how we should behave and how we should treat people, the best response is to look to the life of Jesus and take our lead from Him.
When we make the decision to pursue God, feeling a connection with Him becomes so important. Today we look at how God can be closer than we think and consider how that connection with Him can have an impact on how we function in our lives.
Isolation is a clear issue in our society. When community is done well, it can be a great anti-dote to disconnection and isolation. Today we look at the key elements that a church community needs to prioritise in order to provide a safe space; a place of welcome and true acceptance.
Feel free to listen in.
When the dust begins to settle from our initial connection with God, we can find that we lack the energy to continue to pursue an on-going relationship with Him.
We can fall into the trap of chasing feelings, being nostalgic, becoming apathetic or being happy with an association with God. That relationship requires investment. Today we look at some of these challenges and how we can begin to combat what might be a crisis in our connection with God.
The way we connect with each other has significantly changed over the last 10 years. Today we look at the challenges we face in this area and consider how we can develop deeper connections and make a significant difference to the people around us.
When Simon Sinek talks about our society, he describes it like this: 'We are more connected than ever, but we're not connecting'
There are so many people within our society who suffer from the consequences of a lack of true connection with others. Today we discuss this subject, identify some of the problems and begin to look at how we can be people who make a difference and live our lives in a way that can combat this crisis of connection.
Feel free to listen in.
When we take a step back, we can see a clear picture of how the events of our lives have an impact and cause us to change as individuals.
Change can be scary, be we also know that it is inevitable.
Today we discuss change and curiosity and how accepting one and pursuing the other can lead to a depth in our relationship with God and help us become who Jesus would be if He was us.
When we have to walk through challenging times, the last thing we expect to find is treasure. It's not something we look for or expect to find, but when we reflect on that time, and when we allow ourselves time to process everything that has taken place, we can find treasure that we never expected.
In today's podcast, Han shares her story of facing multiple miscarriages, experiencing the depths of despair and disillusionment but battling through to find a thread of hope that would carry her forward.
Feel free to listen in.
When we face challenging times our prayer can often be centred around our need for God to remove the challenge and free us from the situation, but when we reflect on those hard times, our resilience is developed by learning to walk through valley as opposed to be plucked from it.
Today's story focusses on just that and highlights the impact that that journey can have on us as we move forward.
Resilience can be developed in so many different ways. We can reach a place in life where we feel that we've managed to overcome the challenges that life has thrown at us only to realise that there's still some baggage that we're carrying that will impact our future.
In this podcast we talk to Becky about her story, looking at the things that have shaped her and the hope that she has found through her own story of resilience.
Feel free to listen in.
Sometimes, the events in our lives can bring us to some challenging places and force us to face some pretty dark things. Becoming gripped with anxiety can be isolating and suffocating - leaving us feeling like there is no way through this challenge.
In this podcast we listen to Lizzie's story, hear about the difficulties she has faced and how she has had to live through times of extreme anxiety.
Feel free to listen in.
Pursuing a relationship with God can be challenging at times. When life throws a curve ball; for that relationship to remain intact, we need there to be a depth that enables our faith to survive. This whole process can be described in one word - resilience.
The final element that makes up The Living Room is The Living Room itself! We aim for this to be a place of hope, a space where people can feel supported, encouraged and inspired. It's our half time team talk that equips us for the world that we're a part of.
Hope is the element that makes the difference. We want to find hope, help others to discover it and, ultimately, be hope to people. Feel free to listen in.
The second of the core elements of the Living Room is 'The Table'. When we sit around our tables, we're setting time aside to develop our relationships. Those times around the table create a space and an environment where, through conversation, we can understand more about each other and begin to push each other towards purpose.
The Living Room is based around three elements, today we take the time to explain one of those elements, the kitchen. We look at what the concept is, why it's important and what it could look like for each of us.
None of us feel comfortable when our weaknesses are exposed. We'll often do our best to hide weakness and hope that no-one uncovers it. But what we have to understand is that weakness can also pave the way for a strength to form with in us. We don't need to be afraid or ashamed, if we choose to allow it to positively shape us; our weakness could be the very thing that defines us.
The Living Room has just celebrated it's 2 year anniversary - so we taken this time to look back at what we've talked about, how that's shaped us and how we move forward together. We hope you enjoy it and are inspired.
In Jesus name, amen. It's a common way to end a prayer, but do we really realise what we're saying. Is that phrase the way of adding a bit more power to our words? or maybe it's a way of convincing God to act on our behalf. Today we take a look at what Jesus was requesting of us and the impact that can be had when we begin to work 'in his name'.
In the bible, there are a number of times that we see Jesus arrive in a scenario and, rather than just stating the obvious, he'll often ask a different kind of question. In that moment, he's teaching us a lesson. What seems obvious in a moment may not be the most important thing to address. So, if Jesus was to walk up to you, what would your answer be to His question: What do you want me to do for you?
It's not rocket science - being disciplined in our pursuit of God can have a huge impact on our relationship with Him. But what does God most delight in? Our effort and success in regards to disciplines or being included in those elements of our lives that make us come alive - that's our discussion today. Feel free to listen in.
If we choose to develop our inner story, find space to learn about God and be shaped by Him, then our ability to do this is impacted by the priority structure that we have in our lives.
If God wants your heart then he's actually interested in everything about you. So the question is.... where does God sit in your list of priorities?
When we decide to give money to God, the expected route or vehicle for that is to give in to the church that you are connected to. Today we look at the point in giving to church, remind ourselves of what God is actually most interested in and how transparency and trust has to be at the core of any church finances. We hope this is useful. Enjoy.
If you were to ask someone on the street about their thoughts on the church and money, we might not always get the most positive response. What is the point in giving? What does God require from us? and does our relationship with God hinge on our ability to give?
Spoiler alert - it doesn't!
Today we take a look at this whole area and try to gain a healthy perspective on how we can invite God into all areas of our lives.
Reading the bible is seen as an important part of the discipline of anyone pursuing God. It can be a complete source of inspiration but at the same time we can come across things that feel confusing, contradictory or, in some cases, pretty brutal.
Today we take some time to look at how we can develop an understanding of the bible, see how God was working in people's lives at the time and the role God has continually played in dragging mankind through a process of developing moral understanding.
When we look at the reasons behind why we go to church, it can easily become very focussed around our individual needs. As much as it's important that we find somewhere that works for us, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that 'Togetherness' has a huge role to play in the development of our connection with God.
Today we take a more in-depth look at the impact that being together can have on us. Feel free to listen in.
It seems that one of the key defining factors of being a Christian is your decision to go to attend church. We know that it's way more than that. Church can be such an important place for us, but we rarely ask 'Why do I actually go?' - It's a challenging but really valid question - it often requires a response from us.
That's the question we take a look at today. Enjoy.
One of the greatest challenges of developing discipline in our lives is being able to master distraction. We can have the best of intentions but struggle to focus with the amount of things that surround us, sometimes it's just the momentum of life, but our attention can be so easily interrupted. Today we look at the reality of those challenges and begin to think about how we can take steps to free up some space to connect with God.
As Christians we are told that we should be people who serve. What is the point in serving? Is it a way of climbing a ladder? Will serving help to get us noticed? Today we look at what Jesus says about serving, what are some of the pitfalls that we need to avoid and what difference can it actually make to our lives.
Choosing to fast seems like a pretty extreme measure. People of faith have chosen to practice fasting throughout history, but what is the point in fasting? Is it the best way of convincing God to step in or is there a chance that it could make a difference to our connection with God. Feel free to listen in.
Jesus taught us how to pray. We memorise it and it can roll off the tongue. But do we understand the significance and the power of those words, particularly for the people who lived in Jesus' time. Today we look at the those words of Jesus and what that means for us in our world today.
Prayer can be one of the most natural ways of us connecting our lives to God and a key way of us growing that relationship, but prayer can also be challenging at times. We might not know what to say, we may lack the confidence or we may just wonder if it even works.
Today we look at the purpose of prayer and what it is that God actually requires from us. We hope you enjoy listening in.
The way we feel about and then function in life is often defined by our inner story. Today we look at the key elements of your inner story, the impact that has on you and the importance of developing a desire to challenge and change that inner story.
*much of today's talk is taken from an inspiring podcast by Steve Chalke from a few years ago - he's brilliant
When we take a moment to think about the cross, we see that in that moment, our ability to connect with God is transformed. Life is not all about us but the cross was truly for us. It's because we are so loved.
When we come together as Christians, how we function as a group is extremely important. If we want to be as accessible as possible to other people, then there are some pitfalls that need to be avoided and some key things to focus on to enable us to naturally connect with those around us.
Our decision to love people in our life can be hindered when Agenda gets in the way. It's far too easy for relationships to become transactional, we invest and expect a reward, but loving people doesn't need to work like that.
Today we pull together all of our thoughts from the last 10 weeks, highlight the key things that we've learnt and look at the tactics that will enable us to authentically love without an agenda.
The whole concept of loving our enemies seems like a huge. Maybe we don't feel like we have enemies, but we all have people who we struggle with, people who have hurt us, rejected us - and loving them becomes such a challenge.
Today we look at how we can become love, even to those that we struggle with, and consider the impact that this can have, not only on others, but especially to the person that we are becoming.
Loving people that we don't know can be one of the most unnatural things for us. It's hard to know what people might think or feel - so it becomes easier to maintain a healthy distance and hope that someone else steps in. How can we challenge that mentality in us and be people who reach out and make a difference to those who are outside of our normal connections.
Our connection with God can be seriously compromised if our agenda begins to drive how we relate to Him. What are the pitfalls for us to be aware of and how can we love God without agenda, enabling us to thrive through that relationship.
When we talk about loving without agenda, the temptation is to always focus on others, sometimes as a way of drawing us away from self-centeredness. The reality is, if we fail to love ourselves then it becomes so much harder to genuinely love others. We need to find the balance.
Loving those closest to us without an agenda can be tricky. We naturally want the best for them but what we want to happen can easily takeover. What are the challenges that we need t be aware of and how can we become people who love those closest to s with authenticity and without strings attached.
When friendship works well it can be one of the most inspiring and fulfilling experiences for us. Agenda can subtly erode the potential positive impact of friendship. How can we begin to function in a way that enables us to get the most from our friendship and model how friendship can work effectively.
Whether we are passionate about our work or we feel like it is just a means to end, God is able to use us in that situation. How do we allow our faith to impact the way we work, allowing God to shape our motives and focus our attention on being a great colleague and employee. We spend around half of our waking hours at work - so it's worth asking God to be with us rather than leaving Him in the staff cloakroom.
Loving your neighbour is a clear biblical concept, but how does that work in reality, what are the things that distract us from making a difference to our neighbours and how can agenda creep in and disrupt those relationships?
As a forerunner to our look at the whole idea of Loving without Agenda, today we look at the varying dynamics of relationships, taking time to consider the unique roles that we have to play in different scenarios and asking the question of 'How can we become love to those that we meet?'
When we take time to assess how we approach relationships in our lives, we can begin to see how agenda creeps in to so many aspects of what we do. Today we introduce our next topic, looking at the reality of being love to people and the challenge of loving without agenda.
The start of a new year often creates space for us to be able to reflect on our lives and make adjustments. How can we be people who are kind to ourselves, not beating ourselves up about what we have or haven't done, but use hindsight as an educator that can help us make the necessary adjustments that will help us reach our God-given potential.
We can learn so much from the life of Daniel. One of the most significant lessons is the patience that Daniel shows throughout his life - real dedication, focus and commitment. Today we look at the importance of patience and the impact that we can have if we can work towards patience in the long game.
In an ideal world, when we make a difference to someone's life, we should see them make progress which lead to some form of change. Sadly, life doesn't always work like that. Today we look at examples of this, throughout the life of Daniel, and begin to ask how we can shape our approach to be more patient, understanding and realistic in our expectations and our perception of what change looks like.
Fear can so often overwhelm us. How can we be people who harness the lessons that a healthy fear can teach us whilst not allowing ourselves to be so overcome by fear that it hinders our ability to move forward.
Pursuing success is often a natural drive in all of us, how can we learn to succeed well, without becoming boastful and arrogant, and how can we develop an approach to others that avoids the temptation to criticise people when they broadcast their successes.
Today we take the opportunity to look back over the first year of the Living Room, considering where we started and how we've developed an understanding and an identity over that time.
Compromise can often be seen as a negative and a sign of weakness, but sometimes compromise can lead to opportunity and influence. The key is knowing at what point you choose to stand and, most importantly, how can you make a stand with love and respect.
When we take time to consider how our society has evolved it has to change the way we choose to connect with people. Here we look at the the key elements that define our society and the challenge that we face in attempting to be people who can effectively impact the people that we meet and the society that we live in.
When we think of the word 'Evangelism' it can conjure up a range of emotions in us. Sometimes we feel like we might come unstuck and not have all the answers. What if evangelism was less about having all the answers and more focussed on loving people and trying our best to reflect Jesus to the people that we connect with?
Watching how Jesus lived a life that was so connected to God is a real inspiration. It's that focus that enabled Him to be so committed to the reason he was here on earth. Today we look into the example Jesus sets and ask the question; What would our lives look like if we were that that connected and committed to God?
Jesus lived His whole life in waiting. He became a picture of patience and self control. What does He show us and what does it look like to wait well?
I'm sure we could all be a little more Loving and Forgiving, but when we look at the life of Jesus, He really shows us the difference those characteristics can make when we activate them throughout all elements of our lives. Feel free to listen in and see what we can learn from Him.
It's clear to see that Jesus was humble and servant hearted. Today we take a look at how those values shaped who Jesus was and ask ourselves, How can I enhance my life by developing these attributes?
Jesus would often be Gentle, Kind and Compassionate to the people that he came across, how can we learn from His approach, connect with people who may be finding life a challenge, but also use those abilities to stand for what is right.
Following on from our look at identity, we now focus our attention on the characteristics of Jesus. What are the elements that make him stand out as an individual and how can we be shaped by adopting those same values.
How we view God has a huge impact on the role that he is able to play in our lives. We can easily end up with a skewed concept of how God works, maybe he’s like a disappointed headteacher, or a great wish granter or maybe more of an austere general. Today’s conversation challenges those concepts and looks at some of the traits that can enable God to have a positive influence on our daily lives. Feel free to have a listen.
Whatever is at the core of our identity provides the foundation for how we move forward in life. Allowing God to be at the centre of everything we are and everything we do has the ability transform each aspect and layer of our identity, allowing us to become people who can work towards becoming 'Who Jesus would be if He was me.'
The things we learn and experience through our childhood has a huge impact on the person that we become in later life. Today we explore some key elements of our development and discuss the impact that learning to walk with God can have on our identity.
We can go through many things in life that leave a scar. Our default is to hide our scars, but they all tell a story. Our scars shape us and change us and if we can connect with God in that process then journey develops character and, in turn, we find hope. This week we look at the raw reality of those journeys and see how God can transform us in the process.
We all grapple with different things that hinder our ability to be the best version of ourselves.
These thorns are painful to remove and challenging to overcome, but we're not on our own.
'Who the son sets free, is free indeed.' That's the truth for us.
Today we look at those challenges and how, if we choose Him, Jesus can change things for us.
Our character is key to our identity and is impacted by the range of experiences we face in life. Today we look at how can we include God in a way that allows our character be stronger and our overall usefulness as a human being can be transformed.
The skills we have and the things we are passionate about are often key elements of our identity. What would it look like if God was able to influence these areas of our identity? We find new opportunities through our skills and passion, when God is involved, the possibilities of what could happen are transformed.
We can sometimes fall in to the trap of comparing what we have to offer with other people and can end up devaluing who we are. How can we challenge on perception of other people, not be crippled by comparison and embrace those elements that make us unique.
If discipleship is 'becoming who Jesus would be if He was you' then we need to understand who we are and what elements have made us the person we are today. This talk unpacks the framework for our next theme on identity and looks at how, with a strong core connection to God, we can have the stability to become who God made us to be.
Palm Sunday triggers the final week of Jesus' life. We take this opportunity to consider some of the key moments in that week and ask ourselves what we can learn through the Palms, Predictions and Betrayal?
We often refer to God in the masculine form, but if we're all made in His imagine then we need to accept the fact that He also has the best attributes of a mother for us to be inspired by. We can look to God to show the divine example of motherhood, regardless of our status, regardless of our age, regardless of our gender. We all have a chance to put this in to practice and play our part in nurturing others. The art of motherhood is there for us all to learn and is visible in the very nature of God.
We're completing our focus on pursuing Refuge, Hope and Purpose by looking at some of the barriers that commonly obstruct us from reaching those places.
If we can be aware of the obstacles and develop tactics that help us to overcome the barriers then we are more likely to become people who find Refuge, Hope and Purpose and can then provide that for others.
When we begin to think about purpose, it can sometimes be confusing. How do we begin to make sense of how it all works? How do we best navigate challenging times and allow God to bring purpose out of it and how do we connect with God's unique purpose for our lives?
Hope can be a difficult concept to explain, but finding hope can be the thing that helps us navigate some our most challenges times in life. Here we look at how we can find hope but also be carriers of hope for other people.
Refuge is often seen as a place. What would it look like to be more than a place? How could we give refuge some mobility and become people that carry refuge and become refuge to others.
It's easy to get caught up in thinking about connecting with God each day, but how does each aspect of Him work together to help us live our lives each day?
Embracing each aspect of God will lead us into a more fulfilling life - one where God has much more opportunity to shape our experiences on a daily basis.
The Holy Spirit is available to us as a gift, but do we really understand it's role and purpose and the difference it could make to our lives? Today's conversation centres around learning to embrace the Holy Spirit as a key aspect of God that can change the way we live each day
When we think about the concept of God being with us, it's often the existence of Jesus that we look to. What did His presence on earth mean to us, what can we learn and how can we continue to connect with Jesus today?
Do we ever get so caught up in our lives that we fail realise that God may well be alongside us the whole time?
Part one takes the time to look at how God is with us and encourages us to connect with that realisation and allow it to shape the way we live each day.
Churches across the world have the same aim, to connect people to God, but what would it look like to challenge some of the thinking and methods and look to experiment with some new ideas.
Here we talk about some of our journey and what we feel God is calling us to do in the future.