The secret to relationships is naivety
Very enjoyable finish to the "relationships" sermon series today. Here's the sermon text.
A few thoughts from the day.
(1) I didn't have good focus in the morning. Or I should say my focus was not on what it needed to be on. I was busy trying to make sure the special music worked out. It did. For that I was very happy. Den, Esra, Marion, Mark and Stansye did a very nice job leading a praise and worship song and that's hard in the morning.
(2) I think my focus on that showed up though in both the worship leadership and in the preaching.
(3) Focus returned in the evening - sort of. I did have to run to the store to by a "clicker" 'cause I had left the clicker at our morning location. The local store didn't have a presentation clicker, but I realized that I could use a wireless mouse. Actually it worked well. (I was disappointed to discover after the service that I had not left the clicker at the morning location, it was just in a pocket in my bag that it shouldn't have been in.
(4) But my focus was there - and I think the worship focus was there. And it was super enjoyable. Sam pulled off the U2 "Psalm 40" song. But it was a hard group sing.
Message highlights
(5) Married people that are naively optimistic about their partner and the partners motives are a lot more likely to be happy than those who are realistic about their partners.
(6) All relationships have a gap. Expectations and hopes that are not met.
(7) What you put in that gap is a choice. Do you put suspicion and cynicism, or are you generous with your explanations of the gap.
(8) God is generous with us.
(9) I did confess in the second service to violating the spirit of the sermon 5 minutes after preaching it in the first service. But at least I noticed. And repented. And thought of a more generous explanation for the thing that bugged me. :)
(10) It was real encouraging to hear how the sermon series has been applied in practical ways in people's lives recently.
A few thoughts from the day.
(1) I didn't have good focus in the morning. Or I should say my focus was not on what it needed to be on. I was busy trying to make sure the special music worked out. It did. For that I was very happy. Den, Esra, Marion, Mark and Stansye did a very nice job leading a praise and worship song and that's hard in the morning.
(2) I think my focus on that showed up though in both the worship leadership and in the preaching.
(3) Focus returned in the evening - sort of. I did have to run to the store to by a "clicker" 'cause I had left the clicker at our morning location. The local store didn't have a presentation clicker, but I realized that I could use a wireless mouse. Actually it worked well. (I was disappointed to discover after the service that I had not left the clicker at the morning location, it was just in a pocket in my bag that it shouldn't have been in.
(4) But my focus was there - and I think the worship focus was there. And it was super enjoyable. Sam pulled off the U2 "Psalm 40" song. But it was a hard group sing.
Message highlights
(5) Married people that are naively optimistic about their partner and the partners motives are a lot more likely to be happy than those who are realistic about their partners.
(6) All relationships have a gap. Expectations and hopes that are not met.
(7) What you put in that gap is a choice. Do you put suspicion and cynicism, or are you generous with your explanations of the gap.
(8) God is generous with us.
(9) I did confess in the second service to violating the spirit of the sermon 5 minutes after preaching it in the first service. But at least I noticed. And repented. And thought of a more generous explanation for the thing that bugged me. :)
(10) It was real encouraging to hear how the sermon series has been applied in practical ways in people's lives recently.
