Restoring Us: Listening

Logan & Cayla Holloman | NextGen Pastor & Licensed Professional Counselor | May 26, 2024

What if our posture is the beginning of listening, understanding, and loving those around us?

What’s my posture?
Am I fully present or distracted?
Am I loving or judging?
Am I open or closed to being changed?
Am I trying to fix or offer solutions?
Am I uncomfortable with empathy or what they're saying?
Is it easier for me to just get to the next thing I need to say?

“The state you’re in is the state you give to others”
— Pete Scazzero

Jesus’ example:
Pace (not running from village to village; always walking)
Unhurried (Mark 5, Luke 19)
Limits (taking time to pray, rest, eat, sleep)

Mark 5:30-34 (NIV)
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Luke 19:3-6 (NIV)
He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

“Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable. When I want to genuinely love someone, the best gift I can give is to listen authentically.”
— David Augsburger

Proverbs 18:2,13 (NIV)
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.
To answer before listening—that is folly and shame.

Listening: Attunement vs Agreeing

Reflection Questions:

Who might be someone God is asking you to listen to today?
What might be one practical way you can slow down in order to love someone in the next 24 hours?
Imagine what the Gallatin valley would look like if Journey Church was known for our radical commitment to listening to others, what might be the effects of that?
What would you say is your greatest obstacle or challenge to being fully present and engaged with others (i.e. distracted, uncomfortable with emotion, etc)?

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Notes Page: https://journeybozeman.com/sermons/notes/2024.05.26.pdf