Embracing Belonging Through Love, Justice, and Community

Devotional

Day 1: God's Love as the Cornerstone of Belonging

God's love is the foundation upon which our sense of belonging is built. It is a love that transcends all circumstances, inviting us into a community where we are valued and cherished. This divine love calls us to extend the same acceptance and care to others, creating spaces where everyone feels they belong. In a world where acceptance is often conditional, God's love offers an unconditional embrace, reminding us that we are never alone. As we reflect on this, we are encouraged to embody this love in our interactions, ensuring that our communities reflect the inclusive and welcoming nature of God's kingdom. [14:03]

"For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you." (Isaiah 54:10, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life needs to experience God's unconditional love through you today, and how can you show it to them in a tangible way?

Day 2: The Jesus Model of Belonging

The Jesus model of "Belong, Believe, Become" challenges the world's approach to acceptance, which is often conditional. Jesus invites us to belong first, fostering a community of love and acceptance. This model encourages us to create spaces where people feel valued and included, regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds. By prioritizing belonging, we create an environment where individuals can explore faith and grow in their spiritual journey without fear of judgment or exclusion. This approach not only reflects the heart of Jesus but also transforms our communities into places of genuine connection and growth. [24:31]

"Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." (Romans 15:7, ESV)

Reflection: How can you create a space in your life where someone feels they truly belong, regardless of their current beliefs or background?

Day 3: Restorative Belonging

True belonging involves acknowledging mistakes and seeking restoration. The story of Mark and his coach illustrates the power of apology and forgiveness in creating an environment where people feel valued. Restorative belonging calls us to repair broken relationships and ensure justice and peace prevail. By embracing this approach, we foster communities where individuals are not only accepted but also encouraged to grow and heal. This process of restoration is essential for building trust and unity, allowing us to move forward together in love and understanding. [30:53]

"Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (Colossians 3:13, ESV)

Reflection: Is there a relationship in your life that needs restoration? What steps can you take today to begin the process of healing and forgiveness?

Day 4: Advocating for Justice

Nehemiah's story reminds us of the importance of standing up for those who are marginalized and mistreated. Belonging requires us to advocate for justice and to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. This call to action is a reminder that we are called to be voices for the voiceless, actively working to create a world where justice and peace prevail. By advocating for those who are marginalized, we not only fulfill our calling as followers of Christ but also contribute to a more just and equitable society. [40:14]

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." (Isaiah 1:17, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your community is marginalized or mistreated, and how can you advocate for their justice and dignity today?

Day 5: Creating Safe, Accessible, and Real Spaces

To foster belonging, we must create spaces that are safe, accessible, and real. Safe spaces allow for healing and growth, accessible spaces ensure everyone can participate, and real spaces encourage honesty and vulnerability. By committing to these principles, we make our church and communities places where everyone belongs, and where love and justice are lived out daily. This commitment requires intentionality and effort, but the result is a community that reflects the heart of God and welcomes all with open arms. [52:40]

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:4, ESV)

Reflection: What practical steps can you take to make your community or church a safer, more accessible, and more authentic space for everyone?

Sermon Summary

Good morning, church. Today, we gather to reflect on the profound theme of belonging, a journey we've been on throughout this month. We begin by expressing gratitude for God's boundless love, which permeates every aspect of our lives, from our families to our communities and workplaces. This love is the foundation of our belonging, reminding us that we are cherished and valued by God.

As we pray for healing and peace, particularly for those affected by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we are reminded of the power of prayer and solidarity. The call to be peacemakers resonates deeply, urging us to stand with those who suffer and to seek justice and restoration in our world.

Our exploration of belonging has emphasized the Jesus model: "Belong, Believe, Become." Unlike the world's approach, where acceptance is conditional, Jesus invites us to belong first, fostering a sense of community and love. This model challenges us to create spaces where everyone feels valued and included, starting within our own circles.

The story of Mark and his coach, Mr. Burns, illustrates the transformative power of apology and restoration. When we acknowledge our mistakes and seek forgiveness, we create an environment where people feel valued and loved. This is the essence of belonging—restoring relationships and ensuring justice and peace prevail.

Nehemiah's story further underscores the importance of standing up for those who are marginalized and mistreated. His anger at the injustice faced by his people led to action, calling for the restoration of what was unjustly taken. This call to action is a reminder that belonging requires us to advocate for justice and to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

As we conclude this series, we are challenged to create spaces that are safe, accessible, and real. Safe spaces allow for healing and growth, accessible spaces ensure everyone can participate, and real spaces encourage honesty and vulnerability. Let us commit to making our church a place where everyone belongs, where love and justice are lived out daily.

Key Takeaways

1. God's Love as the Foundation of Belonging: God's love is the cornerstone of our sense of belonging. It is a love that transcends circumstances and invites us into a community where we are valued and cherished. This love calls us to extend the same acceptance and care to others, creating a space where everyone feels they belong. [14:03]
2. The Jesus Model of Belonging: The Jesus model—"Belong, Believe, Become"—challenges the world's conditional acceptance. Jesus invites us to belong first, fostering a community of love and acceptance. This model encourages us to create spaces where people feel valued and included, regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds. [24:31]
3. Restorative Belonging: True belonging involves acknowledging mistakes and seeking restoration. The story of Mark and his coach illustrates the power of apology and forgiveness in creating an environment where people feel valued. Restorative belonging calls us to repair broken relationships and ensure justice and peace prevail. [30:53]
4. Advocating for Justice: Nehemiah's story reminds us of the importance of standing up for those who are marginalized and mistreated. Belonging requires us to advocate for justice and to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. This call to action is a reminder that we are called to be voices for the voiceless. [40:14]
5. Creating Safe, Accessible, and Real Spaces: To foster belonging, we must create spaces that are safe, accessible, and real. Safe spaces allow for healing and growth, accessible spaces ensure everyone can participate, and real spaces encourage honesty and vulnerability. Let us commit to making our church a place where everyone belongs. [52:40]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[14:03] - Prayers for Healing and Peace
[24:31] - The Jesus Model: Belong, Believe, Become
[30:53] - Story of Restoration: Mark and Mr. Burns
[40:14] - Nehemiah's Call for Justice
[52:40] - Creating Safe, Accessible, and Real Spaces
[62:00] - Offering and Closing Prayer
[70:00] - Final Blessing and Dismissal

Sermon Clips

"Good morning, church. Church, this morning we want to bring our prayers before God and ask, like the Apostle Paul said, that I may know how deep and how wide, how high is the love of God. We want to thank God this morning in our prayers for God's love, God's endless love that is towards us." [00:08:05] (30 seconds)

"We extend the prayers to all those that are in need of healing this morning. We pray that God's loving touch that brings healing to us will heal all of our hearts and our minds, our bodies, and our soul. As we continue in our prayer this morning, we want to pray for God's peace in our world." [00:10:27] (37 seconds)

"we the council of bishops of the united methodist church extend our support and hope in the midst of the ongoing conflict and war we stand with you in our prayer and solidarity the people of united methodist church mourn with you for the lives that has been lost the families who are being displaced the homes that are being destroyed and the communities that are torn apart we acknowledge the enduring pain the fear the uncertainty that you face and yet we also witness the remarkable strength and hope that you continue to demonstrate the scripture reminds us that the lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in the spirit we trust that god is ever near upholding you in your grief and surrounding you with your grace we urge all united methodists around the world to continue to pray and support the united methodist church of ukraine and the people of ukraine we pray for god's intervention to end the violence and lead the nation's leaders towards justice so that peace may prevail communities will be restored and families will be reunited we pray for deep lasting peace that comes from god's justice and mercy as jesus said blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons of god may you draw strength from our god our creator who walks with us in suffering and remains ever faithful may the prayers and support of united methodists all around the world bring you comfort and hope" [00:11:33] (149 seconds)

"So we emphasize, right, the Jesus model, right? By now, everybody knows the Jesus model. Let's shout it out. The Jesus model is what? Belong, believe, become. That's the Jesus model. Yeah. In the world, the world model is the other way around, become." [00:23:47] (23 seconds)

"believe and belong you become like us you check the box and then you belong but the jesus model before you believe anything jesus says you belong first amen yes maybe i'll take a couple one more yeah right here yeah good" [00:24:04] (20 seconds)

"to ask for your forgiveness mark's heart was warm and he was so glad that the coach has called and talked to him like that but he thought that was the end but coach burns didn't end there what he did was the day that mark was coming back into the team he stood in front of all the team members and he said i have something to confess to you guys today you all were here when i embarrassed mike i was wrong i was wrong and i am going to restore him and have him to be part of us again think about it how will mark feel he felt restored he felt valued he felt love again" [00:31:49] (69 seconds)

"that is through belonging through belonging demands that sometimes when people are treated unjustly we certainly not only repent but we commit to do something better in the future and we take steps towards restoring love justice and peace because the god that we serve is a god is a just god amen we serve a just god and when we say god is loving one of the ways god is say is loving is that everyone should be treated well when we say god is loving we are saying that everyone belongs but sometimes it's so much evidence that some of the places where you can feel not belonging is not just it's not only outside organization or places that you are not even part of the most place that sometimes we feel not belonging is actually the very place that is supposed to be welcoming to us sometimes the family that we love sometimes the extended family that we love the people that we love sometimes the workspace that we find ourselves the place that actually you are called to belong rather becomes the place that pushes you out and i can give you more evidence because this is what happened in the text that we read today the people the jewish people were having a difficult time there was farming in the lands and things has become difficult for all the people unfortunately things began to roll up because when hard times come is where we see those who belong and those who do not belong it is in hard times that we need to welcome each other it is in hard times that we see true love true love is not seen when everything is going well" [00:33:05] (151 seconds)

"true love is seen when there is chaos when there is hardship when you don't know when then how the future holds that is where we see true love that is where we see what it means to be part to belong and you know what has happened at this time the people of israel because there was so much hardship some of them were taking advantage of their neighbors they they were pledged they have been pledged to give their give out their fields their vineyards and their houses in order to get grain and food to eat some of the other their own neighbors their own people were putting so much interest on them that they were not able to pay back and so the way they pay back was that sometimes they give uh in the same text we have as far says that we are having to borrow money on our field and our venue to pay the king's taxes and verse 5 when they couldn't pay what was due they either lost their property or they were forced to sell their children into slavery their their own people not an enemy from without but their own their own people how they were able to deal with the situation was that they were taking advantage and putting more taxes among those who didn't have the the economic ability to pay the taxes even to the point that they had to give their children and their family to them" [00:37:49] (131 seconds)

"i want to pause here and say this that sometimes the real belonging is even needed within than without within our own circles within our own church family within our own spaces we need to guard those that have been mistreated though that are being taken advantage of because sometimes because we are familiar oh it's okay it's okay we we take things for granted because they are my family member we make them work for us without payment without dealing with them well because they are part of us and that be dealing with belonging starts from within amen it starts from within the bible says that when nehemiah heard this he was angry he was angry nehemiah was angry with the economic entitled folks who are taking advantage of their own brothers and sisters he was angry and that is where it starts from something rubbed up within him that what is going on in the nation what is going on in the society is wrong and we need to name it somebody need to name put a name to their pain and but not only naming it but expressing so Amen." [00:43:48] (100 seconds)

"Belonging moves us beyond our emotions and charges us to think about how we treat one another, not only outside of us, but right among us. Because once Jeremiah was angry, Jeremiah didn't stop with anger, but he called the people. And in the original word there means to restore, means to bring back, means that everything you have stolen from these people, from your own people, I charge you to bring back, because they also belong to the household of God. They are also part of it. Do not take advantage of them, because they also belong. Do I have witness this morning? They also belong. They also belong." [00:42:49] (77 seconds)

"bring back restore those that have been that their voices have been shut down that is what it means to belong when we bring back the voices and the people said they would do in fact the Bible said that people did as they have promised because it was already against the law Exodus 22 verse 25 um God told Moses tell my people if you lend money to my people to the poor among you you shall not deal with them as a creditor you shall not exact from them interest from them so it was already in the law of Moses the people of Israel that they had the commandment but they didn't want to treat each other well the belonging the threats of belonging doesn't start from outside sometimes it starts from within and we must guard everything possible to make sure that every body belongs say to your neighbor everybody belong oh help me pray this money say everyone belongs and this is what I call restorative belonging" [00:45:21] (92 seconds)

"restorative belonging seems to repair that was broken and to make the right wrong Nehemiah would have thrown his hands in the air and say oh everybody is okay we are not talking about it so it's fine but he decided to be the one in fact the Bible says that in chapter one when Nehemiah heard about how the captives were treated he fasted and prayed he prayed he prayed that those who have those voices have been taken away from them their voices will come back do I have people around us this morning who are saying that in the month of belonging what it means to belong is that you want to be the one that will stand in the gap and intercede and be the voice sometimes all you can do is pray about prayer means a lot sometimes all you can do is to help somebody push somebody a little bit but that means a lot sometimes all you can do is to put a smile on the face of somebody but that means a lot whatever you need to do I came to call out the Jeremiah in you I came to call you out that you are not being called to be silent and you cannot be silent anymore let the lion in you rise up let us rise up to be the children of God the church that God has called us to be so much injustice in our world so many lives be destroyed in our world and the more and more we keep silence the more and more things decay" [00:45:15] (107 seconds)

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