Embracing Connection: God With Us This Advent

Devotional

Day 1: Living in the Presence of God

The Emmanuel principle, "God With Us," is a profound reminder that God desires to be intimately involved in our lives. This principle calls us to live with a constant awareness of God's presence, allowing His guidance, comfort, and love to transform our daily experiences. By embracing this truth, we open ourselves to a life enriched by divine wisdom and peace. The presence of God is not a distant concept but a reality that can permeate every aspect of our lives, offering us strength and hope in all circumstances. [01:51]

Isaiah 41:10 (ESV): "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Reflection: How can you cultivate a greater awareness of God's presence in your daily routine today?

Day 2: Breaking Isolation Through Connection

In a world where isolation is prevalent, especially during the holiday season, the power of connection becomes vital. Connection is not limited to our relationship with God but extends to ourselves and others. When we engage deeply with those around us, we create a flow of healing and goodness that breaks the chains of loneliness. By fostering meaningful relationships, we allow love and understanding to flourish, creating a supportive community that reflects God's love. [02:22]

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (ESV): "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!"

Reflection: Who in your life might be feeling isolated, and how can you reach out to them today to offer connection and support?

Day 3: The Art of Listening and Being Known

The 155 exercise is a practical tool designed to enhance our ability to connect with others, ourselves, and God. By setting aside time to listen and be listened to, we focus on knowing and being known. This practice involves sharing thoughts and feelings without interruption, while the listener takes notes to ensure accurate understanding. By reducing reactivity, we foster deeper connections and create space for genuine understanding and intimacy. [04:29]

James 1:19 (ESV): "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."

Reflection: How can you practice being a better listener today, ensuring that those around you feel truly heard and understood?

Day 4: Managing Reactivity for Deeper Relationships

Reactivity can hinder deep connection, as it often leads to misunderstandings and conflict. By managing our reactions, we create space for genuine listening and understanding, allowing us to truly know and be known by others. This is crucial for building strong, meaningful relationships that reflect the love and patience of God. By practicing self-control and empathy, we can foster an environment where healing and growth are possible. [15:31]

Proverbs 15:1 (ESV): "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

Reflection: What is one situation where you can practice managing your reactivity today, and how might this change the outcome of your interactions?

Day 5: Deepening Spiritual Connection with God

The principles of the 155 exercise can also be applied to our relationship with God. By listening to His voice and sharing our innermost thoughts and feelings with Him, we cultivate a more profound spiritual connection. This practice allows us to experience the peace and joy that comes from being truly known and loved by God. As we deepen our relationship with Him, we become more attuned to His presence and guidance in our lives. [17:19]

Psalm 46:10 (ESV): "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

Reflection: How can you set aside time today to listen to God and share your heart with Him, deepening your spiritual connection?

Sermon Summary

In this Advent season, we are exploring the profound theme of connection, inspired by the Gospel of Luke. The central message is the Emmanuel principle—God With Us. This principle emphasizes that God desires to be intimately involved in our lives, offering guidance, comfort, wisdom, and love. Our capacity for connection extends beyond our relationship with God; it includes being in tune with our deepest emotions and thoughts, and fostering meaningful connections with others. In a world where isolation is prevalent, especially during the holiday season, these connections are vital for the flow of healing and goodness.

Today, we delve deeper into the concept of connection with the help of Dr. Rick Blackman, who shares a practical exercise called the "155." This exercise is designed to enhance our ability to connect with others, ourselves, and God. It involves setting aside time to listen and be listened to, focusing on knowing and being known. The exercise encourages participants to share their thoughts and feelings without interruption, while the listener takes notes to ensure accurate understanding. This practice helps manage reactivity, allowing for a deeper connection by reducing the interference of personal biases and reactions.

The essence of connection lies in the mutual exchange of thoughts and feelings, which fosters a deeper understanding and intimacy. This exercise can also be applied to our relationship with God, where we practice listening to His voice and sharing our innermost thoughts and feelings with Him. By doing so, we cultivate a more profound spiritual connection, experiencing the peace and joy that comes from being truly known and loved by God.

Key Takeaways

1. Emmanuel Principle: The core of our faith is the Emmanuel principle—God With Us. This means living life in constant awareness of God's presence, receiving His guidance, comfort, and love. It is about being connected to God in a way that transforms our daily lives. [01:51]
2. The Power of Connection: Connection is not just with God but also with ourselves and others. When we connect deeply, healing and goodness flow, breaking the chains of isolation that many experience, especially during the holidays. [02:22]
3. The 155 Exercise: This practical exercise involves sharing thoughts and feelings for 15 minutes while the listener takes notes without reacting. This practice enhances the quality of connection by focusing on knowing and being known, reducing reactivity, and fostering deeper understanding. [04:29]
4. Managing Reactivity: Reactivity can hinder deep connection. By managing our reactions, we create space for genuine listening and understanding, allowing us to truly know and be known by others. This is crucial for building strong, meaningful relationships. [15:31]
5. Connecting with God: The principles of the 155 exercise can be applied to our relationship with God. By listening and sharing with Him, we deepen our spiritual connection, experiencing His presence and love in a more profound way. [17:19]
** [17:19]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:37] - The Emmanuel Principle
[02:08] - Connection with Self and Others
[02:37] - Introducing Dr. Rick Blackman
[03:24] - The 155 Exercise
[04:15] - Knowing and Being Known
[05:02] - The Role of Listening
[06:23] - Managing Reactivity
[07:40] - The Art of Good Listening
[09:16] - The Listener's Role
[10:21] - Mutual Sharing
[12:13] - Connection and Spiritual Growth
[14:28] - Importance of Note Taking
[16:41] - Biblical Understanding of Knowing
[17:19] - Applying the Exercise with God
[19:19] - Closing Thoughts and Encouragement

Sermon Clips

Rejoice favored one the Lord is with you we're on a journey together at become new in this Advent season through the Gospel of Luke and that's the core thought we we're looking at being connected and the remarkable truth that you have the capacity to be connected with the god of the universe and the good news of this season above all is what Dallas Willard used to talk about is the Emmanuel principle God With Us God wants us to do life with him being aware of him talking with him being connected with him receiving guidance and comfort and wisdom and love. [00:01:25]

This connection capacity that we have is also something that we're able to um use within ourselves for me to be connected to my deepest emotions and my deepest thoughts my very soul and then it also means we're able to be connected with each other and something happens when I connect with you power flows healing flows goodness flows in ways that don't if I'm shut off in isolation and disconnection as so many people are especially in this holiday season. [00:02:08]

The thought I had when you asked me uh about doing something together was I was thinking about over the years as a counselor one of the practices that I have encouraged people to adopt if they want to work on connecting connecting more deeply and so I thought I would share that it's a pretty easy thing to explain it's a way that people in the training not trying idea of getting better at connecting with each other with god with yourself. [00:03:27]

In close connection there's high quality knowing and being known and that I can know you John if I'm engaging in some fashion with what you're thinking and what you're feeling and it's reciprocal it goes both ways if you're also engaging in what I'm thinking and what I'm feeling so bear with me it's going to take me a couple minutes to unpack it but I call it the 155 it's just a very simple idea. [00:04:09]

The trick to high quality connection is reactivity is if I get too reactive to what you're sharing what you're thinking what you're feeling that will put a number on the what the quality of how we're connecting so in my mind if my wife for example is talking I can respond or react in six possible ways I've just figured this out over the years I can like what she's saying I can dislike what she's saying I can agree with what she's saying I can disagree with what she saying I can remember what she's sharing about in the same way she remembers it or I can remember it in a different way. [00:06:10]

The Listener the person in the audience says if it's if it's your spouse I usually have them say honey the time is up and you know I might say to you John the time is up up and then I would read back my notes and you listen to the readback just for accuracy did I get what you were saying what you were thinking and what you were feeling and then in order to not dilute the experience you make a commitment that you're not going to continue the conversation about any of the things that you talked about for those 15 minutes. [00:09:16]

I will have couples I've been doing this as a couples therapist John for probably 30 years using various forms of this I've kind of narrowed it down to what I'm describing right now um and sometimes they'll do this this once a week two different days for a whole year because they're working on the depth the level of their connection with one another and i' just gotten such good dividends as a counselor to this simple little exercise people are always coming in that's why I like your Series so much with the stated wish the stated goal that they want to connect more deeply they want to connect more often they want to connect with higher quality. [00:11:03]

I think a lot about how in scripture uh that word to know in Old Testament and New Testament uh is much more interactive and personal we'll often talk about knowing as knowing about knowing facts but it's more engaging and this exercise feels like it would Foster that um how about as we think about connecting with god um is this applicable in any way to people's experience with God you know a bunch of more serious spiritually minded people over the years have tried to do this same kind of exercise in their relationship with God. [00:16:41]

What they report back and I would say I've had some of the same experiences if you spend time just trying to listen and by the way when the talker is talking if suddenly they run out of things to say you still keep listening and let the silence be on the part of the other person let that don't own the silence like this let the speaker own the silences um so I think it's a pretty good way to try to tune into what God might be thinking and feeling and saying to you and then of course praying to God is a way to just imagine that God is listening and taking notes. [00:17:19]

I've never thought of that line until just now that God might be listening that deeply and that intently to what I'm telling him I'm thinking and feeling wow and be taking notes wow W well um that's wonderful gift uh Rick I'm I'm so glad we did this I'm glad we didn't talk about it ahead of time I will I will carry this away uh I will try this and I'm kind of eager to and looking forward to it. [00:18:25]

Jesus came so that you could be connected to God and that we could be connected with each other that's a deep part of peace on Earth I think and connected with ourselves so this is your day go to it Rejoice the Lord is with you. [00:19:12]

Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss any future teachings from John as we walk through the Christmas story a few verses at a time you can also visit our website becom new.com to find more teaching just like this and if you've got a prayer request please text it to us so we can pray for you you can text it to the number 855 888 0444 thanks for joining us Merry Christmas and we'll see you next time. [00:19:56]

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