Do you have it? No, not the front room of your apartment or house, but the room you need to live, to breathe, to be. It’s hard to feel human or treat others that way when we are all squeezed from the inside and the outside. That living room evaporates with our busy-ness, judgments, expectations and rules. One way of understanding Jesus is that he came to do just this; restore our living room. Time for a makeover of yours?  Here’s what we’ll be talking about…

March 10, 2019: Welcome to Your Living Room - Why be welcomed to your own living room? Maybe because you haven’t found it yet. Seriously, something about the world these days gets us so wrapped up in great stuff that our room to live is squeezed out. Then life becomes all about keeping up, packing it in, making the most of, and not being left out. What gives way for all that to happen? You! Welcome!

March 17, 2019: Always On - There are fewer and fewer places you can’t be reached. Fewer and fewer experiences, events, happenings not being reported to the world via social media. And that’s just because of your smartphone! There is also your job, school, friends and family who all expect they can reach you whenever, wherever. Psychologists and therapists are telling us this inescapable availability is creating the most anxious generations ever. Let’s talk about your living room.

March 24, 2019: Safe Space 1 - One big reason you need to find your own living room is to help others find theirs. When we focus on protecting rather than creating space, others get pushed out with nowhere to go. This isn’t just figurative, folks. People who haven’t had a seat at the tables of power are cut off from the stuff of life. If God is about anything, it’s about including, loving, making space for everyone. And you don’t have to lose your space to give it to others. In fact, you will only truly find yours when you share it.

March 31, 2019: Safe Space 2 - As people start claiming living space, others get nervous. We see it as women seek their way into corner offices. Our non-white neighbors expect their fair place in the world, not to be held prisoner of stereotype and suspicion. People are threatened as their LGBTQ neighbors come out of the closet and head to the living room. We all participate in systems that keep space safe for us at the expense of others. Let's be part of changing the systems.

April 7, 2019: Creating a Spacious Place - Living room is an invisible space we create for ourselves and others, but it is also physical space. In our enthusiasm for erecting structures and roads we sometimes leave little living room. The Garden of Eden may not be our goal, but physical space that doesn’t crowd us out would be nice. Sara Joy Proppe of the Proximity Project has made a life of creating space for people and will join us for this conversation.

April 14, 2019: Soul Space - If an ever expanding universe is a sign of anything, it’s that life is about more room, not less. We will be a week out from Easter on the Sunday after this week; a good time to realize that the purpose of Jesus’ life was to include, not exclude people. God spoke through Jesus’ life to invite us to a place where we could belong, and spoke through Jesus’ death to remind us that we are worth whatever it takes to make it happen. Open your hands to receive and give that gift.