Download - The Embrace
poorThe Embrace
connection
Fear of coming to Church
Will I be ok
The Embrace
Fear
Deep in their heart they wanted connection.
They wanted to give and to receive
They wanted to be embraced
The Embrace
All long for
Fear of coming to Church
● Gave them more information● Arrive late, leave early.● Sit at the back● Build a relationship before church service● Debriefs● Social Media
The Embrace
volv
We all long for, in our depths, a sense of being embraced
The Embrace
volv
The Divine Embracing
‘On the cross the circle of self-giving and mutually indwelling divine persons opens up for the enemy; in the agony of the passion the movement stops for a brief moment and a fissure appears so that sinful humanity can join in.
The Embrace
volv
The Divine Embracing
We, the others – we the enemies - are embraced by the divine persons who love us with the same love with which they love each other and therefore make space for us within their own eternal embrace. Miroslav Volv
The Embrace
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‘An embrace involves always a double movement of opening and closing. I open my arms to create space in myself for the other. The open arms are a sign of discontent at being myself only and of desire to include the other.
The Embrace
volv
They are an invitation to the others to come in and feel at home with me, to belong to me. In an embrace I also close my arms around the others - not tightly, so as to crush and assimilate them forcefully into myself, for that would not be an embrace but a concealed power-act of exclusion;
The Embrace
We come
but gently, so as to tell them that I do not want to be without them in their otherness. I want them in their openness. I want them to remain independent and true to their genuine selves, to maintain their identity and as such become part of me so that they can enrich me with what they have and I do not’. Miroslav Volv
The Embrace
paul
We comeWarts and allSinners and saintsAddicts and anchors
We embrace
The Embrace
greet
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The friends who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of the emperor’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:21-23
The Embrace
greet
Greet (aspazomai) means to enfold in one's arms and so to welcome and embrace another.
The Embrace
common
A greeting was made not merely by a slight gesture and a few words, but generally by embracing and kissing.
A journey was hindered by the embraces of those departing and bidding farewell
The Embrace
eg
'Greet' was a common ending to Paul's letters.
Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 1 Thessalonians 5:26
The Embrace
eg
Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, as does Mark the cousin of Barnabas
The Embrace
eg
And Jesus who is called Justus greets you.
The Embrace
change
Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you. Colossians 4:10-12, 14
The Embrace
how
People change when they know they are embraced
The Embrace
how
How do we embrace well?
The Embrace
how
How do we embrace well?
1. Recognise it is a work in progress.
The one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion Philippians 1:6
The Embrace
how
How do we embrace well?
2. Humility
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Philippians 2:4
The Embrace
how
How do we embrace well?
3. Look to the interests of others
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Philippians 2:4
The Embrace
how
How do we embrace well?
4. Imitate Christ
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus
The Embrace
how
who, though he was in the form of God,did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
The Embrace
how
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.
The Embrace
how
Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,so that at the name of Jesusevery knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
The Embrace
how
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the FatherPhilippians 2:5-11
The Embrace
Image cc: Mike_tn
To know that you are loved, you are cared for, and that you have a place in the world that matters.
The Embrace
poorThe Embrace
Passage