Messages from a hospitable community for spiritual wanderers.
Last weekend, we kicked off a new series “Toxic,” as we explore various areas in our lives that are often toxic beginning with “Toxic Leadership.” This Sunday we go deeper into these theme by exploring “Toxic: Culture.”
When left unattended, everyone drifts into conformity. It takes focus, effort, and intention to continually grow in faith. When our faith is neglected, it is easy to simply become a lemming to the culture we inhabit. Join us this Sunday 11am as we explore toxic culture together.
This weekend, we kick off a new series “Toxic,” as we explore various areas in our lives that are often toxic beginning with “Toxic Leadership.”
What does Toxic Leadership look like? And how do we remain vigilant, virtuous, and levelheaded under a toxic leader? We have all experienced toxic leadership before or run the risk of becoming a toxic leader ourselves. Believe it or not, there actually is a simple formula to toxic leadership.
Skills + ________ – ________ = Toxic Leadership
How many paths have you gone down only to realize that’s not the way you’re supposed to go? If you have, you’re probably on the right track. Our Western culture tends to teach us that failure is loss when in actuality failure is an essential part of maturity, release, and self-discovery. How many times did God get rejected by Moses before Moses accepted the call to lead his people out of slavery? How often did Ruth get dejected by society until she discovered her true calling? How many people rejected Jesus whom were the very people He vowed to love?
In order to know the right path to go, we have to encounter a series of ‘no.’
This Sunday, we conclude our “Create” series with our exploration of what it looks like to “Create: Your Own Path.” There are many voices in our culture, family, and social circles that tell us what our path is supposed to look like. But your own true path is between you and God… that’s it. Jesus came to give us life and life to the fullest. The only way you can decipher where you belong is to pay attention to the God-given voice within you.
What does it look like dream with God?
God created humankind in His likeness, which means human beings are called to be co-creators with God. The dreams that God placed in the hearts of every individual are like signals to the divine within.
Join us as artist, entrepreneur, and community leader Dea Jenkins leads us in a creative exercise of discovering the dreamer within.
Genesis 28
Have you heard of pseudo-community? Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck popularized this term in the 80s when he laid out the Four Stages of True Community. It is when members are extremely pleasant with one another and avoid all disagreement. People tend to withhold some truth about themselves and their feelings in order to avoid conflict. Individual differences are minimized, unacknowledged, or ignored. The group may appear to be functioning smoothly but individuality, intimacy, and honesty are neglected. Unfortunately, most communities people experience fall into this category. Yes, even most churches.
As we gather together this Sunday 11am at Honeybird in La Cañada, we will explore this concept of four stages of true community together and why we felt strongly to create Perch as a hospitable community for spiritual wanderers.
ikigai: is a Japanese word and concept meaning “reason for being.”
When God created humankind, he created them in His own likeness. Humans are uniquely created to mimic God in the way we live out our lives. In short, we are created to create. The fact that this word exists in Japanese and not in English tells me that many Japanese people have wrestled with this concept in great depth. Perhaps when a teenager, college student, or young adult is struggling with what to do with their life, they start with one of the four big circles… “What will pay me?” or “What am I good at?” Maybe if you’re fortunate enough, you can begin approaching one of the overlapping areas like “Vocation” or “Mission.” Very few people in the world achieve the center of their ikigai, or in other words, how God designed them to be in heart, mind, body, and spirit.
Genesis 1:1-3, 27
Guest speaker Inés Velasquez-McBryde reminds us of the importance of having healthy rhythms of life during difficult times of transitions. In order to remain spiritually healthy, we need rest, solitude, and community in regular rotation in order to make big impacts in the world. Even when someone is often doing what they're supposed to be doing, we all need rest, solitude, and community. As theologian Howard Thurman said, "The hunger inside our hearts is God calling out for God."
Matthew 14
Everyone goes through significant changes in life, but not everyone handles those changes well. What if seasons change for the sake of our spiritual growth and not simply because they have to? How is God inviting us to experience life in a new way with all of the transitions we’ve experienced in the past year?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
