Purposes & Preferences

PURPOSES & PREFERENCES

Which came first, the purpose or the preference? Your answer to this chicken and the egg question may reveal why your life is the energy loss of constantly fighting the tide, or the energy gain of swimming in a river of more. Jesus kept asking the question and we are going to spend 5 weeks asking it too. As individuals, and as a community, letting our purposes beget our preferences makes things work.

Check out each week…

October 23: Purposes & Preferences and the good deal. Who isn’t looking for a good deal? The question is how do you decide if something is or not? Your preferences are likely to show you why you thought it was or not. And checking the purpose your preference serves will shed light on whether it actually is as good, or bad, a deal as it seems. Exploring your purposes and preferences is not only key to your life personally, but to our life together as Fabric. Dare to look? You only have to gain if you do. It’s, um, a good deal! LIVESTREAM | PODCAST | SUNDAY PAPER

October 30: Purposes & Preferences and closing doors. Leaving the door open doesn’t only let in a draft, it lets in people. People who bring in support, ideas, talents, and friendship with them. As well as needs, opinions, ideas, agendas, and expectations. Closing the door can control that, but aren’t you glad the door wasn’t closed when you first came? It’s easy to prefer the comfort of a closed door, but is control your purpose? At home, at work, in your neighborhood, at Fabric? Let’s talk. LIVESTREAM | PODCAST | SUNDAY PAPER | GROUP GUIDE

November 6: Purposes & Preferences and short cuts. It’s great to find the gadgets, life hacks, paradigms, and people that make life work. You can handle things on your own then, and it’s easier and more fun! Until it isn’t and you can’t. There is some life work only you can do but you can’t do it on your own. There is support that tends and sustains you for that long haul work that doesn’t depend on personalities and preferences. Let’s look for this together and practice being it! LIVESTREAM | PODCAST | SUNDAY PAPER | GROUP GUIDE

November 13: Purposes & Preferences and keeping it tidy. Creating solidarity through like-mindedness is pretty easy and nice. And it is a great way to build a world full of walls, mistrust, and misunderstanding. If Jesus stood for anything it was pulling us together and bridging our divides, not building upon them. But that’s messy. It’s tempting to keep it tidy and contained, just don’t peek over the wall and we’ll all be just fine. But will we? You will always have preferences, but some of them aren’t as helpful as others. This is one you and Fabric need to keep checking in on. LIVESTREAM | PODCAST | SUNDAY PAPER | GROUP GUIDE

November 20: Purposes & Preferences and keeping it simple. Simple is attractive. After all, just looking after yourself is enough. Then there is family, friends, job, home, you name it. It’s a lot, so it makes sense to focus on what you can wrap your arms around. Question: Is that simpler, or is it just simplistic? Maybe looking beyond what you can manage isn’t so much a complication as it is a strength. Perhaps your one strand was never intended to be enough. It’s time to check that preference for handling it on your own and discover what you are part of. LIVESTREAM | PODCAST | SUNDAY PAPER | GROUP GUIDE