A Church That Loves First, Listens First
- T.J. Lucas
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
The Heart of the Church: A February Listening Series
Love begins with listening.
We cannot truly care for one another if we only assume what people need. The Church as a whole cannot reflect Christ’s love if we rush past the stories, questions, wounds, and hopes people carry. Listening is how we begin to understand. It helps us learn to respond with compassion instead of reaction. Which seems to be the impulse of today's deeply divided society. We don't want to be a people that react. We want to be a people that resurrect. We reclaimed the reformed name because we believe in a new reformation--One that is reorienting our hearts towards justice, kindness and walking humbly alongside God as Micah 6:8 encourages. This series is to help discern that middle way forward.
This February, we are making that way through The Heart of the Church, a four-week listening series rooted in prayer, Scripture, and the rhythm of the church year using a series of surveys as a guide.
We begin in the season when the church remembers the Presentation of the Lord, the story in Gospel of Luke 2:22–40 when Mary and Joseph bring the infant Jesus to the temple. There, two elders — Simeon and Anna — recognize God’s presence in a small, ordinary moment. They are able to see because they have been watching. They are able to speak hope because they have been listening for it.
Their attentiveness reminds us that discernment grows in listening hearts.
Jesus later describes the shape of a blessed community in the Beatitudes in Gospel of Matthew 5:1–12 — a community that makes room for those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst, those who come with need and longing. The church becomes most like Christ when it creates space for real human experience and trusts that God meets people there.
That is the spirit behind this February series.
Each week, we will share a short, anonymous online survey. These are not evaluations or complaint boxes. They are tools for prayerful listening — ways of paying attention to the heartbeat of faith in this season.
Week 1 — The Heart We Long For
What do people hope church can be at its best? What does spiritual community look and feel like when it is healthy and life-giving?
Week 2 — When the Heart Hurts
Where has church been difficult, disappointing, or painful? What makes it hard for people to stay connected?
Week 3 — What Helps the Heart Grow
What practices, gatherings, and rhythms actually nurture faith and belonging? What would help people engage more deeply?
Week 4 — The Heart of Our Church
Finally, we turn close to home. What are we doing well? Where could we grow? What new possibilities might God be placing before our own congregation?
You do not have to be a member to participate. You do not need to have everything figured out. You are invited simply to share your experience.
Because the heart of the church is not a building or a schedule.
It is people — people God is still gathering, shaping, healing, and sending into the world.
A church that loves first, listens first.
And we are listening. Click the survey link below 👇
Comments