🌿 Made to Belong: Ancient Stories, Present Healing🌿
- T.J. Lucas
- Jun 2
- 4 min read
This summer, we begin a new series this upcoming sunday on June 8th, Pentecost Sunday, called Made to Belong, rooted in the deep truth that belonging is not just a feeling—it’s a sacred design.
This series speaks into a world of isolation and overstimulation, of over-connection and under-presence. In a time when we scroll more than we speak, and speak more than we truly understand, we are invited to go back to the beginning.
Through the stories of Scripture—ancient, earthy, raw—we will listen again for God’s dream for humanity: Not division, but communion. Not uniformity, but unity. Not towers built from fear, but tables set with grace. As we begin this series during Pride Month, we also speak a truth long overdue in many churches:
Too many have been made to feel like outsiders—especially those whose identities do not fit neatly within the categories that religion and politics have tried to impose.
But the Gospel is bigger. The Spirit is still speaking. And there is always another seat at God’s table.
🕊️ Dwelling in the Word
This week, we invite you to engage the scriptures through a spiritual practice called Lectio Divina, or “Divine Reading.” This form of Dwelling in the Word helps us slow down and hear the Spirit—not just in the words, but in our hearts.
✨ How to Practice Lectio Divina:
Prepare – Find a quiet space. Breathe deeply. Invite God to be near.
Listen – Read the passage aloud slowly.
Reflect – Pause. What word, phrase, or image stood out to you?
Read Again – Read the passage a second time. Let it sink in.
Respond – What is God stirring in you? A memory? A question? A longing?
Rest – Sit in silence. Offer your attention to God.
You may do this with one or both passages throughout the week.
📖 Scripture for the Week
Genesis 11:1–9 (NRSV)
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that they had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Acts 2:1–21 (NRSV)
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”
12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
🪞 Guiding Questions for the Week
What words or images caught your attention during your reading?
Where in your life are you feeling scattered or disconnected?
What does sacred belonging look like to you today?
How does the Spirit invite you to make space for others—especially those the church has excluded?
🙏 Weekly Prayer
God of fire and breath, You scattered Babel and gathered hearts at Pentecost. You speak not just in one language, but in many— In whispers and wind, in silence and song. Where we have drawn boundaries, stretch us wider. Where we have confused control for connection, set us free. Help us dwell in your Word this week, not as observers, But as those being remade—People of the Spirit, made to belong. Amen.
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