Southpoint News March 30, 2017

Repeating Patterns

We all have repeating patterns in the way we think, feel, and act. Some of these patterns lead to well-being, wholeness, and connection. When we walk this road, we are rightly related to life, and we find rest for our souls. But other patterns diminish us and those around us.  We find that as we walk this road, we are eroded, cut off from our true selves, disconnected from God, other people, and from creation. These paths diminish us. This lent we’ve been asking God to help us become aware of these dynamics.  We’ve been asking the Holy Spirit to show us what has become disordered within us. It takes courage to look ourselves honestly in the face and say, “This is who I am, the good, bad, and the ugly.”   So we proceed, knowing that God has deep compassion on the broken, disordered places within us. Seeing ourselves clearly is not an easy thing.  So, to deepen our self-understanding we are making use of observations about human nature gathered and organized in a tool called  the enneagram. The enneagram identifies 9 core desires, desires that are good and normal and simply a part of our humanity. The enneagram observes how people who share similar core desires also share similar gifts. But they also share similar fears, and out of these fears grow disordered emotional responses which then shape our actions. The enneagram simply lays all this out. It helps us witness the internal patterns that are driving our outer behavior. It’s one thing to acknowledge that you have a habit of being defensive, and that this is hurting your relationships. This is a courageous beginning. But to see that your defensiveness  points to your deepest fear, and your even deeper desire, then you’re hitting the mother lode.  That is where the healing presence of God wants to encounter us.

Calendar

April 2nd:   Sunday Service @ 11:15 “The Desire for Power and the Way of Lust”  Speaker: Anne Smith with Angela

April 9th:    Palm Sunday Service @ 11:15 “The Desire for Peace and the Way of Sloth” Speaker: Anne Smith with Leah

April 14th:  Good Friday @ Kingfisher Farm. This year, along with the stations of the cross, there will be space for prayer and reflection around the sins we’ve been exploring this Lenten Season.

April 16th – Easter Service @ 11:15 Bring fresh flowers and greens to help us decorate the cross.

Community News

An Invitation from Anne to all women – FRIDAY!!! Friday evening, March 31st, Anne’s place on Kingfisher Farm at 8 pm. What are your desires for us as women of Southpoint?  Are we content connecting informally, or is there a desire for more intentional ways of showing up in one another’s lives? The men are modeling some pretty cool connection – what would we like?  Let’s talk about it! Bring something to nibble or drink that you’d like to share, plus any ideas/opinions you might have:)

A Chance to Learn More about the Enneagram: If you have found the desires and disorders of the enneagram a helpful guide and would like to know more, I’ll offer a session on Monday, April 10th @ 7-9  in the Shiloh Shelter, Kingfisher Farm as a way of drawing the pieces together and entering more intentionally into the Passion of Jesus during Holy Week. He died to release us from the disorder of death and draw us into life.  Come Lord Jesus come! Please RSVP if you plan on attending.

Baptisms and Dedication: I will begin a baptism class after Easter for  young folk in our church who have expressed a desire to be baptized.  The baptism will take place on the last Sunday of June. If you or your child are interested, please contact me. Alternatively, if you would like your child to be dedicated at any point, please do let me know.

An Easter Experience – RSVP! How about we get a group together to go see “Testament” at the Pacific Theatre, Saturday April the 15th for the 2 p.m. matinee? Brent, who serves on the board of PT, is willing to arrange tickets for us. If more that 10 go together, the PT will give us the group rate of only $20 per person. They have also given us the possibility of reserving seats ahead of time and only paying for half of them up front and then paying the rest when we go take in the experience.  Interested?  Let Brent know ASAP. Check it out: http://pacifictheatre.org/season/2016-2017-season/secondstage/testament??