Orchard Conversations

This week, we wrap up the Easter Season with a Pentecost Liturgy, celebrating the annual movement of God through the Spirit.
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Question for contemplation and conversation:
What languages is the Holy Spirit nudging you to speak that you’ve never spoken before?
What stories do you need to listen to that you have not listened to before?
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
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This week at the Orchard we take time to celebrate the mothers and mothering people in our lives as well as celebrate Ascension Sunday; and Lead Pastor Scott Hodge reminds us that the Ascension of Christ was about presence transformed, not presence removed.
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Question for contemplation and conversation:
What liminal space are you inhabiting right now, and what lessons might be emerging as you wait and listen in that threshold?
How can you expand your vision to recognize Christ in new ways, beyond the familiar and the expected, in your daily life?
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
Subscribe to Orchard Conversations in your favorite podcast app or at orchardconversations.com

This week we’ll explore an account from the book of Acts, where early Christians have their expectations about inclusion challenged. How can this story inspire us to move beyond our own cultural and conventional boundaries? Join the conversation and discover the Spirit's call to radical inclusivity.
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Question for contemplation and conversation:
Where do you experience confirmation bias?
What biases might you be holding onto that keep you from experiencing the fullness of life?
What preconceived beliefs, culturally assumed stories might be closing you off from experiencing the the Presence of God?
Where might Spirit be challenging your expectations right now, perhaps in a way that feels uncomfortable?
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Mentioned in today's episode:
Prayer to Overcome Confirmation Bias (by Brian McLaren):I do not know everything. I do not even know how much I do not know. Nor do I know how much of what I know is impartial, faulty, or false. So I pray: Source of all truth, help me to hunger for truth, even if it upsets, modifies, or overturns what I already think is true. Guide me into all the truth I can bear, and stretch me to bear more, so that I may always choose the whole truth—even with disruption—over half-truths with self-deception. Grant me passion to follow wisdom wherever it leads.
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
Subscribe to Orchard Conversations in your favorite podcast app or at orchardconversations.com

This week, as we continue our Easter journey, we delve into Jesus' teachings on abiding in God's love and maintaining our connection to the Source. Join us as Scott Hodge explores the practical and hopeful implications of these teachings for us today.
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Question for contemplation and conversation:
How often do you find yourself measuring your 'spiritual success' by the amount of 'fruit' you produce, rather than the quality of your relationship with God? How can shifting focus from productivity to relationship change your daily faith practice?
What does the concept of 'home' mean to you in the context of your faith? How can understanding faith as a 'home'—a place of safety, love, acceptance, and connection—alter your approach to spiritual challenges and community?
In what ways do you rely on your spiritual community, and how do they rely on you? Discuss the importance of nurturing these connections and the potential consequences of neglecting them.
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
Subscribe to Orchard Conversations in your favorite podcast app or at orchardconversations.com
 

This weekend we continue our resurrection journey with an exploration of what it means to truly engage with the love of the “Good Shepherd” described in this week’s lectionary readings.
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Question for contemplation and conversation:
What are the “hired hands” that you tend to turn to for comfort and security?
Where is the Holy Spirit inviting you to draw from the love of the Good Shepherd to learn to live in the pattern of gracious love?
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
Subscribe to Orchard Conversations in your favorite podcast app or at orchardconversations.com

One this episode, as we continue to examine the disorienting but wonderful story of Resurrection, Benjamin Jay Thomas dissects this week's gospel reading from Luke 24:35-48 and reminds us that our every experience is grounded in the body and the relationship with the divine that we are invited into is a physical thing.
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
Subscribe to Orchard Conversations in your favorite podcast app or at orchardconversations.com

"Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith, they keep it awake and moving."  - Frederick Buechner
On this episode, Lead Pastor Scott Hodge challenges us to reflect on the relationship between doubt and faith and what role they have played in our spiritual journeys. 
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Question for contemplation and conversation:
Reflect on a time when doubt played a significant role in your spiritual journey. How did this experience challenge or deepen your faith? In what ways did your acceptance of doubt become a catalyst for growth rather than a barrier to belief.
In what ways do we seek to be seen and believed by those around us, and how can we offer the same validation and understanding to others? How can we acknowledge and validate other’s spiritual journeys, even when they differ from our own? 
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Things mentioned in this week's episode:
"A Community Canvas" - Society 57 Gala || Friday, April 12, 2024 
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
Subscribe to Orchard Conversations in your favorite podcast app or at orchardconversations.com

On this episode, Lead Pastor Scott Hodge reminds us of the abundance and joys that Jesus' resurrection brings; this Easter Sunday we find the tomb empty and death has lost it's sting. 
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To learn more about The Orchard Community visit theorchardcommunity.com
Subscribe to Orchard Conversations in your favorite podcast app or at orchardconversations.com