Blog – Page 9 – Joel Bidderman

Being People of Mercy and Compassion [Audio]

"God's love is what we are created for and living lives of compassion are what He invites us to." From my sermon Everyone Gets To Play: Being People of Mercy and Compassion What does it look like to live lives of mercy and compassion? Recently, I shared the following message at my home worship community, during which I looked at: what compassion is, how mercy and compassion is at the heart of God, His invitation to us to us, and how we can cultivate it in our lives.

2019-05-17T00:11:54+00:00By Joel|Audio, Jesus Shaped Community, Kingdom of God, Missional Living, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation|

Prayer of Surrender and Grace [audio]

What are the words that have formed you? That's what I had the opportunity to contemplate and meditate on as I prepared to preach last Sunday - as I focused on a prayer that is a part of my life.

2019-05-17T00:02:44+00:00By Joel|Audio, Kingdom of God, Missional Living, Prayers and Blessings, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation|

Solitude is a Place

"Silence and solitude [is] the medicine for curing, among other things, deep distraction." - Chris Hall Lately, I've been rethinking and praying about what solitude looks like for me. As an introvert, I love (and thrive in) quiet. It re-energizes me. It fills the tank. However, I've found over the years (especially now) that it must be more and more intentional, and I believe that rings true regardless of temperament. Factors that change the landscape of our ability to find solitude range from where we live (i.e. living in the city, in a dorm, etc.) to having kids, as well as having networks of relationships, and yes, even technology effects our ability to find it. It [...]

2019-05-16T23:49:30+00:00By Joel|Solitude, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation|

Be Filled with the Helper

Much of what I aim to cultivate in this space is focused on the inward journey, however, really, the heart behind Simply on Mission is the outward journey: sharing the love and grace of God in a way that overflows from a place of true identity. In other words, it looks like compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and grace in our relationships and how we engage the world (i.e. being close to the brokenhearted, remembering the poor, standing with the oppressed and downtrodden, etc.). The thing is: we are used to doing. Especially in our western culture, we measure our worth by our literal or metaphorical resumés, and when we do that, we often begin to believe the lies of [...]

2019-05-16T05:50:05+00:00By Joel|Missional Living, Spiritual Formation|