Shameless

Here are the posts for the sermon series I did, based on the hugely popular Ted Talk on shame and vulnerability by Brene Brown. Her talk was full of deep insight and leaned right up to the places where faith speaks the next word, so I just lifted up her great work and then added that piece along the way.

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Part 1 - Brene to the Rescue!

In this first sermon, entitled Brené to the Rescue!, researcher/storyteller Brené Brown sets out to solve the mystery of human connection and comes face-to-face with the great connection killer: Shame.  As a part of the sermon, the congregation undertakes an activity to challenge the shame of struggling with shame, seeing visually that this is a very common challenge among us.

(Early in the sermon we watched a 6 minute segment of Brené's TED Talk.  To respect the copyright on that talk, it is not included in the video below.  So I suggest you pause at that point and watch the first 6 minutes here.)

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Part 2 - The Shame Game

Here's the second of my four week series on shame.  We get a look at the core of Brene's insights on shame, and then I make the connection to faith.  In a nutshell, I modify her wise words:
       "Let yourself be seen, and believe that you are enough."

...to link them to the spiritual reality of the loving God in this way:
       "Let yourself be seen by God,  and believe your Father when He tells you that you are enough."

To watch the clip of Brene I refer to, go to bit.ly/browntedtalks and watch the segment from 6:06 to 11:20.

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Part 3 - Brene, to the Therapist!

Here's the third in my four-week series on shame.  I share a lot about my own interior life this week to show the multiple ways I see the Lord at work to heal and bless me, and to help destigmatize the very valuable things God provides through counseling and medication! 

To watch the clip of Brene I refer to, go to bit.ly/browntedtalks and watch the segment from 10:50 to 14:40.

Also, if you want to see the Powerpoint slides directly, as they are hard to see on the video, you can find them here. 

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Part 4 - unComfortably Numb

In the fourth and final message in my Shameless series, we look at the ripple effects of a disconnected life and the ways we try to numb the pain, which leads to more pain, which leads to more numbing.  We revisit the central message of the series, which is how God goes past the symptoms on the outside and deals with the VSD at the center of our hearts.  From there, the series winds up with a call to share what we have found with others as "Ambassadors for Christ."  All this, and Heinz 57 steak sauce as well!