1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,440 Well, good morning guys. Good morning. Good morning. It is such a pleasure to have you 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:15,600 joining me today on Pentecost Sunday. So welcome to Sally and John and Rupali to join us for 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:20,840 today's session of Trinity Talks. Now today I'm excited to have you, Sally, you being 4 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,360 the welcome and connections director here at Trinity, because I was hoping we could 5 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:31,360 talk about the theme of hospitality, which I know is such an important part of not only 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:36,600 our life here at the church, but also our lives in general. And Jesus calls us into 7 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,320 a life of hospitality. So I was hoping that together the four of us could unpack that 8 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,720 here today. How does that sound? Sounds great. Sounds good. We do the best we can. We do 9 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:50,240 the best we can and that's all we can hope for. But I did want to just before we get 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:55,880 started, if you were here with us during the first service, you would see that we are starting 11 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:00,600 to talk through the fruit of the spirit. And each week here at Trinity, we're going to 12 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:06,520 be sort of focusing and highlighting on a specific fruit. So I would be amiss if I didn't 13 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:14,000 ask you what your favorite fruit is. I love guavas. Oh, I was not expecting that. I love 14 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:20,040 a lot of fruit, but guavas are really special and not always easy to come by here in Canada. 15 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,560 That's right. In the way that you can experience the guava in a different culture, right? Where 16 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:33,280 it's fresh and yeah. Guava is for Sally. Okay. For me, it's mangoes. Mangoes. Well, just 17 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,880 a side note, you're going to want to make sure that you're here at Trinity next week 18 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:43,000 because mango is going to be our featured fruit. Wow. That's great. Mango exactly the 19 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:49,000 same. Really? Oh yeah. We're going to be fighting over the mangoes. We'll make sure there's 20 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,520 two mangoes at least for John and Rupali next week. And I'm sorry, Sally, I don't think 21 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,800 guava made the cut. That's okay. It's not a super common fruit, but maybe one of you 22 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:04,600 would have a mango recipe then to submit. Yeah, that's right. All right. We'll be waiting. 23 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,640 Now we need to continue on with the theme of fruit because I just want to have a lot 24 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:14,360 of fruit fun with you today. So Sally, beside you, you will see a yellow bag and it is my 25 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:20,080 Bananagrams game. And I'm not sure if anyone here has played Bananagrams and I promise 26 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:25,440 I'm not sponsored by Bananagrams, but if you've ever played this game, it's kind of like Scrabble. 27 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:30,200 There's a bunch of letters and you rearrange the tiles on a table. It's a fast paced fun 28 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:35,040 game. Literally just did an unsolicited plug for Bananagrams there. But I was hoping that 29 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,720 each of you could just draw a letter out of the Bananagrams bag and then tell us something 30 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:44,720 about yourselves that begins with or revolves around that letter. All right. So once you 31 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:49,680 got your letter, just pass it along. Perfect. If you spill the banana tiles, you will have 32 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:56,360 to pick them up. Here we go. I made it. Just open the bag really small, right? That's right. 33 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,000 I know. It wouldn't be the first time in our house, that thing all over the place. Well, 34 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,260 anyway, so each of you have your letter, take a look at your letter and maybe you could 35 00:03:03,260 --> 00:03:07,320 just tell us a little bit about yourself with something to do with that letter. Wow. Okay. 36 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,960 All right. My letter is A. All right. You lucked out. Yeah. Which actually my maiden 37 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:17,400 name was Anderson. So Sally Anderson is very familiar to my ears. Maybe not to you. Part 38 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:25,200 of one of your initials growing up. And talking about initials, mine were S.A., which also 39 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:31,040 stands for South Africa, which is where I grew up. So A for Africa. A for Anderson. Yeah. 40 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:37,240 So have a heart for Africa. Wonderful. And A for effort for that answer. Well done. Cheers. 41 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:47,680 J for John. J for John. John, your name. Perfect. So tell me, what do I say about myself? Well, 42 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:51,400 I'm the Toll and Die maker. So I guess jigs would be in there because they're part of 43 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:57,720 what we do. We make jigs to guide steel and all that stuff when we're machining them and 44 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,960 that. Oh, that's great. Yes. We were talking before. You're very handy. So jigs. Okay. 45 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:10,960 In some aspects. We'll ask his wife. Okay, Rupali, what letter did you get? So I got 46 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:19,840 the letter O. Okay. And I can say that I'm 100 percent optimistic. Love it. And I definitely 47 00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:26,480 like to stand out. So outstanding, I would say. So those are my two words. Optimistic 48 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:31,040 outstanding. You guys really rose to the occasion. Thank you. That was great. All right. What 49 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:35,160 a fun game. We'll have to bring that one back. So I do want to just get started talking a 50 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:40,640 little bit about hospitality now. And Sally, being the welcome and connections director 51 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:46,280 here, could you tell us a little bit about what that role entails? Sure. Yeah. So the 52 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:51,840 welcome and connections director role is basically what it sounds like. I have the privilege 53 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:57,800 of sort of coming alongside those who are new in our Trinity family and just along with 54 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,600 the amazing welcome team, which has about 60 people on it, the Trinity welcome team, 55 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,320 we want to welcome people. We want to make people feel like they've come home, that they 56 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:12,840 belong, that they're important, that they're seen. And also ultimately to welcome them 57 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:17,520 into the family of faith. So, you know, to introduce them to those welcoming arms of 58 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:23,400 Jesus. Yeah. And in terms of connections, usually that sort of the piece that follows 59 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:31,520 them. And so it's all about introducing people, inviting people, drawing them into the family 60 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:38,120 in whatever way they're ready for and in whatever way God has in store for them. So, you know, 61 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,000 this is an interesting part of the job is that really everyone is at a very different 62 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:47,080 space and place when it comes to how they like to be welcomed and connected. And so 63 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:56,560 just really discerning and listening to their stories and where they'd like to connect along 64 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,200 however many months or years it takes them to want to connect. So, yeah. I love that. 65 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,680 That really ties in with our sort of our theme here at Trinity is learning to love Jesus 66 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:11,120 in our own time. So I think that's really wise. And first of all, if you ever come into 67 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:16,360 the church, you might see Sally around our welcome desk, around the lobby. I'm just wondering 68 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:22,000 what motivates you in this role? So you're always there with a smile. You do such a great 69 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,560 job at, like you said, welcoming, but also connecting other people. So what gives you 70 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,840 that motivation? It's actually interesting because Elizabeth and I were talking about 71 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:34,520 this earlier in the week and I was glad for that conversation because I sort of thought, 72 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:40,160 oh, what does motivate me? I know I am motivated, but I didn't really know why. And so I took 73 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:45,200 some time to think about it, talk to Elizabeth. And I think actually my upbringing plays a 74 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:52,760 big part in my motivation as well as my faith. So I think in terms of upbringing, I grew 75 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:58,200 up in South Africa. At that time, apartheid was still the regime. So obviously a very 76 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:05,340 significant and large separation between whites and blacks and people of color. So simple 77 00:07:05,340 --> 00:07:09,960 things like not being able to go to the same schools, not being able to marry a person 78 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,960 the opposite color of you, not being able to ride public transit together, all those 79 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:20,440 day to day things. It was very separate. And so I think then growing up in a Christian 80 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:26,480 family and learning about the love of Jesus and how Jesus welcomes all was in contrast 81 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:33,120 to my sort of political environment in South Africa. Yeah. So I think that must have done 82 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:40,260 something as a child to kind of like create that contrast for me. And then I would say 83 00:07:40,260 --> 00:07:46,160 we actually moved and emigrated to Canada when I was 12. And so I was the newbie and 84 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:50,720 I was the new person on the block, right? And we actually moved quite a bit. So I would 85 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:57,800 say every four to five years we relocated. And so I really got lots of chances to be 86 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:03,360 the new person, new schools and classrooms and neighborhoods and churches and social 87 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:10,040 groups and extracurriculars. And so I think through me, like almost being forced to be 88 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:16,880 new, I now knew, okay, wow, there was sometimes that I was welcomed super warmly and there 89 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:22,080 was sometimes that I wasn't. And so again, just that contrast of what is it to actually 90 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:28,800 be welcomed genuinely into a situation where those people probably have known each other 91 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:33,940 for a really long time. Right. So I think just my upbringing has really sort of given 92 00:08:33,940 --> 00:08:39,840 me that scaffolding for this role. And then of course, like just the way that Jesus welcomes 93 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:48,000 us, right? And just even looking at Jesus' life in ministry and how he welcomed so many 94 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:54,880 that really weren't in that culture usually welcomed, whether it was women, whether it 95 00:08:54,880 --> 00:09:03,000 was lepers and people that were sort of shifted or pushed to the outskirts of society. And 96 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,520 he himself wasn't always welcomed, right? Whether it's they had a hard time finding 97 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:12,800 a manger for him. Right from the beginning. That's a great parallel. Yeah. Or him being, 98 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:19,280 you know, him and his family needing to flee to Egypt, you know, in his early years. And 99 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:24,880 then obviously the cross. So I think when we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, 100 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:31,240 it can't but inspire, you know, us to if we're following him and if we're trying to live 101 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:36,940 like him to try and be like-minded. I love that. So that's great. Well, thank you for 102 00:09:36,940 --> 00:09:41,240 all you do, first of all, here at Trinity. It's my pleasure. It's my pleasure. And then 103 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:46,560 I'd love to just even just shift over to John and Rupali, who actually have come to Trinity 104 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:51,160 fairly recently within the last few months and within the year. I was wondering if each 105 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:56,200 of you could tell us your story of maybe where you were before you came to this church and 106 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:01,000 then also what your experience was when you came in through the doors. So feel free to- 107 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:07,440 Do you want to start? Okay. All right, Rupali, you're up. Okay. Thank you. So I'm fairly 108 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:13,440 new to Canada. It's been a few years that I'm here. And initially before coming to this 109 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:21,640 place, I was in London, Ontario. And unfortunately, I couldn't find a good community. And I was 110 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:29,560 pretty lonely there and quite sad and depressed in my life. And then that's when I thought 111 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:38,480 of moving out of that place and I moved in close to Toronto. And one of my friend Moses, 112 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:47,040 he used to be a part of this church and he has moved to the US now. But while talking 113 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:52,120 to him on the phone, he introduced me, he told me about this church and he introduced 114 00:10:52,120 --> 00:11:01,240 me to Pradeep, Shireen and Cathy. And eventually I got connected to Sally and that's how it 115 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:06,680 all began. And I'm here now. It's been seven months. And just so everyone knows, we actually 116 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:11,240 had to pull Rupali off of the cameras. And she was working the cameras over there in 117 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:16,000 the sanctuary for our service. So you've gotten quite involved already. It's wonderful. All 118 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,080 right. And what about you, John? Oh, it was, I guess the seeds were planted a long time 119 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:28,240 ago with my grandfather. I never grew up in a church background at all. But he told me 120 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:33,160 things when I was very young about Jesus and how he was a carpenter. So I was down in the 121 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:39,040 basement and I would every Sunday be working on my woodworking. I always think about him 122 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:45,200 and think about what he told me and all that stuff. And I know I was baptized Anglican. 123 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:52,120 So I was like, okay, I'm going to check out, see if there's a Anglican church online. I 124 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:59,000 found this church online and just as I found it, a service was starting. So that's when 125 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:06,080 I started to watch it. And I was like, yeah, this is a place for me. I really thought, 126 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,640 okay, I'm going to definitely step foot in this place and see how I like it. 127 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:15,760 And look at you now, you're sitting here with headphones on having a conversation with us. 128 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,520 And I love that you brought up the word seeds because we were just talking about gardens 129 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,720 earlier in our service. And that's really what it is, the gardener. 130 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:30,960 Yeah. But my seeds were planted a long time ago and they just sprouted now. So that's 131 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:38,720 how it works, I guess, sometimes. That's right. We never know. Absolutely. So we're using 132 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,720 the word hospitality and I can already see it from a few different lenses here that you've 133 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,120 brought out. And I mean, even in the Bible, the apostle Paul, and I want to make sure 134 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,280 I quote this properly here, but in Romans 12, 13, Paul writes that we are called to 135 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:56,400 contribute to the needs of the saints and practice hospitality. So right there in the 136 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:02,120 Bible, we have this calling to do this form of practice. Now I'm wondering just from your 137 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:08,280 own perspectives, what are some of the challenges that we as a church may experience? And I'm 138 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:13,440 not just talking about you three or us four, but I'm talking about the church as a whole 139 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:18,320 in terms of practicing hospitality, even though we know that it's such a good thing. What 140 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:26,200 might hinder that practice, do you think? Well, for myself, I think it's just something 141 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:30,200 you have to practice on a daily. You don't leave it for church. You have to do it every 142 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:35,280 day. Like prayer, it's got to be done every day. And I think as you do it more and more, 143 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:40,680 it just becomes stronger and stronger. Like a muscle. Yeah, like a muscle, right? So if 144 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:46,960 you don't use it, obviously you're not very good at it. Or if you wait just till Sundays, 145 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,680 you're not going to get strong at it. But if you do it every day, like somebody that 146 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:55,440 works out at a gym, they do it every day or every other day. They're not going once a 147 00:13:55,440 --> 00:14:01,680 week because you won't see any change that way. Yeah. Wow. Great. Just an opinion. But 148 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:08,560 that's what I think. The challenge is the church, I think the church does the best it 149 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:16,960 can, but I think really it's up to the individual to step up and practice it. Yeah. I love that, 150 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:21,360 John, because I think as much as we can have like a position for a welcome and connections 151 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:27,920 director or a welcome team, it really is all of our calling, right? So that every person 152 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:35,440 within our Trinity family is called by Christ to welcome and to practice hospitality and 153 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:41,240 to practice that radical hospitality like Jesus. So if we're all doing it and all motivating 154 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:47,320 and encouraging each other to sort of notice who in our midst might be new or might be 155 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:53,920 lonely or might be having a tough day, right? And I think hospitality can be extended for 156 00:14:53,920 --> 00:15:00,080 sure to new people, absolutely. But also there's ongoing hospitality, right? So someone who 157 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:05,240 may have been coming here for years, sometimes it's surprising, they may not know that many 158 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:09,640 people, they may still need an introduction or an invitation. And maybe they're having 159 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:14,160 a particularly bad day or moment in their lives and they need to be noticed for what 160 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:19,520 they're going through as well. So I think, yeah, I love what you said about it's all 161 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:26,640 of our job. Yeah, it's, that's just an opinion. Yeah. And just to add on to what John and 162 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:33,440 Sally what they said, I believe that it also depends on the person. The person could be 163 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:39,940 a little bit ambivalent or introvert and those people definitely need more encouragement 164 00:15:39,940 --> 00:15:46,480 and more push. So if we can just smile and open up to them, you know, we can get them 165 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:53,680 started, we can keep introducing them. So that's one thing that I noticed. And I believe 166 00:15:53,680 --> 00:16:01,040 that Sally is definitely so good at introducing new people to the old people and you know, 167 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:07,360 like she definitely does that best. Yeah. Well, I love to do it, but I encourage everyone 168 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,920 to do it, right? Because it really is a community affair, if you will, right? Absolutely. We 169 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:19,680 are all gifted in introducing and being a part of that for sure. I would say back to 170 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:25,000 your question about challenges for church Elizabeth in terms of practicing hospitality. 171 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,360 I mean, obviously, you know, there's people that have been part of our church community 172 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:35,520 for decades, which is a really wonderful thing. But I think it's really easy as humans for 173 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:43,600 us to get very familiar and sort of forget, forget what it is to be new. And also, it's 174 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:48,560 really easy for us to make friendships and we're trying to help people connect and build 175 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:53,360 community, right? So that's a good thing. But it can turn into maybe not so much of 176 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:59,080 a good thing when it becomes a bit cliquey. And so I think we'll get to some challenges 177 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:05,440 later on at the end of the podcast about how we can challenge each other to make sure that 178 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:12,880 we're not a cliquey family, right? That we always are, yes, engaging in those relationships 179 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,720 that we're enjoying and meeting people and, you know, meeting with our friends too, but 180 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:23,120 also always keeping an eye for those who are new amongst us. So I think that's always a 181 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:28,160 challenge with any church is the possibility of it becoming a little too groupie or cliquey. 182 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:33,800 Yeah, thank you guys. Actually, there was a lot of wisdom in what each of you said. 183 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:38,120 I would love to even summarize that in the comments below in this, because there was 184 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:42,560 a lot of really good takeaways, I think, from each one of you, even down to just extending 185 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:49,120 a smile, practicing it outside the church, and then being aware of our comfort zones 186 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:55,640 or our comfort people and looking outside and just sort of widening the gate, I suppose, 187 00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:01,200 right? Opening up our arms to those people. So Sally, you mentioned that you were listening 188 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:08,080 to, I guess, maybe it was a podcast or a conference, and in there, there were some challenges extended 189 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:13,520 to not just people who were in your role, but really to anybody. And I was thinking 190 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,640 that maybe if you could share those challenges, maybe some of us would like to take those 191 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:18,640 on. 192 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:24,160 Sure. Yeah. So there's two challenges. The first one is called the three minute challenge, 193 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:29,520 which is basically try to spend at least three minutes each Sunday, or maybe any gathering 194 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,880 you're at for that matter. It doesn't just have to be church. Talking to someone you 195 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,800 usually wouldn't talk to, right? And I love that. So it's really manageable. It's just 196 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,280 three minutes, right? It's not a whole long, deep conversation, but just having, it would 197 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:50,160 be amazing if at Trinity we continue this atmosphere of trying to always be talking 198 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:55,500 to not just our friends, but others as well. So that's the three minute challenge. Three 199 00:18:55,500 --> 00:18:59,080 minutes. Okay. And then there's the 10 foot challenge. 200 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:08,280 A little bit more daunting, but perhaps not. I know, right? A little bit of a number, but 201 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:13,360 basically to sort of have a radius of 10 feet around you and to be aware of that radius, 202 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:18,560 almost like a bubble of 10 feet and to say, okay, who's around me right now? Whether 203 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:22,560 when I'm sitting in the pew, and we sort of do that practice every Sunday, right? By greeting 204 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:28,840 each other, those that are around us, but also to extend that then to the lobby, to 205 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:34,080 coffee hour, you know, who's around me? Am I aware of who's around me? And especially 206 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:39,800 if there's anyone around me that may not have anyone to talk to at this moment, or may seem 207 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,280 a little bit sad today, or maybe a little bit lost. Maybe it's their first time and 208 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:49,480 they're not sure what's happening next, right? So just that 10 foot challenge of being aware 209 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:53,840 of our environment and reaching out then to those within our environment that might need 210 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:58,280 to reach out. I think those are great. I think one thing too, is you have to be present in 211 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:03,240 mind when you're talking to people. Don't be talking to people and have a grocery list 212 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,280 or I got to do this or got to do that. When you're talking to somebody, focus on what 213 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,680 they're saying as well. You know, don't be so concerned to what your thoughts are. Think 214 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,880 of what they're thinking. Really open yourself up to the person. Because a lot of people 215 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:22,280 do that. They'll talk to somebody. But meanwhile, they've got a dialogue going on in their head 216 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:26,640 and you can see it on their face. You know, and that's, that's an important thing, because 217 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:31,360 people can pick up on that sort of thing. You know, don't, if you're going to go and 218 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:35,880 talk to somebody, go and talk to them. Listen to what they're saying. Don't do it just 219 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:40,960 because you feel like you have to do it. Really be present when you're doing. That's what 220 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:48,000 I feel. And I think that's what Jesus did, right? So I think, like if we can sort of 221 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:56,040 anchor this ministry and practice of hospitality in our faith, right? That we're doing it not 222 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:01,520 because we do it well, but because Jesus and His Spirit, like we talked about today, is 223 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:06,920 in us. And He's the one that's helping us to do this well. Right. And then, yeah, Jesus 224 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:12,640 didn't He. He was always about the other person. It sort of wasn't His own agenda. It was, 225 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,160 how are you doing today? How can I help you? And really listening and really meeting that 226 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:22,720 person where they were at. And then you get people to accept you more when you know they're 227 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:29,640 here. A lot of times people just want to be seen. Maybe not necessarily you have to say 228 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:36,160 something to them. Maybe they just want to be seen. I'm a lonely person and I come here 229 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,560 because I don't know anybody or I just want to be seen. And some people just want to be 230 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,400 seen. And sometimes that's all you have to give them. That's what I got when I got here. 231 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:51,760 That's so nice. They stood back. They let me in nicely. But after coming here for the 232 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:56,880 first time, I never had an experience like that in church. And when I came out, I was 233 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,800 like, this was like being, you ever been to a family party? Like a close family party? 234 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:07,360 Sure. That's what it was like when I left here. I was like, these people, they're a 235 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:13,000 family. You know, it's all level ground here. So I just, yeah, yeah. That's a great church. 236 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:17,680 What a great note to leave on guys. I think that's, it was a great conversation. It was 237 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,640 a little shorter than usual because we got started a little later, but I feel like we 238 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,640 really made the most of this talk right now, guys. Thank you for joining me. I would love 239 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,600 to have you back because you were wonderful guests. But I'll let you go off to get your 240 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:48,200 coffee and your cookies now. And a happy Pentecost Sunday. Thank you. Thank you so much.