This week we stepped into Mary’s story—a story we often sentimentalize but rarely sit with in its full weight. Mary was young, poor, politically vulnerable, and living in a region familiar with Roman brutality. The angel’s announcement was not soft or harmless—it was revolutionary. A virgin pregnancy risked public shame, abandonment, and even execution. Yet Mary responds, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”

This week we opened the season of Advent by exploring the story of Zechariah—an ordinary, faithful man living in extraordinarily dark days. Luke situates his story “in the days of King Herod,” a detail that signals disappointment, fear, and political and spiritual heaviness

This week we talked about gratitude—not the shallow holiday version but the deep, steadying practice that shapes the way we see God, ourselves, and the world. We looked at Paul’s words to the Philippians, a letter overflowing with joy, even though it was written from a Roman prison cell.

This week, we explored what it really means to feel rich. Paul writes to Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (1 Timothy 6:17–19).

This week, we explored what it really means to feel rich. Paul writes to Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (1 Timothy 6:17–19).

This week we talked about the practice of simplicity. Jesus warns us that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15). The problem isn’t stuff itself — it’s the story we believe about stuff: that more is better.

At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells a story about two builders—one wise, one foolish. Both hear his teaching, both face the same storm, but only one house stands. The difference isn’t what they heard, but what they did with it.

In this final week of How to Know a Person, we explored Jesus’ teaching about conflict and reconciliation in Matthew 18. Jesus shows us how to handle the friction that inevitably arises in relationships—with gentleness, humility, and love.

This week we explored what may be the biggest obstacle to meaningful relationships: unmanaged expectations.

This week we turned the mirror around. Instead of focusing on how we see others, we asked: What does it mean to let ourselves be seen? To be known?

This week we explored what it means to see clearly. In Matthew 7, Jesus warns against judgment, but not in the way people often use that verse. He isn’t telling us to stop making wise decisions. Instead, the word “judge” here means reducing someone’s whole identity down to one action or trait. That’s what judgment does: it takes a single detail and makes it someone’s entire story.

This week we named how complicated relationships can be—partly because we’re complicated people, and partly because the culture we live in makes connection harder. We’re told that the goal of maturity is independence, that the strongest people are the ones who “don’t need anyone.” But here’s the truth: it’s hard to know each other when we think the goal is to not need each other.