Episode 211

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[00:00:00] Sara: Welcome to LeaderCast episode 211.

[00:00:03] you're listening to LeaderCast, transforming missions podcast with Tim Bias and Sara Thomas. Providing you with resources to navigate the challenges and opportunities of courageous Christ-centered leaders

[00:00:18] Sara: Well happy new year.

[00:00:19] Tim: Well happy new year.

[00:00:20] to you.

[00:00:21] Sara: It's hard to believe that we are already in 2022. Here we are. And so today we want to introduce you to the big theme for Leadercast for 2022. You already heard a little bit about it in December, but today we want to talk more about what's guiding hope throughout the year.

[00:00:42] A reminder, you can find show notes for this episode at transformingmission.org forward slash podcast. And you're looking for episode 211.

[00:00:54] Tim: Well, Sarah, as we start the year, maybe we should talk about our mission or our purpose at the beginning of every podcast episode you hear us say something like. Resources for Christ-centered leaders to navigate the challenges and opportunities of courageous Christ-centered leadership. That's the focus for the podcast and for our work together. So at the beginning of this new year, it's probably a good time to remind you where the name transforming mission came from. And Sarah, where did it come from?

[00:01:28] Sara: So I know you remember this too, Tim, but it came from the title of a foundational book on the theology of mission. That's titled simply transforming mission and. David Bosch wrote that book. He's now deceased, but it is still the foundational book for the theology of mission. And so as we think about what our purpose is and leading people as Christ-centered leaders, the name transforming mission still applies.

[00:02:02] The ways in which we do things may continue to change, but our focus and our purpose on helping to resource Christ-center leaders and helping people come to know and have a relationship with Jesus and to follow Jesus continues. It looks different in each one of your contexts. And that's the beauty about living into our mission is that God shows up and invites people in different ways to be present.

[00:02:28] And so that's a lot of what he gets into in the book transforming mission. That's why I'm bringing it, bringing it up, but it also comes to life in your local contexts in different.

[00:02:44] Tim: So with that being said, that's what we mean by resourcing Christ-centered leaders to navigate the challenges and opportunities of CRI courageous Christ-centered leadership. I mean, that's Sarah, we need courageous leaders in the time in which we're living. And so I think what, what we're trying to do with Leadercast explaining it here at the first of the year.

[00:03:09] Is, is actually, well, I think we're addressing the very need that people are are expressing.

[00:03:18] Sara: Yeah. And if you've listened to us for any length of time, you know, that I could go into a long. A long series on becoming courageous. So just for the sake of this podcast and the sake of brevity, let me just remind you that courage is not about putting on a Cape and being a hero. Courage is about learning the skills that you need to rumble with vulnerability.

[00:03:49] So let me just remind you that courage is made up of four skillsets. The first skill set is all about rumbling with vulnerability. How can you be present to people in those moments that might feel uncomfortable, that you might feel emotionally exposed? And it's not about. Pouring out your life story, inappropriately, inappropriately to people.

[00:04:12] That's why it's a skill you need to learn living into your values and not just talking about what you value, but actually walking the talk, braving trust living into the seven elements of what does it mean to have trust with the people that you're leading and then learning to rise. And you. May have heard me talk about learning to rise in a couple of different ways, the journey from Good Friday to Easter morning or in those moments.

[00:04:42] You've fallen and your face down in the arena, and you have to have the courage to get back up from a significant defeat in your leadership and continue leading and moving forward. Those four skill sets make up what it means to be a courageous leader. So when, when you hear us say challenges and opportunities of courageous leaders, there's a lot behind that word, courage.

[00:05:08] It's not simply. Put on the Cape and become a hero. We're not talking about that type of courage at all. There are absolutely wonderful heroes in our communities that do amazing things. Every single day. We're talking about courageous leadership in a different way.

[00:05:25] Tim: So with that kind of an introduction, Sarah, you've done a great job of setting us up, and that is the last 22 months or so we've added a whole new level of challenge to leadership. It was already difficult but in 2020 all of us had to pivot without warning.

[00:05:44] And those of you who are listening, you've poured your heart and soul into leading others. You've given God your best. And maybe even at the best, you're still facing discouragement and frustration.

[00:05:56] Sara: So this year, as we think about. This whole idea of hope throughout the year. Part of what we want to offer and remind you is that Christian hope is not fleeting or wishful thinking. It's not pie in the sky. Dreaming Christian hope is grounded in the love of God that we know in Jesus and our belief that the worst thing is never the last thing.

[00:06:20] Once again, we're resurrection people. And I know we celebrated the birth of Jesus and we don't mean to be moving towards Easter just yet, but we're Easter people, regardless of the scenes. And as followers of the living, God we know in Jesus, we're people of.

[00:06:38] Tim: And over the years, you've heard us talk about hope and different ways.

[00:06:45] Those of you who listened to LeaderCast. We spent the month of December talking about hope and one form or another, you know, we're putting a, a devotional together on hope throughout the year, but where we've talked about it in the past is with the hope cycle, hope discipleship pathway, and well, Sarah there'll be others that we'll be able to list in those show.

[00:07:10] Sara: Yeah. So just head over to the show notes Page at transformingmission.org forward slash 2 1 1, and we'll link those episodes on the show notes page. So, Tim, would you say that it's safe to say that we embrace hope.

[00:07:26] Tim: Yes. And I think hope is essential to not only everyday life. It's essential to leadership. And I think through Leadercast and, and the way that we're trying to resource leaders, we, we model hope.

[00:07:48] Sara: And I would go as far as to say, we want to be people of hope. Now hear me. When I say that people of hope sometimes get discouraged. That's called life It doesn't take away from you being a person of hope when you have a moment of discouragement.

[00:08:08] So hear that and know that at a very basic level, part of what we see as we look around is that people need, hope that the world that we are living. The challenges that you were facing as leaders that we are facing as leaders, we need hope. We need hope to be able to get up each morning and put our feet on the ground and say, okay, Jesus lead me through this because it's going to be going to be tough.

[00:08:42] Lead me through this because we have a chance to celebrate today. Today, we simply want to say week by week, month by month, we're putting together a resource and companion for you to be a hope-filled courageous Christ-centered leader. And that resource at the end of the day, when this journey comes to a completion will be a book of devotions.

[00:09:04] Now I say, when this journey comes to completion, we don't yet know when that's going to be. We're kind of living this out day by day, week by week, month by month. And so that resource will be a companion to this podcast when all is said and done. And you can head over to the show notes page again, to find a link for more information, if you want to contribute to those devotions that we are putting together anything more there, Tim, that you want to say about hope or about why we've decided to focus on hope throughout the.

[00:09:44] Tim: Sara. You've heard me say more than once over the our 200 plus episodes that man, I wish I had this resource when I was younger or starting in ministry. And one of the things. That you've brought to us and I hope people will go back to look at, I used the word hope there is the hope cycle and having a a goal in mind knowing what needs to be done to get there, being able to navigate the the barriers or the things that get in the way.

[00:10:19] And just knowing that because of who you are a child of God and given the, the gifts and resources to be who God created you to be, you can navigate those. I mean, you've got the, the agency you've got what you need to be able to reach your goal as you navigate what's in the way. So I would encourage people to go back and look at the.

[00:10:42] hope cycle that I know there are devotions.

[00:10:45] And I know that we've talked about hope and other ways. But I can see the hope cycle and situations every day. And, and I, I would encourage people to go back and look at that.

[00:10:58] Sara: Yeah. Hearing you name the different parts of the hope cycle again, Tim? What came to mind for me is the beginning of the year is often the time that people are setting up goals for what they want to accomplish through the year. Some people call them new year's resolutions.

[00:11:14] That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about how do, how are you envisioning 2022 going? And every year when I do that, when I get to December the goals, the goals that I had as I had written. In January, ended up shifting and morphing and becoming something different most of the time, unless it was something like walk three times a week, I haven't yet started running.

[00:11:46] So that didn't work and it's probably not going to, but you get my point that it's, that they morph. And that's part of being people with. That you have a goal. So this might be a great time as we start a new year to think about you've got a whole year ahead of you. What is it that God is envisioning?

[00:12:09] What is it that God has placed on your heart for the year ahead? And then to ask yourself, how will you continue to be a person of hope as you seek out that goal, knowing that it's likely going to morph and shift, and it's going to require you to navigate around obstacles and, and shift how you're doing things.

[00:12:31] That's what it means to be a person of hope all the while maintaining that agency. So I'm just echoing Tim, what you just said. Yeah, go back and listen to the episode on the hope cycle. And we talked about it in December and we also talked about it. Before that in I think a little bit more specific way.

[00:12:51] So another link on the show notes page, you've got three reasons now to head over to the, to the show notes page. So Tim, do you want to take us forward in terms of where we're heading and the goals or reasons that we're focusing on hope throughout.

[00:13:07] Tim: Well, every month, the episodes we'll touch on one of these three goals or reasons we're focusing on hopes throughout the year. One of them is to provide hope, filled encouragement for Christ-centered leaders. Oh, we're trying to provide hope for you. A second one would be to remind you of God's presence and power. And I know Sarah that this is one that, that you and I both know that if we, if we're not intentional about being reminded or thinking about this, is one we take for granted. And the third one is to disciple you to lead with. And maybe it's here that I want to say. And I was thinking of this as you were explaining the definition of hope earlier, and that is we really dismiss hope when we, when we do not understand the depth that we're talking about, because if it is just wishful thinking why do you need to be discipled to, to lead with hope it's not wishful thing? It's actually becoming who God created us to be so that we can navigate the very things that we're not anticipating. So we can reach the goal that God has set for us. So I think you've also said Sarah, as we've done our planning, that we'll have some guests to share their stories of hope along the way.

[00:14:34] So each month we can, you can look forward to a hope-filled, encouraging. A reminder of God's presence and power and ways that you can lead with hope.

[00:14:47] Sara: [00:14:47] So the next three episodes, we're going to walk through these reasons, helping to guide us in sharing at least three types of episodes each month for now, as we continue to become Christian disciples and help others become followers of Jesus, we simply want to remind you that hope is all around you. You simply need to look for it and pay attention to where God is moving in your midst.

[00:15:13] So as we wrap up this episode, Tim, do you have any last-minute words or maybe I'll ask you a little bit more. Focus question to end this episode, where have you experienced hope in the past week?

[00:15:34] And I'm making him think.

[00:15:39] Tim: Sara. I pray. I pray every day that I'll be able to recognize Jesus in my midst and the life, the people around me. Situation circumstance, every acquaintance and encounter of the day. So there, there are lots of, I, I want to say that there are lots of places that I'm aware of hope and my myths, but I think.

[00:16:01] one of them that that would work for me.

[00:16:05] And since it works for me, it's gonna work for everybody else since they're listening is my my oldest granddaughter. Who has found a way to work with her dad and the funeral business. She's 16 years old and she's energized by putting together life videos for families with their with their loved one who has passed now.

[00:16:33] 16. And she is excited about, and it's not her excitement is not working with the people as much as it is putting together a video. But what she does not realize she's doing, she's offering them hope.

[00:16:50] Sara: Yeah, what a gift.

[00:16:53] Tim: She's bringing them a celebration of life. And the thing that excites me about the. I mean, I could say it all to my granddaughter.

[00:17:04] And she reminds me of may working with my dad so many years ago and all that. But I think what really brings me hope in the midst of that is that she doesn't know that she's bringing hope.

[00:17:17] Sara: Yeah.

[00:17:18] Tim: She's doing something. She enjoys she's living with her passion. And because she's living that out, she's bringing hope to other people.

[00:17:30] Sara: Yeah.

[00:17:31] Tim: And that's part of what we're talking about. And that's part of what we're talking about being these hope hope-filled courageous Christ-centered leaders is that we're being who God created us to be. And we don't know what hope that we're offering to people as we ourselves be who God created us to be.

[00:17:52] So that's that, that would be the one that comes to mind to me.

[00:17:58] Sara: So maybe you'll take an opportunity this week and answer that question. Where have you experienced hope in the past week? Again, it's simply a question about intentionality, because sometimes we can skip right over it and, and things can happen. And we can say, oh, isn't that nice, but we don't experience the fullness of what is truly happening in that moment until we stop and really think about it.

[00:18:33] Consider that question this week. And let me remind you once again, because we've pointed you there a couple of times this week to the show notes page, and you can find that transformingmission.org forward slash 2 1 1. And I also want to encourage you to check out resources on the whole transforming mission website.

[00:18:56] There are a ton of resources on the website, and there's a wonderful little magnifying glass that as you are looking for a specific topic, just type it into that magnifying glass. And you will likely come up with several different resources that are available to you there, whether it is. Discipleship reading plans, whether it is about trust, whether it's about the hope cycle, as we mentioned today whether it's a devotion on and on there are lots of resources there, and sometimes we forget to remind you how this podcast is connected to a much more robust website.

[00:19:38] There's 210 other episodes of the podcast as well that you can search through and explore those resources. So let me remind you that who you are is how you lead bye for now.