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Hey folks, Christian and Trish here, and we are gearing up for season two of the Abide in Me podcast. We wanted to look back and give a preview of what's to come.

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Thanks, Christian. It's been a joy to collaborate together on this podcast, and we're excited to enter back into regular rhythms of fall. But first, could you share a bit about our experience this summer?

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Absolutely. This summer, we asked a few people from our staff to prepare something that God had placed on their hearts for our podcast audience. We wanted to give them an opportunity to speak into the life of our people in a way that was authentic to each of them. From talking about AA to C.S. Lewis, being good neighbors, or song and liturgy, each was so insightful and life-giving. I'm so grateful for our team and how they took the time to bless all of us with their voice and giftings. I loved it so much that I look forward to doing it again next summer. We hope that it blessed you as we took a break from the regular podcast rhythms. Trish, can you tell us a little bit about what to expect heading into the fall?

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We're going to start September with a short break. During this time, we invite you to walk with us through our annual all things news celebration. We never fully arrive. God is always at work in our lives. So let's open ourselves again to the new thing God is doing in us, with us, and through us for the world. During the first few weeks of September, we invite you to revisit the weekly sermons on our YouTube channel and our sermon podcast. Head over to our website at pillarchurch.com for more information on that. There may be a few exceptions throughout the year when our liturgical rhythms look a bit different, but beginning September 15, we will return to our Tuesday and Thursday episode release schedule with the launch of our theme, The Speed of Love. Hear this passage from the message, Matthew chapter 11. Are you tired? Worn out, burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me, and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

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Our commitments are demanding. Our world is weary. We are after something. Something good we think. Better we hope. The Apostle Paul gave our hearts longing a voice when he wrote, Now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. Maybe that's what we're after. Love. But the social data is not encouraging. Some say, culturally speaking, that we are becoming more indifferent. In the frantic pace and the social fatigue, we end up looking towards a weekend or a vacation. We wait for a new season or a different opportunity. We pursue the elusive day when everything will settle down into healthier rhythms or a more balanced life. And in the meantime, we fill our calendars so that we can get everything done. Only we continue to find that all of our looking and waiting and pursuing never seem to get us what we set out to find. Love. What if how we get there is the getting there? What if that elusive future is actually meant to be a present reality? Consider this. How you spend your day is how you spend your life. In his book titled Three Mile an Hour God, Kazuki Koyama puts it like this Love has its speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice it or not. At three miles an hour, it is the speed we walk, and therefore the speed the love of God walks.

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Koyama is inviting us to slow down from the hurried pace of our lives with its social angst in order to be present to one another in love. Love has its speed. This fall, as we enter into another season of ministry, we want to invite you to journey with us at the speed of love. We'll walk through Old Testament narratives, paying attention to God's speed in the fractured lives of our ancient mothers and fathers as we seek to live at the speed of love, unhurried, patient, and attentive to ourselves and each other in grace.