The following are main points from today's sermon:
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
“Smart people learn from everything and everyone, average people from their experiences, stupid people already have all the answers.” – Socrates
“Your mistakes do not define you. They show you a roadmap to stumble better next time until one day you stop stumbling.”
“One day you will tell your story of how you overcame, what you went through, and it will be someone else's survival guide.”
Just as reading a book can transport us to different times and places, reading the lives of others allows us to transcend our limited perspectives.
The act of reading lives is an invitation—a call to engage, to listen, and to learn.
In the stories of fellow human beings, we find characters who reflect our struggles, hopes, and dreams, reminding us that we are not alone on our journey.
My Shared Experiences as A Living Survivor’s Guide, Who Is Now Thriving:
· Sharing our stories creates room for authenticity, relatability, vulnerability, and connection, inspiring others to overcome difficulties with God’s help.
· Our pain can become a platform to bring comfort and guidance to others who are walking a similar path.
· Sharing stories of triumph instills hope for those who are facing their battles. When someone hears how we overcame adversity, it ignites a spark within them, reminding them that victory is possible.
· Through our stories, we recount the steps we took, the lessons we learned, share insights, strategies, and the faith that sustained us, we become living survival guides for others.
· We are interconnected through our shared humanity, challenges, struggles, and perseverance, which makes us a source of inspiration and guidance for one another.
· We learn from each other because every person's journey carries unique insights, perspectives, and wisdom that can enrich our own lives.
· Each one of us has a unique story, a journey filled with ups and downs, victories, and struggles. These stories are not merely personal histories but powerful testimonies of God's faithfulness, mercy, and grace.
· We are called to steward our experiences in a way that brings honor to God.
· We must intentionally share our stories when we are ready, not for our own glory, but to point others to the transformative work of God.
· We are like letters, written by the hand of God, to be read by the world. Let us recognize the significance of our lives as living survivors.
May we embrace this calling and live our lives as open letters and message, declaring the goodness, grace, power, and faithfulness God.
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SCRIPTURES AND PRAYERS
CYCLE OF BLESSINGS
As a congregation, The Tabernacle of Glory bases our studies and principles on the Six Holy Currencies of the Cycle of Blessings through the lens of Acts 2:42-46:
The believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them. Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. They praised God and demonstrated God's goodness to everyone. The whole city was favorable to them. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.
The Cycle of Blessings, by author 
Eric Law, teaches how the six currencies of: time and place, gracious leadership, relationship, truth, wellness and money flow and recirculate to form a cycle of blessings to empower congregations as well as strengthen their internal relationships and to reach out and connect with the diverse populations in their neighborhood.
SIX HOLY CURRENCIES DEFINED
RELATIONSHIP:
The internal and external networks of mutually respectful connections that leaders and members of a church and ministry have. Internal connections include constructive relationships among members and leaders, area churches or ministries of the same affiliation, area denominational organizations, and national and international denominational structures.
External connections include constructive relationships with non-members, different racial, cultural and ethnic groups in the neighborhood, people with resources and people in need in the community, civic community leaders, ecumenical and interfaith partners, community and civic organizations, and local businesses.
GRACIOUS LEADERSHIP:
The ability to use skills, tools, models, and processes to create gracious environments (Grace Margin) within which mutually respectful "relationships" and the discernment of the "truth" across differences an be built internally, among existing members, and externally, with non-members. Differences can be racial, ethnic, age, gender, sexual orientation, class, political affiliation, or simply those existing between church members and other folks in the neighborhood.