Well With My Soul from Severn Church, Bristol

How liberating can it be to live within limits? In this talk, Owen Lynch looks at what happens when we don't accept limits and become overburdened, disillusioned or tied into unhealthy relationships. For people who believe in Jesus, it can be hard to accept limits if faith says there should be none. But looking closer at Jesus, can the choices he made and the limits he accepted with his humanity help us make the most of our lives and limitations too?

We'll chat about this with our panel next week. If you have any questions or anything you'd like to share, you can email us - [email protected]

How much is who we are and what we do influenced by inheritance from our families? Today, our panel discusses our family backgrounds, how we've recognised (sometimes after a long time) that we have become more like our parents than we expected, and how we've been able to move on from feeling locked into inherited patterns of behaviour.

There is a very big realisation lurking in here about the way we end up conflicted and stressed about all of this. It's to do with our expectations of perfection, initially in our parents, and then in ourselves. What can happen when we spot that and call it out for the impossibility that it is?

We'll look at this more next week when Owen brings more about how we see ourselves and our limitations. If you would like to share any thoughts or questions, email us - [email protected]

How much are we shaped by family and patterns inherited from our parents? In this talk, Owen Lynch looks at the influence of family on famous leaders in the Bible and people in our own time. We choose our own paths, but it can help us to grow awareness of how our choices are influenced by vows we made to ourselves when growing up. Can Jesus' offer of "born again" new life then break us free of inherited destructive patterns?

Next week, we'll gather our panel to discuss what this all means and how it feels to us. If you have questions or anything you'd like to share, email us at [email protected]

What do we think about these ideas about spiritual and emotional health, why they don't always match up, and why life would be better if they do?

Join our panel discussing how we've struggled with inner conflicts and sharing honestly, what it means to start stripping off our protective scales, and how long we think it might take to become emotionally healthy.

Next week, Owen will be talking about family and how we can be shaped by our earliest experiences. If you'd like to share any thoughts or questions, email us - [email protected]

We can look nice and spiritually sorted on the surface, but what's going on underneath? In this talk, Owen Lynch looks at what affects our emotional health which is often hidden from view until it bubbles up into occasional outbursts of impatience, anger or pain. Growing our awareness of what causes that pain can help us, not just to manage it but to outgrow it with God's help.

Next episode, we'll have a panel to discuss what they've found good or difficult about this. If you have questions or anything you’d like to share, email us at [email protected]

Why do we often end up feeling different inside from how we want to look on the outside? Can growing our awareness about this help us to become more healthy and better able to face challenges?

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch discuss experiences of this, including how they have been building friendships in a church context with small groups of people who want to help each other grow.

This podcast is the start of a journey exploring more about spiritual and emotional health, why these need to link together (and what happens when they don't), and what we are learning from life and relationships.

If you would like to ask questions or share your experiences, email [email protected]

Welcome! You're in the right place for a podcast from Severn Vineyard about spiritual and emotional health, what these mean to us and how they link with each other and our other kinds of healthiness to help us face every challenge we meet in life.

We will cover a topic every week, sometimes with a talk from Owen Lynch, Severn Vineyard's co-lead pastor, and other weeks with a panel discussing how it's working out in our lives, or maybe not! What are finding difficult, or what do we have questions about?

If you have questions or want to grow in this with us, we hope you'll subscribe and get our free episodes every Friday morning. You can also explore our resources at severnvineyard.org/health and join us every Sunday in person or online to meet us and share what's happening with you. Email [email protected] if you'd like to get in touch.