{"href":"http://player.captivate.fm/services/oembed?url=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.captivate.fm%2Fepisode%2Fee2d2eaf-59a4-42d6-addc-da2c71917de6","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Captivate.FM","provider_url":"https://www.captivate.fm","width":600,"height":200,"type":"rich","html":"","title":"Shema Part 4: The Heart","description":"Pastor Heather Thomas talks about the heart in the Shema prayer. \r\n\r\nOver the last few weeks we have been doing a word study on the Shema which is found in\r\nDeuteronomy 6:4-9 and for thousands of years Jewish people have been praying these words\r\ndaily. This week the word we are focusing on is the word heart and much of what will be\r\nexplained Sunday in terms of an ancient understanding of heart will be taken from the Bible\r\nproject. You can find the video here: https://thebibleproject.com/explore/shema-listen/\r\n\r\nThe biblical text gives us a diagnosis of the heart though its narrative and that diagnosis is\r\nsummarized by Jeremiah 17:9: \u201cThe heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately (or\r\nirreversibly) sick; who can understand it?\u201d\r\n\r\nAt the same time Jeremiah is clear that God will do something about this problem and both he\r\nand Ezekiel point to the hopeful solution (Jer 31:31-33; Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26+27)-- in his own\r\nfaithfulness God will send help and through his personal presence will transform and heal human\r\nhearts by changing them at a fundamental level. That change happens through Jesus and the\r\npower of his Spirit in us. He restores and heals our hearts to enjoy right relationship with God and\r\nothers but also to restore us to our God given purpose and vocation (Genesis 1+2). We bear the\r\nimage of God in the world and become a distinct people who, reflective of Gods act of love and\r\ngrace, scandalize the world through self-giving love.","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/1098e41e-8b74-4283-92e9-9abc82aaa9c7/3000x3000_9179372.jpg"}