Practice #5 - Empathy

SPEAKER: Joel Trainer

PASSAGE: Ruth 1

What if one of the most spiritual things you could do was to be sad—and to let others be sad with you? In this teaching, we explore Belong Practice #5: Empathy. Pastor Joel Trainer invites us to wrestle with three honest questions:

- How good are you at being sad?

- How good are you at being sad with other people?

- How good are you at letting other people be sad with you?

Empathy isn’t the same as sympathy. Sympathy says, “I’m sorry for you.” Empathy says, “I’m sorry with you.” And most of us aren’t great at it. Through the story of Naomi in Ruth 1, Joel shows how lament can lead us toward healing instead of silence—and how God often cares for us through good friends who stay with us in the murky middle between hope and reality.

As Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” In a world quick to move on, maybe it’s time we learn to sit with sadness—together.

Thanks for following our Belong series! Access conversation guides each week here: https://bright-city.cls.co/dFhw