When Jesus goes back to his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, the people who know him best are the ones who struggle most to see who he really is. Familiarity, “I already know this,” becomes a kind of spiritual anesthesia that keeps them from recognizing God’s strange light right in front of them.
This week of our “Strange Light” series sits with Luke 4:16–30 and Isaiah 61, exploring how pain can slide into entitlement, how we reduce people and even God to something manageable, and how grace refuses to stay inside our boundaries. We talk about work, relationships, and ordinary Tuesdays as the very places where God may already be present, asking us to wake up, pay attention, and “listen to our lives” again.
If you’ve ever felt numb in your faith, burned by religious certainty, or stuck in “same old, same old,” this is an invitation to notice where strange light might already be flickering in the familiar.
TNL Church: Growing into the people we're created to be as we join God to incite love, reduce suffering, and increase joy. Find out more at tnl.org
