What is חֶסֶד?
Hesed House exists to build and encourage communities of loving attachments helping people to live fully alive from the heart Jesus gave them.
When you read the word love in the Hebrew Scripture, there is a good chance the Hebrew word is HESED. It means something like loyal lovingkindness. The New Testament writers grabbed the rarely used word, agape, to get this idea across and usually put a qualifier with it to emphasize the deep connection. In modern psychology and neurology we call it attachment.
HESED or attachment actually occupies a crucial processing center in your brain. You aren’t your true or best self, who God intends you to be, without it. It is deeply relational as God designed us to be and as God is Himself. We only mature when HESED is present. When it is absent, relationships fall apart.
Perhaps, like many others, you read books like The Other Half of Church by Michel Hendricks and Jim Wilder or Deeper Walk by Marcus Warner and found the 4 characteristics of a heart prepared for character transformation; joy, hesed, group identity, and gospel correction. Joy, described by Life Model Works as the feeling you get when someone is happy to be with you, fuels character transformation which happens through deep HESED attachments which show us who we really are and correct us when our actions aren’t aligned. This is how Jesus established His Church to function as a multi-generational family. This is what Hesed House is all about.
Core Beliefs
GOD & HIS FAMILY
All of creation flows from the loving relationship among the tri-une God. Since all people are created in His image, all we are and all we do is grounded in love when we live as God designed us and according to our identity as children of God.
CHURCH
The Church is made up of all who trust Jesus for salvation, those connected to Immanuel in relationship. We aren’t perfect, but we are God’s chosen means for action in this world.
BIBLE
God communicates with us in various ways, but we know the Bible is His inspired story to us. It is completely true and accurate and comes from God Himself through human authors so deeply attuned to Him their words are His.
RESTORATION
People willingly commit trespasses, iniquities, and sins leading to separation from God and one another. Immanuel, as God With Us, loves all people and desires hesed relationship with us so Jesus became a person, lived perfectly, died the death our sin deserves, and rose to life again to defeat death and bring those who trust Him for salvation back into hesed relationship with Immanuel.
MARRIAGE
Marriage, as established in Scripture, is the union of one man and one woman and is the only legitimate and accepted sexual relationship. Hesed House does not recognize any other union as a legitimate marriage and will not endorse or condone any other sexual relationship on any grounds. Gender and sexuality are according to the genetic design. Where genetic design is unclear, natural physical expression is accepted. Hesed House will not challenge gender unless a person self-discloses or other evidence should manifest.
Heart-Focused Discipleship
FREEDOM
As a child of God, freedom is your birthright! However, freedom is not automatic. God has given us tools to win spiritual battles and find healing for wounded hearts.
IDENTITY
Every Christian has a shared identity based on Covenant (what Christ has done for us) and an individual identity based on Creation (who God has uniquely made us to be).
SPIRIT & SCRIPTURE
Walking in the Spirit will open up a whole new way of living in union with Christ. Learning to hear God’s voice and experience His presence with you in your daily life changes everything!
HESED COMMUNITY
No one is called to go it alone. We are created for community that goes beyond the surface to sharing life from the heart using healthy relational skills to create belonging
RESTORATION
We were created to bring order into the world, to build. With the curse, though, the world moves toward decay and death, yet our call remains the same. Take the healing and restoration in your life to others, restoring hearts, minds, and communities.
EVANGALISM
Yeah, the word brings up all kinds of ideas and feelings. We go and make disciples. Nothing fancy. GO into the world doing what you love & prayerfully look for opportunities to connect along the way. Listen a lot. Talk a little about your walk with Immanuel.