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Loved Cafe, 6815 NE Birch St, Hillsboro, OR (2026)

06/05/2026

Lonely in a Connected World
By Pastor Brad

We live in the most connected age in human history, yet loneliness remains one of the most common struggles people face. We can reach almost anyone at almost any time. We can send messages across the world in seconds, join video calls with people thousands of miles away, and connect with more people online than previous generations could have imagined. Yet many people still lie awake at night wondering if anyone truly sees them, knows them, or understands them.

The rise of social media, online communities, smartphones, and now artificial intelligence has added another layer to that reality. More and more people are turning to technology for conversation, encouragement, and companionship. That fact alone tells us something important about the human heart. People are looking for connection. They are looking for understanding. They are looking for someone or something that will listen. Those desires are not weaknesses. They are part of how God created us. Scripture reminds us, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). From the beginning, human beings were created for relationship with God and with one another.

This conversation may make some people uncomfortable, and that is understandable. Just a few decades ago, the idea of carrying a device in our pocket that could instantly connect us with people around the world would have sounded impossible. Yet here we are. Most of us are still figuring out what all of this means and how it fits into healthy relationships, healthy communities, and healthy faith. If social media has helped you stay connected with family, that is okay. If technology has helped you learn, grow, find encouragement, or feel less isolated during a difficult season, that is okay too. Christians do not need to fear honest conversations about the world we actually live in.

Jesus certainly did not avoid uncomfortable conversations. He asked questions that challenged assumptions. He told stories that caused people to see familiar things in entirely new ways. Some people walked away encouraged. Others walked away convicted. Many walked away still thinking about what He had said. Yet those conversations often opened the door to deeper truths. Growth rarely happens without reflection. Understanding rarely grows when we avoid difficult questions. Sometimes the conversations that make us uncomfortable are the very conversations that help us grow.

Perhaps that is part of what is happening here. Questions about loneliness, technology, relationships, and connection do not always come with simple answers. Yet Christians have never been called to fear honest questions. We follow a Savior who regularly invited people to look deeper, think deeper, and see beyond the surface. Sometimes asking the question is just as important as finding the answer.

Some people who have spent time talking with artificial intelligence describe an unexpected feeling. They are surprised when a system remembers details from previous conversations, recalls a name, remembers a concern, or brings up something that was shared earlier. For some, that feels helpful. For others, it feels unsettling. Either way, the reaction often points to something deeper. Human beings long to be known. We want to know that someone remembers our story, our struggles, our joys, and the things that matter to us. Perhaps that is one reason these experiences can feel so powerful. They touch a longing that has existed within the human heart long before technology ever arrived.

The Bible tells us something remarkable about God. The psalmist wrote, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me” (Psalm 139:1). Think about that for a moment. The God who created the stars knows your name. The God who spoke the universe into existence knows your fears, your struggles, your questions, and your dreams. Long before social media existed, long before artificial intelligence existed, and long before anyone else knew your story, God knew it completely.

Jesus spent much of His ministry moving toward people who felt unseen. He spoke with the woman at the well when others avoided her (John 4:7-26). He called Zacchaeus down from the tree when others dismissed him (Luke 19:1-10). He welcomed children when others pushed them aside (Mark 10:13-16). Again and again, Jesus demonstrated that people are more than problems to solve. They are souls to love.

Perhaps the growing interest in AI says less about technology and more about the human heart. People are searching for connection. They are searching for meaning. They are searching for love. The beautiful truth of the Gospel is that before we ever began searching for God, He was already reaching for us. Before anyone else knew our name, He knew it. Before anyone else loved us, He loved us. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

If you feel lonely today, remember this. You are not invisible. You are not forgotten. You are not just another face in a crowd. You are a beloved child of God, created in His image and precious in His sight. The world offers countless ways to connect, but the most important connection of all is the One that has been there from the very beginning. God knows you. God sees you. God loves you. And because of that, you are never truly alone.

06/04/2026

Protecting the Word or Following the Word?
By Pastor Brad

Many of us care deeply about truth. We want to defend it. We want to stand up for what is right in a world that often feels confused about what is true and what is not. There is something good and noble in that desire. Truth helps us find our way. Truth builds trust. Truth helps us know one another and know God. Without truth, relationships eventually break apart. Without truth, communities struggle to flourish.

Yet there is a question worth asking. Is it possible to become so focused on protecting the Word that we forget to follow the Word?

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day believed they were protecting God’s Word. They studied it, memorized it, taught it, and defended it. They built traditions around it and sought to preserve it for future generations. Most were not trying to oppose God. In many ways, they believed they were serving God faithfully.

That is what makes their story so unsettling. The people who often struggled most to recognize Jesus were not the fishermen, tax collectors, or ordinary people. It was many of the people who believed they were standing closest to God. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the traditions. They knew the rules. Yet when the living Word stood before them, many did not recognize him. They protected the words while missing the Word.

The Gospel of John begins with a remarkable statement: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). A few verses later, John tells us, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14). The Word was not merely words on a page. The Word became a person. The Word walked dusty roads, sat at tables, listened to stories, touched lepers, welcomed children, forgave sinners, and shared meals with people others rejected.

Jesus did not use truth as a weapon. Jesus used truth as an act of love. When Jesus corrected people, it was to heal them. When Jesus challenged people, it was to free them. When Jesus exposed hypocrisy, it was because he loved people too much to leave them trapped by it. Truth and love were never separated. The same Jesus who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) also taught that the greatest commandments were to love God and love our neighbors (Matthew 22:37-39).

The same temptation remains today. It is possible to become so committed to defending an interpretation, a tradition, a tribe, a theology, or a certainty that we lose sight of the person at the center of it all. It is possible to know many things about God while missing the heart of God. The Apostle Paul warned about this when he wrote that a person could possess knowledge, faith, wisdom, and spiritual gifts, yet without love it amounts to nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-2).

The good news is that you are loved. Because you are loved, you do not have to fear the truth. Because you are loved, you do not have to win every argument. Because you are loved, you are free to learn, grow, listen, and change. God’s love is not threatened by honest questions, and God’s truth is not weakened by humility.

The world does not need more people shouting at one another. The world does not need more people trying to prove they are right. The world needs people who love truth enough to live it. The world needs people whose lives reflect grace, humility, kindness, and courage. The world needs people who care as much about loving their neighbors as they do about defending their beliefs.

Perhaps that is why Jesus continues to challenge us. Following Jesus is not merely about defending ideas. It is about becoming the kind of people Jesus came to create. People who tell the truth. People who show mercy. People who seek justice. People who forgive. People who love.

The Pharisees believed they were protecting the Word. Jesus came to show them that the Word was standing right in front of them.

That story still speaks today.

Before defending a belief, sharing an opinion, or entering an argument, perhaps pause and ask a simple question: Does this help me love God and love my neighbor more deeply?

If our version of truth makes us less loving, we may be protecting words while missing the Word.

You are loved. ☕️💕

06/03/2026

The Stories We Tell Ourselves
By Pastor Brad

Have you ever looked into a pond when the water was stirred up? The reflection is there, but you cannot see it clearly. Every ripple changes what appears to be true. Shapes become distorted. Shadows become something they are not. The harder the water moves, the harder it becomes to see what is actually there.

Sometimes our hearts work the same way. We tell ourselves stories. We tell ourselves why our anger is justified. Why our fear makes sense. Why our actions are necessary. Why someone else deserves what happened to them. Why we should look the other way. Why this one exception is acceptable. Before long, we are no longer seeing clearly. We are seeing a reflection distorted by the ripples.

That is how rationalization works. We rarely begin by choosing what is wrong. We begin by choosing what we want and then searching for reasons. Little by little, we convince ourselves that what serves us must also be right.

Jesus continually invited people to look deeper. Beyond their excuses. Beyond their fears. Beyond their certainty. Beyond their desire to be right. Jesus asked people to look honestly at the condition of their hearts.

Perhaps the question today is not, “What reasons can I find?” Perhaps the question is, “Would this look like Jesus?”

Because there comes a moment when the ripples settle and the truth becomes visible. In that moment, we can keep defending what we want, or we can follow where love leads. We can cling to our reasons, or we can follow Jesus. Every act of grace, every act of mercy, every act of forgiveness, and every act of love begins with that choice.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

The stories we tell ourselves can change the reflection. They cannot change the truth. The invitation of Jesus is not to become better at defending ourselves. The invitation of Jesus is to become people of love.

You are loved.

06/02/2026

When God Won’t Leave You Alone
By Pastor Brad

Have you ever left church carrying something that was not there when you arrived?

The service was over. The music had ended. The sermon was finished. People were standing around talking in the parking lot. Yet something stayed with you. Maybe it was a Scripture. Maybe it was a story. Maybe it was a single sentence that seemed to follow you all the way home.

You tried to move on with your day, but it kept showing up. It was there while you drove home. It was there while you washed dishes. It was there when you lay down that night. Something about it would not let go.

Most of us have experienced that at some point.

When I was younger, I assumed those moments were uncomfortable because something was wrong. As I have gotten older, I have begun to wonder if sometimes those moments happen because something is right. Sometimes God’s Spirit has a way of gently refusing to leave us alone until we see something we need to see.

One day a wealthy young man approached Jesus and asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17-27). It seemed like a simple conversation. Jesus listened. Jesus cared about him. Then Jesus said something that changed everything. Sell what you have, give it to the poor, and follow me.

The young man walked away sad.

I have often wondered what happened after that. Did he spend the rest of the day thinking about Jesus’ words? Did he replay the conversation in his mind? Did he lie awake that night hearing those words again? We are not told. What we do know is that he walked away carrying something that was not there when he arrived.

Jesus did that to people.

The woman at the well arrived carrying shame and left carrying hope (John 4:1-30). Peter arrived carrying certainty and left carrying questions (Matthew 16:21-23). The rich young ruler arrived carrying confidence and left carrying a challenge (Mark 10:17-27). Again and again, people encountered Jesus and found themselves unable to return to life exactly as it had been before.

That was not because Jesus enjoyed making people uncomfortable. It was because Jesus loved them too much to leave them where they were.

Sometimes we hear the word “provocative” and think of someone trying to start an argument. Yet Jesus often challenged people in a very different way. He challenged them to see. He challenged them to notice what they had ignored. He challenged them to look honestly at their own hearts. He challenged them to imagine that God’s way might be bigger than they had ever considered.

Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44). Forgive seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:22). The last will be first (Matthew 20:16). Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). A Samaritan is the hero (Luke 10:25-37). Those teachings were not comfortable. They challenged assumptions. They unsettled people. Yet the goal was never shock. The goal was transformation.

I have noticed over the years that the moments that helped me grow the most were rarely the moments that made me comfortable. They were the moments that made me think. They were the moments that followed me home. They were the moments that stayed with me long after the conversation ended. Looking back, many of those moments felt like interruptions at the time. Now they feel more like gifts.

The interesting thing is that we usually focus on what was said. We replay the sermon. We think about the Bible verse. We remember the conversation. Yet sometimes the more important question is why it stayed with us. Why did that particular sentence touch a nerve? Why did that story keep coming back? Why did that question refuse to go away?

Sometimes God’s Spirit is trying to show us something.

Sometimes it is a fear we have carried for years. Sometimes it is a wound that still needs healing. Sometimes it is an assumption we have never questioned. Sometimes it is an invitation to trust God more deeply than we ever have before.

The good news is that God does not challenge us to shame us. God challenges us because God loves us. The same Jesus who confronted people also forgave them. The same Jesus who challenged people also healed them. The same Jesus who invited people to change also welcomed them exactly as they were.

That is how love works.

Love sees who we are, but it also sees who we can become.

So the next time you leave church carrying something that was not there when you arrived, do not be too quick to push it away. Sit with it for a while. Pray about it. Listen to it. Pay attention to it.

It may just be that God is not trying to make you uncomfortable.

It may be that God loves you too much to leave you unchanged.

Key Scripture: Mark 10:17-27

06/01/2026

A Grateful Heart
By Pastor Brad

“How was worship yesterday?” It's often a common question on a Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.

When most people think about worship, they think about songs, prayers, church services, and sacred spaces. Yet one of the most surprising stories in the Gospels suggests that worship may sometimes look much simpler. It may look like gratitude.

Luke 17:11-19 tells the story of ten people suffering from leprosy who cried out to Jesus for mercy. Jesus healed them all. Ten lives were restored. Ten futures were returned. As they made their way down the road, one man stopped. While the others continued toward their new lives, he turned around and walked back. Only one returned to say thank you.

Jesus noticed.

Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” Jesus asked. The question is striking because Jesus was not seeking praise. The healing had already been given. The gift was already theirs. Yet Jesus drew attention to the one who returned. Something beautiful had happened in that man’s heart. Ten received the miracle. One recognized the love behind it.

The nine received exactly what they had hoped for and continued on their way. The one who returned discovered something greater. He recognized the compassion behind the healing, the mercy behind the gift, and the love behind the miracle. The healing changed ten lives. Gratitude changed one heart.

Throughout Scripture, gratitude is closely connected to worship. Gratitude does not earn God’s love, nor does it make God love us more. Gratitude simply opens our eyes to the love that has already been given. It helps us recognize grace when we encounter it and reminds us that even ordinary moments can be filled with gifts we have stopped noticing.

Many people struggle with gratitude from another direction. They find it difficult to receive it. They brush aside compliments, dismiss appreciation, or become uncomfortable when someone sincerely says thank you. Yet Jesus welcomed gratitude when it was offered. He allowed people to express what was in their hearts. Receiving gratitude with humility is not arrogance. Sometimes it is simply allowing another person to complete an act of love.

The Bible is a love story from beginning to end. Again and again, God reaches toward humanity with love, mercy, forgiveness, and grace. Again and again, people miss it, forget it, resist it, and then discover it all over again. Gratitude is one of the ways we recognize that love. It is one of the ways love responds when it finally sees itself.

Today, take time to notice the gifts that have become familiar. Notice the people who have walked beside you. Notice the kindnesses you may have overlooked and the blessings that quietly fill your days. Offer thanks freely. Receive it graciously. Let gratitude become part of the love story still unfolding around you.

Ten walked away healed, but one walked back grateful. Jesus noticed the difference. Perhaps that is what worship often looks like—not grand words, perfect rituals, or public displays of faith, but a heart that recognizes love when it sees it and takes the time to say thank you. Gratitude does not create God’s love. It helps us recognize the love that has been surrounding us all along.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1)

You are loved. 💕

05/31/2026

Love Doesn’t Hurt
By Pastor Brad

We hear people say it all the time. “I hurt them because they hurt me.” “Maybe now they’ll understand how I felt.” “Maybe if they feel some of my pain, things will get better.” Those words usually come from a place of genuine hurt. A husband sleeps on the couch after an argument. A wife gives the silent treatment. Two friends stop speaking. An adult child ignores a parent’s calls. Someone says something sharp because something sharp was said to them. The pain sits there for a while, and eventually the temptation appears to give some of it back.

The logic seems reasonable at first. If they hurt the way I hurt, healing can begin. If they feel the same sting, perhaps they will finally understand. Yet life rarely works that way. Pain often creates more pain. Wounds create new wounds. The cycle keeps turning as each person tries to hand their hurt back to the other. Understanding, however, usually grows through conversation, compassion, honesty, and grace. Healing begins when someone chooses a different path.

That brings me to the title of this reflection: Love Doesn’t Hurt. I could have called it “Love Shouldn’t Hurt,” but I chose these words carefully. Human relationships sometimes bring pain because human beings are imperfect. We disappoint one another. We misunderstand one another. We say things poorly. We carry fears and insecurities into our relationships. Yet there is a difference between pain that occurs while people are genuinely trying to love one another and pain that is intentionally delivered to punish, manipulate, control, or get even. One is part of the human condition. The other is a deliberate choice.

When someone decides to wound another person in order to teach a lesson, gain leverage, settle a score, or force understanding, love has already begun losing its voice. Love seeks healing. Love seeks restoration. Love seeks understanding. The purpose of love is always to move people toward wholeness. Hurt may appear along the journey because people are imperfect, but causing hurt is never the destination love is trying to reach.

The Bible is filled with stories showing what happens when hurt is answered with hurt. Jacob deceived his brother Esau, and later deception found its way back into Jacob’s own life (Genesis 27; Genesis 29). Joseph’s brothers allowed jealousy and resentment to grow until they sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:18-28). King Saul’s fear and insecurity turned into repeated attempts to harm David (1 Samuel 18:6-12). In each case, the wound spread outward. More people were hurt. More relationships were damaged. More lives were scarred.

Then Jesus entered the story and showed a different way. Betrayed by Judas, denied by Peter, abandoned by friends, mocked by religious leaders, and crucified by political power, Jesus experienced rejection from nearly every direction imaginable. Yet instead of seeking revenge, Jesus chose forgiveness. Instead of returning injury for injury, Jesus prayed for those who were causing the suffering (Luke 23:34). In the middle of cruelty, Jesus revealed the heart of God.

That is why Jesus’ teaching remains so radical today. Jesus did not simply tell us to love the people who love us. Jesus taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Think about what that means. If we are called to treat our enemies with dignity, mercy, and compassion, what does that say about the people closest to us? A husband is not an enemy. A wife is not an enemy. A child is not an enemy. A friend is not an enemy. If Jesus calls us to extend grace even toward those who oppose us, then surely those we love deserve even greater care.

The Apostle Paul gave us one of the clearest descriptions of love in all of Scripture. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not self-seeking. Love is not easily angered. Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Notice what Paul describes. Love is actively seeking the good of another person. Love is moving toward healing, growth, and restoration. Love is not keeping score. Love is not looking for opportunities to strike back. Love is not searching for ways to make another person suffer.

Many relationships become trapped because both people become scorekeepers. Every offense is recorded. Every argument becomes evidence. Every wound becomes another reason to strike back. Eventually the relationship begins to resemble a courtroom where everyone is presenting exhibits and nobody is listening. The goal quietly shifts from understanding to winning.

Jesus offers a better way. The goal is restoration. The goal is healing. The goal is helping one another become whole. That does not mean ignoring harmful behavior or avoiding difficult conversations. Love tells the truth. Love establishes healthy boundaries. Love confronts what needs to be confronted. Yet even then, the purpose remains healing rather than punishment, restoration rather than revenge.

The world often teaches us to get even. Jesus teaches us to get whole. One path keeps old wounds alive. The other creates the possibility of new life. One path deepens division. The other creates space for reconciliation. One path asks, “How can I make them feel what I felt?” The other asks, “How can healing begin?”

If you are carrying hurt today, bring honesty to it. Bring wisdom to it. Speak openly. Listen carefully. Seek understanding. Establish healthy boundaries where they are needed. Seek reconciliation where it is possible. Most of all, resist the temptation to turn your wound into someone else’s wound. Pain has a way of traveling from person to person unless someone decides it stops here.

That is the path Jesus showed us. Betrayed by a friend, denied by another, abandoned by many, mocked by the powerful, and crucified by the crowd, Jesus stood at the very place where most people would have chosen revenge. Jesus had every reason to return hurt for hurt, insult for insult, and wound for wound. Yet instead of feeding the cycle, Jesus interrupted it. Instead of sending pain back into the world, Jesus answered with forgiveness. Instead of creating another wound, Jesus opened the door to healing.

Every day we face that same choice in our own lives. We can pass the hurt along, or we can transform it. We can keep the cycle moving, or we can bring it to an end. We can hand our pain to someone else, or we can place it in the hands of God and choose a different way. Every act of revenge keeps the chain intact. Every act of grace weakens it. Every act of forgiveness loosens another link.

The world has always been very good at passing pain from person to person. Nations do it. Communities do it. Churches do it. Families do it. Friends do it. The hurt moves from one heart to another, often for generations, because nobody is willing to be the one who stops it.

Love chooses another way. Love absorbs, heals, restores, and redeems. Love chooses understanding over retaliation, mercy over revenge, and reconciliation over victory. Love refuses to let yesterday’s wound become tomorrow’s weapon.

The world passes pain from person to person. Love breaks the chain.

05/30/2026

We All Carry Contradictions
By Pastor Brad

One of the truths we discover about being human is that we often carry two realities at the same time. We want to be patient, yet we become frustrated. We want to trust, yet we worry. We want to forgive, yet we hold on to hurt. We want to love well, yet sometimes we fall short of the person we hope to be. These tensions are part of the human experience, and most of us carry them more often than we realize.

The contradictions we carry today often become part of the wisdom we carry tomorrow. Most of us spend a great deal of time wishing away our struggles, our questions, and our tensions. Yet many of the lessons that shape us most deeply emerge from precisely those places. The moments we would gladly skip are often the moments that teach us compassion, humility, patience, and grace.

Scripture is filled with people who understood this reality. Abraham trusted God enough to leave home and still wrestled with fear (Genesis 12:1-4; Genesis 20:1-2). Moses answered God’s call and still doubted himself (Exodus 3:11; Exodus 4:10). David sang of God’s goodness while carrying wounds and regrets of his own making (Psalm 23:1-6; 2 Samuel 11:1-17). Peter stepped out of the boat toward Jesus and later denied even knowing him (Matthew 14:28-31; Luke 22:54-62). Their stories remind us that faithfulness is rarely a straight line.

Even Jesus spent time in the wilderness facing temptation (Matthew 4:1-11). The wilderness was a place of wrestling, a place where easier paths and greater power were offered. Jesus chose a different way. That story reminds us that struggle itself is part of life. The presence of temptation, uncertainty, or internal conflict does not mean we have lost our way. It means we are walking a path that every human being eventually walks.

That realization brings me comfort. Throughout Scripture, God meets people in the middle of their uncertainty, their fears, and their growth. Again and again, we encounter a God who walks beside people while they are becoming rather than waiting for them to arrive at some imagined finish line (Psalm 23:4; Romans 5:8). God’s love shows up in the middle of the journey.

Most of us spend a lot of energy hiding the parts of ourselves that feel unfinished. We show the strong parts to the world and quietly tuck away the struggling parts. Yet growth often begins when we stop pretending and become honest about both. Grace has a way of meeting us there, in the place where we finally acknowledge that we are still learning, still healing, and still becoming.

Perhaps there is something in your life that feels unsettled today. Maybe you are learning to trust while still carrying worries. Maybe you are trying to forgive while still feeling hurt. Maybe you are discovering courage while still feeling afraid. Maybe you are growing in love while still wrestling with old habits, old wounds, and old fears. Those experiences place you among generations of people who have discovered that growth often happens in the middle of the wrestling.

As I think about the contradictions we all carry, I find hope in knowing that God is patient with us. Scripture is filled with people who were still growing, still learning, and still stumbling forward. Their stories remind us that God works with real people, not perfect people. God’s love remains steady even while we are finding our footing.

The contradictions you carry today may become part of the wisdom you carry tomorrow. What feels unfinished today may become a source of compassion, understanding, and grace for someone else one day. God’s love has a way of meeting us in those places, patiently shaping us over time.

You are still becoming who you were created to be.

And you are loved.

Loved Cafe

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