Worship

Current Worship Series: Never Enough

Pressure. We all feel it. Especially within families today, the pressure at home, school and generally in life seems to be growing. We feel the need to keep up. We fear missing something that will make us lag behind. All of the effort and striving to stay competitive does not seem to be working. We all feel so much pressure. This cannot be healthy, right or even good for us. But what are we to do? Even in the midst of our abundance, nothing is ever enough.

The nature and culture of society has changed so much over the last few decades. Our children, once free to be themselves, find themselves awash in expectations that seem extreme. Do your best has seemingly transitioned to, "We know you can do better," and then grown into, "You have to do better in order to be a success." The unintended result has become that our children – and by association, parents – believe that self-esteem resides in meeting an ever-increasing standard of expectations.

Suddenly, it feels like we don’t matter. Or perhaps that the only way we can matter is through achievement. Research has shown us that this is harmful to our kids. Surprisingly, the mental health and positive outcomes of children raised in highly competitive schools and communities is actually lower than children raised in less competitive communities.

As the church, we have the ability to be of help. Our primary message at Sheridan is that God loves you unconditionally. In essence, you matter! You matter to God, and you matter to your Sheridan family! You are enough. You matter. You are loved.

In her 2023 book, Never Enough, Jennifer Breheny Wallace shows us how the hyper-competitive culture in specific communities has negatively impacted the overall health of their children. She goes on to make the strong case for “mattering” and gives vital information as to how to break this cycle.

This fall we will be reading this book as one congregation. (You can purchase a copy at cost from our OneSent Bookstore.) We will explore what is happening, and how we might move beyond the grind of achievement. As we ground ourselves in God’s unconditional love within our community, be assured that you matter.