What is Hesed?

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 het 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.

<Picture of a multi-generational group or just the Hebrew for Hesed to the right?>

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

How We Roll

  • Know Love

    Hesed is love. “God is love.” Love is not God, but true love only flows from Him. Our desire is to know Immanuel deeply in a love relationship.

  • Grow Love

    We desire maturity through heart-focused discipleship in community. Freedom, Identity, Spirit, Hesed community.

  • Show Love

    Hesed love is never intended to be kept silent. We want to spread hesed to all we encounter. Relational evangelism, restoration.