Still Speaking with Ivanhoe Church

Pastor Kris and Shelley take up the subject of Lent, a forty-day journey of seeking: for clarity, for wisdom, for love that makes us whole. Seeking requires asking honest questions; our faith community creates space to wrestle with profound questions fearlessly. May you journey bravely and trust your ability to listen for new answers.

Our Faith Journeys video series features ways the Holy Spirit has illuminated the lives of those who listen for God's Word. May you be uplifted through the story told through Lillian Mueller's faith. We pray that her story may resonate with yours and that the Holy Spirit may embrace you in hope, peace, and joy.

In today's Faith Journey episode, Pastor Kris discusses intentionality as the foundation for leadership, creativity, and faith with the partners of Intentional Energy 3, Henrieta Ribeiro and Maryanne Kyle-DiPietropaolo. Henrieta and Maryanne recently led a workshop at Ivanhoe, creating safe spaces for learning, growth, and change. We are confident you'll see the action of the Holy Spirit in their work and faith journeys.

In pairing Psalm 35: 1-10 and Ephesians 6: 10-18, Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss how we can fight for those we love when they are suffering. Explore spiritual practices from “See No Stranger” by Valerie Kaur, they find parallels in the teachings of Jesus Christ. We choose Love, and that's how we fight; our struggle is life-giving rather than destructive, taking on the armor of God for the sake of others.

Pastor Kris and Shelley talk today about the correlation of perseverance in faith and marathons. Each requires training and fortitude, but no one succeeds alone. We draw our support from the cloud of saints, our community, and in the good word of a stranger along the journey. We are all—every one of us—given talents that we are called to use in both world and church.

Pastor Kris and Shelley invite Sandra Dwire into a conversation about Vacation Bible School. One of the year's highlights is our Vacation Bible School, based this year on the Lord's Prayer and how we see God cares and provides for us. One of the most important things we do in ministry is to help youth form a relationship with God. This discussion highlights our being drawn together by God's spirit when we are engaged in intergenerational, creative, joyful expression.

Today, Pastor Kris and Shelley take up the subject of prayer, drawing from Luke 1:11. Our prayer life shapes us and our outlook. Rather than the one-off request, we are called into prayer in its many forms with purpose and perseverance as a way of life.

Pastor Kris and Shelley are joined by Barry, Ivanhoe's podcast editor, as we reflect on the third anniversary of this journey. These conversations have enabled our growth through hearing different perspectives. These podcasts give us the opportunity to reflect again, often in greater detail, on the scripture of the week, where we can find meaning and put our faith into practice.

In this audio podcast, Maclyn Peat, lovingly known as Mac, joins Pastor Kris and Shelley in our Faith Journeys series. We believe that every life offers a unique, invaluable story and that stories bind us in community. As you experience stories of those who have discovered faith in God through their encounter with Jesus Christ, may you discover insights that inform how you respond to God's calling in your life. This podcast is avaibable in video our YouTube Channel, at ivanhoechurch.org/youtube.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss forgiveness, guided by reading the story of Saul's transformation. Jesus came to embody God's grace, calling into service the least among us. As with Paul, God's forgiveness calls us into a new faith relationship and we are likewise called into transformative forgiveness of others. Even as a one-off response to an incident or action, forgiveness is one of the most difficult acts of faith. Yet our faith calls us to consider that, as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. noted, forgiveness is not an occasional act but a constant attitude.

In this audio podcast, Phyllis Warne joins us in our podcast series, Faith Journeys. This is an audio podcast, excerpted from a video podcast that can be found on our YouTube Channel. As you experience stories of those who have discovered faith in God through their encounter with Jesus Christ, may you discover insights that … Continue reading "Episode 71: Highlights of Faith with Phyllis Warne"

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss how Mary's anointing of Jesus's feet is challenged for its extravagance. In the freedom of Mary's gift, let us emulate her exemplary love just as we receive God's extravagant love for us. Be gracious with yourself, be kind to others. Live in Christ's call to forgive yourself as you forgive others.

Pastor Kris and Shelley consider this second anniversary of a world transfigured by covid, and how our sense of control has been changed. Yet, grieving corporate and personal losses, the truth of the Good News is that through all turmoil, Christ gathers us underwing. The church has found new ways to remain connected and explore faith in absence. Online services engage new explorers and we are finding new devotional practices. Spirit-led, we find new ways to draw closer to God.

Discussing the transfiguration of Jesus in Like 29, Pastor Kris and Shelley suggest our Lenten focus be the ‘practice' of our spiritual practice, expecting some discomfort in the course of growth. Seek micro-faith actions over mountaintop experiences, such as adding a moment of reflection or journaling to your morning coffee routine. In so doing may you find new practices that draw you closer to God.

Pastor Kris and Shelley consider how Luke's version of the sermon to the multitude is set on level ground, metaphorically recognizing that, made in the image of God, we are intrinsically good and universally equals. In our blessings, we are called to be the conduit by which God's love flows to others. Grace is not a mountain-top experience but an invitation to share our gifts with the vulnerable.

Pastor Kris and Shelley consider how Luke 4 can be seen as a mission statement for the church, sharing the news of the Gospel and helping people find freedom and healing. This scripture's verbs are about unbinding: bringing Good News, proclaiming release, offering recovery. May you find new and good ways forward, inviting others into community.

Pastor Kris and Shelley consider how the story of the Maggi relates to our own. Are we searching in the right places for this Christ child? Have we missed a turn and need to lift our eyes to the distant star? Is it through our very restlessness that we find peace? Perhaps this year, the gift of the Maggi is to offer you another way home.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss the welcome Christ offers us and how we each have a place of peace at his table. We consider Philippians 1: 3-11 and of letting go of things, allowing Advent to refocus our attention on what truly matters: making decisions through the lens of this overflowing, enfolding love.

Dr. Alli Salituro joins our conversation on compassionate community. Absence and loss are intensified during this pandemic-estranged holiday season. Recognizing that we need witness and presence more than answers, we can practice open listening for our friends and neighbors, using rhetorical techniques like ‘yes, and,’ or ‘tell me more,’ to help them draw strength in … Continue reading "Episode 44: Compassionate Community"

Today, Pastor Kris and Shelley talk about the grief we bear, the losses we have incurred, and how our deep rooting in faith allows us to bend but not break under this strain. This taproot of faith feeds our growth. May you find God's presence surrounding and nourishing, offering you space and grace for change.

Just when we feel we haven't done enough, we can be surprised by thanks. Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss 1 Thessalonians 1, a thank-you prayer for "your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." As the church is renewed in this pandemic moment of crisis, and we go with Christ in our hearts to reach people where they are. Even amidst worldly chaos, God is still speaking, the risen Christ's message ever more relevant.

In the seventh month of these difficult times, Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Paul’s message to the Philippians affirming, thought the power of resurrection, that God’s love is more powerful than anything else, even death. As the scripture asks us to forget what lies behind and strain forward to the good that lies ahead and … Continue reading "Episode 40: Okay To Not Be Okay"

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss the love spoken of in 1 John 4, which calls us into community. When we read scripture, we can say with conviction and courage that all people are created in God’s image, and therefore they all have value, all matter, and are all beloved children of God. The scripture challenges us to embody God’s inclusive love with boldness.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Jesus’s entreaty on forgiveness in Matthew 18. If we ask what kind of community God desires us to be, Pastor Kris proposes we consider how failure to forgive one another can lead to disruption and degradation in our community. Forgiveness becomes a courageous act when Jesus upends the limit in Peter’s query.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Romans 12 and how this prescription for living a Spirit-filled life can offer hope in our times of significant stress and change. They pose how building these acts of love into your daily routine can be transformative.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss the Genesis 45 story of Joseph's reunion with his brothers, the complex nature of mercy, and the boldness that it often requires. Comparing the Genesis story with a modern account of grace, Pastor Kris underlines how bold forgiveness can elevate us to find God's compelling unity for our humanity.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Genesis 32:22-31, in which Jacob finds himself alone, soon to spend the night in a pitched night wrestling match that will leave him with a limp and an extraordinary blessing. We live in a pandemic time of exceptional isolation, wrestling with many present concerns. In your quiet moments may you find God is with you, going forward with blessing.

Marking a year of podcasting, we conclude a six-week worship series that offered new opportunities to find beauty in our lives, refill our' spiritual tanks,' and explore what we are called to do next. Pastor Kris offers this from Howard Thurman: "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Shelley offers one way to discern what makes you come alive is to think about what you loved as a five-year-old. Spend some time with us this week, nurturing your inner child!

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Song of Songs 4:1-7, which begins, "Look at you, so beautiful, my dearest." The beauty of this language is not only earthy sentiment but shows us the very way God loves us. It is our essential nature to be loved by the Creator who knits our souls together with the thread of beauty. It is a song repeated in the good news of the Gospel, that the God who so loved us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, calls each and every one of us, "Beautiful."

This week, Pastor Kris and Shelley speak of our summer worship theme, Beguiled by Beauty, and how our spiritual life may be deepened when we set aside time for wonder and awe at God's creation.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Ezekiel 31: 3-7 and how great nations thrived in this majestic tree's shade. Ezekiel's poetic call for hope recognizes that beauty is not merely a cultural element but a spiritual restorative. This week, let beauty re-awaken you, lift your dulled spirits, and refill your spiritual well so that you may nourish others.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Pentecost, the birth of the church from Acts 2:1-2, whereby, as tongues of fire were distributed among all people, each was given understanding to hear God's message. This fire represents many things: deep passion, a way to bring light to an injustice, a clearing of the old to make way for the new. Pentecost is the empowerment of what we are born to do: to take up–with passion–Jesus's call to love everyone. Every one.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss John 14:1-14, where, like Phillip, even as we have lived in God's presence, we miss the obvious. Jesus asks us to see beyond our presumptions: God is so much greater than our collective perspectives; there will be many rooms made ready. We have in Jesus a picture of loving God that guides us today and offers hope for tomorrow.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss the beloved Psalm 23, eloquence for all times. Today, we are led through dark valleys in God’s shelter. In both visual arrangement and metaphorical significance, the center, the heart, of this poem is the phrase, “You are with me.” The Psalm reminds us that we always have and always will … Continue reading "Episode 28: Shelter"

In Pastor Kris and Shelley's discussion, we are invited along the walk to Emmaus. As these disciples were kept from recognizing him, Jesus seems to savor the walk, offering not only instruction but presence: we find a story not of doing but of being. Speaking to our time, Luke 24:13–35 describes how our pain and grief may prevent us from seeing the blessings we are granted. It is through an offer of presence, inviting this stranger into their community for dinner, that they find the risen Christ. May it be so with you.

In John 20: 19-3, Pastor Kris and Shelley find resonance in our sequestering with the story of Thomas and the disciples: even when we lock ourselves inside, Jesus finds us. As Thomas sought reassurance, the resurrection reveals a God that is still creating and re-creating. Sheltering at home has brought us new understandings even as it has separated us physically. As for Thomas, a loving Christ breathes the Holy Spirit into us, wherever we are.

Amidst the social isolation in the COVID-19 quarantine, Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss the anointing of Christ in the week before his crucifixion. As the contemporary story of business closings accelerates, this ancient story of radical grace is one that offers hope. We are called to be a community even in times of physical separation; especially now, we need to act with generosity, showing love for our family and community. This week, take a moment to be a Mary, woman from the city, offering extraordinary kindness to others.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss how the brilliance of Jesus's response to the Pharisees' challenge over whose likeness is on the coin can draw our attention from the other side of the coin - the other side of the cross - a remarkable foreshadowing, when he asks that we give to God all that belongs to God, of the sacrifice Jesus is soon to make. This message arrives in the middle of our Lenten journey, in the midst of a pandemic that is changing the ways of our routine. We are called to pause, to consider anew those things that are God's.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss how the transfiguration of Jesus resonates within our lives. Through Matthew 17:1–9, we see a dazzling radiance in Jesus as God spoke, This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him! Reacting just as we might to this riveting vision, Peter, James, and John want to stay on the mountaintop, to live in this glory. But, Jesus gently calls them down the mountain, making clear that this is a blessing for leaving, for carrying forward; may it be a blessing for your Lenten journey.

This week, Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss how, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us to live our faith from the heart, challenging us to act in ways that surpass the simple letter of the law. Scripture provides instruction for faith, but Jesus illustrates how we cannot worship God with our whole heart when we hold a grudge against our neighbor. Jesus calls us into community, building one another up in faith through grace and forgiveness.

Pastor Kris and Shelley take the podcast recording live, inviting CTS seminarian Rob Routzhan to discuss the history of Christian mysticism. Rob shares that, rather than being hermetic, contemplative tradition is about action and engagement with the world and offers traditions that may open us to our Creator in new ways.

Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss how Matthew describes Jesus beginning his ministry, calling disciples who dropped everything to follow Him. Perhaps we feel our calling in more subtle ways–for most, ours isn't an all-or-nothing call to drop our nets but to find ways of putting that call into every step we take. Now, in the wake of Christmas expectation, this baptism reminds us to allow for renewal and change, to bind ourselves in community at those places where Gods kingdom is breaking into this world.