Still Speaking with Ivanhoe Church: Recent Episodes
Rev. Dr. Kristopher Hewitt and Shelley Groh
Ivanhoe Church Speaks serves to highlight, particularly through contemporary context, how scripture speaks to us in every age. Hosts Shelley Groh and Pastor Kris offer their insight into a scripture passage and, through their discussion, summarize meaning for their lives and actions they will take in response. Listen in and find those points which resonate strongly in your life.
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 "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.
Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Mark 12, familiar as the Widows Mite. We come with different abilities, and, whether grand or tiny, our gifts create a ripple that makes God’s love in the world apparent. Fatih is love in action; sharing God’s love requires no treasure beyond hope and compassion. Even our mite empowers might through gratitude.
Drug overdoses tragically struck our community twice this year; Pastor Kris and Shelley share a faith-based conversation about how we approach problems by considering God’s love for us. We believe the church is a caring and healing community and God is calling us to put faith in action to end overdoses and the criminalization of people who use drugs. Through education and advocacy we aim to inspire hope and a commitment to a drug-free lifestyle.
Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Psalm 1, which teaches that people who delight in the teachings of the Lord are like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding fruit in season. Like a tree, we need good soil where our faith roots are nourished by interconnections and given strength.
Galatians 3: 26-28, emphasizes that we are called to see all people as beloved. Paul says there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are our siblings in Christ. To bring all people into community is the fundamental work of Christ. As Christ revealed God’s love for us, we must see that racism is a sin that separates us not only from our brothers or sisters but from God.
Our prejudices affect our understanding of the world and, lamentably, our God. In Mark 3: 20-35, Jesus calls us family in its most inclusive meaning, challenging the limit of common understanding. If we set aside our prejudices and celebrate our different perspectives, we can better help each other and do the will of God.
This week Pastor Kris and Shelley discuss Pentecost, a thanksgiving celebration fifty days after Passover, where the gift of the Spirit empowers understanding among diversity. As a church, we are foundationally called to value the diversity of voices. A year of pandemic separation informs this profoundly, calling us to celebrate in great joy, without reserve, our God-given differences.
Pastor Kris and Shelley continue discussing John 15, the abiding bonds of friendship, and today, the joy God intends for us in community and friendship. Jesus, in pastoral care for his disciples, calls them friends. Jesus's command to love one another in friendship is central to our faith; our ministry is about relationships, and Jesus walks with us in expressing care, concern, and support of others.