Ivanrest Church Discipleship

If you missed our seminar on navigating the Medicare system take some time today to listen to what our speaker had to share. Our speaker, Dan Sarkipato, a retired CRC Pastor from Kalamazoo, has a heart for helping people understand their options. This is a great seminar to learn not only for yourself but also for those helping their loved ones as they navigate the medicare system.

Listen to Pastor Brandon and Jim Heyboer as they share and reflect on their experience at Synod.

Tony Tendero is a Fellow in Residence at Safe Haven Ministries. Safe Haven Ministries aims to follow Christ's example and is motivated by our community needs, their mission is to prevent and end relationship abuse. Learn about ways to build healthy Kingdom relationships as well as understanding how they can turn unhealthy. This will be a two part series, over the two sessions we will learn about what is relationship abuse, how to support someone going through abuse or exploitation, and how Safe Haven Ministries works to end relational abuse.

Resources:

Safe Haven Website: https://safehavenministries.org/

Safe Haven Materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BdozqEhQ2Qx5hs-VvXYEGuMsuP8nUBwj?usp=share_link

Tony Tendero is a Fellow in Residence at Safe Haven Ministries. Safe Haven Ministries aims to follow Christ's example and is motivated by our community needs, their mission is to prevent and end relationship abuse. Learn about ways to build healthy Kingdom relationships as well as understanding how they can turn unhealthy. This will be a two part series, over the two sessions we will learn about what is relationship abuse, how to support someone going through abuse or exploitation, and how Safe Haven Ministries works to end relational abuse.

Resources:

Safe Haven Website: https://safehavenministries.org/

Safe Haven Materials: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BdozqEhQ2Qx5hs-VvXYEGuMsuP8nUBwj?usp=share_link

That's Not Love Campaign Video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JYyHa03x-U

We’ve all experienced the unexpected, painful twists of life and Lisa is no different. Seven years ago, the precious world she held so dear unraveled overnight through finding out that her husband was living a life of unfaithfulness. The effects of unfaithfulness in marriage is devastating to both the spouse and the children. While life certainly holds the unexpected, it also holds the precious faithfulness of our heavenly Father. Surrender and trust is woven through Lisa's story as she learned to walk the road of healing that abiding in Him brings.

Semi Circle of Healing: https://i0.wp.com/www.the-mcclures.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Semicircle-2022.png 

Definitions:

Abide - To remain, continue, stay, dwell, to rest. In our abiding, God is calling us into rest with Him.

Growth - Progress, springing up, developing maturity, becoming larger or greater over a period of time, to increase in substance.

Fruitfulness - Producing good, useful, desired results.

Pruning - Trim by cutting away the dead parts, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth, to reduce the extent of something by removing unwanted parts.

Porn is everywhere today; it's no longer a stigma issue only a few men deal with. Men, women, teens, and children are faced with the possibility of porn and its many gateways every time they turn on their phones. Listen to pastor and author Noah Filipiak share his story and ways you can protect yourself and your family.

Noah's Resource Recommendations:

Technology Accountability:

Get a free month of Covenant Eyes screen accountability: www.covenanteyes.com promo code BEYOND  

Get a free month of Accountable2You keyword accountability: a2u.app/beyond (do not use “www”)

Resources for Men:

“Beyond the Battle: A man’s guide to his identity in Christ in an oversexualized world” by Noah Filipiak  

Join a 7-week online small group with Noah: www.beyondthebattle.net

Resources for Women:

90 Days to Wholeness: A Porn Addiction Recovery Devotional for Women by Crystal Renaud Day (Living on Purpose)   

Online groups for women: www.sherecovery.com

More from Noah:

Blog Articles: www.noahfilipiak.com   

Podcast: The Flip Side Podcast with Noah Filipiak  

Spotify  and Apple

Additional Resources:

Articles:

Fighting the New Drug: “By the Numbers: Is the Porn Industry Connected to Sex Trafficking?”

The Banner: Understanding and Overcoming Today's Epidemic of Artificial Sex by Mark Brouwer

Videos:

Fight the New Drug: https://fightthenewdrug.org/videos/

Websites:

Fight the New Drug

Covenant Eyes

Support Groups:

Christian women’s support group for women whose loved ones who struggle with sexual addictions: https://sarahsociety.com/

Christian men’s support group: https://samsonsociety.com/mission-vision/

Viviana and Idella both work for the Race Relations office of the CRCNA. They will share with us the history of the CRCNA and racism, what prompted the CRCNA to create an office to fight racism, and what we can do to improve the work of racial reconciliation both individually and as a church. Come and learn more about what the CRC has been doing to bring about more racial reconciliation and how you can partner in this work.

* Please note much of the history of the CRC was shared through an interactive activity and not recorded on the podcast. What you hear in the podcast is people's impressions and a dialogue of thoughts from that experience.

Additional Resources: 

The Banner "Ethnic Diversity and the CRC": https://www.thebanner.org/columns/2022/05/ethnic-diversity-and-the-crc 

The Banner (Articles on Race): https://www.thebanner.org/search/google?keys=race#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=race&gsc.sort= 

CRCNA Race Relationship About us page: https://www.crcna.org/race/about-us 

CRCNA Race Relations Position Statements: https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/position-statements/race-relations 

CRCNA Race Relations Resources: https://www.crcna.org/race/resources

CRCNA Race Relations Events: https://www.crcna.org/race/events

CRCNA Race Relations Workshops: https://www.crcna.org/race/workshops

In this episode we have Pastor Joel and members of his church share on their multicultural experience as a church and as people living in America. Lee Street CRC began in 1926 with a vision to provide a new community of faith for those living in the Godfrey/Lee neighborhood. They have the vision to be truly multicultural and multigenerational. Come and learn from Pastor Joel about the importance of being a multicultural church.

Pastor Joel will also have 3 members of Lee Street join him to share their stories of coming to the United States and their relationship with Lee Street. Stories are a way that we can learn, understand, and demonstrate respect for someone as they share their lives with us. Dominga is a young adult from rural Guatemala, a member of Lee Street, and active in their young adult ministry. Kevin and Catherine are a couple from Nicaragua with a unique story of how they came into a relationship with Lee Street.

Resources Recommended by Pastor Joel:

Beyond Welcome by Karen Gonzalez: https://a.co/d/gDGDEAL

The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong by Karen Gonzalez: https://a.co/d/5qcrKb2 

Race has become a hot-button topic, which has divided not only our nation but our churches as well. This should not be the case. Hear from Ivanrest members on their experience with diversity awareness, why it should be important to Christians, and their experience going through the God and Race book study this past fall.

The Asks: As you listen we ask that you do the following:

- Be humble as you listen and respond to what you are hearing

Resources

The Antioch Podcast 

Activities to Attend

Movies and Documentaries: Till and 13th

PowerPoint: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-qChpTZD-05y2aQzN05jyixQts-Qgj9d/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=112224742393923917941&rtpof=true&sd=true

Larry Klein's Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@LarryKlein2l5v?from=share&utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=share

Google Spreadsheet of Resources: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rL1aaFYLSjYEjSAF7qgjEC7BQJ-X0plrsDMxvuShyf4/edit?usp=share_link 

Adult Reading Book List:

I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown

White Awake & White Lies by Daniel Hill

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

How to Fight Racism & The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church's Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby

God and Race: A Guide for Moving Beyond Black Fists and White Knuckles by John Seibeling and Wayne Francis

Be the Bridge by Latasha Morrison

Not so Black and White: An Invitation to Honest Conversations about Race and Faith by Reggie Dabbs and John Driver

Young Adult/Reader Book List:

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (Young Reader's Edition) by Isabel Wilkerson

How to Fight Racism (Young Reader's Edition) by Jemar Tisby

Children's Book List:

God's Holy Darkness by Sharei Green and Beckah Selnick

Tim Thornbourough Bible Story Books in both English and Spanish

Come and learn about how Calvin University cares for LGBTQ+ students and how we can care for the LGBTQ+ community. Pastor Mary has served as the University Pastor at Calvin University since 2009, and has presented on this topic to Christian educators who teach in elementary, secondary, and higher education contexts, as well as to Boards and churches. 

Pastor Mary's Recommended Resources:

Dr. Mark Yarhouse: Sexual & Gender Identity Institute at Wheaton College

The Colossian Forum: www.colossianforum.org

Book: Heavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church by Bridget Eileen Rivera