Still Speaking with Ivanhoe Church

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.

God is love: 1 John 4 centers this discussion, where Pastor Kris uses the word abiding–an uncommon, peculiar word in an acquisitive, active world–to highlight the steadfast love that God reveals to us in Christ. The author of John winnows God's holy essence to love, abiding love. Love to be seen and shared in our kindness, compassion, care, and listening. May you find abiding joy in loving your brothers and sisters as you love God.