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.