What does it actually look like to live like Jesus in a world that feels increasingly lonely, divided, and distracted? Pastor and author Ian Simkins joins Jill to talk about the gospel up close and why ordinary tables, honest conversations, curiosity, and making room for one more can become holy ground. They explore the risk of real hospitality, reluctant obedience, and why following Jesus often begins with simply moving toward the person in front of us.
✝️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE
What if hospitality is about much more than having people over for dinner?
Jill talks with pastor and author Ian Simkins about what it means to live the gospel up close in a world marked by loneliness, distraction, and division. Ian reflects on the way Jesus repeatedly moved toward people, listened with curiosity, shared tables with those others avoided, and turned ordinary spaces into places of encounter.
Together, Jill and Ian talk honestly about why making room for people can feel vulnerable, why Christian hospitality requires more than inviting people who already believe like us, and what it means to see ordinary tables as altars, places of both sacrifice and worship.
Ian also offers encouragement for anyone who feels unqualified or unsure: obedience does not always begin with confidence. Sometimes it sounds more like, “I don’t understand, but if You say so, Lord.”
Maybe following Jesus begins closer than we think.
******
PODCAST SHOW NOTES:
Full episodes now out on YouTube! ➡️ Watch: Halfway to Sunday (Full Episodes)
🎧 Listen on
Apple
🙏Join the community + bonus content (Patreon)
******
🩵 ABOUT US
Halfway to Sunday is a weekly faith-based podcast for people who want Jesus but still have questions, sharing honest, hope-filled stories of real faith through joy and loss, healing and growth, and even doubt. Not polished or performative, just real conversations that remind you you’re not alone and loved by God.
******
🔗 LINKS
Follow Halfway to Sunday on Instagram
Follow Halfway to Sunday on TikTok
Follow Jill on Instagram
******
📖 BIBLE RESOURCES
Verses Discussed:
John 1:14; Romans 5:8; Romans 12:13; Luke 19:10; Mark 10:45; Luke 7:34; 1 Corinthians 10:31; John 2:1–11; Luke 5:4–6; Hebrews 13:15; John 15:1–5; Luke 14:15–24; Revelation 19:6–9
The Journaling Bible I use | Bible Highlighters | Annotating Tabs | **affiliate links
******
📣 GUEST
Follow Ian on Instagram
Ian’s website
Learn more about Ian’s new book
Buy Ian’s book here
******
🎙️ OTHER EPISODES THAT MAY BE HELPFUL:
Episode #115 God Isn’t Done with Your Story w/ Carly Ann Taylor
Episode #110 Joy Without Pretending w/ Kyleigh Rose
Episode #114 Obedience Before Clarity w/ Jessica DeYoung
******