this week is our remembrance and celebration of Jesus.
would love for you to join in.
Good Friday Service @ 4 + 6.30, Neighbor Party w. Tacos + Egg Hunt @ 5.45.
Outreach Saturday @ Photos Hotdogs, free food + flowers 12 - 3p
Easter Sunday 8.30 + 10 + 11.30,
all service have full kids program, bible message, + full kids program.
if you would like to serve this easter, check in here.
learn to spot the signs
my friend talaat preached at good news this past sunday. he gave a biblical overview on money and christians. it was challenging and balanced and convicting. Kristen + I have some work to do on better managing our resources, so we spent some time on monday afternoon talking through a few things and making a plan. we felt conviction and started taking action on it.
monday night was an unusually slow one at our house. i was relaxing when a call came in. someone needed something, and i was happy to run out to encourage them. reid jumped in the car with me and off we went. almost immediately, i could feel something off with one of my tires. this was a tire i had just re-filled with air a few days before.
we went to the closest gas station and the tire wasn’t able to be filled at all. so i brought it to my mechanic and ended up needing a few new tires and parts.
like 3 hours after committing to a new spending + savings plan, I was out $1000 for something i wasn’t expecting. i ended the week worse off than i started lol.
THIS IS WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS.
assign it spiritual warfare language: ‘the devil is trying to stop me from making progress’ if you like.
assign it law of averages type logic: ‘we notice things more when we focus on them’ if that helps.
assign it to bad luck: or whatever you like.
but notice the pattern. when you step out to make progress, you will almost certainly encounter a set-back very quickly. it’s very hard to change + grow. the quick set-back is pushing you towards giving up and returning to your old ways. DON’T DO IT.
“Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment.”
― Seth Godin
galatians 6.9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up
When we started this church planting journey over three years ago I was surprised by many things. Most of all: not realizing what a gift it was to have a dedicated worship space. When we started out, we went from venue to venue, each with its challenges and complexities trying to use the doors God had opened (during covid times) for us to minister and for God to work in the way he always does.
Then, through a miraculous turn of events, a church in downtown Palatine that we had pursued earlier in the year called us back to see if we were still interested in purchasing the building. As we toured the space, I remember getting to the sanctuary and thinking, “Wow, this is very brown and orange! But, whoa what a gift it would be to not have to set up the chairs and spaces each week!” Plus, since it was an old church building there was something so sacred about it knowing that fifty years ago people had worshiped the same God we are worshiping now in faith. The much smaller congregation we had at the time gave a special offering in faith and through much prayer and continued miracles God allowed us to close on 312 E. Wood Street on September 2nd of 2021.
One thing I began to love about this ‘new to us’ worship space was that because it wasn’t impressive, people knew that they could come just as they were.
Psalm 51:16-17 says, “You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one, You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” This is from the psalm that David penned after he had committed adultery. After all, the poster child for ‘the man after God’s own heart,’ wasn’t perfect but through this psalm his repentant heart seeps through. He knew that at the end of the day it’s not what we do for God, he wants our hearts more than anything!
I have met with God so many times in that space. I’ve had tears of asking God to do a miracle, to move in a relationship, to continue to sustain me through a trial, to move on someone else’s behalf. I have felt the presence of God there, I have seen people commit their lives to Jesus in those pews. And I’m sure you’ve had your own moments there too, I’m so glad we’re on this journey together.
But, in the last few months, we have planned and removed the old to allow for more people and a fresh feel that matches the rest of the building. And everytime we have done this in this building I am amazed that this is what God wants to do in our very own hearts. He wants to take the ugly parts of us and make them new. He wants to do a new thing in and through us. He wants to clear away the pain of the past, heal the parts that are broken and make way for new relationships, opportunities and breakthrough into the unknown. I believe as you come into this new worship space this weekend, you will be refreshed! Just like it’s been a journey to get here, it’s a journey when God is doing a new thing in each of us. (Isaiah 43:19)
What God’s Teaching Me
with Kristen MacDonald
Saturday Morning Book Review
bad therapy: why the kids aren’t growing up
abigail shier
every movement has an inevitable over-reaction that propels a counter-movement.
this generations move towards open + honest conveyance of feelings is good in many ways, it also promotes a worldview that sees perpetual victimhood as preferable to happiness.
Abigail writes about the problems caused when talk therapy is pushed onto generally happy kids remarking, ‘anything with enough power to heal, has plenty of power to hurt.’
she says that over-focusing on ones own emotional state, which is championed by therapists, SEL advocates, and modern school counselors, leads to more instances of anxiety, emotional weakness, and depression. it's a concern about where we tell kids to focus, inwardly vs outwardly, in a way. by ruminating on "our feelings" too long or too much, we give them more power over us, not less. we feel more helpless and anxious through this self-focus. she makes the argument that therapy is an intervention needed for people with real issues, but when applied to otherwise "normal" kids, we actually can and do cause harm.
this was a really helpful book, like many, the same few themes are repeated over and over, but you will like this.
this is good news,
luke + kristen