We know it's not unusual to see all four seasons in a Chicagoland spring day and still be able to come home to a flooded basement, but there is no easy way to prepare. While a lot of you were monitoring your sump pumps, here's a bit of what's been going on in softball...
Read MoreI love watching them sing and play because they are so free, so bold, and so enthusiastic. They live out what they feel with very few filters. Granted, filters are learned and important in life, but how great to see them singing God’s praises at the top of their lungs, uninhibited by fear or self consciousness! Again, conviction. Anyone else want to be a Cubbie?
Read MoreLet us pray that God will once again pour out His Spirit on this spiritually needy land. Let us pray that He will pour out His Spirit on His church. Let us pray that His Name will be hallowed among us, and that His Kingdom will come, and His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Read MoreIn that cosy and intimate setting, we reenacted the story of Jesus’ last night with his disciples through Scripture reading, prayer, song, and Communion (and the acoustics of our a cappella singing in the Fireside Room were terrific).
Read MoreThis week at Grace Church we are celebrating these historical events in Jesus’ life that save us from death, and the fear of death, when we receive Him by faith. Yesterday was Palm Sunday where we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when He was celebrated as Messiah and King.
Read MoreThat is why we are working to build the friendships in our youth group. So that our students might surround themselves with friends who pressure one another towards Christ and not away from him.
Read MoreGospel Ambition was the conference theme, subtitled Advancing Gospel Glory Deep and Wide. Piper rightly observed that we can’t advance gospel glory without first being clear on what the gospel is. And we can’t be clear on what the gospel is without first being reminded of the reason for which God created the world.
Read MoreIt is even stranger I think, that the Creator of the universe commands a relationship of friendship with his sinful, fallen creatures who would be utterly lost but for his own death and resurrection. The friendship spoken of by Jesus will drive us to our knees and raise up our heads at the same time…
Read MoreWhen I was growing up, the main line of the Pontiac Car Commercial went something like this… “We Build Excitement! . . . I feel the same way about Vacation Bible School this year… “We’re Building Excitement!”
Read MoreThis league has truly been a blessing to me, and God has encouraged me to know it's blessed many involved as well. So, as exciting as Tuesday & Thursday's games will be/should be, come take advantage of the opportunity we have as a body to love on our community! They are coming into our building! Let the warmth and welcome and light feel strange, yet captivating! Let your little light shine ("fan into flame" some may say...), and pray that God would continue to do His good work right here in our midst.
Read MoreThis devotional was given at a Women of Grace Baby Shower on March 6th, 2017.
Read MoreThe Conference opened on Monday, 30 January, with four consecutive break-out sessions. I attended a workshop with Tony Merida, founding Pastor of Imago Dei Church in Raleigh, NC, titled, The Foundation of Preaching. It was a helpful reflection and reminder of why it is important to preach the Word of God, and nothing else. This doesn’t eliminate creativity but, as Tony put it (quoting Bart Ehrman of all people!), “If you believe God wrote a book, wouldn’t you want to read it?” And as preachers, knowing that God has written a book, surely we would want to preach it!
Read MoreThe Christian life is marked by a life of discipleship, both in being a disciple of Jesus and in discipling others. On this retreat weekend with special guest Ryan Griffith, we looked at what exactly discipleship means, the cost and joy of our own discipleship and discipling others, the practical example that Paul gives us to follow, and the power we have in Jesus' name to disciple.
Read MoreWorshiping the Lord in truth and love captures the essence of the Christian life as efficiently as any expression could.
Read MoreThis letter to our Grace Church (GCD) Body will do double-duty: it is my contribution to our January Graceful Living and also our 2017 Annual Report. In Graceful Living it will introduce a new format you’ll see in our printed Annual Report, and in that document it will introduce similar letters from other ministry leaders that give praise to God for all He accomplished here in 2016.
Read MoreThe response was a less than enthusiastic, slightly annoyed, “Nick who?” I foresaw that this response would lead to an awkward situation once my identity became known, so I attempted to head off the awkwardness by jumping around the corner, pointing to my face, and saying “It’s this Nick!”
Read MoreRenovation of the Heart, applications from Galatians 5:19 – 23 as studied by the Renew Youth Ministry. This is our Christmas Break homework!
Read MoreIf you want to experience the power of God at work in you, and watch the power of God move through you, and witness the power of God rescuing dead and dying people because of you, boldly tell the world that Jesus is your Lord, Savior, and greatest Treasure. Bear the name of Christ in what you do and what you say. There is nothing the Holy Spirit is happier to do through you than to make much of Jesus.
Read MoreYour experience may have been different, but my impressions of The Passion of the Christ when it first came out was that it was nearly a mandate for Christians to see. The argument went something like this: In our sanitized western minds, we have no idea what a crucifixion is like. It is easy, then, to gloss over the events of Christ’s passion and to miss the magnitude of what He did for us. Seeing this movie will help us overcome that.
Read More“We’ve been asked not to sing the word alleluia tonight,” she explained. In this church’s observance of Lent, they didn’t say alleluia until Easter morning. That evening, our music proclaimed the truth of the gospel without the alleluias and resurrection songs, in a way uniquely fitted to the season.
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