second sunday 2

Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it…
Psalm 127:1

second sunday
is coming!

www.clcwest.org

Second Sunday refers to the new upcoming weekend services of our west campus church plant. We will begin with one weekend service a month and those services will be on the second Sunday of each month. The weekend schedule at our Mount Prospect campus will remain the same with a later service happening out west.

Why just one service a month? Much time and study have gone into our plant and we have found that many start-up churches begin this way. There are a couple of reasons it will work well for us. First, with a new plant there will always be a learning curve. There are so many dynamics that make up a church from the up front ministry to everything behind the scenes. There will no doubt be corrections and changes needed after we begin. By only meeting once a month to start we will have an entire month rather than just a week to make any necessary adjustments.

The other reason to start with once a month services is to allow our west campus individuals and families a chance to worship in both places as they transition out of our Mount Prospect ministries. Rather than leaving abruptly after years of relationship, they can slowly move from one location to the next. It provides a time of closure. The relationships established in Mount Prospect will never die, it’s just that we all won’t see each other every week like we’re used to doing.

Remember, we are one church, with one vision, soon to be in two locations. God is birthing something great through Christian Life. Make sure during this season of planting you keep the life of our church a priority in your prayer life.

second sunday 1

For the vision is yet for an appointed time…though it tarry, wait for it.
Habakkuk 2:3


second sunday
is coming!

www.clcwest.org


Over two years ago I shared with our church on a vision night about a new direction that God was calling our body. Through prayer, study, and wise council I believe God is calling our church family to plant a second campus of Christian Life Church. We would be one church, with one vision, in two locations.

The campus we are planting is in the far western suburbs. God has moved some of our church people out west from South Elgin up to Crystal Lake. Most of these families still make the long drive every week to our Mount Prospect campus. What we have at Christian Life is very special and there is a tremendous need for vibrant Spirit-filled churches in one of the fastest growing areas in our nation.

For the past two years, I have been meeting midweek with a small group of people. Along with Bible study we have been praying and planning for the future. Our elders and pastors council have been discussing the future of this new campus plant. The time is right (I’ll share more about that later) and God is calling us to begin weekend services this fall.

We will begin with one weekend service a month. The second Sunday of each month we will conduct our first services out west. The weekend schedule at the Mount Prospect will remain the same. The west services will be later in the day. Even though most people reading this will never attend the west campus, please pray that many people, in this growing community, will connect to God through CLC West. Read the Bible Blog the next several weeks and listen during the weekend services as we unfold the vision of the west campus.

Our World

Gary Wilkerson of World Challenge confronts the church with the following statistics…

Worldwide

• 6,571,497,332 people now live on earth
• 1,200,000,000 people live on 23 cents a day
• 2,000,000,000 people have no electricity
• 80% of all people live in substandard housing
• 1,000,000,000 people are without safe drinking water
• Every 16 seconds someone dies of hunger
• 57,000,000 people died in 2006
• 10,500,000 of these were children less than five years old
• 14,000,000 children were orphaned because of HIV/AIDS
• 2,000,000 children have died as a direct result of armed conflict during the last ten years.

Meanwhile

• $8,000,000,000.00 were spent on cosmetics in America in 2005
• $11,000,000,000.00 for ice cream in Europe
• $17,000,000,000.00 in the USA and Europe on pet food
• $105,000,000,000.00 for alcohol in Europe

These statistics are not meant to make you feel guilty; I want them to raise your awareness. We can make a difference in the world. Every third weekend is Missions Weekend at Christian Life. From the very beginning of our existence as a church, we have invested in building God’s Kingdom around the world. We refuse to turn a blind eye to the suffering and the lost around the world. We will continue, to the best of our ability, to share with likeminded ministries to see God’s will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. You and your gifts are helping to change the world!

Let’s keep up the good work. Pray about your gift today. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Golf

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
Psalm 42:1, 2a

This weekend is our annual golf outing at Christian Life Church. This is one of the weekends I look forward to all year. It’s really not about the golf, I just love hanging out and having fun with members of our church family.

You might say, “Well, what about the golf?” I have to admit I am pretty competitive and I like to win at whatever I play but to be honest I don’t love golf. I used to love golf. I was, as they say, bit by the "golf bug." I would play any chance I could. If it wasn’t for the lack of time and money I would have golfed every day if I could. For a while there I would have to admit golf was an obsession for me. Now, I can count on one hand how many times I play in a year.

What changed? I don’t know. The craving is just gone. Maybe I got it out of my system. Maybe I reached a plateau in my play. I really don’t know what happened. All I do know is that I don’t enjoy it like I used to. What once was a passion for me is now just recreation.

Over time this same phenomenon can happen in our Christian life. What once was a passion becomes recreation. At one time we could not get enough of God, His Word, His church. But something happens. You can’t explain it. The passion that once burned bright is just gone.

Our walk with God is not a hobby, it is a relationship. Like in all relationships it’s not about the level of passion, it’s about the level of commitment. Passion can get any relationship started; it’s commitment that gives a relationship longevity. Don’t let your relationship with God stagnate, rekindle the passion.

What is your passion level with God right now? A better question is what is your commitment level? Remember our verse for this fall at Christian Life is James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”

Jury Duty

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else; whereas, if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.
Oswald Chambers

The fear of the Lord is the fountain of life…
Proverbs 14:27

I had jury duty this week. I wasn’t chosen. At first I was happy that I was able to get back to church earlier than planned and get some more work done. Though as I thought about it I wondered why I wasn’t chosen. Was it something I said? Was it the way I looked? I guess deep down I wanted to be chosen. Everyone likes to be chosen. It feels good to be picked to be on the team no matter what the team is. I could have been on the jury to help decide the fate of two people. But I wasn’t chosen to sit on the jury. My opinion didn’t matter in the case.

As I thought about the jury process and how we live our lives it seems as though we are always trying to impress a jury of our peers, family, coworkers, etc. We worry about how we look to them, what they think of us. We are worried about their judgment of us. And yet, when all is said and done their opinions really do not matter. The only one we are accountable to is God. At the final judgment we won’t be scrutinized by a jury of our peers we will stand before a holy and righteous God. His opinion alone will matter.

As we have learned in our Getting To Know God series God is not only holy and righteous, He is also loving. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) God loves you and desires the absolute best for your life.

Think about who you are trying to impress. As you live your life this week remember that the only opinion that really matters in the end is God’s opinion. And we are right with God, it’s all right!