September 2, 2010
Hey Suncrest,
I opened up my twitter/facebook feed this morning and a
friend had just posted, “Another great morning with the guys @suncrestchurch”.
I know he was talking about the small group he meets with early Thursday
mornings called “Men’s Fraternity” before heading downtown Chicago for
work. Getting connected is so important to life around here. Actually,
it is so important to life…Period. In just a few weeks, we’ll be
working to make sure we all have the chance to find a group with others as we
try to grow in faith. Whether it is Men’s Fraternity, Morning Grace
(for women on Wednesday mornings), or a community group that meets in someone’s
home, I hope you’ll make sure your family gets connected.
All of our leaders came together last night and I
described what God has done through them recently: We prayed over the team
launching our campus in Walkerton (by South Bend). We celebrated 136 baptisms
in just the first 8 months of the year and how our outward focus keeps showing
up – doing a VBS in a tough area on Chicago’s south side, send a team to work
in inner city Indy, sending out two young adults to the mission field who grew
up at Suncrest. This Sunday, our Highland Campus launch team will gather
in Highland for the first time as they prep for their launch Sunday at the end
of the month.
And we talked about how important the current series is.
The message this past Sunday about praying for our “one” resulted in me hearing
story after story of people wanting me to know they had done this in their
journey – prayed for their “one” – and God eventually answered it!
A lady came up to me after the last service and said she had prayed for her husband
for 37 years before he became a follower of Jesus. All I could think was
“What if she had given up in year 36?” I’m so glad she didn’t.
I hope you have prayed for your one this week.
And if you are feeling like you could use a little help in how to have
spiritual conversations with him or her, we have a great opportunity for
you. On September 17/18, we have a guy who has given his life to engaging
in conversations with people who are at different places on their spiritual
journey. There will be all kinds of info about it this weekend!
I love ya, Suncrest. Thank you for the privilege of serving and leading with you.
Greg