The Elders and Staff have been considering the addition of a Saturday evening worship service for several years. We are now taking preliminary steps to actually launch a new worship service on Saturday evenings in September of 2011.

There are two main reasons that we think a Saturday night worship service will help us fulfill the mission of making mature followers of Jesus. The first has to do with scheduling. Because of work, family events, and sports programs more and more people have difficulty participating in worship on a weekly basis. Having the option of a worship service on Saturday nights might make it easier for some individuals and families to be more consistent. We hope that some who already have a connection with Faith Church of Grayslake, but rarely attend worship on Sunday mornings, will be drawn into a more consistent pattern of worship. It is also possible that Saturday nights will work better for some un-churched people.

The second reason for offering a new worship service on Saturday evenings is related to style. For many years the music in our worship services has been characterized by what some call a "blended" style. We have attempted to blend the best of traditional music with the best of contemporary music. Many people who currently attend Faith Church appreciate this style. We plan to continue the "blended" approach for both services on Sunday morning. On Saturday evenings the style will be more "contemporary." We will use styles of music and media that match the "language" of un-churched people around us.

Even though this new worship service will have a different stylistic look and feel, it will be centered on the same biblical mission of making mature followers of Jesus. People who attend the Saturday evening service will be just as much a part of Faith Church as those who attend on Sunday mornings. All three services will track with the same Bible text and Big Idea each week. The same small group system will support all three services. People from all three services will participate in the same mission and service projects.

We are looking for God's direction with regard to this new worship service. We are very interested in your input. If we continue to move forward on this venture we will need a core group of dedicated and hard working people to take this bold step of faith. Please direct your comments to me ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), Drew Thorwall ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ), or Jim Jacob ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Can a church or a group of local churches do something about unemployment?

That is one of the questions that has been on my mind and heart in recent months. Surrounding this concern we have had numerous fruitful discussions with Dr. Michael Cooper, founder of The Timothy Center for Sustainable Transformation and professor at Trinity International University. These discussions have included several entrepreneurial people from our congregation. We are starting to think about the possibility of starting and replicating 360 Degree Blended Value Businesses.

A 360 Degree Blended Value Business is a business that recognizes the value of people made in the image of God, the value of addressing social justice issues in the community, the value of caring for the environment, along with the value of having a sustainable business model. In addition to all of this, a 360 Degree Blended Value Business becomes a tool for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine the impact of starting businesses that would provide meaningful employment, meet real needs in the community, and be an overt witness for Christ?

We are in a prayer and learning mode right now… but we hope to have a tangible prototype for such a business right here in Grayslake in the near future. Let me know if you want more information.

The past few weeks, Targets have been in many areas of my life...one not terribly significant was standing in line for 8 hours freezing my butt off on the eve of Black Friday waiting patiently for a TV. The other slightly more significant in life was the week before that lovely frozen event.

In Lake County, we have an amazing Church (a united body) and Christ Together (previously called Catalyst) is where the leaders of the churches of LC come together twice a year to unite our efforts in our continued pursuit of church unity outside the walls. At this conference two weeks ago, the speaker (Larry Osborne) touched on something I think is hugely significant for us today. He gave an anology:

"How often do we (as churches or individuals) start firing our arrows (forms of ministry) at a wall before a target is set up? We tend to shoot our arrows blindly and then move the target to wherever the majority of the arrows land." Basically, we start all these different "good" ministries without an actual direction of God's leading. The ones that last and seem profitable, must be from God, right? Wrong. We cannot have a goal without a target. Just the same, how can you run a race without a finish-line? Does the race just end when people get tired?

Jesus says in Luke 11, everyone who seeks-->finds, and everyone who asks-->receives.

Isaiah 58:11 "The Lord will guide you and satisfy your needs..."

Hebrews 12:1 "...and let us run with endurance, the race marked for us..."

Before a direction of "ministry" (or could i say anything) is begun, make sure there is a Target to aim at...hopefully that will mean no more sitting on frozen sidewalks : )

Thanksgiving! The time of the year when we celebrate family, friends, food, football, and fellowship. I frequently say that “it’s like the best day of my life every year” because the food is so good, and the fellowship is even better!

You may be familiar with the story of the first Thanksgiving when the “Pilgrims and Indians” gathered together to give thanks for a bountiful harvest in 1621. It is speculated that the Pilgrims would not have survived that first harsh winter in the New World if they had not had the expert assistance of the Native Americans to plant crops and hunt the local game. George Washington was the first president to call a national day of thanksgiving, but it was Lincoln who made it an official holiday in 1863, declaring the last Thursday of November to be Thanksgiving Day.

But stop for a moment and consider that word: thanksgiving. It is an active word; one which anticipates an object of that thanks. So, who are we giving thanks to? Ourselves? Each other? For a follower of Christ it should be clear that our thanksgiving is much more than an expression of satisfaction with our current situation. Indeed, if our current situation is less than desirable… in Christ we still have much to be thankful for!

Scripture sets a clear example for us of what it means to have a heart of thanksgiving. Psalm 100 says that we should “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Thanksgiving is based on the character and faithfulness of God himself. It is not dependent on our circumstances or the fulfillment of our desires. Even in moments of greatest need, we give thanks to God.

What a witness this can be! At this time of year when we’re engrossed in food and football, and December lurks around the corner to turn our attention to shopping… we are thankful for one thing above all: the faithfulness of God through the work of Jesus Christ.

He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.

~J.A. Shedd

Just got back from David Crowder’s worship leader conference in Waco, Texas this past weekend, and it was great to worship alongside 2,000 other church leaders and to learn from so many different people. Among the speakers were Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, Rob Bell.

Several independent workshops were led by many different worship leaders across the country representing different cultures and styles. Not only was this a time of learning and expanding my knowledge, but also a time for me to worship my Savior. It was quite the experience being in a room with 2,000 beautiful voices reverberating across the room, giving an amazing sense of what Heaven must be like.

The constant message that keeps “re-running” in my head was spoken from Francis Chan, the author of Crazy Love. “I want to live a life that would make sense in the Bible, if someone read about my life”-Chan. What he meant by this is that if someone read about his life in the Bible, Chan wants it to make sense with the other people in it. For example, some look at Paul’s life as radical, but what if that was the “norm” and we are living the “un-normal” life?

Francis Chan wants all of our lives to make “Biblical sense” by identifying the faith and trust that we see in the Bible, and choosing that as how we will live. In a few weeks, Chan and his family will be leaving their comfortable life in Southern California, for a new home, wherever God leads them (it could be Asia, Africa…) We must be confident to know that God is all we need and to recognize that we must die to our own selfish desires.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it."

Mark 8:34-35 (NIV)

I’m excited to have begun my journey at Faith and I can't wait to get to know each and every one of you. Every day my family at Faith grows and strengthens. Have a great week and if you ever need a friend to visit Starbucks with, I am willing to make that difficult sacrifice.

Great things are happening in Family Ministry these days.

The Family Ministry Team exists to partner with parents in helping young children and students become mature followers of Jesus.  We want to see PARENTS and CHURCH coming together in new and more effective ways to have a COMBINED INFLUENCE on the next generation.

As part of this commitment, we are excited to introduce milestones – an intentional plan to prepare for and celebrate children’s growth along their spiritual journey.

• Milestone 1:  The Birth of a Baby
• Milestone 2:  Faith Commitment
• Milestone 3:  Preparing for Adolescence
• Milestone 4:  Commitment to Purity
• Milestone 5:  Passage to Adulthood
• Milestone 6:  High School Graduation
• Milestone 7:  Life in Christ

Family Ministry Team:  Alaina Bowman, Christine Brooks, Carolyn Mensch, Jim Skinner, Jennifer Straten, Zack Turner