|
Grace and peace to you this week. Sunday was week four of Reconnect, and it got personal fast. If you were with us, thank you. If you missed it, this one is about a name in your phone. One church, two campuses, one family. Today is Election DayToday, Tuesday, November 3, go vote. Every vote counts, and every vote matters. If you’ve already voted, check on someone who hasn’t and offer them a ride. Polls in Illinois are open until 7 PM Central. Mars Hill has its own YouTube channelMars Hill Anywhere just launched a new YouTube channel. Subscribe, then tap the bell and choose All so you know every time we go live or post something new. π Subscribe to Mars Hill Anywhere on YouTube Tomorrow night: Ready, Not ScaredYour family trusts you to know what happens next. You don’t have to be the only one who knows. Ready, Not Scared joins trust in God with practical care for the people who depend on you. No disaster countdown. No call to hoard. One calm household conversation before the next disruption. Wednesday, November 4, 7:00 PM Central. We’re streaming on every platform, including our new channel: π Watch on the Mars Hill Anywhere YouTube channel RECONNECT, Week 4: Dropped CallOpen your texts. Scroll down until you find it. The thread with somebody you used to talk to every week. Last message: “We gotta link up soon.” March. Nobody fought. Nobody called. A tired Tuesday became a slammed month, then a year that got awkward. You typed “Hey” once. Then you deleted it. Here’s the lie that keeps the silence going: “If they wanted to talk, they’d reach out.” So you wait. And they might be waiting too. Two phones. Full bars. Nobody dials. Write this down: Distance isn’t a decision. It’s just what happens when nobody makes the call. Paul wrote to a church in Galatia that was busy keeping score, “biting and devouring one another.” Then he told them to carry something else. “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2, NLT) The burden Paul names is a crushing weight, not the everyday pack each of us carries. You can’t help carry a weight you’ve never heard about, and you won’t hear about it if you never call. Before you ever reached for God, He came looking. In the garden He called out, “Where are you?” Then He went all the way to the cross to close the distance. You aren’t making this call to earn His love. You’re making it because you’ve already been loved. A word of care: this is about drift, not about reopening the door to someone who hurt you. Blocked is a boundary. Dropped is a drift. Your practice this week: reach out to someone you have been distant from and begin a meaningful conversation. Start with the name that came to mind first. Call if you can. A voice note counts. A text is the floor, not the ceiling. Skip “we gotta link up” and try this: “I thought about you this week and realized I miss you. How are you, really?” Ask one follow-up question, then listen. If they don’t answer, you still made the call. One plank, not the whole bridge. π Join a Life Group this week Watch the ReplayMissed Sunday, or want to send it to the person you just thought of? The replay can be your first sentence. π Watch “Dropped Call” on YouTube Go deeper: The Reconnect Life Group StudyLife Groups run one week behind the sermons. This week they’re working through Reconnect with Your Soul. Next week they reach Reconnect with People, the same ground as Sunday’s message. Pick in person, virtual, or the self guided track if you worship online, and start where the group is. You are not behind. β΅ Text LIFEGROUP to 33777. Worship through the week with the Reconnect playlist: π Listen on Spotify Every message lives in one place: the full Mars Hill message library. This Sunday: Signal OutRECONNECT, Week 5. You’ve been reconnected for five weeks. What have you actually done with it besides feel better? Sunday we open Ephesians 2:10 and talk about the gifts you’ve been sitting on instead of using. A signal that only receives and never transmits isn’t connected to anything. It’s just picking up noise. Sunday, November 8, 10:30 AM Central, online. Thank you for holding this house upThis is a hybrid church with two campuses: the room in McCook and the campus that is wherever you are reading this. Your prayers and your provision keep both of them open, so nobody has to carry what they’re carrying alone. Give at marshillchicago.org/giving, or text MHGIVE to 33777. π Give here Here’s where I’ll leave you. Somewhere across this city, a phone is face down on a kitchen counter. It’s been quiet since March. This week it lights up, and it’s your name on the screen. See you Sunday at 10:30. Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr. P.S. Before you close this email, open that thread. Don’t plan the whole conversation. Send one real sentence, then come back and finish your coffee. A word from this week’s sponsor This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Superhuman. A quick word from them. |
