Happy Hump Day, Reader

There are people in our congregation quietly carrying someone.

A child. A sibling. A spouse.

Someone who walked away and hasn’t come back. Sunday was for them. I hope it hit.

Here’s what’s inside: a recap, your practice for the week, and what’s next.

This Sunday’s Message: Stop Praying Safe for the Person Who Left

This past Sunday, we preached “Stop Praying Safe for the Person Who Left” from Luke 15.

The message was direct: soft prayers don’t move prodigals. The Father in the parable wasn’t passive; he was positioned, watching the road.

Jesus left us five specific, dangerous prayers inside that story.

Watch the full replay and share it with someone who’s been carrying someone alone.

​Watch the replay on YouTube​

​

Featured Content (Devotional)

A Second Chance You Can Practice Today

A sermon can move you on Sunday and fade by Monday if you don’t turn it into a next step.

That’s why this week’s featured devotional is built to help you do the work Jesus invited Peter into: stop managing the memory and start receiving restoration.

If you have been calling your failure “that situation” or “my mistake,” this is your moment to get honest without getting crushed.

God is not asking you to pretend it didn’t happen. God is inviting you to bring it into the light so it can lose its power.

Read it slowly. Pray it honestly. And take one small action that matches the grace you say you believe.

📚 Read the Devotional​

Service Info (Next Sunday)

This Sunday, April 29 | Online Only @ 10:30 AM (CT)

Join us wherever you are for Mars Hill Anywhere online.

• YouTube
• Facebook: Mars Hill Chicago

Mother’s Day Sunday is May 10 at 10:30 AM

This one is for the women who held it together when everything was falling apart.

The ones who prayed when nobody was watching. Sacrificed when nobody was counting. Loved when it cost them something.

This Mother’s Day, we’re honoring you not with a flowers-and-brunch moment, but with a word from Scripture that speaks directly to the kind of strength you carry.

Come ready. In person or online we want you here.

Pull up in person:📍7941 47th St., McCook, IL.| [May 10, 2026] | 10:30 AM

Log on from anywhere:📺 Watch on YouTube | Watch on Facebook​

My Prayer Request

This week, we’re praying for Mars Hill as a hybrid church, with people in our seats and people watching from screens.

Both need the same thing: someone praying that the wrong place stops being comfortable and the right place starts feeling like home.

Pray with us.

Giving

Every week of this series, somebody opened a room they had not been in for years. A prayer closet they had abandoned.

A relationship they had written off. A mind they had stopped fighting for.

A worship room running on empty.

That happens because people like you make Mars Hill Anywhere possible.

Everything we do, the online services, the resources, the community runs because people like you choose to invest in it.

Give Securely

Support the mission securely at marshillchicago.org/giving, in our mobile app, or by texting MHGIVE to 33777. You can also mail checks to:

Mars Hill Baptist Church
PO Box 6159
River Forest, IL 60305

With love and expectation,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. This week:

• Watch Sunday’s replay → YouTube​
• Join us on Mother’s Day, May 10 at 10:30 AM → 7941 47th St., McCook, IL
• Podcast: Latest Episode​
• Substack: https://clarencestowers.substack.com/​
• ⬇️ Download our app: https://get.theapp.co/c277​

Happy Hump Day, Reader

Some weeks you can feel it in the air. Not because the calendar changed, but because God is pressing on something deeper than schedule and routine.

A lot of us are carrying a moment we never talk about. A sentence we regret. A decision we wish we could un-live. A failure that keeps replaying at 2 AM.

This Sunday’s message went straight to that place. And it didn’t leave us in the courtyard. It took us to the beach.

Here’s what’s inside: a recap, your practice for the week, and what’s next.

This Sunday’s Message: What If Your Worst Night Is Not Your Last Chapter?

Big Idea: Jesus does not only forgive, Jesus restores.

Scripture: Luke 22:54–62; John 21:9, 15–19

Key Takeaways:

• ⓵ Your worst moment does not get the final word over your life.
• ⓶ Shame does not protect you. It buries you alive.
• ⓷ Jesus builds the fire in the exact place where you fell apart.

This Week’s Practice: Confess one specific failure to God and receive forgiveness without bargaining.

📺 Watch the replay on YouTube​

​

Featured Content (Devotional)

A Second Chance You Can Practice Today

A sermon can move you on Sunday and fade by Monday if you don’t turn it into a next step.

That’s why this week’s featured devotional is built to help you do the work Jesus invited Peter into: stop managing the memory and start receiving restoration.

If you have been calling your failure “that situation” or “my mistake,” this is your moment to get honest without getting crushed.

God is not asking you to pretend it didn’t happen. God is inviting you to bring it into the light so it can lose its power.

Read it slowly. Pray it honestly. And take one small action that matches the grace you say you believe.

📚 Read the Devotional​

Service Info (Next Sunday)

This Sunday, April 29 | Online Only @ 10:30 AM (CT)

Join us wherever you are for Mars Hill Anywhere online.

• YouTube
• Facebook: Mars Hill Chicago

Next In-Person Service

Mother’s Day Worship Weekend is May 10, 2026, at 10:30 AM.

Join us in person at 7941 47th St., Central, McCook, IL.

Bring your family. Bring a friend. Come as you are.

Giving

Every week of this series, somebody opened a room they had not been in for years. A prayer closet they had abandoned. A relationship they had written off. A mind they had stopped fighting for. A worship room running on empty.

That happens because people like you make Mars Hill Anywhere possible.

Everything we do, the online services, the resources, the community runs because people like you choose to invest in it.

Give Securely

Support the mission securely at marshillchicago.org/giving, in our mobile app, or by texting MHGIVE to 33777. You can also mail checks to:

Mars Hill Baptist Church
PO Box 6159
River Forest, IL 60305

With love and expectation,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. If you have been carrying a moment you never named, you don’t have to carry it alone.

What is one failure you’ve been bargaining with God about instead of surrendering?

What would it look like to take one small, honest step toward the beach this week?

I read every reply. This is a conversation, not a broadcast.

Hit reply. Let’s talk about it.

Optional links

• Podcast: Latest Episode​
• Substack: https://clarencestowers.substack.com/​
• ⬇️ Download our app: https://get.theapp.co/c277​

Happy Hump Day, Reader

Some weeks, you can feel yourself drifting, even while you are still doing all the right things.

You still show up.
You still smile.

But inside, something went quiet.

This Sunday’s message was for that exact moment.

If you missed the moment, you did not miss the encounter. Jesus does not wait for you to be ready. He walks into the room you locked yourself in.

Here is the recap, one clear practice for the week, and a word for Mother’s Day worship.

This Sunday’s Message: He Came Back for the One Who Missed It

Big Idea: You can miss the moment and still get the encounter. Jesus does not wait for you to be ready. He walks into the room you locked yourself in.

Scripture: John 20:26-28 (NLT)

Key Takeaways:

⓵ Doubt rarely looks like defiance. It usually looks like distance.

⓶ Proximity is not presence. Attendance is not devotion.

⓷ Your delay is not your disqualification. Jesus comes back for the one who missed it.

This Week’s Practice:

1. Sit with God for 10 minutes.
2. Name the one doubt you have been hiding.
3. Tell one trusted person the truth.
4. Make one visible act of faith every day for seven days.

PRIMARY CTA: Watch The Replay

​Watch the replay on YouTube​

​

When Life Feels Like It Is Falling Apart

Sometimes the breakdown is not the end. It is the beginning of a new kind of alignment.

In this week’s Substack, I wrote a piece for the moment when the pressure is rising, the old patterns are breaking, and you are wondering if you are losing ground. What if those exact signs are actually the signs that something is finally working?

If you have been in a season where things feel unstable, read this slowly. Take one line that names you. Pray it. Then do one small, honest act of obedience before the day ends.

​Read: The 5 Signs Your Life Is Breaking Down…

What’s Coming April 19

THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE

One question is going to drive this entire series:

Is there something in your life you thought God was done with?

Jonah. Peter. David. The Prodigal Son. Thomas.

Five people who thought the story was over. Five times God said: Not yet.

April 19, 2026, at 10:30 AM CST.

Start asking that question in your circles this week. That is the conversation that fills a room.

[JOIN US APRIL 19 →]

Next In-Person Service

Mother’s Day Worship Weekend is May 10, 2026, at 10:30 AM.

Join us in person at 7941 47th St., Central, McCook, IL.

Bring your family. Bring a friend. Come as you are.

Giving

Every week of this series, somebody opened a room they had not been in for years. A prayer closet they had abandoned. A relationship they had written off. A mind they had stopped fighting for. A worship room running on empty.

That happens because people like you make Mars Hill Anywhere possible.

Everything we do, the online services, the resources, the community runs because people like you choose to invest in it.

Give Securely

Support the mission securely at marshillchicago.org/giving, in our mobile app, or by texting MHGIVE to 33777. You can also mail checks to:

Mars Hill Baptist Church
PO Box 6159
River Forest, IL 60305

In His Grip,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. If you have been carrying doubt in silence, do not carry it alone another week.

What is the one question you have been afraid to say out loud?

What is one visible step you want to take before Sunday?

I read every reply. This is a conversation, not a broadcast.

Hit reply. Let’s talk about it.

More ways to stay connected Substack | Podcast:

Happy Tuesday, Reader

Easter is over.

And I want to say something that does not always get said the week after:

You did the work.

Five weeks ago, I asked you to do something most people avoid. Walk through the house. Not the presentable rooms. The ones you lock before guests arrive. The ones that have been dark so long you forgot what was in them.

You went into the Prayer Closet. You turned the lights on.

You went into the Relationship Room. You picked up the IOU you had been carrying.

You went into the Mind. You named what had been running your life without your permission.

You went into the Worship Room. You woke it back up.

And then Sunday happened.

The Owner came home.

Not to a perfect house. To an honest one. And that is exactly what resurrection requires.

The series is done. But the door you opened? Keep it open.

​

What I’m Carrying This Week

Easter was a win. Full stop.

The message landed, the house was ready, and every person who showed up, in person and online, showed up for something real.

Before we move on to anything else, I want to say this clearly: you showed up. Thank you.

Now we breathe for exactly one day. Then we build.

Drop your answer. And if you have not watched the Easter sermon yet, watch it this week. Come back and drop DONE when you finish the practice.

This Week’s Practice

The series is over. The practice is not.

Pick the room that hit you hardest. The one you opened the door to but did not fully walk into.

Give it 15 minutes this week. Not to fix it. To finish naming it.

Then tell one person what you found and what you made room for.

What I am watching this week:

1. Two weeks until the next series. On April 19, we launch THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE. Five weeks. Jonah, Peter, David, the Prodigal Son, and Thomas. This series is built for the person who showed up Sunday for the first time and the person who has been in your row for ten years. Both need what is coming.
2. Rest is not laziness. It is preparation. You poured out this season. Let something pour back in. You cannot sustain what you do not replenish.

What’s Coming April 19

THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE

One question is going to drive this entire series:

Is there something in your life you thought God was done with?

Jonah. Peter. David. The Prodigal Son. Thomas.

Five people who thought the story was over. Five times God said: Not yet.

April 19, 2026, at 10:30 AM CST.

Start asking that question in your circles this week. That is the conversation that fills a room.

[JOIN US APRIL 19 →]

Giving

Every week of this series, somebody opened a room they had not been in for years. A prayer closet they had abandoned. A relationship they had written off. A mind they had stopped fighting for. A worship room running on empty.

That happens because people like you make Mars Hill Anywhere possible.

Everything we do, the online services, the resources, the community runs because people like you choose to invest in it.

Give Securely

Support the mission securely at marshillchicago.org/giving, in our mobile app, or by texting MHGIVE to 33777. You can also mail checks to:

Mars Hill Baptist Church
PO Box 6159
River Forest, IL 60305

The series is done.

But here is what I know about the people who actually did the work:

You are not the same as you were five weeks ago. The Prayer Closet is lit. The Relationship Room has been cleared. The Mind is being retaken. The Worship Room is awake.

And the Owner walked back in on Sunday.

Not because you finished. Because you opened the door.

Keep it open.

See you this Sunday Online.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. The Easter sermon replay is live. If someone you know missed Sunday or if you want to sit in it again, send them the link. Some people need to hear that resurrection does not require a perfect house. It just needs an open door.

Watch: YouTube @ClarenceStowersTV | Facebook: Mars Hill Chicago

Happy Humpday, Reader

Five weeks ago, I asked you to do something most people avoid.

I asked you to walk through the house.

Not the presentable rooms. Not the ones you keep clean for company. The ones you lock before guests arrive. The ones that have been dark so long you forgot what was in them.

You went into the Prayer Closet and found out you were not struggling to pray. You were hiding.

You went into the Relationship Room and found an IOU you had been carrying for years. An apology that was never coming. A debt someone else owed you that was quietly bankrupting your peace.

You went into the Mind and found out your thoughts were running your life, and you had handed them the keys without knowing it.

You went into the Worship Room and found the lights on but nobody home. Muscle memory dressed up as devotion. Faithful attendance running on autopilot.

And you did not walk away. You stayed. You did the 15 minutes. You made the one move.

This Sunday is what all of that was for.

Easter is not a holiday. It is not a ceremony. It is the Owner coming home.

And the house is ready.

Easter Invitation

INSPECTION DAY: THE HOUSE IS READY

PREPARE THE HOUSE | Easter Sunday, April 5

This is the Sunday we have been building toward for five weeks. The final room. The final audit.

And then: resurrection.

Hebrews 12:1 says we run the race with endurance because the weight has been removed. You do not run well with a full house. You run well with a ready one.

You prepared the house.

Now come receive what the Owner brings when He walks back in.

Service Info

Easter Sunday is this week. April 5, 2026.

Week 5: INSPECTION DAY. THE HOUSE IS READY.

Join us in person or online at 10:30 AM CST.

Watch on YouTube @ClarenceStowersTV or Facebook Live: Mars Hill Chicago.

Bring somebody. This is the Sunday we built toward.

[JOIN US EASTER SUNDAY →]

Bring somebody. This is not a Sunday to watch alone and not a Sunday to let someone you love miss.

Support Mars Hill

Everything we do the online services, the resources, the community runs because people like you choose to invest in it.

Give Securely

Support the mission securely at marshillchicago.org/giving, in our mobile app, or by texting MHGIVE to 33777. You can also mail checks to:

Mars Hill Baptist Church
PO Box 6159
River Forest, IL 60305

Every week of this series, somebody opened a room they had not been in for years.

A prayer closet they had abandoned.

A relationship they had written off.

A mind they had stopped fighting for.

A worship room running on empty.

That happens because people like you make Mars Hill Anywhere possible.

The House is Ready

Not because you are perfect. Not because every room is spotless.

Because you walked through it honestly. You named what was dark. You cleared what was contaminated. You took back what was unsafe. You woke up what was absent.

And now Easter is not just a Sunday on the calendar.

It is a homecoming.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. Five weeks ago, the Big Idea of this entire series was this:

Easter is the Owner coming home. We prepare the house, room by room, so resurrection has room to move in.

This Sunday, we find out what happens when resurrection actually moves in.

It does not visit a house that stayed the same.

It makes a home in the one that was ready.

See you at 10:30.

Bring somebody who needs to know the Owner is still coming home.