by Clarence E. Stowers | Apr 3, 2015 | Christian, Christianity, Easter Weekend, Social Media, Technology, video, Vision, Web/Tech
Every generation experiences change.
In a relatively short amount of time, the Internet has moved from an occasional tool to one of the principal ways we communicate, entertain ourselves, and do work. Staying up-to-date on emails, social media and other means of online communication is a bigger time requirement than people may realize.
New research has found that the average user spends 23 hours a week emailing, texting, and using social media and other forms of online communication. Since people are already online, we decided to launch an online campus and guess what – it’s biblical.
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 30, 2015 | Christian, Christianity, Easter Weekend, Empowerment, Encouragement, Events, Mars Hill Baptist Church, Technology, video, Vision, Web/Tech, Worship
On Sunday, March 15, 2015, the Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago celebrated Friends’ Day.
We had our largest attendance this year. Every seat, including two overflows were filled to capacity. I believe God gave us a glimpse of how Easter 2015 will be. Therefore, we’re adding a Saturday service for our members so we can free up space for our guests attending Easter Sunday.
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People Reaching People
At Mars Hill, our theme for 2015 is People Reaching People #PRP. That means we’re encouraged to stretch ourselves and do different things to reach people. We have to be open to new ideas, take some risks as we prepare for the overflow that God is sending us.
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As pastor, I am asking our members to attend our Saturday Easter service (April 4th) at 5PM. It will be very similar to our Sunday services and CHILDCARE WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ALL. It’s casual so come as you are.
If you attend Saturday’s service and will attend Easter Sunday, we ask three things of you:
- Wear your Mars Hill T-shirt,
- Sit in the section for Mars Hill members, and if necessary,
- Be ready to give up your seat and go to the overflow or our cafe.
It’s all about reaching people this year so we have to be willing to make sacrifices.
If you are bringing guests on Easter Sunday and you need to sit with them, don’t wear a t-shirt because it is more important that our guests feel comfortable.
Easter Weekend Schedule:
Saturday, April 4, 2015
5PM – Live Worship Experience – Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago
5PM – **NEW Online Worship Experience** (Yep, it’s almost here)
Sunday, April 5, 2015
8AM – Live Worship Experience
8AM – **NEW Online Worship Experience**
10:30AM – Live Worship Experience
10:30AM – **NEW Online Worship Experience**
Remember, It’s all about People Reaching People #PRP.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 24, 2015 | Christian, Christianity, Encouragement, Fasting, Goals, Self-Leadership, Spiritual Growth
Have you ever wondered what’s the real reason you’re not as far as you’d like to be spiritually?
We blame it on the enemy, our busy lives, our careers, children, even the church we attend. The real reason you’re not as far as you’d like to be spiritually isn’t because of the enemy, busyness, or the complexity of sermons; it’s because we’re distracted. Despite knowing that distractions hamper productivity, most people don’t realize how it affects their spiritual growth.
In the few minutes it takes to read this blog post, chances are you’ll pause to check your phone, answer a text, switch to your desktop to read an email, or glance at the Facebook or Twitter messages popping up in the corner of your screen. And pastors wonder why it is people are not growing spiritually. They’re distracted!
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by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 17, 2015 | Christian, Christianity, Empowerment, Encouragement, Mars Hill Baptist Church, Motivation, Self-Leadership
I will never forget a couple who attended Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago for five years. They almost never missed a week. They would walk in, hear the message and the music, and walk back out.
Week after week, in and out. They never met anybody. They never established any friendships. They never got involved in ministry. They never joined. They never built a network of support.
After about five years, they went through one of those horrendous, gut wrenching, devastating crises, that shattered their world. The kind that knocks you against the wall and leaves you gasping for breath just trying to hold on.
The real tragedy was, there was nobody there to help them. They had never taken the time to get to know anyone. They had never built any relationships. They had never been there for anybody else in a crisis, and nobody was there for their crisis. That’s sad. Because it’s completely unnecessary.
They could have taken the time before the storm to establish a few key relationships that would have been there to strengthen them when they were going through tough times. So, what do you do when you’re going through one of those horrendous, gut wrenching, devastating crises that shatters your world? Drop your pride and accept help from others. (more…)
by Clarence E. Stowers | Mar 12, 2015 | Accountability, Empowerment, Encouragement, Goals, Motivation, Self-Leadership
As a father, one of the most important things I have learned is that life is not fair.
Life does not always deliver equal portions to everyone. When my sons were younger, I remember trying to split a Baby Ruth candy bar in equal parts. Joshua, my youngest, began protesting because, in his opinion, his older brother had more peanuts. The first thing that came out of his mouth: “NOT FAIR! He has more peanuts than I do.”
That is exactly how life is. It is not divided into equal portions and that is when we scream: “Life is not fair!” Sometimes our portion of life does not seem right. Consequently, we are disappointed, angry, and if we are not careful, we become bitter. Bitterness is often a by-product of finding yourself stressed to your breaking point. All of us can recall moments of unfairness. We find ourselves saying “this should not be happening to me.”
The fact is, you are going to experience pain in life through circumstances, from other people, sometimes intentionally, and sometimes unintentionally. You cannot keep yourself from painful moments. Although you cannot control your circumstances, you can control your response, your reaction, and how you choose to react to a particular circumstance or person that has hurt you. How do you respond when life is not fair?
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