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​

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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.

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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.

Happy Tuesday, Reader

You looked fine this week.

You hit your goals. Showed up for the people who needed you. Handled everything on the calendar.

But the whole ride home, the voice in your head was running a different story.

It replayed Tuesday’s mistake. It built the worst-case scenario for something that has not happened yet. It rehearsed the conversation you have been avoiding and gave you three versions of how it goes wrong.

You were at the dinner table, but half of you was somewhere else.

That is not stress. That is an unguarded room.

This is Week 3 of PREPARE THE HOUSE. We went into the Mind.

Not the prayer room.

Not the relationship room.

The room that runs every other room in your life.

And what we found is that most high-achieving, spiritually serious people are not struggling with a faith problem. They are struggling with a wiring problem.

This week’s email has the sermon recap, this week’s one assignment, and a resource to go deeper.

🎙️ Sermon Recap

PREPARE THE HOUSE — THE HOUSE IS UNSAFE

Romans 12:2; Isaiah 26:3; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Proverbs 23:7a

The Big Idea: The house becomes unsafe when the mind is wired wrong. We renew the mind so the Owner comes home to peace, not panic.

This week’s three takeaways:

⓵ Anxiety is not a personality type. Shame is not a spiritual gift. Fear is not discernment. They are symptoms of a room that has never been inspected. You have been calling bad wiring “just how I think.” It is not identity. It is wiring. And wiring can be changed.

⓶ There is a difference between thinking and hosting. Thinking is when a thought moves through you. Hosting is when you give it a seat, a name, and a meal. Most people have no idea how many thoughts they are hosting that they never chose to invite.

⓷ Paul told the Corinthians to capture rebellious thoughts. That is combat language. You were never meant to negotiate with the thoughts running your life. You were meant to take them captive.

This Week’s Practice:

Pick the Mind. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Write the main thought you keep agreeing with. Name it. Replace it with truth. Repeat it daily.

​

Featured Content

SUBSTACK: YOU DON’T HAVE AN ANXIETY PROBLEM. YOU HAVE A WIRING PROBLEM.

If Sunday’s message stirred something, this article goes deeper.

Most people think anxiety is a personality trait they manage. It is not. For high-performing, high-functioning people, it becomes a system, a set of agreements with thoughts they never chose to invite.

This article unpacks the neuroscience behind why your brain keeps choosing the worst-case scenario, why “think positive” misses the point, and the specific 4-step rewiring protocol you can start today.

Your strongest problems are not coming from your circumstances. They are coming from your mind.

​READ ON SUBSTACK →​

🗓️ Announcements

We will stream This Sunday we are online only.

Join us live at 10:30 AM CST.

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

Can’t make it live? The replay goes up the same day. simultaneously:

​Watch on YouTube | Watch on Facebook​

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

I meant what I said Sunday: God is not the one who created the distance.

This week, I am asking you to take the 15 minutes. Not to have a perfect prayer time. Not to feel something dramatic. Just to show up and let Him find you.

That is how the house gets prepared. One room at a time. One decision at a time.

Walking with you,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. Here is what I have learned about high-capacity people and their minds: the thought they are most afraid to name is the one that has been running their life the longest.

It sounds like their voice. It uses their logic. It feels like the truth.

But feeling true and being true are not the same thing.Two questions for you this week:

What is the loudest thought running your life right now? And how long have you been agreeing with it instead of inspecting it?

You do not have to answer publicly. But if you want to, hit reply. Tell me what the voice has been saying. I read every response. This is a conversation, not a broadcast.

Hit reply. Let’s talk about it.

Happy Hump Day, Mars Hill Family,

he air in your house is still heavy.

But before we get into it — if you were with us Sunday, you know what the room felt like.

The energy in that building was different. The monthly in-person service brought people out, and if you were there — you felt it. Wall to wall. Energy in the room that you cannot manufacture on a screen. People were present. Fully present. And if you were watching online, I need you to know: you missed something. Not in a guilt-trip way. In a “you really needed to be in that room” way. We are going to do it again. Mark your calendar. You want to be there next time.

Now — back to the house.

Last week we restored the power in the Prayer Closet. That was Week 1.

But most people walked out of that message and kept right on moving past a room they already knew about.

The Relationship Room.

This week at Mars Hill, we went in.

We did not soften it. We did not call it a process or give it a timeline. We called it what it is.

Unforgiveness is not a wound you are managing. For most of us, it became a verdict. An organized case file. A settled judgment we return to whenever we need to confirm what we already decided about that person.

And the contamination from that room has been seeping into every other space in your life for longer than you want to admit.

This week’s email has the sermon recap, this week’s one assignment, and a resource that goes deeper.

Sermon Recap: How To Stop Waiting For An Apology That’s Never Coming

HOW TO STOP WAITING FOR AN APOLOGY THAT’S NEVER COMING

Matthew 5:23-24; Ephesians 4:31-32; Hebrews 12:15 (NLT)

The Big Idea: The house gets contaminated when unforgiveness stays stored. We clear the Relationship Room so the Owner can come home to peace.

This week’s three takeaways:

⓵ Unforgiveness does not feel like a sin. It feels like a survival strategy. You are not bitter. You are boundaried. You are smart. That narrative is the most dangerous thing in the Relationship Room because it sounds completely reasonable while the contamination spreads.

⓶ Jesus stopped a man in the middle of his highest act of worship and said: go deal with that person first, then come back. The sequence God built into His own worship system is relationship before altar. Most people have reversed that order their entire lives.

⓷ Release does not require two people. It only requires one decision. You do not need the other person’s participation to close the case. You need willingness. Start there: God, make me willing.

This Week’s Practice:

Pick the Relationship Room. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Ask: Who am I still holding a verdict over? Write the name. Choose release. Take one next step.

​

Featured Content

SUBSTACK: THE NEXT LEVEL HAS A WEIGHT LIMIT

If Sunday’s message stirred something, this article goes deeper.

The next level you are asking God for has requirements and one of them is releasing what you are still carrying.

​Read this before you do the 15-minute assignment this week.

​READ ON SUBSTACK​

🗓️ Announcements

Service Info

This Sunday we are online only. Join us live at 10:30 AM CST.

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

Can’t make it live? The replay goes up same day.

Can’t make it in person? We will stream live simultaneously:

​Watch on YouTube | Watch on Facebook​

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

The contamination does not have to stay.

You were not asked to feel it first. You were asked to decide first.

This week, make the decision.

Walking with you,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. Here is what I have seen over and over with high-capacity people: the offense they are still holding is never the one they talk about. It is the one they organized. The one they have built a whole management system around.

That is the one that is still leaking.

Two questions for you this week:

What name surfaces when you ask: who am I still holding a verdict over? And how long have you been organizing that case file instead of handing it over?

You do not have to answer publicly. But if you want to, hit reply. Tell me what room the contamination has leaked into most. I read every response. This is a conversation, not a broadcast.

Hit reply. Let’s talk about it.