Happy Thursday, Reader

This past Sunday, Reverend Marcie Stowers-Wilson preached a word that hit the heart and lifted our heads: you are not random. You are handpicked and handmade by God.

If life has been loud, complicated, or heavy, Psalm 139 reminds us that God’s workmanship is precise, personal, and intentional.

And this weekend, we’re stepping into another moment of grace: Jesus Stopped at Your Tree (Luke 19:1-10). If you’ve been watching from a distance, this one is for you.

This Sunday’s Message: Handpicked and Handmade by God

The Big Idea this week:

Key Takeaways:

⓵ Your life is not accidental. God was “knitting” you together with detail and purpose. The way you are wired is not a mistake.

⓶ You are wonderfully complex on purpose. If you’ve been labeled “too much,” remember: God’s craftsmanship is marvelous. Complexity is not a curse.

⓷ What is spoken over you matters. The words we speak to children and to one another become anchors, even before people fully understand them.

This Week’s Practice: Speak Psalm 139 over someone this week: your child, your spouse, your parent, a friend, or yourself. Say it plainly: “You are fearfully and wonderfully made.” Then name one specific gift you see in them.

​Watch the replay on YouTube​

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This Sunday: Stop Waiting Until You’re Worthy

Scripture: Luke 19:1-10 | Series: THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE (Week 5 of 5)

What would you do if Jesus called your name before you cleaned yourself up?

If you have been watching from a distance, too far gone, too compromised, too long away, this message is for you.

Zacchaeus did not get his life together before Jesus showed up. Jesus stopped at his tree first.

That is how grace actually works.

The bottom line: Grace is the aggressor. Jesus pursues before you perform.

To prepare for worship this Sunday, listen to this playlist.

Stop Waiting Until You’re Wo… Broken Vessels • Travis Gree… PREVIEW   ​

This Sunday at Mars Hill

This Sunday, we are online only at 10:30 AM (CST).

Worship with us live ⤵️

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

You Built the Right Life for the Wrong You

There are seasons where everything looks “right” on paper. But your soul is still tired, still numb, still searching.

This new Substack piece names that tension without flinching, and then points you toward the deeper work: becoming whole, not just successful.

If you’ve been carrying the pressure to keep performing, keep proving, and keep producing… this is for you.

Read it slowly. Let it confront you. Let it free you.

And if one line hits, share it with someone who needs language for what they’ve been feeling but couldn’t explain.

📖 Read the article​

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

If this message moved you, consider making your giving recurring. One decision.

Consistent impact.

Every week, someone’s locked room gets light because of what you do.

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​
• Next week: Stop Waiting Until You’re Worthy | Week 5 of THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE. Same time Sunday.
• Podcast: Latest Episode​
• Substack: https://clarencestowers.substack.com/​
• ⬇️ Download our app: https://get.theapp.co/c277​

Hello Reader,

​

Something’s been sitting in your inbox unfinished.

Not an email. Something older than that.

​
You built a life that looks right from the outside. The career, the business, the roles, the reputation. All of it real. All of it earned.

And somewhere in the last few years, it started feeling like someone else’s story.

​

Not loudly. Not dramatically. Just quietly the way a season changes. One day you noticed things weren’t quite as bright. Now you can’t remember when they were.

​

That’s not burnout. That’s not ingratitude. That’s a first act reaching its natural end.

​

I built the Second Act Assessment to help people figure out exactly where they are in that process. If you’ve been meaning to take it, now is the moment but I’m going to make it even easier than the quiz.

Read the four profiles below. One of them is yours. Click it. That’s it.

​

Profile 1 — Still in Someone’s Story

You’ve built something real, but it was built on someone else’s terms. Their expectations, their timeline, their definition of what winning looks like. You’re successful by every external measure. And quietly suffocating.

→ This is me — I’m still in someone else’s story​

​
Profile 2 — Waking Up

Something cracked open. A conversation, a loss, a moment where the mask slipped and you glimpsed something underneath all the noise. You can’t unsee it. You’re not sure what to do with what you saw, but you know you’re not going back.

→ This is me — Something just cracked open​

​
Profile 3 — At the Threshold

You know what you’re moving toward. You’ve named it in private. You’ve done the math. But you haven’t crossed. Fear. Logistics. The voice that says “not yet” or “who do you think you are.” You’re standing right at the door.

→ This is me — I’m standing at the door​

​
Profile 4 — Second Act Ready

You’ve made peace with the first act. Not bitterness. Not regret. Just completion. The path forward is clear enough to move on. You don’t need more time to figure it out — you need structure, support, and someone in your corner to execute.

→ This is me — I’m ready to move​

​
One click routes you to the right place. You’ll get a personal email sequence built for exactly where you are — with real next steps, not generic advice.

​
No quiz. No form. Just click the profile that fits.

​
— Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

​
P.S. If none of these feel exactly right, take the full assessment here and let the questions do the work ⤵️https://clarencestowers.com/second-act-assessment.html​

​

Here’s to your success,

Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.
​See All of my Links @ Linktree​

Happy Thursday, Reader

This Sunday is Mother’s Day.

And if there is ever a Sunday to be in the room together, this is it.

Not on a screen. Not catching the replay later.

In the room.

Bring your mom. Bring your wife. Bring the woman who showed up for you when she didn’t have to. Bring the one who has been carrying something she has never said out loud. Because this Sunday’s message was made for exactly that.

Last Sunday we went to the room.

Not metaphorically. The specific room in your life you stopped walking into, not because it disappeared, but because what happened there did not.

David had one. He locked his door for twelve months. He kept leading. Kept preaching. Kept performing. And nobody knew the room was still there.

Until Nathan walked in.

This Sunday’s Message: Hiding Is Heavier Than Confessing

The Big Idea this week:

Here is what the text gave us:

David led with mercy, not explanation. No credentials. Just need. (Psalm 51:1–4)

The hiding did not protect you. It just changed what you are hiding from.

You are already living with consequences. The only question is which ones. The ones that come after confession, which God walks through with you. Or the ones from hiding, which you carry alone.

God does not need your perfection. He needs your honesty.

Nathan didn’t make David wait. The confession was the turning point. Five words. Four words back: the Lord has forgiven you. (2 Samuel 12:13)

The thing you are most ashamed of is the exact thing mercy was designed for.

1 John 1:9 does not grade sin by severity. Romans 8:1 is a legal verdict, not a feeling. Isaiah 1:18 says come now. Present tense. Door already open.

Confession is not the end of something. It is the beginning of everything.

David didn’t confess once and move on. He wrote a song about it. He built a practice out of it.

God does not renovate from the outside in. He starts in the room you locked.

This week’s practice:

Practice Psalm 51 as a daily prayer for seven days. Ten minutes. Morning. Pause on the verse that names what you are carrying. Let that verse be your prayer.

​Watch the replay on YouTube​

​

Mother’s Day Sunday is May 10, 2026 at 10:30 AM

If you have been watching from home, this is the Sunday to come back.

If you have someone in your life who needs to hear a word about mercy and second chances. Bring them.

If your mom is carrying something she has never named, bring her to a room where that is exactly what we are talking about.

Mothers carry more than most people ever see. This Sunday we honor that and we give everyone in the room a word they can actually walk out with.

🚘 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​

Going deeper on Substack this week.

The full article on what locked rooms cost and what confession actually opens:

​You Still Have the Right to Vote​

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

If this message moved you, consider making your giving recurring. One decision.

Consistent impact.

Every week, someone’s locked room gets light because of what you do.

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
• Next week — Jonah. Not the whale. The man who ran. And what happened when God showed up anyway. Week 5 of THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE. Same time Sunday.
• Podcast: Latest Episode​
• Substack: https://clarencestowers.substack.com/​
• ⬇️ Download our app: https://get.theapp.co/c277​

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: