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Grace and peace to you this week. I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you for giving me the time away these past few weeks to rest, to breathe, and to actually enjoy the life God gave me instead of just running it. That gift did not go unnoticed. One church, two campuses, one family. I mean that every time I say it. Homegoing: Vevely A. ParkerBefore anything else this week, we hold a family in our arms. Our sister, Vevely A. Parker, has gone home to be with the Lord. We celebrate a life that touched this church as a sister, an aunt, a family member, and a friend.
Thursday, August 20, 2026 Visitation Funeral Service Burial Following Church, wrap this family in love. If you can be present, be present. If you cannot, cover them in prayer. Save the Date: The GatheringI want to give you an advance heads-up on our 5th Sunday joint service with Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, and some context from our August 4th planning meeting.
The Gathering: One City. One Savior. One Worship Experience. This service is a reunion. It is rooted in shared history through the Northwood River District and the joint services our two churches have held before, including at Navy Pier. Time: 11:00 AM, running about 90 minutes, ending around 12:30 PM. Final artwork and promotional materials are approved and launching across all channels now. Full logistics, run-of-service details, and team assignments are coming soon. Mark your calendar. This past Sunday we closed out WHO’S IN YOUR BOAT with the final message in the series. I Cannot Come Down. You have not touched the assignment God gave you in eleven days. You have touched everybody else’s emergency twice today. Your phone went off at 7:12 this morning and you answered before your feet hit the floor. The thing with your name on it is still sitting on page two. You are not lazy. You are booked. Nobody around you can tell the difference, and neither can you anymore. Nehemiah got the same invitation four times. Come down. Let’s talk. He knew it was not a meeting, it was a trap designed to pull him off the wall.
“I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” (Nehemiah 6:3, NLT) Four times they asked. Four times he gave the same answer. He did not argue, he did not explain himself, he just went back to work. Fifty two days later, the wall was finished. Write this down: A boundary around your calling is not selfishness. It is stewardship. God is not going to ask you about everybody else’s wall on the last day. He is going to ask you about yours. Your practice this week: name the “great work” God gave you this season, and write the one sentence you will say the next time someone calls you down from it. New on Still StandingThis week’s episode is Overturn The Verdict You Gave Yourself. If you have been carrying a sentence you handed down on your own life, this one is for you. 👉 Listen to “Overturn The Verdict You Gave Yourself” This SundayWe are online only this week. Join us at 10:30 AM Central. Thank you for holding this house upBeing a hybrid church means we are doing two things at once. We gather in person in McCook, and we open the doors online to people who may never walk through a physical building but still need a place to belong. That takes prayer, and it takes provision. Your continued prayers cover this ministry. Your continued giving keeps both campuses running. There is a wall with your name on it, and people are going to keep calling you down from it. This week, stay up there. Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr. P.S. Before your head hits the pillow tonight, name the great work God gave you out loud. Then write the sentence you will say the next time someone calls you down from it. A word from this week’s sponsor This letter lands in your inbox free, and part of what keeps it that way is the sponsor below. This week it’s 1440. Take ten seconds to see what they’re about. Supporting them helps us keep showing up in your inbox every week. |
One sentence stops you from finishing everyone else’s wall.
