You are invited!

All Of This Goodness Is Happening Today!

We will be having an unplugged type of service today with acoustic guitars and candlelight. This is an approach we take from time to time to present the music with a different feel. (A few times we have taken this approach when the power has gone out in the building, but sometimes we do it intentionally. Today it is intentional.) It is our desire to express our worship for God in fresh and creative ways. He is deserving of our best efforts.

I will be talking about an interesting interaction Jesus had in which He talked about belonging to God. People got mad at Jesus when He told them about this but, of course, He always spoke the truth.

Then after the 11 o’clock service we will be having our Annual Chili Cook-Off. This is a chili competition which serves as a fund raiser for our Youth Group. Do you like great chili? Yeah, me too. There will be lots of it at the Chili Cook-Off!

You say, “Wow! All of this goodness is happening at the services today? How cool!”

Yep. You won’t want to miss it.

Join us at 9am or 11am at…

First Church of God

4600 W. 111^th Street

Oak Lawn, IL

Baptisms Today. Celebrating Spiritual Victory!

When people step forward to be baptized they are publicly proclaiming their faith in Christ and acting in obedience to Him. It is a spiritual victory and a time of great joy. We are celebrating that truth this morning as 14 people are being baptized here in Oak Lawn!

I’m so excited about the services that I’ve been up since 4:05 a.m. (no kidding)!

If you are in the area, please feel free to stop in and celebrate with us!

First Church of God

4600 W. 111^th Street

Oak Lawn, IL

Services times: 9am and 11am

I’m posting this at approx. 6:45am and the first service doesn’t begin until 9am, so, I think I’m going to go run around outside the building for a minute or two with a big smile on my face.

Striving For Success On God's Terms

When I became the pastor of the church in Oak Lawn, I (secretly) thought I would be the successful pastor of the successful church filled with successful people.  I was not anticipating the possibility that God had other plans in mind.  As time has gone by I’ve come to realize that a more accurate description of the situation would be that we are the church for hurting people.

That was not what I was expecting.

But God is helping me understand I can still be the successful pastor of the successful church filled with successful people.  It’s just that I need to have an accurate understanding of success as God defines it.

Success is this:  Faithful obedience to God.