July Connections

CONNECTIONS

“I wanted to control the process. I didn’t know what the firing result would be on the glaze. If I couldn’t control it, I wouldn’t pursue it. I don’t think I’ve changed a great deal in almost fifty years.”

Read “The Potter and His Clay” by Keith Bodger on page 8.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE 02

July Highlights

PAGE 04

Opportunities for Prayer

PAGE 05

From the Editor

WIL TRIGGS

PAGE 06

Judging the Weights on a Balance

THOMAS GAENZLE

PAGE 08

The Potter and His Clay

KEITH BODGER

PAGE 09

Milestones

PAGE 10

ArtSpace

PAGE 11

Artist Spotlight— Nadia Gordeuk

PAGE 12

Gospel Laughter

RICHARD MOOMJIAN

PAGE 14

Quilt Lessons

LOIS KROGH

PAGE 17

New Members

PAGE 18

Meet Our Visitation Team

MICHELLE KELLEY

PAGE 20

The Four Questions

KARA BETH VANCE

PAGE 22

At the Bookstall

PAGE 24

Sanctity of Human Life

PAGE 25

From Guilt to Contentment

ANONYMOUS

PAGE 26

Our Vision

PAGE 27

Under the Radar

PAGE 27

Looking Ahead

PAGE 28

Campus Maps

Our Pastors, Directors and Residents: Josue Alvarado, pastoral resident | Matt Anthony, pastoral resident | Cheryce Berg, director of children’s ministries | Roger Burgess, pastor of visitation |Felipe Chamy, pastoral resident | Julie Clemens, director of disability ministries | Erik Dewar, pastor of worship and music | Baxter Helm, high school pastor | Dan Hiben, middle school pastor Tim Hollinger, technology director | Ann Karow, human resources director | Howard Kern, facilities director | Bruce Main, pastor of visitation | Josh Maurer, pastor of discipleship | Curt Miller, missions pastor | Josh Moody, senior pastor | Richard Moomjian, pastoral resident | Ben Panner, college pastor | Mindy Rynbrandt, director of women’s ministries | John Seward, executive pastor | Nancy Singer, director of administration and finance | Wil Triggs, director of communications

Our Council of Elders: David Bea | Mark Berg | Mark Bradley | Howard Costley, chair | Steve Ivester | Glenn Kosirog | Josh Moody, senior pastor | Jeff Oslund | Roger Sandberg | David Setran | Jeremy Taylor, secretary | Chad Thorson | Brian Wildman, vice-chair

332 E. Seminary, Wheaton, IL 60187

(630) 668-0878 | www.college-church.org

Connections is a monthly newsletter published for and about the people of College Church. Send news items and suggestions to: connections@college-church.org. Keep Connections in mind to promote a community event to the College Church family. Send event information by the following dates: For the August issue: July 9 | For the September issue: August 9 | For the October issue: September 9

CONTRIBUTORS

KEITH BODGER

has lived in Wheaton since he married his wife, Mel, 28 years ago. He and Mel have been at College Church since 2012 and lead a small group together. Though Keith greatly enjoys winter, Connections is happy that Keith enjoys writing any season of the year.

THOMAS GAENZLE

and his psychologist wife, Linda, appreciate the rich blessing that is College Church. Since Thomas retired from crisis counseling, he’s worked on a book (Confessions) telling how the Lord can assist difficult but important work at every level.

NADIA GORDEUK

has been drawing since she could hold a pencil (so 23 years). She prefers to draw animals and occasionally humans. She also does acrylic/oil painting and digital illustration. In her free time she enjoys taking walks and bike rides on the Prairie Path, and watching documentaries and movies.

MICHELLE KELLEY

has been on staff at College Church for four years. She started with College Group discipleship, migrated to missions and is currently joyfully serving in women’s ministries. Michelle’s summer bucket list includes several visits to Kimmer’s Ice Cream for another scoop of Parent Trap.

LOIS KROGH

and her husband, Steve, are College Church missionaries with Training Leaders International. They moved with Zach and Christine Fallon to be part of our most recent church plant in South Metro Atlanta. They miss the Midwest summers but love the Georgia winters. The Kroghs six children are grown and spread from Virginia to California. This September they will welcome grandchild number seven.

RICHARD MOOMJIAN

is a pastoral resident, serving in the college ministry. He enjoys reading theology, writing poetry and cooking meals at home. Richard and his wife, Shelby, welcomed their first child this summer, Joanna Shelby.

KARA BETH VANCE

currently serves a mentor with the College Group discipleship team and is actively involved with the Sanctity of Human Life Task Force. She works in Wheaton as a financial planner. Kara Beth continues to “count macros” as part of her recent interest in nutrition.

COVER IMAGE: Turtle by featured artist Nadia Gordeuk

JULY HIGHLIGHTS

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICES

Everyone welcome.

Join us at 9:30 and 11 a.m. Livestream broadcast is at 9:30 a.m. You can watch it at college-church.org/livestream

JULY 2: Ezra 4:1-24, Pastoral Resident Matt Anthony

JULY 9: Ezra 5:1-17, Pastoral Resident Josue Alvarado

JULY 23: Ezra 7:1-10, Pastor Curt Miller

JULY 30: Ezra 7:11-28, Pastoral Resident Richard Moomjian

SUNDAY SUMMER FORUM

For adults of all ages, high school and college students

SUMMER FORUM: “This I Believe: Meditations on the Apostles’ Creed” Sundays in Commons Hall, at 9:30 a.m.

An up-close look at the Apostles’ Creed to remind us of the foundational truths of the faith.

SERMON SERIES:

From the Book of Judges

JULY 2: Be Consistent, Judges 3:7–31

JULY 9: Step Up to the Plate!, Judges 4:1–5:31

JULY 16: Living Stones, 1 Peter 2:4-10: Pastor Ben Panner

JULY 23: Walk in the Light, 1 John 1:5–2:21, Pastor Baxter Helm

JULY 30: Hearing and Doing, James 1:19-27, Pastor Dan Hiben

AUGUST 6: Turn to Me and Be Saved, Isaiah 45:18-25, Pastor Josh Maurer

The Summer Café will be open for business with coffee and home baked treats.

We welcome our students and their adult leaders who are joining the discussion on “This I Believe!”

The Apostles’ Creed—it’s in the worship folder and on the screens. We stand up, say it, sit down and move on. What if we didn’t move on, and instead, let the truths of the ancient creed sink into our hearts and lives? What if each “I believe” statement was a clarion call for us to persevere in our faith as we wait for the glorious return of the Lord?

The Summer Forum, “This I Believe: Meditations on the Apostles’ Creed,” is designed to walk us through the Apostles’ Creed purposely and carefully. Each week, our pastors and pastoral residents as well as current and former professors from Wheaton College and Moody Bible Institute will discuss what we believe about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit—not in broad brushstrokes but in a way that will present a full and rich picture of our beliefs.

SUNDAY EVENING WORSHIP SERVICES

Everyone welcome.

NEW SERMON SERIES: GOING UP Evening sermons from the Book of Ezra at 5 p.m.

And as this ancient creed comes to life, we will be reminded of the foundational truths of the faith so that, in being build up, strengthened and equipped to contend for it, we might persevere in our faith as we await the glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 3, 20, 21)

The morning includes the talk, followed by Q&A, table time and prayer.

MORNING

IF YOU WANT TO GET GOD YOU’VE GOT TO GET OVER YOURSELF

JULY 2: God the Father with Pastoral Resident

Josue Alvarado

JULY 9: God the Son (Part 1) with Dan Treier

JULY 16: God the Son (Part 2) with Dan Treier

JULY 23: God the Son (Part 3) With Pastor of Discipleship

Josh

Maurer

JULY 30: God the Holy Spirit (Part 1) with Pastoral Resident

Felipe

Chamy

AUGUST 6: God the Holy Spirit (Part 2) with Phil Ryken followed by table discussion.

WOMEN’S MINISTRIES

WOMEN’S MINISTRY BOOK CLUB

Tuesday, July 25, at 7 p.m. on the Commons Patio (rain location in Commons Hall) at 7 p.m.

We’ll be discussing Rebecca McLaughlin’s book Jesus Through the Eyes of Women

SUMMER BOOK GROUP

A QUEST FOR GODLINESS by J.I. Packer

Thursdays at 7 p.m. in Commons

Book available at the bookstall or at the meeting.

JULY 6: Chapter 10 The Puritan View of Preaching the Gospel

JULY 13: Chapter 12 The Spirituality of John Owen

JULY 20: Chapter 14 The Puritans and the Lord’s Day

JULY 27: Chapter 15 The Puritan Approach to Worship

GO TEAM!

Looking for ways to serve at College Church that can be flexible with your schedule? Be part of the Go Team! Within our church family, there are frequent requests for help in a variety of ways —taking a meal to someone after a hospitalization, providing transportation to a medical appointment, helping move a piece of furniture, minor maintenance work or handyman help, or even help with a computer problem. Consider being part of the team so that we can show love and serve one another well! Use the QR code to sign up!

STEPS OF FAITH

Steps of Faith such as believers baptism or confirmation, and infant baptism or dedication are important signposts in our lives. If you are interested in pursuing one of these for yourself or a family member, contact Christy at baptism@college-church.org .

MIDDLE SCHOOL (KINGS MESSENGERS)

Commons Lower Level at 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Join us on Sunday mornings for time to get to know other students, play games together and spend time studying the Book of Philippians.

WEDNESDAYS

JULY 5: No meeting

JULY 12: Grill a Burger, Grill a Leader at Pastor Dan’s

JULY 19: KMs Wednesday in KMs room

JULY 26: Grill a Burger, Grill a Leader at Pastor Dan’s

AUGUST 2: KMs Wednesday in KMs room

HIGH SCHOOL

SUNDAY MORNING

Gather on the Commons Patio at 9 a.m. and we can attend the Summer Forum together at 9:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY EVENING

What: “Teach us to Pray: A Summer in the Lord’s Prayer”

When: Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the following dates:

JULY 5: No meeting

JULY 12: HYACKS Summer Wednesdays, Tweeten Home

JULY 19: HYACKS Summer Wednesdays, Crossings

JULY 26: HYACKS Summer Wednesdays, Jones Home

THURSDAY

July 13, 20 and 27: Incoming Freshman Bible Study, in the Commons Gym at 3:30-5 p.m.

STARS DISABILITY

SUNDAYS

All classes on Commons Tunnel Level.

INCLUSION (NURSERY-HIGH SCHOOL), rooms vary

CHILD/TEEN COMMUNITY: in C001

ADULT COMMUNITY: in C002

MULTI-GENERATIONAL COMMUNITY: in C005

JULY IN KIDS’ HARBOR

SUNDAY MORNINGS

Nursery and Preschool at 9:30, Nursery at 11 a.m.

ELEMENTARY SUMMER LIGHTHOUSE

Who: Entering 1st-5th graders

What: a worship and Bible teaching time for kids

When: Sundays through August 6 at 9:50 a.m.

The kids will participate in the 9:30 worship service with their families until the sermon, and then they will be dismissed as a group to head to their classrooms.

Where: 1st-2nd grade in room 101, 3rd- 5th grades in room 201

Why: The basic activity that defines the church is corporate worship. Children are

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRAYER

Call the church office or email info@college-church.org for details on these prayer meetings.

Sunday Morning Prayer 8:15-8:40 a.m. in C101

Monday Morning Prayer 6:15-7:15 a.m. in the Board Room

Wednesday Night Prayer (Zoom only) 7-8 p.m.

JULY 5: Jamie and Kim Viands, seminary teaching in Kenya with AIM

JULY 12: Vic and Leslie Trautwein, Kids Alive in Dominican Republic

JULY 19: J and L, church planting in Asia

JULY 26: Outreach Community Center in Carol Stream

Friday Prayer for the Persecuted Church (C101 or Board Room) 12-1 p.m. Led by Wil and Lorraine Triggs. The weekly prayer guide is also available at our website: college-church.org/impact/prayer

Our Prayer Pulse email goes out every Monday. You can get prayer updates via that email. Sign up by clicking “Enews signup” on our website. If you already receive other emails from College Church, click “manage my preferences” at the bottom of any email and select Prayer Pulse to add yourself.

part of the church body, and we want them to participate in worship with all members of the body, not just other children. Summer is a perfect time to give this a try.

Check-in:  In the Narthex or at any kiosk before the service.

DURING THE WEEK

PRESCHOOL ADVENTURE DAYS

Four-year-olds through entering Kindergarten

July 5 and 25, 1-3 p.m.

FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADE HANGOUTS

Sunday afternoons, July 9 and 23, 1-3 p.m.

TWISTS AND TURNS VBS

Following Jesus Changes the Game

JULY 10-13: Herr, 1218 Lindsay Ct., Wheaton

JULY 17-20: at College Church

AARON-HUR

Aaron-Hur Fellowship will meet on Thursday, July 13, at the home of Eric and Marilyn Enstrom, 1460 Stoddard Avenue in Wheaton, (630) 248-5016.

BARNABAS PRAYER FELLOWSHIP

Barnabas Prayer Fellowship will meet in the creative Arts Room at Windsor Park at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 19. Both men and women are encouraged to visit or join the group for this informative time and prayer session for several of our overseas or U.S.-based partners.

PRAYER FELLOWSHIP

FROM THE EDITOR

SUMMER READING AND REFLECTION

The smell of my neighbor’s barbecue fills the air. I’m drinking water on ice with cucumber, ginger and lime. My dog is barking inside my house. He wants to be with me outside. The straw hat on my head shields my eyes from the summer sun and I consider the July issue of Connections. Consider these things with me as you open its pages on your back deck, front porch, in your den or on a vacation home sunroom.

As I think back to our display at Cream of Wheaton, I’m thankful for the opportunity to touch base with people not in our church, as well as supportive church people who came by. Thinking of people who live nearby and don’t know Christ makes me grateful for the many layers of richness and life beyond myself that being a part of College Church gives.

Thomas Gaenzle and I have become friends in the past two years. He recently mentioned to me that a midweek boys club at a church was an element in his coming to faith, so I asked if he might share his story. His thinking is always fresh and challenging expressions of God at work. Each of us has a story. Consider yours afresh this summer.

The potter’s wheel can be hypnotic for me to watch, and so it was fun to read Keith Bodger’s story of faith and the potter and clay. The choices he made to try to control the process of creation stand as a lesson and testimony to me.

Richard Moomjian’s perspective on laughter is refreshing. Godly laughter may sometimes seem like an oxymoron, but he actually made our bodies to laugh, so consider afresh when we laugh and what we laugh about.

In her story, Lois Krogh not only gives us the basics of quilting but also lessons for life.

Look at the faces and learn a little about our new members. Pray for them and consider that we will be worshiping alongside these people. In the future we may well be serving alongside them, entering into worship with them, studying God’s Word and who knows what else. Praise God for these people.

One other thing I love about summer is the excuse the summer gives us to read books. I enjoy the book group and the chance to read and talk together. I also love asking people what they’re reading and how they like it. Check out the books that made various summer reading lists.

Happy summer reading to all. Happy summer. I’ve got to go back inside and pay attention to my dog before he loses his barking voice.

Judging the Weights on a Balance

When I went to Sunday school at a Lutheran church at the age of eight, my kind teacher challenged me to memorize the Ten Commandments. When I succeeded, she was impressed. She gave me a little pocket Bible with this inscription: “Good work for a good little boy!” But her gift did not make the impression on me that she had hoped. I was disturbed to be called a good boy, precisely because I had just learned the

Ten Commandments, and learned I was not a good boy.

I realized the commandments were a practical school for loving being good. I had broken some of these commandments that God had commanded me to obey including, “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17) I now knew exactly how I wasn’t doing good—an im -

pression opposite to what my teacher expected. The commands were a mirror into my conscience. “If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.” (James 1:23) Not only did this mirror reflection of me show me that I was not good, but the Word also schooled me in the vital first fact of life. I would be judged. I was a sinner. “For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” (James 1:24) I couldn’t just walk away from this mirror, or forget what I was, the reflection had to be changed somehow. It wasn’t just my scolding parents that told me this. Now, I knew I didn’t meet this high standard. Worse yet, I knew God knew it.

It took a few years before I could believe Jesus was not just a good man but much bigger—big enough to pay for the sins of an eleven-year-old. I was good at math, so I could add. He would have to be big enough to pay for millions of other people’s sins as well, to have the capacity to pay for mine. A man wasn’t big enough to do this. Only a man as big as God could. I knew I needed a way to escape sin. I was not good. Alone, I would be poor company for eternity. An eternity with sin is sustainable for no one. Being old enough to add and think about the reality of death is old enough to help add up the years of eternity while alone or in the company of love. There are years where the heart feels and weighs this balancing line, since almost every age group is intuitively aware of such a crisis choice. God “has put eternity into man’s heart.” (Ecc. 3:11) Some might laugh at an eleven-year-old repenting any weight of sin. Some might say, what great sins had I accomplished before puberty had the opportunity to turbocharge the wonderful but vexing mystery of that alien species called girls? Young people are sensitive to many truths. They can be aware of universal truths that older, more sophisticated versions, grown-ups, have grown used to ignoring.

I had the great gift of a shame-sensitive conscience. At eleven years old, I was an 80-pound weakling with one wish—to be a 90-pound weakling. I was balancing the weighty line of a two-handed barbell at eleven and trying to pump it more than a few times when neighbor girls who were visiting our family walked in on me. My face began to burn since the only weight on the barbell was the barbell itself. But maybe they wouldn’t notice this. Then one of the girls asked. “Why don’t you put any weights on the barbell?” Thinking fast, I said, “Well, it’s really all about the repetitions, you know.” The problem is that evil just loves weighty opportunities. This fact explains my pumping an amazingly heavy barbell without weights. You see, I had my share of bullies, so I knew I just needed the opportunity to get strong enough to fight back. If I had exercised this capability once I was a stronger adolescent,

I might have tried to kill them all. But I was just starting neighborhood yardwork and mowing yards for money. I couldn’t even kill weeds. The only difference between me and the opportunity to be a serial killer might likely be just 100 pounds of muscle. Evil loves opportunity. Victims, like me, have the angry heart to possibly end up even more evil than the bullies. And I knew it. Jesus emphasized the dangerous sensitivity of this fact by explaining that everyone angry without just cause will be judged. (Matt 5:22) I could confess countless sins even at eleven. Although I couldn’t quite count them all, I could judge well. I could add well enough. It’s really all about the repetitions, you know.

A fashionable virtue of our time is non-judgmentalism. This has even become the popularized notion of the meaning of “judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1) It is presumed that this means judging people for their sins is unfair, and that generic judging of the staggering destructiveness of sin is unkind. This is a deliberate and clever fraud. How long can such destructiveness be sustainable before it is judged and ended by the Final Judge? My Sunday schooled ability to judge my own sinfulness at such a tender age was the balancing weight that rescued me at eleven.

A Little League friend invited me to an Awana meeting. We played exciting games and learned about eternity. I learned that God’s gracious kindness in forgiving my sins was every bit as big as the weight of my evil. Not only did it balance, but he also lifted that weighty balance for me! It became a bigger gift with the count of my days since such great mercy gave me new life, new hope, a new look at what every kid knows is forever looming, eternity.

The twisted truth that we should judge nothing, and no one, is designed to steal our only hope of heaven— our conviction of sin. The resulting self-judgment is the pathway of repentance that calls to God’s mercy. Selfjudgment is the purpose of and the required response to God’s commandments. We are expected to judge our own behaviors and fellow Christians and those actions of others by the high standards and beauty of the greatest law of all—the law of love—the law that balances the great weights of justice and lovingkindness. It is the expected “graduation” for us in the school of love. “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?”

(1 Cor. 6:2)

The Potter and His Clay

Keith Bodger

I was recently studying Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

I remembered a Saturday morning pottery class in 1974 when I was ten years old. My sister and I took the three-hour class and we got to make something. Using the pottery wheel, I made a very small vase that would hold perhaps two flower stems. The vase stood about two inches high and maybe two inches in diameter. My sister, who has artistic abilities, made a clay mushroom patch. Certainly unique. It came time to apply glaze to our pottery to give our creations some color. The person leading the class said that the color of the glaze you apply to the piece would not be the actual color on finished pottery piece. I asked, “How will I know what color it will be?” He said that we wouldn’t know. You could apply a glaze that is red but when you fired the piece, the color would change to something else. I had an idea of what color I wanted my two-inch masterpiece to be but now I had no clue of how to achieve that color. I couldn’t accept that.

I opted to fire the vase without applying a glaze. My sister applied her glaze and got a greenish gray mushroom patch. I got a clay-colored vase. Kind of a light reddish brown. For years, at the end of the hallway in our house where I grew up, my sister’s green-gray mushroom patch and my pale, unglazed vase sat on a desk for all to see. It was a vase only a mother could love.

I wanted to control the process. I didn’t know what the firing result would be on the glaze. If I couldn’t control it, I wouldn’t pursue it. I don’t think I’ve changed a great deal in almost fifty years. I’m still trying to be the potter and not letting the potter mold his clay. If I don’t know how something is going to turn out, I hesitate

to proceed. Or refuse to proceed. The Lord says to me, “Try this method, Keith, rather than your usual way.” Change? I don’t think so. I’m doing just fine the way I am. And, what if the change doesn’t work? What if I embarrass myself? For now, I’m okay being a unglazed vase that can only hold a flower or two. What more do you want of me, Lord?

The Lord wants to change me, but I don’t know how I’m going to turn out, so I resist and stay the same. Or try to stay the same. I remain a little unglazed vase. If I put my faith fully in the potter, he could mold me and glaze me into something of greater use to his kingdom.

What is the Lord whispering in your ear? How does he want to mold you? What glaze are you resisting? I wish I could write some practical advice to follow. Or give three steps to follow the Lord and his will. I can’t. Instead, I’ll say let’s pray for each other. Pray that we’ll follow the Lord’s will and have some more color in our lives.

MILESTONES

BIRTHS

Dennis James was born to Kevin and Alicia Rafferty on June 3. Dennis joins his siblings Philip and Moira , and his maternal grandparents are Todd and Susan Zimmerman .

Joanna Shelby was born to Richard and Shelby Moomjian on June 2. Richard is a College Church pastoral resident.

Rosie Joy was born to Noah and Chloe Rodman on June 2. Her maternal grandparents are Dave and Julie Sohmer

James Maxwell Donald was born to Zach and Lisa Bastian on May 29. He joins his siblings Isabel, Julia and Sophia . Paternal grandparents are Robert and Jan Bastian and maternal grandparents are Greg and Vera Cook

Michael Ryan was born to David and Katherine Wojcik on May 18. He joined his big brother, Matthew . Michael’s maternal grandparents are Brian and Donna Aldridge

MARRIAGES

Ann Hancock married Brett Kauffman at College Church on June 3. Ann is the daughter of Nathan and Liz Hancock

Michael Klein and Ambar Mejia-Gautreau were married at College Church on May 19. Ambar’s parents are Jaime and Giselle Mejia

DEATHS

Pray for Roger (Janet) Burgess and family as they grieve the loss of Roger’s father, Hilmar, who passed away on June 28 in Kalamazoo, MI, where Hilmar was born 101 years ago.

Pray for Evan and Carolyn Singley and H.E. and Noretta Singley and family as they grieve the sudden loss of Evan and Carolyn’s son Hudson on May 31.

Pray for Mel Hodina and family as she grieves the loss of her husband, Jim , who passed away on May 31.

Galleries

ART & STORY

Opening July 9 running through August 27

Hours: Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 12-2 p.m.

Visual artists and writers from College Church in partnership create art and stories that stimulate, inspire and celebrate.

Gatherings

A monthly coming together, where we discuss our personal projects and the many facets of creativity and God.

Tuesday, July 11, at 7PM in Crossings

We will be discussing the C.S. Lewis Institute video with Andrew Peterson entitled:  Christian Faith, The Arts and Imagination. Go to www.college-church.org/artspace where you will find the link to view the video. This month, we are asking you to make sure to watch it in advance of the meeting. It is a fascinating discussion that you won’t want to miss. If you are unable to watch it ahead of time, we will have handouts at the gathering that will help you to join in on the discussion.

Creativity word for the month:  Solitude

If able, bring something creative along that theme

Workshops

PAINT YOUR HEART OUT

July 29 | 9AM-NOON | In Crossings | Cost: $35

You must register to attend.

The workshop is for non-artists and artists alike, requiring no previous skills. You will be guided through emotionprocessing-prayer-painting exercises that help you to express things that you cannot put into words. It will give you a new visual vocabulary for expressing your heart to God. It is a powerful tool for grieving and lament as well

as worship and praise. You will leave the workshop with three finished paintings on canvas that have personal, symbolic significance to you.

About Allison Tisdale Regnier

Allison Tisdale Regnier is a visual artist and director of the non-profit ReNAiSSArT. She has worked in France, Germany and Switzerland for 27 years. Allison serves as a missionary with Artists for Community Transformation. Her website is: renaissart.org

IMPROV/GAME WORKSHOP

September 16 | 10AM-NOON | In Crossings | Cost: $15

Minimum people: 8; Maximum: 20 You must register to attend.

The Improv/Game Workshop draws heavily from the book  Improvisation for the Theatre  by Viola Spolin and Neva L. Boyd. Everybody can use more fun and laughter in their lives, even us Christians. Maureen Kelly brings 30+ years of teaching improvisation to this workshop, relying upon the concept of “play.” Workshop participants work with each other in ensemble, keenly aware of their fellow players and working in the moment at hand. Participants will discover and enhance listening skills, unharness innate spontaneity and wit, and increase attention to their surrounding environment and other participants. There also can be quite a bit of laughter, which is never discouraged.

About Maureen Kelly, AEA, WGA, SAG-AFTRA

Maureen Kelly has worked with The Second City Improvisational Theatre in Chicago and performed/created eight reviews on the Mainstage and E.T.C. stages. She is a co-founder of the E.T.C. theatre. She has also worked as an actor and screenwriter in Hollywood, and has collaborated with producer Lawrence Mark, Diane Keaton, Robin Williams, Drew Carey, and many others. She loves teaching theatre games (improvisation) to people from all walks of life. Her improv classes are great for helping adults access their creative sides and have fun at the same time.

For more information or to sign up for a gallery or workshop, visit our webpage: college-church.org/artspace.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT NADIA GORDEUK

All forms of art to me visual, musical, written, performative, etc. are the way someone expresses his or her perception of the world, and then gifts it to us to experience. We can peer at a familiar world through a window we’ve never seen. Art to me, is communicating our observations.

My favorite artists are the honest ones. Not necessarily the truthful ones sometimes a doodle is more honest than a photograph because you are not a camera. Like how the moon looks brighter to me than to my phone.

Gospel Laughter

Richard Moomjian

After almost two hours of talking, I looked at my watch as we both knew our conversation had gone on longer than we thought. “I’ll tell you this one,” he said as he looked down and chuckled to himself. “After a long day, I called a congregant over the phone to see how they were doing.” He gave a short, knowing pause. “And as I was leaving a voicemail…” He looked up at me and repeated, “a voicemail.” He continued, “I ended it with, ‘Have a great rest of your day, in Jesus’ name...’”

He let out a loud, high-pitched laugh, and at the same time, I wheezed, threw my head back, and teary-eyed, rocked forward with a similar high-pitched shriek. My right hand laid on my stomach and then, almost against my will, it hit my thigh. Smiling and laughing almost uncontrollably, I shook my head to the left and to the right slowly, as I considered the overwhelming, almost arresting joy that was animating my body.

We were laughing and couldn’t stop. We were happy. We were filled with joy.

It took a while for both of us to regain our composure. “Maybe she just thought you were really holy,” I replied, “that you were just ‘praying without ceasing.’” My laughter slowed naturally. I let out a loud, squealy sigh as I sat there, relaxed, almost limp in my chair.

“I wonder if she even picked up on it,” I said, as I wiped the tears from my eyes with my palms. “Nothing you can do with a voicemail.”

At the end of our conversation, I sat there, across from a friend, with a certain sweetness and warmth in my heart from our exchange. I felt happy and known. I felt like I had been given a privileged window into his life. For a sweet moment, I had peered into the joy of another’s heart, and it produced laughter.

LAUGHTER HAPPENS

Do you choose to laugh? I’ve thought about that question a lot. I suppose you can choose not to laugh at someone’s joke, out of protest. You can furl your brow for whatever reason at someone and refuse to laugh at his or her jokes.

But, more often than not, I’ve found that laughter simply overcomes you. Like the crest of a wave, laughter comes over you as you wade out in the ocean of relationship. Like a loud sneeze, laughter happens involuntarily around the couch or around the dinner table. It only takes one: “Tell them about the time you…” The comment or story they shared was just funny to you, so you laugh. It resonates. And that laughter just happens.

Laughter happens when someone delivers the perfect punchline. It happens when you pronounce a word the wrong way and can’t continue on in seriousness until you acknowledge your mistake with a laugh. Or it happens when you reveal an embarrassing story. Laughter happens to you. It arrests you. It overcomes you and fills you with joy.

The best laughter happens as you resonate with the truth. The truth that we aren’t perfect. The truth that we make mistakes. But also, the truth that there is another person who knows that, sees that, and says “Amen” by joining you in uncontrollable, full-bellied laughter.

Joy is almost inherent in laughter. Can you be sad and laugh? In a week full of sadness, in laughter, if only for a moment, you are lifted from the fog and brought into a ray of joy-filled light. Against your will—or rather—along with your will, you laugh, and you heal. You laugh and you are uplifted. You laugh and you rejoice. It’s true, what Madeleine L’Engle said: “A good laugh heals a lot of hurts.”

DRAWN INTO JOY

Our salvation in the gospel, might I suggest, is much like this, like laughter. It happens to us. The gospel’s truth resonates with our hearts and as a result, in faith, almost involuntarily, we are drawn into the joy of God. We are confronted by our mistakes. We lower our defenses. And we are told that there is One who knows that, sees that, and by his Spirit fills us with uncontrollable faith. And all at once, like buckling laughter, we are overcome with animating joy.

I suppose you can choose not to believe in God, as you can choose not to laugh. You can furl your brow at him for whatever reason, refusing to believe. But doesn’t that take much more energy? Wouldn’t you be better to believe the gospel, resonate with him, and be filled with joy? I think so. I think most people prefer a laugh to a scowl. A good gospel laugh can heal a lot of sin’s hurts.

And God saves us in the gospel not against our will, but rather along with our will. Joy is inherent in faith, as in laughter. We believe and we heal. We believe and we are uplifted. We believe and we rejoice. We receive salvation as a gift, much like a laugh—it’s unearned, unrehearsed, only to be received with the genuine and joyful response of faith. We respond almost inherently to the divine punchline: “Repent and believe the gospel.”

GOSPEL LAUGHTER

What does that gospel look and sound like in the church? A lot of things. It looks like ear-to-ear smiling. It looks like groups of people, gathered, with interested gaze. It sounds like the happy hum of Christian conversation in the Commons or after worship in the Sanctuary. And sometimes, it sounds like uncontrollable laughter.

So let me suggest that we have more gospel laughter. Laughter that frees us from the sadness this world brings. Laughter that heals us from the wounds of sin. Laughter that arrests us, happens to us, as we live in the truth that we are beloved by God. Real laughter that looks like, sounds like, and feels a lot like faith.

This gospel laughter comes because of who we are in him. Our gospel laughter comes because our joy knows no bounds in his name. Gospel laughter comes because, once the dust settles, all will be well in his hands. We laugh because we can believe it. We laugh because we can’t help it. We laugh because, in the gospel, our joy in him overflows.

COMMUNION AT COLLEGE CHURCH

JULY 2 & AUGUST 6

Quilt Lessons

Lois Krogh

It started with this conversation.

Daughter: “Can I have the wedding ring quilt you aren’t using on your bed anymore?”

Me: “Sure. Let me ask Dad just to check.”

Dad: “No way. That’s the best weighted layer for reading late at night. Just make her one like it.”

DESIGNING

And so, eight months later, I am almost finished just making one like it. Along the way, I have remembered how many life lessons can be learned as I progressed through the five steps to quilting: designing, piecing, layering, stitching and finishing.

A quilt begins with a chosen design and fabric selection. Out of thousands of options for designs, one must be chosen. Choosing the fabric is even harder. My sons still have visceral reactions to the mere suggestion of stopping by a certain fabric store to see what’s new. I have been guilty of turning “I’ll just be a minute” into a long stop comparing the colors and patterns of multiple bolts of fabric. In the best scenarios, the boys were elbow deep in the store’s tub of mismatched buttons. On not-so-good days they were at my elbow whining, “Can we go now. P-le-ee-ease!” Eventually, a decision must be made. It must be this design and not that. These fabrics and not the others. We cannot live indefinitely with options. It is paralyzing. Making a choice is not limiting; it is freeing. If a quilt is to be enjoyed, choices must be made. Wasn’t Elijah’s problem with the people of Israel their “limping between two different opinions”? (1 Kings 18:21) Making the initial choice— “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15) forever defines one’s life and sets the standard for making the thousands of decisions to come.

PIECING

Piecing a quilt together may be my favorite part. After the fabrics are cut into small squares, triangles, arches or whatever the pattern calls for, they are sewn together one by one. I use a sewing machine. The quilt I am finishing has pieces in it. Most pieces are smaller than a one-inch square. It gives me such joy to see small things becoming something beautiful, little by little, until the design is complete. The process involves a lot of repetition. Light blue piece next to white piece next to dark blue piece. Do these another 258 times and then start over for the next row. As I sew, I can’t help but think of all the little things we did when we were raising our children. Feed, clean, put to sleep. And do it all over again hundreds of times. Read to, tie shoes, wipe noses. And do it all over again hundreds of times. Check on homework, drive someone someplace, talk about stuff. And do it all over again hundreds of times. Talk about Jesus, deal with heart issues, answer eternal questions. And do it all over again hundreds of times. But little by little, one piece at a time, the little things add up. A child grows up.

It is an old myth that mistakes in antique quilts were made on purpose to demonstrate humility. Mistakes are made because we are human. A perfectionist would never finish a quilt. She would probably never get past cutting the fabric. On the other hand, a quilter cannot have an anything goes attitude. Corners must line up. When you are dealing with small pieces and ¼ seams, a little bit off can be a long way off in the end! There is a delicate balance. When does a seam need to be taken out and restitched? When is it close enough? Did you know it required wisdom and grace to sew a quilt? It helps in raising a child as well. Being careless will be disastrous. Fretting about doing it right will only tie you in knots. There is only one perfect parent, our heavenly Father. I have had to learn to rely on him to guide me in decisions and to cover my mistakes.

LAYERING

My least favorite part of quilting is the layering. It should be the simplest. It takes the least amount of time, and it can be done in a day while the other stages can take months. Three layers are put together: the top of the quilt, the one pieced together, an interior insulation or batting, and the back side, usually one large piece of fabric. The edges of each of the layers must be lined up carefully. Once in place, the layers are held together with basting stitches or large safety pins made for this specific purpose. To do this well, two, no three, things are necessary. A very large flat surface and a generous amount of backing and insulation. And patience. I rarely have all three. Once, to get the large flat surface needed, I pushed together four lab tables at a school where I taught. It worked. Obviously, this option is not always readily available. Then there is the need for

generosity. The layering process works better if the back fabric and insulation are at least a foot wider than the pieced top layer on all sides. This extra fabric allows for better alignment and will eventually be cut off. Economy is my strong suit, which means generosity is not. After all the money is put into the fabric for the top, it is hard for me to buy the extra back fabric and insulation that is needed knowing a good portion of it will go to waste. Yet when I buy “just enough,” I have realized that too many times I will get three sides lined up and pinned only to find the fourth side doesn’t match. This is when my patience runs out. There are often tears. If cursing were the sin that so easily beset me, the room would be blue. All because I didn’t want to have to buy more than the bare minimum. It seems that generosity increases efficiency. Who knew? “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Cor. 9:6). I’m afraid I would have been the one criticizing Mary’s use of expensive oil to anoint the feet of Jesus. Oh, how I want the Lord to make me generous in my love for him and others.

Living in community with other believers helps us in our weaknesses. With the quilt I am finishing now, I outsourced this third step. Quilting stores have large flat tables, yards of insulation and back fabric and a miracle sewing machine called a long arm. I had thought that this was only used for top stitching. When I learned it could be used for layering and putting down the basting stitches, my life changed.  I brought the top layer I had pieced into the store. My new friend Karen decided how much batting and backing was required to do the job. I wasn’t allowed to be stingy. Without one tear shed, the layers were together and ready to come home. We need community in our sanctification as well. I need others around me who are strong where I am weak. All of us are out of balance. We all swing too far one way or the other on the pendulum of right living. We need each other to bring us back to center.

To use the Scriptural analogy in Ephesian 4:15,16: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

STITCHING

I’m almost finished with the fourth step when the necessity of stitching the three layers together becomes a thing of beauty in and of itself. I could have had Karen machine stitch the layer together. Most quilts you buy in a store are done by machine. Many quilters do this because there are so many options for the design and the top stitching will continued on next page

be done “machine perfect.”  I like the old-fashioned way of setting up a quilt frame and stitching by hand.  Similar to piecing, it gives me great satisfaction to see small individual stitches become an intricate pattern.

The quilt template we chose for the stitching seemed simple. I have done more complex ones. Having now used this one over forty times, I realize that simple does not mean easy. This one has no continuous lines of stitching which means threads must be knotted, hidden in the seams, knotted off, hidden again and this process must be done over and over. Sixteen times in each square. It is a stopping and starting all the time. So many things in my life seem to fall into the pattern of beginning again. Healthy eating and exercise habits. Planned days of cleaning and shopping. With Steve’s overseas travel assignments and the many times we happily host people in our homes, routines don’t last long. Thankfully I am growing content with the Lord’s sovereign plan for my days and have learned the practice of beginning each new day with new day mercies.

I’ve been stitching for four months. It is not an efficient use of time. I started quilting many years ago when I seemed to have plenty of time. When Steve was a pastor with a lot of evening meetings which meant after I put the children to bed, I had a lot of lonely evenings. Hand quilting was a good way to use the time and keep my heart from bitterness. While my fingers were sewing, I would pray. Pray for whatever meeting Steve was in that night. Pray for the children and whatever had happened that day. Pray and ponder. Quiet and quieting. This time around, I am occasionally listening online to St. Augustine’s Confessions. This quiet time has always been good for my soul.

FINISHING

A quilt frame is used to hold at a proper tension the section of the quilt one is stitching while storing the section that is finished or yet to be worked on. The quilt is rolled on long dowels or rods (the width of the quilt) that make it look like a giant scroll. These dowels are held up in place at each end. As a row is finished the quilt is rolled off one dowel and onto the other. While stitching, you can only see two feet of the length of the quilt. Until the entire quilt is stitched, you will never see the whole at one time. A lot like our perspective on life. We see just a small slice of life. We can remember a bit of the past (and believe me, that past glance gets fuzzy!) and we have no real clue about the future. We have just what is in front of us. Jesus told us, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” For the day that is right in front of you, the preacher would counsel, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. (Ec. 9:10). My hands have found a needle and thread. Today, I am stitching row six.

The plan was to carry the finished quilt with me on the plane when I visit my daughter. I’ve been counting squares left to stitch, but think I am running out of time. And I realize once done with this stitching there is still the last step. This finishing step seems inconsequential. A bias fabric binding usually no more than ⅜ of an inch wide must be sewed around the edges to hide the raw edges of the quilt. Notice the verb, must be sewed. Even though it is a small width of fabric, hardly noticed when completed, without this step, the edges are unsightly. They would distract from the beauty of the quilt.

I’ve never seen this simple step left undone. In the same way, I am confident that he who began a good work in me six decades ago will not let my ragged edges show for all of eternity. He is making something beautiful out of the pieces of my life. He has stitched them together with wisdom and grace. One day, on that final day, he will be done. All glory to his name!

God Centered Life

the teaching ministry of Pastor Josh Moody, features Bible teaching, both online and on the radio. This exciting ministry with a global reach continues to grow in impact. Here in the U.S., the program is heard on the radio in about 70 locations. Globally, the ministry also has a mission impact. The teaching is heard online through the OnePlace and TWR360 platforms, which have extensive listenership outside North America. Imagine! More than 35,000 people have been touched with some form of gospel content through this outreach, either an online audio message, a spiritually encouraging article, or a devotional reading. You can listen locally on Moody Radio (WMBI) at 10 p.m. M-F and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday and can have daily devotionals delivered right to your inbox.

Your prayers and partnership with this ministry are greatly appreciated.

godcenteredlife.org

New Members

JOHN BOSCO RUMANI

John is married to Florence Sanyu and they have two young children. He grew up and lived in Rwanda for most of his life. He is the eldest of six siblings. John is a graduate student at Wheaton College pursuing a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. John is becoming a member because he wishes to have a church to call home while here for school. He is full time staff with the Navigators in Rwanda.

ELOM & STACEY TOGBI-WONYO

The Togi-Wonyos have been married 13 years and have three young children. They are in a small group with Phil and Jessica Smith. Elom grew up Togo, West Africa, and both his parents were involved in ministry. He is a licensed professional mental health counselor, and a professor of counseling. Stacey grew up in rural Ohio and works as a nurse. She enjoys all things food related and connecting with friends.

SARAH UNDERHILL

Sarah and Nat (who became a member in the fall) have been married about 22 years and have five children. Sarah serves by singing with the adult choir. Sarah is related to Susan Jahns and Caleb Krumsieg. She is a homemaker, homeschooler, musician and music educator.

ETHAN WALTER

Ethan is the oldest son (of four) of members Doug and Carolyn Walter. He is a student at Wheaton College. He has taught in Kids’ Harbor and has been part of the Summer Crew. He is involved in College Group.

JOEL & DANA WEINBERGER

The Weinbergers are married and have four young children. Joel was raised as a Messianic Jew (his parents believe in Jesus and were loosely affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination) in the south suburbs of Chicago where he grew up, and where his father was a lay pastor to a small Messianic Jewish congregation. Joel and Dana are involved in a small group, and Joel occasionally plays his violin in morning services. Dana is involved in women’s ministries and subs in Kids’ Harbor. Before staying home with kids, she taught in the public schools. Joel studied violin performance in undergraduate school, but now works as a corporate lawyer.

AIDEN WEST

Aiden is from Rochester, Minnesota, and attends Wheaton College and is involved in College Group. Besides spending time with his friends, he enjoys reading about philosophy and economics (even though he studies them in school).

JOSH WINCHESTER

Josh is the son of members Kyle and Nancy Winchester and began attending College Church in the late 90s after his family moved to the area. He works as a contract producer for the Better Sports Network. Prior to that he worked at Walmart Radio in Bentonville, Arkansas, and was a producer at both WYLL AM 1160 and Moody Radio on Janet Parshall’s show. He enjoys listening to music, especially jazz and classical.

SIDE BY SIDE

Meet Our Visitation Team

Michelle Kelley

We are so thankful for our Congregational Care team! Roger Burgess, Bruce Main and Joan Engeseth have all come on staff in the last three years and it has been a joy to see how God has been at work through them. We hope to give you a brief glimpse into who they are and how God is using their gifts of compassion and presence to build up his church.

Roger Burgess

Where did you grow up? Groton, Connecticut (a.k.a. the Submarine Capital of the World)

Tell me about yourself. What are some interesting facts that will help us get to know you?

I became a Christian through Billy Graham’s New York City Crusade in NYC and later shook his hand as I was standing in front of the Liberty Bell in Independence Hall on September 1, 1961. I ran the second Chicago Marathon on September 24, 1978. At that time, there were only 4,053 runners (vs. the 40,000 who ran in 2022).

What does your day-to-day look like?

Every day is different! Typically, the days start with emails and writing notes, and include visiting with people in senior living communities, in hospitals or in their houses. I am so encouraged with sweet visits with saints who tell stories of God’s faithfulness to them and how they are trusting God for the future. Bruce and I provide the initial contact with those who have lost loved ones. We provide care for them as they grieve and assist them

in planning services. Most days I have God-sightings—obvious, specific answers to prayer or any unexpected evidence of God’s timing and care. I have the privilege of hearing how people have seen God in their circumstances and pointing them to Jesus in every situation.

What do you love or enjoy about being part of the visitation team?

I love spending time listening to people. It’s great to be with them on the good days, as well as during the challenging seasons of life. It’s a privilege to read Scripture and pray together.

Why do you think visitation is important?

I’m reminded of Psalm 139:13-16, especially verse 16: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (NIV) This reminds me that God is sovereign. And he created each of us in his image, and each person has tremendous value! What a joy to visit people and to observe God’s workmanship!

Joan Engeseth

Where did you grow up?

Wheaton, IL

Tell me about yourself. What are some interesting facts that will help us get to know you?

I taught English at a Christian university in China (yes, there is one, at least) and an elementary school in Tanzania in the last 13 years. I like hiking and biking—my first major bike trip, 17

years ago, was with friends where we biked from John o’ Groats, the very top of Scotland, to Land’s End, the bottom of England. My daughter and I recently hiked from Cusco in Peru to Machu Picchu.

What does your day-to-day look like?

I begin my day with a cappuccino, an early exercise class, some housework (maybe) like yard work, and doing regular retired people things with friends. Recently, I’ve enjoyed activities related to my new role at church. I’ll call or email senior women from College Church and set up visits. Then, throughout the week, I have the privilege of visiting them.

What do you love or enjoy about being part of the visitation team?

I’ve already learned so much from visiting seniors. They are so interesting and have had amazing lives. I always pray that I will be a blessing to them, but always, they have enriched my life and given me encouragement in so many ways.

Why do you think visitation is important?

I think visiting seniors is important for several reasons such as helping them feel less lonely and letting seniors know that they have much to contribute as they share and remember their lives and experiences. Seniors have often mentioned that they look forward to visits from the visitation team as they are encouraged, humored and reminded of God’s care.

Bruce Main

Where did you grow up?

The first 22 years of my life were spent in Lufkin, Texas (60 miles from the Louisiana border and two hours north of Houston). I always have enjoyed this area known by Texans as Deep East Texas--the natural beauty of its state parks, large lakes for fishing and boating, and densely wooded national forests.

Tell me about yourself. What are some interesting facts that will help us get to know you?

I began college as a piano/organ performance major but switched before graduation to a history major with a piano performance minor in order to fulfill entrance requirements for seminary. My first car was a 1966 threespeed red Mustang.

What does your day-to-day look like?

I am an early riser, enjoying the first two hours of each day with hot coffee, Scripture readings and reflections, a two-mile walk, and typically a breakfast of cold cereal and half a banana.

My workdays involve both scheduled and flexible responsibilities that include the following, among other things:

• making contact with senior congregants to inquire of prayer needs and to schedule an in-person visit, if desired

• visits to senior congregants residing in all care levels in senior care communities or at home

• hospital visits to senior congregants

• bereavement notes and subsequent visits to those who have lost a loved one, providing initial pastoral contact and planning services with a family whose College Church loved one died

• connecting with church staff who are in the midst of pressures, hardships or loss

What do you love or enjoy about being part of the visitation team?

Although the visitation team members have different approaches and styles, each is essential since everyone for whom we care has unique needs. I appreciate being part of a multi-faceted effort to promote the well-being of all members of our senior community.

Why do you think visitation is important?

Visitation is important because it reflects God’s ministry to us. As God added a human nature to himself to be with us to meet our ultimate need, we, too, can be with someone in need of company, encouragement or comfort.

Thank you, Roger, Bruce and Joan! We praise God for you and your care for our church. We ask that God would make the words of Numbers 6:24-26 true of you, and through you to those whom you visit.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Are you facing an upcoming hospital stay or surgery? Are there current or ongoing needs that we can help with? Please let us know so that we can care for you. Email care@college-church.org or call the church office at (630) 668-0878.

The 4 Questions Answering the Crisis of Abortion with the Gospel of Life

Kara Beth Vance

As Christians, we want to live our lives in obedience to Christ and his Word. The Bible informs what we say and do about abortion, but you have probably realized that you can’t just turn to one passage of Scripture that lays out a pro-life worldview. In the upcoming issues of Connections, I want to share with you a pared-down version of the 4 Questions Training, which PassionLife Ministries has used around the world to equip the church. PassionLife is a prolife global missions partner to missionaries and church leaders where the plague of abortion, infanticide and gendercide is especially concentrated. The 4 Questions training was originally designed for the church in China, to prepare three million people to know the Word, obey the Word and share the Word.

I lived in China for a year serving with a College Church China study team. The Lord used that time to grow my pro-life convictions as abortion was everywhere, even advertised on a large billboard right outside of my apartment. Many Chinese Christians had at that time not yet learned the implications of their faith on this common practice in their society. The one child policy was still in place and social and financial pressures to have abortions were high.

For many Chinese Christians pregnant with a second or third child, choosing life for their baby rather than abortion meant significant personal sacrifice. But stories abound from China over the last 10 years of Christians who finished the 4 Questions training and either cancelled their own plans for an abortion or shared what they learned with someone else who was about to do the same

thing. The Lord gave conviction to his people through his Word and then moved them to action.

As we look at the 4 Questions in view of Scripture, I pray that this will help you to be firmly rooted in your convictions about the value of human life, in order to help other believing friends and family grow in those convictions, too, and then lead us to more action and conversations with unbelieving friends and family on this topic.

HERE ARE PASSIONLIFE MINISTRIES’ 4 QUESTIONS

1. What does God say about human life, including life in the womb?

2. What does God say about the shedding of innocent blood, including abortion?

3. How do we bring the grace of the gospel to the guilt of abortion, so that people are forgiven and set free?

4. What does God call us to do to stop the shedding of innocent blood and how have others done so?

In this article, we will ask and answer the first question.

Question 1: What does God say about human life, including life in the womb?

The value of human life is found in God’s decision to create human beings in his own image.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:26-27)

Human beings have:

Intrinsic value: Our humanity alone, rather than our capacities or abilities, makes us valuable.

Equal value: All people, male and female, from every “tribe and tongue” throughout the ages are equal.

Exceptional value: Human beings are more valuable than everything else in creation.

Eternal value: As image bearers of the eternal God, we possess a special dignity and eternal destiny.

Implications of human life created in the image of God:

• Every human being is of inestimable worth and significance in all its stages.

• There is a common unity/equality of value between all peoples. (Act 17:26)

• It is right to acknowledge natural rights which are endowed to every human being. (Proverbs 29:7)

• To curse or hate other people or groups of people is to attack God, their Creator. (James 3:9)

• To help the weak is to honor God. (Proverbs 14:31)

• It is necessary to defend the natural rights of the poor, the afflicted and the powerless because they are the first to have their rights abridged and they cannot defend themselves. (Proverbs 31:8-9)

• The intrinsic, equal and exceptional value of human life is the motivating principle for all works of justice and mercy done for the weak, powerless and oppressed. (Job 29:12-17; 30:13-15)

God highly esteems children and family, calling his commission to reproduce a blessing:

“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of

the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

When does human life begin? Is the unborn a human being?

David saw himself as a person in the womb and referred to himself in personal pronouns. “You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

The unborn child John the Baptist worshipped the unborn, yet fully human, Son of God. It was a womb-to-womb worship service.

How do we know this?

• “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb… and she exclaimed, ‘…blessed is the fruit of your womb! …For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy’” (Luke 1:40-44).

• Jesus was developmentally a zygote (just a few days or perhaps a week old) when John worshipped him from the womb.

• Mary lived in Nazareth when the angel appeared and told her that she will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:26). Verse 39 says Mary received the news and traveled “with haste” to visit Elizabeth. Elizabeth lived in “the hill country of Judah” near Jerusalem, where her husband served at the temple. (Luke 1:5-9). Mary traveled approximately 115-150 km (70-95 miles). When she arrived, Mary was pregnant.

• Depending on her travel speed, and actual distance, Jesus was a day, a few days, perhaps a week old, when Elizabeth greeted Mary. John, as an unborn child, leaped for joy and announced the coming of the Lord to his mother.

• This Lord, fully God and fully human, was fully present, though probably smaller than the period at the end of this sentence.

The Bible points to conception as the beginning of a person’s life. For example, Genesis 4:1 says, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain.” Cain’s life started at conception. Likewise, Mary is told that she will conceive “a son” and then give birth to “a son.” (Luke 1:31) She is told that Elizabeth has also “conceived a son.” (Luke 1:36) This formulaic description of the beginning of human life is common (see Genesis 4:17, 21:2, Job 3:3, Hosea 1:6).

If you want to read more, visit passionlife.org/resources to download a 4 questions handout or take the training online. Looking forward to asking and answering Question 2.

at the Bookstall

Best News Ever

Free shelves at the bookstall offer gospel tracts for giveaway along with some English Bibles and Bibles in foreign languages to share with friends, neighbors, co-workers. If you would like to purchase more copies or explore the availability of the Bible in languages not on our shelves, you can visit churchsource.com and type the language you’re looking for in their search bar.

Summer Reading List

Connections asked church ministry leaders if they would share some of their summer readings lists. Here are a few. More will be coming in August, so check back for more lists then. Books with a * are available through the College Church bookstall.

CHRISTINA ACHZIGER, elementary Bible school superintendent

The Promised One: Seeing Jesus in Genesis*

by Nancy Guthrie

Praying with Paul*

by D.A. Carson

KEN HEULITT, church treasurer

Freedom at Midnight by Larry

Collin

STEVE IVESTER, elder

And Now I see: A Theology of Transformation by

Robert Barron

Biblical Critical Theory* by

Christopher Watkin

Walden

by Henry David Thoreau

Dreaming Dreams for Christian Higher Education

by David Guthrie

AMY KRUIS, board of deaconesses

Life of Pi

by Yann Martel

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

by Paul Elie

Einstein: His Life and Universe

by Walter Isaacson

YILI LE, hospitality committee

Side By Side*

by Edward T. Welch

The Gift of Therapy

by Irvin D. Yalom

Caring for One Another*

by Edward T. Welch

MORGAN MOXLEY, hospitality committee Confessions*

by Saint Augustine

Through Gates of Splendor*

by Elisabeth Elliot

SARAH LINDQUIST, evangelism and culture impact committee

How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe

by Thomas Cahill

RUTH SADIQ, board of deaconesses

The Contextualized Psalms: A precious heritage of the global Punjabi Christian Community by Yousaf

Sadiq

YOUSAF SADIQ, board of missions

Christian Persecution in Antiquity by

Wolfram Kinzig

CAROL TAYLOR, board of deaconesses

The Day the World Came to Town

by Jim DeFede

JILL TWEETEN, board of deaconesses

No Ordinary Time by

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Mornings on Horseback by

David McCullough

Truly, Truly I Say to You*

by Adam Ramsey

Persistent Prayer*

by Guy M. Richard

sanctity of human life

August 26 10:30-12:00

organized by Vision 2020 IL, a pro-life unifying organization. Being only privately pro-life costs lives. It’s time to Go Public 4Life!

Roughly 125-150 healthy babies per day are aborted in Illinois. Every Illinois citizen has been forced to subsidize this human rights violation since 2017 by law. Illinois citizens bear some responsibility for abortion culture causes and solutions. Now that abortion is legal, rampant and largely normalized, is it even possible to create a culture that values all human life?  Yes, it is. It begins with each person choosing to Go Public 4Life.

College Church is joining this state-wide vigil by participating in prayer, worship, and hearing about the Holy Spirit’s work with other Christians outside Planned Parenthood Aurora. Don’t forget to bring a flower. Flowers remind us that new life is beautiful.  It isn’t possible to have too many flowers, and nor is it possible to have too many people.  Life in abundance is always beautiful and always good.  All flowers will be left at the entrance to clinics, leaving behind a hopeful reminder of the value of life in the womb.

CARING NETWORK CORNER

The Coins for Caring Network Baby Bottles campaign surpassed last year’s total! Great work, College Church, as we collected and donated $11,190.93 to fund operating costs. All Caring Network services are free. Caring Network provides free pregnancy services such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, baby supplies, consultations, gospel witness, resources and referrals to meet needs such as employment, housing, and medical care, as well as support and counseling for post-abortive women and men in our community.

wipes, baby lotion, shampoo, and wash, diaper cream, and formula

Sunday, July 2, outside the Sanctuary

For the rest of July, you will find the crib in the Commons near the reception desk and stairs.

Wheaton’s Baby Bank distributes baby supplies every two weeks to financially needy clients who have chosen to parent.

Scan the QR Code to order on Amazon. Select “Church of the Resurrection’s Gift Registry Address” for where to ship.

40 DAYS FOR LIFE PRAYER AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Saturday, July 8, 1-2 p.m.

Join the Sanctity of Human Life Task force at 40 Days for Life’s year-round peaceful prayer vigil. Meet on Waterleaf pregnancy resource center’s property across from Planned Parenthood Aurora’s driveway. Planned Parenthood employees report there is up to a 75% no show rate when there is prayer taking place outside the clinic.

ADVOCATES AND VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Be an advocate. Being aware and able to share information in your circles advances the value of life. Sign up for SOHL’s monthly newsletter to receive events schedule and life-related news. https://college-church.org/impact/sohl/

VOLUNTEER TO SERVE

Regular opportunities abound to serve with Sanctity of Human Life at College Church. Email sohl@college-church. org  if you are interested in serving and haven’t yet been a part of the volunteer team.

From Guilt to Contentment

I had often heard the pastor tell the congregation that they should be giving money to the church as that meant giving it to God. I was a new Christian. Because I felt guilty when I didn’t put anything in the offering plate when it passed by, it seemed like the pastor was looking straight at me when he spoke.

You see, I had good excuses for not giving. I didn’t earn very much at my entry-level job and had debts outstanding. The payments on the student loan and car loan, rent, utilities and insurance left very little for food, much less putting something in the offering plate. I felt guilty about not giving to God, but frustration when I paid the bills each month. Even worse, I always wanted more—the next phone upgrade, a more fashionable jacket, or something else the advertisements told me I deserved.

And then I read Proverbs 23:4-5, “Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.” That’s exactly the way I felt as the paycheck went into my account, and all these payments went flying out, leaving little behind. I slowly began to realize that God’s way is that he will provide for us as we seek his kingdom, not by my insecurity and worry and certainly not by how many hours I put in on the job.

I committed to myself that the next time the offering plate was passed, I would put in “something.” When I did, I half expected to feel a sense of foolishness because that was money I couldn’t use to buy food. Instead, I surprisingly felt joy and a sense that God was smiling. When I went food shopping the next week, I found that there were really good sales on many of the items I needed to purchase. God really was smiling.

I actually began to look forward to weeks when I could put a little more in the offering plate because God was removing the insecurity and doubt in my heart, replacing it with even more joy and contentment with the material things I had already. I started reading about ways to manage my funds better, I received some significant salary increases at work, and I was able to pay off some of the debt. I consistently increased my giving to God, and my joy continued to increase as well.

Pretty soon, I did something I never in a million years would I have dreamed I could or would do. I was asked to give my testimony about how I came to faith in the first place, and how I became a consistent giver by relying on God for my future. Not that I could just stand idly by and expect him to put money in my bank account. There are two Bible verses upon which I base my new financial perspective:

• In Luke 12:20 Jesus told a story about a rich farmer who was so successful he built bigger barns to store all his grain and goods, thinking to himself, “You have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” The farmer felt that he had finally found security. But in the end, God said to him, “Fool, This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”

• Just a few chapters later in Luke 16:13, it says “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

When I gave my testimony, I had so many people asking questions about how they could experience this kind of joy or sharing just how their journey to joy in giving paralleled mine. I’m eternally grateful to God that he showed me his way.

Anonymous stories of giving and generosity are welcome. If you have one or an idea related to this, email wtriggs@college-church.org. Such stories will appear under the heading “Giving Joy.”

Proclaiming the Gospel

The vision of College Church is summarized in three words: “Proclaiming the Gospel.” This higher purpose elevates and focuses all our activities. We have identified five initiatives for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel.

Pathway. We structure our ministries so that you can Discover Jesus, Grow in Your Faith, and Impact the World. Our goal is to call a pastor of evangelism by June 2023 to lead the discover portion of this pathway.

Community. We are a community that cultivates care, encouragement and connection. Our goal is to mobilize us all to care for each other, call a community life pastor, and have increased use of counseling with designated space in the Crossings.

Discipleship. We will elevate biblically rigorous and practical discipleship. Our goal is to explore more adult communities and two churchwide educational seminars on matters of current discipleship importance by December 2023.

Campus. We will increasingly activate our campus. Our goal is to utilize the Crossings as a crossover space to reach our community, for student and family space, with phase 2 plan established and capital campaign launched by December 2023.

Planting. We will leverage the church’s history of church planting, training programs, and connections across the country and world. Our goal is to plant multiple new churches in partnership with likeminded churches by 2030.

DISCIPLESHIP UPDATE

Summer means planning time for Bible studies and small groups starting in the fall. We look forward to our study in the Book of Acts and are working on some new elements in our men’s study. We continue to work toward new small groups to connect a growing number of people in this ministry in the fall. Pastor Maurer is also working on a ministry to help grow stronger marriages at College Church. A topical seminar is also in development.

UNDER THE RADAR

If you know of a local event that includes College Church members or attenders or may be of interest to them, email connections@college-church.org with the details and we may be able to include your event in this space.

NORTHWOODS ADVENTURE—SEPTEMBER 25-29

A yearly tradition for friends and alumni of Wheaton College and Honey Rock (ages 55+)

We look forward to welcoming new and returning Northwoods Adventure participants this September. First-time attendees, enjoy a 10% discount, and there is financial assistance available for returning attendees.

Northwoods Adventure at Honey Rock is a time for you to enjoy the company of fellow Wheaties, Honey Rock alum and friends—and the beautiful colors and weather of a Northwoods fall. While there, you may participate in activities such as guided nature walks, horseback riding, pontoon rides, swimming, fishing, canoeing and much more.

There are special events such as a variety show, classes as talks by guest speakers. For more information or to request a registration form, email Rachel Nichwitz at rachel.nichwitz@wheaton.edu or call (630) 752-6024

WALKING PLAYS

Experience a live outdoor play performed among beautiful trees and scenic landscapes during the Walking Plays Series at the Morton Arboretum. Playing July weekends: The Mama and Papa Goose: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fairytale —a groovy, sing-a-long escapade for the whole family. Performances start at 6 p.m. at the Thornhill Shelter on the West Side. Tickets for Arb members: $15 adult/$10 child; guests: $25 adult/$15 child. Visit Walking Plays at the Morton Arboretum

LOOKING AHEAD

VISITOR LUNCH

Are you new to College Church? If so, you’re invited to our Visitors Lunch on Sunday, September 10, at noon in Commons Hall. Come and meet pastors and staff, learn about College Church and find out how you can get involved. Lunch is on us! Help us plan by emailing welcome@college-church.org or RSVP using the QR code.

CURRENT JOB OPENINGS AT COLLEGE CHURCH INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS:

• Part-time General Office Assistant (15-25 hours per week) See details: http://bitly.ws/Jihz

• Part-time Administrative Assistant for Children’s Ministries—Supply & Facility (17 hours per week)

See details: https://tinyurl.com/4zj4xyhc

Stay updated by visiting our job opportunities webpage: www.college-church.org/job-openings

For more information, please contact Ann Karow at: akarow@college-church.org

CROSSINGS

CROSSINGS