One of the highlights of the year at Park is our summer baptism.
Early on a Sunday morning in July hundreds of people gather at North Avenue Beach to witness people going public with their faith in Christ by being baptized in Lake Michigan.
It’s definitely a moving sight to see with the city skyline as a dramatic background and reminder of why we are here and the people we are called to reach.
Here’s our highlight video, courtesy of Jason Widney and some of our volunteer photographers.
No, we’re not jumping on the “let’s do a series about sex!” bandwagon.
But it’s true, we are doing a series on relationships at Park which is going to involve some very frank and open discussion about sex, dating, relationships, divorce, singleness and everything in-between. This topic is especially relevant to our crowd, being a younger crowd in the heart of downtown Chicago.
At Park, we don’t teach topically, rather we teach through books of the Bible. We believe that teaching that way helps people study and understand God’s Word better,
and in doing so, we’ll inevitably hit topics people are talking about.
We started our journey through 1 Corinthians in August.The first part of the series was called “Urban Jesus” where we focused on the first 2 chapters of 1 Corinthians which talked a lot about Jesus and the Corinthian church’s view of Him.
We followed that with “Shiny Happy People” which addressed the next section of 1 Corinthians dealing with the fact that while they looked like they had it together and appeared to be serving God, their hearts were far from Him.
We took a short break over Christmas and the first of the year to talk about Advent and our vision, and this past weekend we launched into the next section of Corinthians, focusing on sex, dating, and relationships.
We branded the series “Relationship Status” because it is something that everyone is so familiar with, and it applies great to the idea Paul is communicating. It’s not just about sex, but ultimately our relationships with one another and with Christ.
I really encourage you check out part 1 of the series, which we entitled: “Looking for Whatever I Can Get.”
We also used texting in all of our services so people could send in their questions (HT: Jarybco), and our lead pastor Jackson and his wife, Donna, took the stage to answer questions people texted in. We podcasted the Q&A from every service and will continue to throughtout the series.
Happy MLK Day… we had a rocking service at Park yesterday… it was unbelievable as we talked about racial reconciliation and celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Tim Schraeder is passionately committed to helping churches communicate the timeless message of the Gospel in a way that's relevant to our ever-changing culture. Read More >>
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