• Our children’s and youth ministries have helped 5,868 students grow closer to God.
• Our compassion team responded to 1,348 requests for help from people in our church who needed food, clothes, financial relief, shelter, counseling, and prayer.
• We held mobile food pantries and collected more than 30,000 lbs of food through ShareFest providing 44,000 meals to over 8,000 families.
• We launched a work ministry to help people who are unemployed due to the economy.
• We helped three children be adopted into Chapel families through the Adoption Scholarship fund and placed 15 children in Chapel families through the Safe Families program.
• We have helped 2,737 people connect with God and each other through small groups.
• We baptized more than 100 people since January and loosely estimate that more than 400 people have come to Christ through the weekend messages.
• We provided back to school supplies for 850 local school children in need.
• We have 80 volunteers who regularly serve more than 130 inmates and their families at the Lake County Jail.
• Our Adopt-a-School program has been a huge success. All of our campuses have adopted and are working to improve schools in our area.
• The Barrington campus has launched a “sidewalk outreach ministry.” Volunteers take the train two times a month after church to downtown Chicago to feed, clothe, and pray for the homeless.
• The People to People ministry that launched out of our Mundelein campus fed nearly 1000 people (more than 4,000 meals) in September. They also provided clothing, housing, tutoring, furniture, and more to hundreds of others.
• We hosted a conference with Chuck Colson for 475 local pastors.
• Catalyst, our network of churches, has grown to more than 75 local congregations.
• We helped plant a church in Round Lake.
• We grew as a church on all of our campuses, and have helped thousands rediscover God.
• Last year The Chapel and Catalyst partnered with these ministries to advance the Kingdom: Groundwire, Free Wheelchair Ministry, Living Water International, Salvation Army, Wing Haven, International Teams, Prison Entrepreneurship Program, Girls Connected, Oasis for Orphans, Compassion International, Breakthrough Urban Ministries, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, The Dream Center, Northern Illinois Food Bank, The Youth Campus, Willow Creek Association, Sunshine Gospel, Fellowship Housing, TIM (India ministry)
• This year, we have given away $729,000 outside our doors; an amount equivalent to about 8% of our overall budget.

This has already been a wonderful year of ministry, and we still have a couple of months to go!

Lord Jesus, thank You for using us to love others and to genuinely help our neighbors. Thank You for guiding us and empowering us every step of the way. Thank You for our people who so tirelessly serve You because they love You. Lead us on – always forward to help You build Your Kingdom here on earth. Amen.

Yet, sadness is unavoidable in this life. We live in a place where heartbreak and pain are a reality. People disappoint us. Life doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to. There are even seasons of life when we wonder if we have what it takes to endure. Tragedy and loss are known to all and sometimes visit us disproportionately.

How can we be happy? We answer that question in so many ways. Sometimes we try to fill our lives with pleasure in many forms. Let’s be honest, that’s not all bad. Great food, movies, romantic getaways and playing superheroes with your kids can be a lot of fun. So can other things, darker things, forbidden things. The Bible says sin has its pleasure for a season (Hebrews 11.24-25). No one who has ever sinned would dispute that. The problem is the price that often accompanies it.

As a young man I tried to find pleasure in many things; some that were good and others that were well, not so good. I made it my quest in life to seek pleasure in all its forms. For a while I was convinced I was on to something big. Later, I found that the darker things I frequently partook of came with a cost that was more often higher than I wanted to pay. This isn’t especially surprising. What amazed me was how quickly the joy leaked out of my life, even when I filled it with pleasurable things that were good. It seemed that no matter how exquisite the experience was, it never lasted.

No rational person prefers sadness to joy or suffering to pleasure. The real question becomes how to live in such a way that our joy is maximized. I believe the answer lies in the presence of God. The Bible tells us that God is the source of joy. One of the qualities of experiencing God is joy. Not just because He is joyful but because He is joy.

When we give our life to God, when we commit 100% of ourselves to Him, the Bible tells us that He spiritually comes to live inside us. That means His joy is in us. When we prayerfully connect with Him, we experience that joy and it, in part, becomes our own. Over time, we experience it more frequently and in greater measure.

This joy from God has the power to transform our hearts. It’s still great to hang out with good friends and do fun things but these things can’t come close to replacing the joy that is found in God. Many things are pleasurable, fewer are profitable, but none can replace the joy we find in Christ.

The challenge for most Christians is getting to the place of full commitment to God. Partial-commitment affects our experience of God, which in turn affects our joy. In addition, few people intentionally spend much time with God, further reducing their experience of joy. I think these two things more than anything else has frustrated Christians in their efforts to seek God.

Let’s be clear – I too struggle with these things. It’s hard for me to focus my mind on God and truly give myself to Him fully. It’s a daily battle that’s always hard but incredibly crucial to my experience of God.

How do you find joy in God?

The first realization was that the size of a church impacts its strategy. While our objective as a church never changed, our strategy has continued to change over time. The systems, processes and programs that worked for us as a smaller church became less and less effective as we grew in number.

The second realization had to do with the type of church our people wanted. What kind of church would help our people the most? As we talked with our people, it became clear that many of them liked the ministry excellence and kingdom impact associated with larger churches. However, they preferred the warmth and relational temperature they found in smaller church environments. In short, our people wanted what a large church provided but loved how a small church felt.

These two realizations led us into an extended season of much thought, discussion and prayer. Ultimately, we concluded that we needed to seriously consider the idea of becoming a multi-site church. We realized that this could be the best way to move us towards becoming an unstoppable church.

The multi-site approach was an attractive option for several reasons. It enabled us to offer all the best aspects of a large church. We could pursue a huge kingdom vision that everyone could be energized by and connect with. We could offer a high-quality ministry experience with the resources and staff needed to implement programs well. And we could provide our people with the opportunity to make a significant difference in the world around us.

A multi-site approach also allowed our people to experience the best aspects of a smaller church at the very same time. Smaller churches make people feel like an integral part of a church family. People want to be part of a church where they know others and others know them. Smaller churches help each person understand that they have a vital role to play in the life of the church. People want to know that they matter and can make a real difference. Smaller churches have the opportunity to connect deeply into the community in which they live. The reality is that many people like being part of a church in their own neighborhood – it just feels good to them.

A multi-site approach offered us the chance to combine all of the best aspects of a large church with all of the best aspects of a smaller church, and enabled us to give our people the church they really wanted.

In the conclusion of the message, I left the other pastors with these thoughts…

• I believe the local church is the hope of the world.
• I believe that no church, no matter how large and influential, can ever fulfill the Great Commission alone, but the united Church can.
• I believe that every church’s prayers can touch heaven and change earth.
• I believe every church’s love can reach beyond its doors to embrace people who are in impossible circumstances and lead them into a transformational encounter with God.
• I believe that every church can become unstoppable because we serve an unstoppable God; God knows no barriers.
• Most importantly, God believes your church can become unstoppable too.

In your mind, what makes a church unstoppable?

The first question was, “What kind of church is God asking us to build?” Was God asking us to build a church that helped the people already inside our walls to grow spiritually? Or did God want us to reach beyond our doors and invite new people in to rediscover Him in a meaningful way? For us (and for all churches), the answer was obvious – God was calling us to do both. To do one and not the other would be to embrace only half  the Great Commission (Matthew 28.18-20). Even though we all know the right answer, in the real world churches often find themselves out of position. In fact, there are four different spots that a church can find themselves in, depending on whether they are growing spiritually, growing in attendance, neither or both.

#1) Unsustainable – If a church is growing in attendance but not growing spiritually, they are in an unsustainable position. It’s unsustainable because the church will quickly burn out its core (the faithful few who are supporting increasingly large numbers of uncommitted people), use up all of its resources and go to greater and greater lengths to hold the interest of the crowd.

#2) Unmaintainable – If a church is not growing spiritually and declining in attendance, the conclusion is not in question; the church is dying. There needs to be a drastic change to put this church in a different position.

#3) Unmovable – If a church consistently helps people to grow stronger in their faith, but struggles to be outward or inclusive, they become increasingly difficult to move forward. The desire to maintain their church as it is with respect to how it feels, who they know and what they can expect eventually overwhelms their impulse to change for the sake of others.

#4) Unstoppable – Unlike the other three positions, if the people in a church are experiencing profound life-change and the church is rapidly growing in attendance at the same time, things are moving in the right direction. If this church stays close to God and remains true to their calling, they are quickly on their way to becoming unstoppable.

Again, in this sense, it goes without saying that God is calling all churches to become an ‘unstoppable’ church. But that begs the 2nd question, “What does an unstoppable church look like?”

As we prayed through this question as a church, we came to believe that there are four qualities of an unstoppable church are true regardless of a church’s geographic location, demographic make-up, attendance size or worship style. Those four characteristics are:

#1) Spiritually Transforming – Unstoppable churches pursue the call of Romans 12.1-2 to experience God’s love and mercy in a way that moves us to live full out for God and as a result, see Him spiritually transform them into the image of Christ.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12.1-2

#2) Culturally Inspiring – Unstoppable churches reflect Christ AND connect with the culture around them. This is a challenge for many churches; some reflect Christ very well but struggle to connect to the culture and end up culturally isolated. Other churches connect very well to the culture, but have a difficult time reflecting the person of Christ strongly, they face the very real prospect of becoming spiritually compromised. Only when churches can authentically represent and express the identity and ideas of Christ in terms the culture around them can understand does a church really gain traction in a significant way.

#3) Relationally Connecting – Unstoppable churches don’t just offer people their services, they offer them community. This is a reality that has been true since the early church. We’ve found that in order to be relationally-connected, Christians need to be in 3 types of relationships.

1. With a spiritual mentor – Someone that they personally know that helps them to grow in Christ, that can help them not to wander.

2. With a church family – A group of people that this person knows, enjoys, trusts and that are committed to one another, that can help them to not be isolated.

3. With people that live in their neighborhood – Others in close proximity to them that are still exploring God. These kinds of relationships are important in that they help us not to compartmentalize their faith, but to live as a Christian every day of the week, in every part of our lives.

#4) Missionally Impacting – Unstoppable churches realize that the reason for their existence is the mission of Jesus; they realize their purpose isn’t to create new value but to represent the value of Christ. Missional impact is centered around Jesus because He is the answer to life’s greatest questions (Where did I come from? What is life all about? What happens when I die?), He is the fulfillment of the greatest human needs (the need to make our life enjoyable, the need to make life our work, the need to make our life matter) and He is the solution to the world’s greatest problems (war, crime, disease, poverty, racism, family and societal breakdown is all rooted in sin and can only be addressed through a relationship with Him).

In short, Jesus is the answer the world is looking for. For that reason, missional impact is centered around showing people Jesus, telling people about Jesus (i.e., connecting the dots to what they have already seen) and then helping them to experience Jesus for themselves. This is what it means to love people – and love is the music that makes the words of the gospel move the heart of an unbelieving world.

I will wrap up the rest of this message in a 2nd blog post… What are your thoughts so far?

Prayer by its very nature is an intimate experience where we make known the cries, needs and dreams of our hearts to God. When He seems unresponsive, it can cause a torrent of emotions to rush through our soul; emotions ranging from disappointment and discouragement to disillusion and despair.

We begin to wonder if prayer really works, if God actually cares or if He is even there at all. Vulnerability has the capacity to produce both expectation and resentment. If we are not careful, we can begin to harden our hearts towards God. These are thoughts I understand and feelings that I have experienced. In moments where we are experiencing a strong reaction or heightened passion, we need to pause and ask why God would ever say ‘no’ to us.

Here are a few potential reasons:

1. He has something better in mind for us. Often, I have prayed for something that I was absolutely convinced was best for me only to be so grateful later that God said ‘no’. God’s provision turned out to be much better than what I prayed for over and over again.

2. He wants us to wait. Sometimes God’s answer is not ‘no’, it’s ‘wait’. We live in a microwave society built on instantaneous gratification. Waiting for coffee to brew is difficult for us, let alone waiting on God. The old adage is true; good things often do come to those who wait. Patience and perseverance are qualities of a mature faith that can serve us well.

3. Our request is connected to other things that God is doing. We are not islands unto ourselves. Our lives are very connected to those around us. Our prayer requests have ripple effects into the lives of others and possibly even into the course of history. God is managing the whole of humanity and history, and not just its individual parts. Often what is beneficial for us needs to be sacrificed for the benefit of the whole.

4. He is sometimes more focused on transforming us than blessing us. As a parent, I am often faced with the choice of making life a bit easier for my kids or letting them experience some hardship that might make them better people down the road. It is always a difficult choice. I love my children and I want what is best for them, but what’s best isn’t always what’s desired by them. God is a good parent who knows that suffering and sacrifice serve His kids as much as comfort and abundance. He’s not in the business of granting our dreams as much as He is raising us to be like Him.

It is always difficult to hear ‘no’ from anyone, including God. It’s doubly difficult when it corresponds to something that really matters to us. In those times, it is important to remember that God loves us, wants what is best for us and has his reasons for saying ‘no’.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7.9-11)

What actually amazes me is that God ever says, ‘yes’. Think about it, the Creator of the universe actually takes time to hear our requests and frequently grants us our heart’s desires. How incredible is that! When is the last time a President, celebrity or power-broker did that for you?

Our gratitude should not be limited to being thankful for what we’ve been given, rather it should also include heartfelt relief for God’s sparing us from our own wisdom and for being there for us at all.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Problem: God’s invisibility – The fact that we are attempting to carry on a conversation with someone we cannot see is daunting for a lot of folks. We can’t make eye contact, read body language or audibly hear a voice. All this means that we have to work harder to connect with God.

Solution: Learn to experience and recognize God’s presence. While we can’t see God or hear His voice, we certainly can sense Him when He is near and be guided by the impressions He gives us.

Problem: Our schedule – Most of us live very busy lives. We jam as much into a day as possible. We live without a lot of margin, and prayer tends to be one of those things that just get squeezed out.

Solution: We need to be intentional about creating margin where God can live in our lives. We need to create space where we are quiet before God. Often, this needs to be before the kids are awake or after they are tucked in. This is hard, but more than worth it.

Problem: Mind wanders – Many of us, including myself, struggle to stay focused during prayer times. I seem to ponder random thoughts, go down mental rabbit trails, and think about the events of the day whenever I try to pray. This can be frustrating and counter-productive.

Solution: I’ve found that having a structure to my prayer times is very helpful. I plan out at least some of the things I want to pray about in advance. I also sometimes journal or write out my prayers. All of these things help me to focus.

Problem: Not seeing results – If you are anything like me, results are a very important motivator for you. I struggle to do anything that doesn’t achieve results. Sometimes prayer can seem a bit light on the results end. Another way to put it might be that we have a hard time connecting the prayers we pray to tangible, positive changes in our life.

Solution: One of the ideas I have found most helpful has been to keep a record of the requests I’ve prayed and the answers I’ve gotten. When you do this, you will likely be amazed at the depth of connection that exists between your prayers and all that God does in your life.

Are there other reasons that prayer can be difficult? What have you found?

Scripture makes it pretty clear that we are only to pray and worship the one true God, the triune God of the Bible. The apostles never allowed people to pray to them or worship them when they were alive (Acts 10.24-26), and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t want us to pray to them now that they are dead.

The worship of the Virgin Mary (technically referred to as ‘veneration’) is a Roman Catholic phenomenon. Millions of Catholics pray to her in the hope that she will influence her son to move on their behalf. While we should always be very respectful of how we talk about Jesus’ mom, there is no indication that anyone considered praying to her in the early Church when she was alive. In fact, praying to Mary is a relatively recent development (the last several hundred years) and is of questionable origin. It doesn’t represent a truly Christian approach to prayer.

It is also fashionable at secular gatherings to pray to “our common God”. While I realize the intent of the practice is to help us get past our religious differences, I find it a bit challenging. Who are we praying to? Who is our common God? If we are speaking of the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible, I probably am great with it. If it includes Allah, Buddha or others, then probably not so much.

What about the Trinity? The traditional Christian position has been to direct our prayers to the Father as Jesus taught us to do (Matthew 6.6). To conclude the prayer in Jesus’ name signifies our identity as His followers and our trust in Him as our redeemer (1 Corinthians 6.11, Colossians 3.17); and to pray under the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit is something that is encouraged in Scripture as well (Ephesians 6.18, Jude 1.20). I have never encountered anything in the Bible that forbids us to direct our prayers to Jesus or the Holy Spirit as long as we understand their part in the Holy Trinity and the importance of the Father.

I am interested to know how you have processed these questions and issues. What do you think?

Be authentic – It is important to keep it real when we offer requests or pray for others. Subtle, unintended hypocrisy can damage trust.

Be transparent – It’s crucial to move past the relational surface and share some of the deeper issues or challenges we face. It is also important to dive deep as we pray for others.

Be simple – We should keep our words simple and use ‘Christian’ slang sparingly. Speaking in a straight-forward way helps others to have the confidence to pray.

Be focused – Prayers and requests need to have a point. It is hard for people to relate to us or pray for us when we aren’t able to articulate a clear thought. The same is also true when we pray.

Be loving – Prayer times are moments of great and fragile vulnerability that need to be handled with great compassion. We need to love people as we share our requests and as we pray for them. Prayer is not a time to rebuke or correct others.

Be brief – No one gets too excited about long, droning prayers except the person praying. Extended prayers are best used in our devotional times and not in group settings.

Be God-centered – Prayer is a conversation with God. It’s not an opportunity to preach to the group. We need to adjust our words and hearts to Him.

I’m curious to know what your experience of prayer has been in a small group. What are some other pieces of advice that you would offer to others?

Truthfully, there is no way to leverage God or manipulate Him into doing what He doesn’t want to do. And really, would we want it any other way? There are, however, some things that God has said will make our prayers more effective; ways that we can position our requests to be answered with a ‘Yes’ from Him.

Keys to Effective Prayer

1. Pray in accordance with God’s will (1 John 5.14) – God answers prayers that line up with what He wants to do in our life or in the world. When asking God to do something, I find it helpful to read what the Bible has to say on the issue before I pray. That way, I can affirm God’s direction in my prayer.

2. Pray with a right motive (Psalm 24.3-4) – God not only hears our words, He knows our hearts. He weighs our reasons as well as our requests. At times, we can ask for good things with bad intentions. Before praying, I like to ask myself, “How loving is this request? Is it humble? Who benefits?”

3. Pray with an expectant faith (James 1.6-8) – God says that we should pray in a way that expects Him to move. Jesus often spoke of the faith of people He healed. To pray cynically or almost dismissively isn’t what God is looking for. He wants us to trust Him and believe that He still answers prayers.

4. Pray from a morally upright life (James 5.16b-18) – God honors those people who morally own His values. Conversely, God often won’t bless those whose lives do not conform to the moral principles He has deemed as good. Hypocrisy short-circuits prayer. We need to confess and repent of our sins before we bring our requests to God.

5. Pray in unity with the Church (John 17.23b) – Jesus says that we should pray for God’s will in our lives and in the world with one voice. Our unity is a sign to the planet that we love God and one another enough to put away our own agendas, preferences and prejudices. A people unified around the truth and love of God, asking for His leadership, is a powerful force.

Are these keys to prayer consistent with what you have experienced in your own life? When does God most respond to your prayers?

I’ve realized over the years that God’s purpose in prayer has similar motives. As a younger Christian, I always looked at prayer as an opportunity for me to take my needs to God and ask for His help; and that is certainly true, God enjoys helping His children. It is also true, however, that God often has deeper purposes in prayer than helping us with the issues we face. At some point, I came to the conclusion that prayer might be at least as much about God changing me as it was about God changing my circumstances. God loves an opportunity to hang out with His kids and to relationally connect with them around a common need, and in the process, to rub off on them a little bit.

In all, I have found at least four clear-cut purposes of prayer that have helped shape my interaction with God.

4 Purposes of Prayer

1. Connecting us to God’s presence – God enjoys hanging out with His kids, and wants them to learn to love being with Him as well. It is a relationship with us that God is after more than anything else.

2. Connecting us to God’s perspective – God wants to widen our vision of ourselves, the world around us and Himself. He wants to infuse an eternal perspective into our thinking and help us to rise above the challenges we face and to see things differently. He wants to impart His wisdom to us. I’ve found that the way I start praying about something often isn’t the way I end up praying about it because of how God changes my perspective in the process.

3. Connecting us to God’s passions – God wants us to learn to love what He loves. He wants to inspire us, move us and help us to feel what He feels about us, others and the world around us. He wants us to know He loves us. He is excited about who we are and has high hopes for our life.

4. Connecting us to God’s power – God wants to make His power available to us to help us in life. God still heals, delivers and transforms those who ask Him. So often, we start our prayers by asking God to use His power meet our needs without first aligning ourselves to His perspective or passion, or even without waiting to spend much time with Him. There is a huge difference between asking God to bless our life and asking God to show us what He blesses and then aligning our life to it.

How have you seen the purpose of prayer? How has the way you’ve experienced prayer affected your experience of God?