As we kick off this new year, our desire as a church is to seek God’s face together. Awakening is a movement to commit 21 days to prayer and fasting. We are joining together with all the HMCC sites and several other churches to participate in this movement. We’re calling all of you to participate as you commit to prayer and fasting from Jan 11-31. Some of us will be fasting by eating fruits and vegetables throughout that time. But all of you can participate by fasting from something that helps you direct you focus on God. It could be television, video games, or certain meal times. What’s most important is that we hunger for God as we fast. As a church, we want to capture that spirit of prayer afresh.

If you haven’t done so already, please sign up. You can do so online here. We’ve included all the information regarding the movement, including fasting guidelines. It would be great to see our entire church sign up and meet together to pray in your LCG’s and LIFE Groups. I believe that God will respond in some incredible ways as we earnestly seek Him together. Let’s commit this first month of 2009 to hungering after God.

Happy holidays! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends! As we start off the new year we wanted to launch the new version of our church blog! I want to especially thank Josh for working on this. We hope you enjoy the new site and be on the lookout for some new updates.

Each year, we take a week to turn our attention to God’s work in the world. This year’s theme for Missions Week is “Here I Am”. We want to make ourselves available to however God would want us to participate in His mission as a church. We have alot of exciting things planned this week. You can check out the schedule of this week’s events here. We will also be sharing this year’s spring break and summer missions projects. We want to invite our entire church to participate in this week’s activities. My prayer is that God’s missionary heart will run in the veins of each member of our church.

Taj Hotel in Mumbai

Many of us have been shocked to see the tragic events unfold in Mumbai this past week. Having visited and ministered in this beautiful city, my heart is overwhelmed with concern and a burden to pray. I remember walking by the Taj Hotel in 2006. I witnessed the horror of terrorism firsthand as there was a series of train bombings during my visit there. We need to pray for peace in this great city. As you reflect upon what you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend, please remember our friends in Mumbai.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald (youngest head coach in NCAA)

Who said NU isn’t a football school? They just went into the Big House and beat Michigan for the first time since 1995. This is a bittersweet victory for me. Although I went to U of M for college, it’s exciting to see the Wildcats keep the winning season going. I think our guys can walk with new respect now when they visit HMCC of Ann Arbor ;).

What a day! It was great to see all the LIFE Groups come together for H-Games today. I was encouraged to see so much team spirit! It was a great day all around as both sites were able to come together as one church.

One Church

Let me give a few of my thoughts as I reflect upon today’s events. First, Tom Dunlap is absolutely the most devastating stocking-head player I have ever seen. When he puts that stocking on, you are at his mercy. He is now the three-time undisputed champion. I think he’s worthy of a nickname now. Dunlap the Destroyer? The Sultan of Stockings? Theo, tough day bro.

The Sultan of Stockings goes to work

Second, tug-of war never gets old. I love watching the faces of passion, struggle and determination. If only we could pray like that ;). But it’s always the most entertaining event. One of the keys to winning is getting your rhythm down. Usually, groups use some kind of cadence like 1-2 or heave-ho. This year’s winning group was especially inspired as they used “Chicken-Shack” to lead them to victory. Well done!

Look at the passion on their faces

Third and most importantly, we are especially happy to crown the UIC LIFE Group (Mosaic) as champions for the first time! They seemed to be a team of destiny this year. They played with passion and spirit. It’s fitting that they are our new champs as we just launched the Downtown site this past September. Great job!

Our New Champs!

I’m looking forward to the new series that we’ll be starting this Sunday titled “Re: turn”. This series was birthed out of a burden our pastoral staff had for our church. In all our counseling sessions, we realized that one of the keys to experiencing true life transformation is repentance. It’s not a popular word in our day, but I think it’s often misunderstood which is why so many of us don’t understand its importance and experience its power. We’ve titled the series “Re: turn” because that’s what repentance is in its essence - turning away from sin and turning toward God. I’m praying that as a church, we’ll experience the freedom that comes as we return to God in repentance these next few weeks.

This weekend, all the LIFE Groups will be gathering together for our third annual H-Games! I’m excited for this year’s event as our LIFE Group ministry has been growing each year. It’s always been one of the highlights of the year. It’s also been a great way to introduce our community to our friends outside HMCC. I’m looking forward to meeting many new people this Saturday. I’ve heard many people “talking smack” to me already. I just want to warn you: Don’t be too overconfident. I’ve been humbled many times before ;).

It’s exciting to see how God is working in each of the LIFE Groups in our Evanston Site. I still remember the first LIFE Group meeting at our church that I led. There were a total of 6 of us that met in a dorm lounge (me, Roland, Josh, and the Trinity). We just stared at each other and then prayed together ;). It’s amazing to see how God has grown the LIFE Group ministry since then. This is our home away from home. It’s the place where we really BE the church as we love one another and reach out to our campus and community. Check out all the groups:

Super Nova (shining brightly on North Campus)

Awesome (apparently there was a lot of consensus on this name)

Free Radicals (very scientific name)