March 2024 Connections

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CONNECTIONS MARCH 2 024

THE EASTER ISSUE Reflections on the life of Christ from the cross . . . to the grave . . . to the resurrection.

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INSIDE

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ASHES TO ASHES

O CHURCH ARISE!

Lorraine considers the limits of Lent for a Protestant girl like her.

A sleepless night contemplating the journey from Christmas to Easter.

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DEATH’S OBITUARY

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Alex sees all kinds of people around the cross— where are we?

Jon answers the questions “How do you spell E-A-S-T-E-R?”

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ENOUGH DONE

WHY?

From Grandpa to Gethsamane— considering the shape of gospel hope.

Wallace poses this one-word question from his childhood.

Lorraine Triggs

Alex Lee

Ashley Anthony

Pat Cirrincione

Jon Smalley

Wallace Alcorn

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FEATURES From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

18 ASSUMPTIONS OF LIFE AND DEATH Thomas Gaenzle

Spiritual insights from a career in Crisis Counseling.

Opportunities for Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ArtSpace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 New Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Our Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Milestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 CHURCH LIFE: March Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Under the Radar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 At the Bookstall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 UPDATE: Life Safety Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

20 A CHURCH IN THE MIDST OF WAR An Update from Irpin Bible Church

A timely report from the pastors of Irpin Bible Church.

28 WHAT IS IT?

Dr. Joel Goodnough

A surgeon considers when life starts and what to do about it.

On the Cover: Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. Photograph by William North

Sanctity of Human Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Giving Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Our Pastors, Directors and Residents: Josué 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 | Jim Johanik, pastor of evangelism | 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

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 April issue: March 9 | For the May issue: April 9 For the June issue: May 9

332 E. Seminary, Wheaton, IL 60187 (630) 668-0878 | www.college-church.org

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CONTRIBUTORS WALLACE ALCORN

DR. JOEL GOODNOUGH

Wallace, while a high school student, taught scouting recruits as a senior patrol leader in his church’s troop and Sunday school. In the army, he was an instructor at the Adjutant General’s Schook, US Army Chaplain School, Command & General Staff College.

Connections welcomes Dr. Goodnough’s thoughtful perspective on abortion in this month’s issue. He and his wife, Brenda, have been married for 44 years and live in St. Charles.

ASHLEY ANTHONY

ALEX LEE

Along with writing for Connections, Ashley has been involved in women’s and children’s ministries at College Church. Her husband, Matt, finishes his pastoral residency in June, and she and Matt are looking forward to their new ministry in Rhode Island.

PAT CIRRINCIONE When not writing or praying for her grandchildren, Pat enjoys reading and baking. Her greatest joys are God and her family, and time with both makes for much joy and laughter.

JAMES COOK and his wife, Becky, met in HYACKS and are long time members of College Church.

For the last five and a half years, James has been head of the Life Safety Team at College Church. A former social studies teacher, James enjoys his role as Life Safety Manager.

ANITA DEYNEKA

A letter-carrier and reader, Connections readers best know Alex as a writer. He and his wife, Virginia, are thankful for their son, daughter and grandchildren.

RICHARD MOOMJIAN and his wife, Shelby, have a soon-to-be year-old daughter. Richard finishes his pastoral residency in June, and will begin serving at a church in the northern suburbs.

WILLIAM NORTH is a fine art photographer residing in Wheaton, Illinois. Exploring Medieval style cathedrals and other classical architectural, he celebrates the imprint of the Creator through art and beauty.

JON SMALLEY

serves with Mission Eurasia, an organization she and her husband, Peter, founded.

She works with A Home for Every Orphan to help promote in-country Christian adoptions around the world.

Jon has served on the Board of Deacons, and ushers at the 8 a.m. service and is involved in the Veritas Adult Community.

With spring coming soon, you’ll find Jon helping his wife, Kristie, look after a corner of the church’s landscape.

THOMAS GAENZLE

LORRAINE TRIGGS

Thomas and his psychologist wife, Linda, enjoy the blessing that is College Church. Retired from crisis counseling, Thomas dedicates his time to writing and gardening.

has her master’s degree in communications from Wheaton Grad School, and has used her writing and editorial skills at mission agencies, curriculum houses and here at College Church.

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WAR A ND PEACE WIL TRIGGS | EDITOR

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ith Easter falling at the end of March, we invited writers to consider some aspect of the holiday in their writings. We were blessed to receive many generous contributions from writers among the congregation: Lorraine Triggs, Alex Lee, Ashley Anthony, Pat Cirrincione, Jon Smalley, Richard Moomjian, Anita Deyneka, Thomas Gaenzle and Wallace Alcorn. I’m planning to read and reread these articles throughout March and even into April. Savor these as part of this year’s Easter. There is a peace that only comes from Jesus. Reflect on that peace as you encounter these stories this month.

In our Church Life section, you’ll find a Life Safety Update from James Cook, one of the Life Safety Team leaders. You may not realize what that ministry might be, so have a look and be encouraged. That’s not to mention getting to know a few new members and Easter-oriented books highlighted at the bookstall in that section, too.

Our Sanctity of Human Life content includes a unique perspective from a surgeon as well as local events. If you check out the Under the Radar section, you’ll discover some enjoyable springtime entertainments that might help to make your season a memorable one.

Finally, it’s one of our shorter articles, but ”Church in the Midst of War” comes into the issue unplanned, like the bombs falling in Ukraine on a daily basis. Pastors Mykola Romanyuk and Sergey Perevyshko from Irpin Bible Church provided an update in morning services recently. They shared even more with Connections to give us a glimpse of the challenges they face in their war-torn country and church. Read and connect with our brothers and sisters living with war and ministry for the last two years. We are so blessed to have a connection like this in a place where life and death and faith in Jesus come into communities and homes at lightning speed. Make these pastors and all that they’re doing a part of your prayers and journey toward Easter.

They have returned home to their families and churches. Let’s continue to uphold them in prayer.

As we think about Jesus and Easter and war and peace, let’s not forget to pray for those who don’t know Jesus. Let’s pray that God might use us and College Church this year to help someone. In Men’s Bible study, we were asked the question, “If God is sovereign, why evangelize?” The great privilege and mystery in answering that question is that God uses people to bring his life-changing love to people. We can’t save anyone, but there is great joy in gospel witness: Jesus uses people like us to do things we might never dream if we were left to our own devices. So, let’s encourage each other to pray and share with others that the good news of the cross is truly finished and there’s room at our family table for more brothers and sisters. May it be so!

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Ashes to Ashes Lorraine Triggs

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sh Wednesday collided with Valentine’s Day this year. It has probably happened before, but as a junior higher, I was too busy exchanging Valentines and conversational candy hearts to notice. If I did notice anything on Ash Wednesday it was my friend’s excused tardiness to school and the smudge on her forehead.

“Why do you have a smudge on your forehead?” I asked.

“It’s not a smudge. It’s a cross from the priest,” she explained. “It’s Ash Wednesday.”

This was not a day on my Baptist church’s calendar. “Ash what?”

“Ash Wednesday. You know, the beginning of Lent.” Not on the calendar either nor did my friend elaborate much. “For 40 days before Easter, you eat fish, not meat, and give up candy.”

In college, when Ash Wednesday became a thing among evangelicals, I had friends who pulled back their hair to make sure everyone noticed the ashes on their foreheads. Another apparent gap in my Christian upbringing that Lent was a season of show and tell. Or maybe my friends simply forgot what the priest said when placing the ashes on their foreheads; “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”

I know better now that neither my junior high friend nor I—and not even my ash-proud friends—could ever make ourselves smudge-free. Sin leaves its smudges and prints on our hearts, turning lives into ashes, and returning us to dust, to death.

When I asked my mom about this apparent gap in my Christian upbringing, she replied, “We’re Baptists. We don’t do that.” Since I liked candy and didn’t like fish, I was relieved that we Baptists didn’t do Ash Wednesday or Lent.

Perhaps the practice of giving up something for Lent (and I hope more than candy or meat by now) is to make Jesus’ death on the Cross more relatable or to satisfy that impulse of ours to do something for our salvation. But how can we relate to the Cross when it was Jesus, who knew no sin, was made sin for us? What Lenten sacrifice of mine will add to the lavish grace and mercy God showed us in Christ?

On Thursday, my friend would come to school smudge-free, and life went on as usual at Helen Keller Junior High.

English Nonconformist Isaac Watts may or may not have shared my inclination of answering rhetorical questions, but

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he did, however unintentionally, this once when he wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God! All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down!

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

It’s not only the 40 days leading up to Easter that we should survey the wondrous cross but also the other 325 days of the year, overwhelmed with thankfulness that we who were dead, left in the dust, were made alive in Christ.

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n the one hand, Christians—that is, you and I—are something special.

We are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) in the arena that matters most, in character and spirit.

That puts us up among the elite of creation, right next to angels. And though humans were made initially “lower” than angels, as Psalm 8:5 describes the hierarchy, Christians as a class will in time “judge angels.” (1 Cor 6:3) Theologically, our destiny as believers is to be greater than the rest of creation, since we have been adopted into the family of God, the circle closest to his glory.

On the other hand, Christians are sinners turned into ex-sinners only by the grace of God, and even in this new forgiven status, we clutch at temptations the way children grab candies and kitchen knives, so lame is our discipline. Christians tread the same worn turf the rest of humankind does, and have, it seems, as the innings and extra innings of life drag on, no higher batting average for happiness than the other strivers on the diamond.

How can these apparently contrary representations both be true?

death's obituary

ALEX LEE

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It boils down, I think, to three elemental experiences which occur in every believer’s life.

The first is the thrill of encountering the person of Jesus Christ—something akin to Simeon’s solemn wonder when, at the temple, he held Mary’s baby in his arms. Simeon had intended to perform what the custom of the law specified, but before he could do so, he found himself cradling the “glory of Israel” and the “light of revelation to the Gentiles.”

It made Simeon’s day, though he had to have known his days, as a consequence, were numbered, given the Holy Spirit’s earlier divulgence.

It was the same for us when, bathed in that “light of revelation,” we met and accepted Christ. The profundity of that encounter shook our soul to its carnal core, and indeed, just as Simeon felt ready to die, having that day seen his Savior, we were prepared finally to put to death our

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old selves, right there at the church sanctuary or the cocktail party or the gutter.

the essence of righteousness, now viscous with the sin of humanity.

There must have been a throng of people around Mary and Joseph and their child, but only Simeon, blessed with special insight, recognized the Savior of the world.

No less miraculous is the fact and circumstance of our own personal redemption.

Onlookers may surround us the moment we see the Light, but they may all be unseeing, and oblivious to our transformation.

Everyone suffers, but believers, when they suffer, are afflicted by a peculiar puzzlement—for they know a God who is sovereign and merciful even while, like the apostles on Good Friday, they kneel, clasping their pain in helplessness.

The second great experience believers undergo is one of trauma, as any surgery is trauma—as refining gold is invasive to the gold. This experience is the totality of our distress as we live the Christian life, and it may consist of one stark peak such as a devastating shame, or a succession of depths—pits of despair, chasms of separation. It is the shadow of Calvary.

We become Peter, vociferously denying his Lord, or Thomas, needing solid proof to buttress his shaky faith, or John, at the foot of Christ’s crucifixion, staring mutely at his slain master and friend.

The events of that original Holy Week— pivotal in history and eternity—continued, rolling ponderously forward like an army tank’s muddy tracked treads.

For the Roman soldiers, the execution of the King of the Jews was all in a day’s work, a blue-collar job requiring bloody hands. For the priests of the Sanhedrin, it was a recalibration of the status quo. For both soldiers and priests, life went on.

For many in the crowd, the show—starring the carpenter-turned-healer—appeared over at last, the palm leaves now trampled like so many stage props. But for Jesus’ disciples, it was a bewildering loss. Unlike the others, they knew the utter calamity of what had transpired, for their finite minds had previously been touched by an infinite heart.

We understand, because we read our Bibles, why that day was so horrible.

The Lamb of God (Isaiah 53:7) had been led to slaughter, and on the hard ground of Golgotha, where our blood and guts should have been spilled, there pooled instead, trickling from Christ’s wounds,

Because we read the Bible, we also apprehend that in God’s timing, his purposes come to fruition. And sometimes puzzlement turns, awkwardly at first, but then quite quickly, into jaw-dropping incomprehension.

Mere hours later, since the crucifixion: What! He is gone? But where?

And then— The Master lives!

Two days after the collapse of their world, Jesus’ disciples heard the news of the empty tomb: the rocky hollow where they had laid their teacher’s covered corpse was somehow now unobstructed by the boulder, vacant, deserted by the Romans, and redolent of mystery.

The angel said what now?

In retrospect, the apostles realized the meaning of Jesus’ assertion that though the Jews “destroy this temple,” in three days’ time, he would “rebuild it.” At the time of the heated exchange near the temple courts—seems like yesterday—everyone: they, the Pharisees, the disgruntled moneychangers had taken Jesus’s words literally, and so thought it was a nutty, outrageous thing to say. But then again, Jesus had a way of confounding people with the truth, or of turning the truth in his hand so it shone one way and then another, or of leaving the truth just as it lay, for all to gape at.

In the following weeks, Jesus in the flesh appeared to many people; spoke, ate, walked with them; ministered to them, gave them final instructions, continued to love them. By defeating death, Christ made moot man’s fatal deficiency, and made believers “children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:36, NIV)

You see, only a Christian can appreciate the exhilaration of this cosmic whiplash.

One day, the ground shakes and there is darkness at midday, obscuring a lacerated, lifeless body hanging on a cross. Two days later, it’s back to the business of expanding God’s kingdom.

This is why we are, without conceit, unique—”set aside,” dedicated to something pure: in a word, holy. We are holy not because we possess some intrinsic virtue, or have added some value to ourselves, but rather on account of the justification God has bestowed on us. If our hope extends merely to the physical conclusion and material verdict of this earthly life, Paul suggests Christians are of all people “the most pitiable.” (1 Cor. 15:19) Yet the inverse of this logic must be considered as well. Since Christians have the hope of resurrection, post-mortem—assured of gaining reconstituted bodies unfettered by time, space, and biology; bodies able to flit across light-years as though traversing a room; bodies endowed with the solidity of ultimate reality—made of the “really real” stuff, to use Douglas Groothuis’s phrase—then we may conclude Christians are a fairly enviable tribe.

The apostle Paul, usually vivid in style and occasionally rambling when writing his letters, is at a loss for words in his articulation of this matter. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard…the things which God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor 2:9, NIV) Paul gets the picture, but it’s too panoramic for our little heads.

Our first experience of God was of rebirth; the second of yoking ourselves continually to Christ and his burden.

The third adventure is yet to come. We persevere in this present life, as the apostles and martyrs and early followers did, always looking to the day—to the moment—the month—meaningless temporal terms at that point—when, echoing Paul, we may ask rhetorically— O Death, where is thy sting?

Or with the poet John Donne say— …death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

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Enough Done ASHLEY ANTHONY

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t was midnight. I sat outside on our front porch, the awning hiding the stars and the moon’s light. The night air cut through the blanket I’d brought to wrap around me—maybe I thought it would shield me from the news I’d received.

My grandpa had passed away unexpectedly.

Just a few months earlier, he’d fought a sickness that left us unsure of his future, but he came out the other side okay. It made me more certain than ever that we’d have more time with him. Instead, it felt like death had won. Death had claimed him as its own.

For many years, my grandpa was adamant that God was not for him. Grandpa was tough, hardened by years in the military and

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navigating the world on his own. Unexpectedly, he one day phoned to let us know that he had confessed Christ. My husband and I traveled to a little country church and watched my fatherin-law baptize him. I would say he was a saint ever since that moment, but it wouldn’t honor the honest memories of my grandpa.

Now he was gone. I opened the Bible I’d brought with me, desperately searching its pages for comfort. Had he done enough for God to welcome him to eternal glory? Had I done enough for him? These were the questions that plagued my mind as I sat outside in the dark.

LIKE PETER

I wonder if these were the questions that plagued Peter’s conscience later in his life.

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When Jesus taught at the synagogues of Capernaum in John’s gospel, he confronted crowds that had pursued him for something to eat. They’d tasted his miracle of expanding the loaves and fishes when he fed the 5000, but they wanted more to eat, so they pursued Jesus. He saw their hearts and knew that many of them just wanted food, but he wanted so much more for them—Jesus wanted to give them himself, for eternity.

The Jews become angry and many of Jesus’ followers grumble and no longer walk with him. (John 6:66) Jesus turns to his disciples and asks them if they’d like to do the same—now’s their chance to bail if they’d like! Yet Peter boldly confesses, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68–9) Right answer, Peter.

Later, when Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was Peter who unsheathed his sword and cut off the servant’s ear who had come to arrest Jesus. (John 18:10–11) In one last attempt to protect, he committed to fight for Jesus’ life, perhaps even if it cost him his own. He only yields when Jesus tells him to stop, to let him carry the cross his Father has prepared for him.

Yes, throughout his years of following Jesus, Peter has received some heavy rebukes. He has proved himself immature and still learning. Yet it seems like if anyone will follow Jesus to the end, if anyone will be saved by his own faithfulness to his Lord, it will be Peter. Who can match his fervor or his early confession that Jesus is the Son of God? We know what happens when Jesus needed Peter most. After Jesus was led away and put on trial, Peter denied Jesus three times. All he had to do was remember Jesus’ warning and say that he knew him. All he had to do was declare Jesus’ innocence, mustering up the typical Peter-esque courage to defend his Lord. Yet when his faithfulness was tested in new ways, he failed. From his jail cell, Jesus turns to look at Peter, who leaves to weep bitterly at his betrayal (Luke 22:61–2).

In a matter of days, Peter lost everything he’d committed his last several years to. He’d betrayed Jesus, and this indictment hung over his head like the darkness that would blanket Jerusalem during Jesus’ crucifixion. Soon, his Lord would die a criminal’s death on a cross. Everything he’d lived for was gone. His faithfulness was ineffective, inefficient to save him or Jesus. What hope was there now?

But Jesus surprises him. Three times he asks Peter if he loves him, until finally Peter declares, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17) What did Peter need? Did he need his fervor renewed? Did he need his faithlessness forgiven so that he could move on, perfect faithfulness taking its place?

We see everything that Peter needs in Jesus. We see it in Jesus’ glance from his prison cell on the night of his trial. We see it in Jesus’ hanging on the cross, in his death, in his resurrection.

We see it in Jesus’ pursuit of Peter while he’s fishing, in his reconciliation after Peter’s betrayal. Peter didn’t need his own perfected faithfulness—this is something he could never provide. Peter needed the unwavering faithfulness of Jesus.

The cross is the culmination of Jesus’ faithfulness to an unfaithful people.

COMFORT

In those early hours on my front porch, I read Hosea when I came upon these words: How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

How can I make you like Admah?

How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.

I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; or I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. (Hos. 11:8–9) Had I done enough? Was my grandpa faithful enough after his conversion to earn him eternity with the Lord he claimed?

These questions were the wrong ones. It wasn’t up to us—once God holds us, thanks to the cross, he never lets us go.

HOPE IS COMING

One day, Peter is fishing when he hears Jesus is on the shore.

He could be rational and row to the shoreline, but instead— in typical Peter fashion—he strips off his work clothes and swims as fast as he can to the shore. Now, Peter can renew the faithfulness he’d lost during Jesus’ lost hours. He can make it up to him, show him that he really is faithful.

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O Church Arise!

Pat Cirrincione But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NIV)

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s I contemplate the cross on Good Friday, the question that keeps coming to mind is: What have we done?

I can barely put into words what I am feeling right now. All I can see is the brutality of the cross. Mary standing off to the side as she watches her son’s body being brutalized and beaten to within an inch of his life. As she hears the jeers and shouting of the crowd that just days ago were shouting in joy as he entered Jerusalem on a donkey. As she hears the nails pounded into his hands and feet.

As she hears the grunts and groans of the men placing her son’s cross inside a hole so it will stand upright. As she sees her son’s body sag, bloody and naked, humiliated in front of all those who watched as he died for our sins, for our sins.

It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating his birth and rejoicing that a Savior had been born in Bethlehem.

Shepherds were watching their sheep at night when a host of heavenly angels appeared in the star-studded night sky 8

proclaiming the birth of a beautiful baby to Mary and Joseph, and now— this. The grisliness of it has me in shock.

Why? Why is humanity so mean? Why is it threatened by the goodness that Jesus offered? Why do we enjoy sinning more than truly living? Why are we so wrapped up in ourselves and our wants that we can’t give God what he has asked for repeatedly in the Bible? Why is it so hard to repent of our sins and return wholeheartedly to our Creator? Why? Why? Why? I don’t have the answers, other than our own selfishness, pride and unwillingness to truly love one another.

The New Testament constantly reminds us that we are brothers and sisters in Christ, but instead we act like we don’t even know each other. We sneer at someone dressed in clothes that are not designer made. We laugh at jokes about people and go along with the media and their lies. We sit in our beautifully furnished homes and don’t even see the people living in poverty along Roosevelt Road, just trying to get enough money to put a meal on their table. Do we think

we got where we are on our own? Do we ever stop to think about how blessed we are and to give some of those blessings to others?

I literally cannot go to sleep at night thinking about what we have become.

In many ways, we are no better than the Pharisees during Jesus’ time. They were a part of his chosen people and yet what he was doing: loving the sick and afflicted, the sinners, the poor made them sick to their stomachs.

They didn’t want any of those people to come near them. They were too full of themselves, and their wants and needs being fulfilled, their pompousness, their pride, that they couldn’t come down from their high horses and embrace their Savior. Instead, they carried out their plot to kill him. Isn’t that what we are doing?

I toss and turn as I try to go to sleep, but I can’t get the picture of the cross out of my head. Those lacerations down to the bone, that crown of thorns piercing his head, the jeers and laughter from the crowd “If you really are the Son of God,

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come down off of that cross!” Really?

And then what?

There are days when I think humanity has learned something, but then I have never seen us fall like I have these past few years. We have lost all respect for those in charge, we complain, we lose good friends and family members over politics, we allow people to get hurt and humiliated by words and lies. Like Solomon said: “there is nothing new on the face of the earth.” Why? Why can’t we remember the Cross?

Why can’t we remember why God sent his only Son to die for our sins? Yes,

our sins, not his! Why did Mary have to see her son tortured, beaten and humiliated? Because it was done for us, my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Remember, it is only by amazing grace that wretches like you and I could be saved. Not only you and I, but all as in everyone. We can never forget that he died for us.

As we look toward the resurrection on Easter, let us always remember that Jesus willingly walked the path to the cross. He gave himself as the ultimate gift of God’s love to us, his people.

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., meets in C101 MIDWEEK PRAYER MEETING: Wednesdays at 7 p.m. via Zoom MARCH 6: Marcos & Mariana Romero, communication with Reach Beyond in the U.S. MARCH 13: Dave & Majka, evangelism and discipleship in Austria and Slovenia with GEM MARCH 20: Judith Blumhofer, medical work in Honduras with Give Hope 2 Kids MARCH 27: Shannon, teaching and evangelism is Asia

God Centered Life : Ways to Connect The heavenly places. What are they? What does Paul mean by that term in Ephesians? You can listen through any podcast app, Spotify, the GCL app, online, as well as through finding a station near you.

The GCL app is now really clean and simple. And the podcast works seamlessly. Just scan the QR codes below!

Apple Podcast

Spotify

GCL App for iOS on Apple Store

GCL APP for Android on Google Play

Find a radio station near you:

Online: www. godcenteredlife.org

FRIDAY PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH: 12-1 p.m. in the Board Room.

AARON-HUR PRAYER FELLOWSHIP: Will meet on Thursday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at the home of Marr and Mary Miller, 1607 Stoddard Avenue in Wheaton, (630) 668-0828. Our guests will be John and Esther Waldrop, soon to begin a new ministry serving in the Philippines.

BARNABAS PRAYER FELLOWSHIP: Will hear from Phil Smith at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, in the Creative Arts Room at Covenant Living at Windsor Park. Phil is the CEO of First Love International, which seeks to mobilize local churches around the world to love wholistically a variety of vulnerable populations. Men and women on or off the Windsor Park campus are welcome to visit or join the group to hear about these ministries and to pray for the group’s crosscultural workers.

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MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT WILLIAM NORTH: Contemplating the Unseen Soaring spires, vaulted ceilings, and windows like chrysanthemums awaken feelings of thoughtfulness and contemplation. As a place where one comes to meet God incarnate, a cathedral reaches back in time as well as forward. Flickering candles and the lingering aroma of incense draw us into the still presence of God; we listen for the voice of the Spirit, await His healing touch.

I am particularly interested in how the visual aesthetic creates reverence and a mood for worship. How, in the stillness of the moment these great spaces open to us their grace, inviting us to contemplate the unseen in the seen that what is invisible can become known.

ST. MARY’S CATHEDRAL SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL WASHINGTON, D.C.

WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL WASHINGTON, D.C.

https://www.williamcnorth.com/ 10

HOLY NAME CATHEDRAL CHICAGO, IL

MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

GALLERY

GATHERINGS

STORYBOOKS AND ADVENTURES A STARS FAMILY SERVICES ART SHOW

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

February 2–March 8

TUESDAY, MARCH 12

HOURS: Sunday, Monday and Friday from 12-2 p.m.; Wednesday 11AM-2 p.m. Also open on Sundays after the evening service.

at 7 p.m. in Crossings

For other opening times, contact the church office at (630) 668-0878 or email artspace@college-church.org

March word for the month: Sunrise This month we will be considering the sun in art. See our web page for more information.

Look forward to seeing you there!

In the Crossings building 303 E. Front Street, Wheaton

WORKSHOPS

AWE + WONDER

FROM FIRST DRAFT TO FINAL A writing workshop with Wil and Lorraine Triggs

EASTER AND BEYOND March 17-April 28 Submissions accepted until March 11. See our webpage for details.

Celebrating Jesus’ resurrection, and the new life every spring offers.

Artists, artisans, writers, photographers, videographers, potters, quilters and all creative people: join us by submitting your creations to this Spring show celebrating new life, here and beyond.

HOURS: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12-2 p.m. Also open on Sundays after the evening service.

For other opening times, contact the church office at (630) 668-0878 or email artspace@college-church.org

March 14 | 7-9 p.m. | Cost: FREE We will explore the challenges and delights of improving your communication through rewriting and revision. Writers are welcome to bring a first draft with them, or just come and look at the examples from Wil, Lorraine and others. We will also consider ways to keep your writing fresh.

POETRY WRITING with Richard Moomjian April 4 | 7-9 p.m. | Cost: FREE Spend the evening with Pastoral Resident Richard Moomjian, our “pastor poet,” and learn how he approaches the writing of poetry and the place it has in his life and ministry.

In the Crossings building 303 E. Front Street, Wheaton

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

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MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

I

suspect that almost everybody has some knowledge of the underlying story behind the Easter celebration.

Like many traditions widely celebrated today, fiction has inexorably encroached upon fact. With the passing of time, the gap between fact and fiction can grow increasingly wide. This is neither a new phenomenon nor exclusive to religious observances—there seems to be a little Athenian in us all that enjoys contemplating new twists on historical stories.

Biblically, we are encouraged, exhorted, to continually, and continuously, educate ourselves and be reminded of the truth in Scripture. We can only benefit from intentional and ongoing alignment with the facts and application to our daily lives.

Although I was born into a Christian home free of many Hallmark holiday add-ons, I did appreciate that my parents refrained from curtailing Easter observance to the point of dispensing with Easter eggs—after all, nothing says “Easter” like a milk chocolate confection! Does a chocolate Easter egg constitute a toe in the door? To some degree, perhaps, in the same way that gifts under the tree can intrude upon and interfere in our celebration of the Christmas story. I am not advocating that we should be overly zealous and do away with any fun traditions not specifically identified in the Bible. On the other hand, we do need to ensure that we guard the truth such that our expectations and behaviors are not sidetracked. Vigilance is the word du jour.

I love word puzzles of all sorts. A hardy perennial for me is the one where you see how many other words you can spell using the letters in one word—three letter minimum, of course. Another favorite is the use of mnemonics as a way of remembering various facts and figures. For those of us who were born “PG” (i.e. pre-Google), we learned to use less sophisticated yet effective tool to remember various pieces of information. With a nod to this favorite aide memoire of mine, I am using the word “Easter” to help us discern the facts behind the celebration.

E: ESSENTIAL

There was no other way. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record the prayer of Jesus in which he asked the Father to let the cup pass from him, if it were possible. Despite the earnestness of the repeated prayer, the Father’s will took precedence and Jesus humbled himself in order that the events foreordained took place precisely as intended. The blood of bulls and goats would never be able to take away sins.

A: ABSOLUTE

John tells us that Jesus underscored the completeness of the work which he had come to do when he surrendered his spirit having uttered the final words: “It is finished.” The writer to the Hebrews reinforced the completeness of the work accomplished in doing the Father’s will by which “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

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S: SHOCKING

No other events will accompany the passing of any other human being. Darkness filled the daytime sky for three hours; the curtain of the temple was torn from top to bottom; the earth shook such that rocks were split; sealed tombs became opened and dead bodies were raised back to life. Who could have imagined that the Lord of glory would come to such a seemingly ignominious end—only in the mind of God the Father did this constitute the perfect acceptable sacrifice.

T: TESTIMONIAL

Gospel accounts record that Jesus was betrayed by one of the twelve disciples in Judas; denied by one of the three inner circle in Peter; abandoned by most of his followers. Despite all the characters and drama that played out, it was the Roman guard who testified to the reality, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” E: ENTOMBMENT

The recorded events of the Easter story are detailed from the betrayal to final breath. We must not forget that this was a real man suffering real torture followed by the cruelest death resulting in a lifeless corpse which was placed in a real tomb.

There was no memorial service at the graveside honoring the life of Jesus nor any words to address the injustice—just a dead body in a rock grave. Other than a handful, most of the disciples and followers had gone their separate ways. Many had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel, and now they were left with his lifeless body in a grave—a somber anticlimax to what had appeared to be the start of something great.

R: RESURRECTION

“He is not here, for he has risen.” If ever there were words of unbelievably astonishing encouragement, this is it! Because he lives, death has been defeated such that we can anticipate our own resurrection. It is easy to criticize the disciples for not understanding and trusting the prophetic words spoken

by Jesus beforehand, foretelling of his suffering, crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. But then we have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story.

For us, looking back and rehearsing the Easter story of death, burial and resurrection, we now look forward in anticipation of the fulfillment of the promised return of Jesus and consummation of the kingdom of heaven.

In the meantime, if chocolate Easter eggs, rabbits and egg hunts are your thing, I hope you enjoy the fun and games.

But may the reality of Easter eclipse it all, because Jesus, our Savior, is alive and ruler of all creation. Let us look forward with greater anticipation to that day when we will be united with him forever.

Happy Easter!

What’s in a name?

MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

Jon Smalley

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NEW MEMBERS JENS & ATTALI JORGENSEN

The Jorgensens have been married almost 12 years and have four young children. They moved to this area after 10 years or so in the Seattle area. They are involved in the Life Together Adult Community, and their family is plugged into God’s Children Sing, Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies and Mom2Mom. Attali is currently a homemaker and Jens is a designer at Microsoft.

RYAN JUNE

Ryan and his wife, Heather, have three young children. They are involved in the Life Together Adult Community, help facilitate Grace Marriage and serve in Kids’ Harbor. Ryan grew up in California where his parents were on staff with Campus Crusade (now Cru). He currently works as an attorney working with churches and Christian non-profits, as well as businesses.

DEAN NELSON

Dean lives in Western Springs and is involved in Life Together Adult Community and is in a small group.

He works as a network and security engineer. Dean enjoys swing dancing, cycling and conservation.

DAVE & ANNE OSIELSKI

Dave and Anne have been married about 27 years and have four children.

Anne is working on her MA in clinical mental health counseling at Wheaton College, and Dave worked as an archivist in the Wheaton College Library for 20 years. An MK, Anne grew up in South Africa, where her parents served with long-time associate members, Paul and Annette Hayward. Dave and Anne are currently group facilitators in College Church’s Grace Groups.

KATIA QUINTANILLA PETER & CAROLE KANETIS

Peter and Carole recently joined a small group and are also involved in Wednesday night Bible studies. Peter has taught philosophy, religion and humanities at several community colleges in the Chicagoland area. Carole is currently a homemaker, having worked in floral design, retail and in the medical field.

NATE LINHARDT

Nate is involved in the STARS Ministry and enjoys the STARS Choir, Praise in Action and Friday Night Fun. He’s been attending College Church with his parents, Doug and Michelle Linhardt, since he was born. Nate works at the DuPage County building.

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Katia is from Garland, Texas, and is a senior at Wheaton College. Katia was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and she and her two biological sisters were adopted by her parents and raised all around Texas. She is a pre-med student, a mathematics tutor and student researcher. Katia is looking to pursue an MD/PhD in the future.

KRISTEN SANDS

Kristen attends Life Together Adult Community and sings in the choir. She moved to the Chicagoland area for a job and has stayed. She is currently a recruiter for Sherwin Williams.

MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

OUR VISION 2024 INITIATIVES Vision: “Proclaiming the Gospel”

PATHWAY. We will develop a simple invitational pathway for our gospel ministries: Discover Jesus, Grow in Your Faith and Impact the World. In 2024, we will continue developing that pathway by emphasizing and enhancing the “on ramps” to College Church in the following ways: 1) promoting Kids’ Harbor as one of the first impressions of College Church, 2) augmenting and strengthening our Front Door ministries, and 3) establishing a culture where our congregants willingly and effectively share our faith.

Rationale: After consultation with a Christian communications company, and surveying the neighborhood, we have discovered that we need to present the distinctive gospel ministry opportunity of College Church more clearly and invitationally to the surrounding community.

COMMUNITY. We will cultivate care, encouragement, and connection in 2024 by: 1) calling a pastor focused in these areas (title to be determined), 2) establishing a permanent CARE team to support congregational care, 3) expanding elder prayer for each member of the church by name, and 4) identifying and training Small Group Coordinators to support all of our Small Group Leaders.

DISCIPLESHIP. We will elevate biblically rigorous and practical discipleship by, in 2024: 1) emphasizing and encouraging a renewed focus on discipleship in the context of church family life, 2) providing additional resources for personal disciple making as well as improving awareness and accessibility to them, and 3) offering two churchwide seminars on matters of current importance for being faithful disciples in today’s world.

Rationale: After a churchwide discipleship survey, we have ascertained a growing need for more rigorous and practical discipleship that is coherently coordinated across both small and large groups.

CAMPUS. We will increasingly activate our campus by utilizing the Crossings as a crossover space to reach the community and for student, worship and family space, funded through a capital campaign launched in 2024, prioritizing safety and accessibility upgrades to our parking and other key areas, and studying the highest and best missional use for our portfolio of rental properties.

PARTNERSHIPS. We will leverage the church’s history of church planting, training programs, and connections across the country and world by: 1) expanding the scope of our church planting efforts to include planting, strengthening and revitalizing, 2) hosting a prayer gathering for College Church members interested in this work, 3) exploring partnership with one new organizational partner, and 4) seeking to develop one new church partner in each category (planting, strengthening, revitalizing) by December 2024.

Rationale: By partnering with likeminded churches and organizations, and by broadening our scope to include planting, strengthening, and revitalization, we can increase our gospel impact through gospel-centered, Bible-preaching churches.

Rationale: After the Site and Facilities committee’s extensive work surveying the ministry pinch points, it is apparent that we need to develop our ministry space, and we will target the Crossings space.

Rationale: After conversations with key ministry leaders, it is apparent we need to increase connectivity between members and attenders of the church through mutually loving and caring hospitality.

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Wallace Alcorn

WHY?

WINICE: TOP ROW, SECOND FROM LEFT; WALLACE: THIRD ROW, SECOND FROM RIGHT

W

inice and I were pals—not “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” as the other kids charged.

After all, we were ten years old and in fourth grade. She liked what I liked, and I liked her because she did. She felt that way about me. What we had was something yet greater.

On my way to Green Bay Avenue School, Winice would be waiting for me on her corner. We reversed this after school, and sometimes we played in her family’s apartment. On Saturday mornings, I would meet her at the streetcar stop on Eighth Street and ride downtown to the Milwaukee Public Museum for a travelog and kids movie.

I invited her to go with us to Sunday school. Her teacher suggested that if she would accept Christ as her Savior, she would go to heaven when she died—and Wallace would be there and we would be in heaven together forever. She liked that and accepted Christ that very first Sunday.

I was overjoyed. Life couldn’t have been better. I liked it that Dad pointed out I now have a sister. It was this new relationship that pleased me, rather than this thing about being together in heaven.

I didn’t expect her to be in school Monday morning, because she had a dental appointment. That she hadn’t come in the afternoon and that no one was at her apartment puzzled me.

However, the look on my mother’s face when I reached home frightened me.

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Winice is dead.

She died in the dentist’s chair, too much gas.

This broke my young heart and crushed my growing spirit. I was too shocked to cry. This, I did not — I could not — understand.

It made no sense: she had just been born again. She had just begun to live.

I defiantly went by the dentist’s office on Port Washington Road.

I glared at his house office with all the hatred a ten-year-old could muster. It didn’t work: the pain wouldn’t go away.

I asked my father why God would let this happen. I find it curious now that I didn’t ask why God did this, I think because it was inconceivable he would.

My father said: “Son, I know this is hard for you to understand.

I don’t understand. God wanted Winice to be with him in heaven, but maybe he had to wait for you to take her to Sunday school so she could be saved. Now she was ready, because there was nothing more he wanted for her on earth.”

When a boy believes and trusts his father as I did and when his father knows God so well, this is sufficient. I was satisfied.

Then he said with a wisdom I now recognize: “Son, you have been saved for a few years and God has let you stay here.

“Why do you suppose this is?”

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POETRY For an Easter in March

Resurrection

Richard Moomjian

Anita Deyneka

The old snow falls anew And purer than before It falls much like people do To grace the earthen floor.

It melts and then flattens there And as the sunshine cuts the air It lays its weary head to bear And weep the morning dew.

Cocooned in babyhood, You came as you said you would breaking the waters of the sky to lie swaddled.

But lifting up its eyes from earth To heaven, comes its springtime hope Barren, browned, the ground gives birth What once was a cold and frozen slope.

That snow which months held firm and rife Now cradles everlasting life— Dissolving death, supplanting strife And proving winter’s worth.

Wrapped in shame You stayed nailed to wood, when you could have hurled the world.

PASSION WEEK

AT COLLEGE CHURCH

How Jesus is the Answer to Your Suffering

Flinging grave clothes away, You are not dead but risen as you said.

The tomb is the womb of Easter day.

MILESTONES BIRTHS Twin girls Eden Isla and Autumn Beatrice were born to Josh and Hannah Giordan on January 27. Their maternal grandparents are Ian and Laurie Smith.

DEATHS Pray for Caren (David) Talbot and family as they grieve the loss of Caren’s mother, Jerrie Sherman, who passed away on February 12. Jerrie was a resident of Wheaton.

Pray for Susie Wing and family as they grieve the recent loss of her brother, David Wing, who passed away on February 9 in Jackson, Tennessee.

Pray for Christy Chiodras and family as they grieve the loss of Christy’s husband, Ron, who passed away on February 1.

Pray for Jacob and Sarah Hackbarth as they grieve the loss of their baby daughter Micah Elizabeth, who passed away on January 31. Also, pray for Micah’s maternal grandparents Rick and Gail Pflederer.

Pray for John and Marcia Keyzer as they grieve the loss of their oldest son, John Jr., who passed away suddenly on January 19 in Lake Zurich (IL).

college-church.org/easter

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Assumptions of Life and Death Thomas Gaenzle

A

ssumptions are everywhere. They jump out and surprise us from our own intentions as we tend to project them onto others, or from our confirmation bias, perhaps comfortable wishful thinking, or even from the revisited toybox of childhood thinking. None of that is real thought, or thoughtfulness.

Assumptions are seldom harmless even when they don’t simply copy the prejudice of culture or experience.

Assumptions are not innocent. Naive assumption is not simply the modern immaturity of our culture’s endless childhood. Lazy, inexperienced thought is a luxury of childhood that adults can little afford. Childishness can be fatal.

Yet, without active, alert, well-practiced critical thinking, all of life can quickly fall away. Why is it we assume so much? Is it just that thought requires such draining energy? The stakes for thoughtlessness can be worse than missing a red light.

We assume we’ve listened, assume we’ve heard, assume we’ve communicated, assume we even grasp what’s happening, when we haven’t really done any of those things. And sometimes the real stakes of life, the real stakes of death are slipping away and finally life is cast away by 18

careless assumptions like a stone flipped into the ocean.

I was a crisis counselor for 30 years. This call came through to me on my suicide hotline phone. The answering service patched the call through to me rather than giving me a number to call back. She thought the call was an emergency. The client had refused to give his name anyway.

She added “He says he has a gun to his head.”

The man was loud, sounded panicked— with an urgency of intent in his rising voice.

He said, “I’m going to blow my head off!”

I said, “She said you have a gun to your head.” Soft and slow. Soft and slow. No urgency to convey. He needs to not be urgent.

from having murdered your mother.

But I shouldn’t assume that. I shouldn’t even assume she is dead.

“Please put the gun down. Put it down now so you can check on her. She may not be dead. She may just need your help. She may need medical help. Put the gun down so you can help her.” Soft and slow. Soft and slow. No urgency needed.

Silence on the other side and then, “She’s got weed in her mouth too...” (weed, like in marijuana? I’m thinking) and then sudden yelling, “Hey! She’s moving! She’s alive! I’ll call 911! That’s what I’ll do!” And he hung up. I never got his name. But he almost killed himself. On an assumption.

“Because my mother is dead on the floor next to me!”

Life and death hanging on an assumption is common. Not just in crisis counseling on a suicide hotline. There are good assumptions based on faith as well as bad assumptions based on weak minds from habits of not practicing any thought.

And now I’m thinking this could be just anything. Did he just kill his mother, shoot her first? In that case he may shoot himself before he can reconsider doing so, since there is no going back

I didn’t witness to my peers much as a teenager about the incredible truth of Jesus Christ who told us of the most generous offer ever heard by any ears, the most beautiful destiny

He screeched, “Yess!! Of course! What else can I do? I have to kill myself!”

“Why?” (Always ask questions. Then more questions. Assume nothing.)

MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

Pastor Moody gave an informative answer but also the caveat that theological certainty spoke mostly to the mind’s reasoning that did not fully satisfy the emotional side of the question. Yet, the foundational principle was that a Holy God with a divine plan understood the matter fully, far beyond our abilities to understand, and then paid the unimaginable price himself. If we only wanted such a loving Savior. Any other reasoning must surrender to the sovereignty of God’s greater mind and holy justice and love.

I should assume any explanation that differed from God’s was wrong.

ever imagined by any mind that loves the gift and promise of life. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) I was a coward. But my lack of bravery was the infection of my assumptions. Gary will think I’m a stupid kid. He’ll look down on me, even though we’re both in accelerated science and math classes.

He’ll just blow me off, and I’ll lose a friend. Yet, I witnessed anyway. Holy Scripture promised the Word would never return void. I might seem foolish.

But I knew my Lord was faithful and I believed him when he said the Word was the power. Not me. I assumed I could take being the fool, while he remained faithful and wise.

Yet, years later, to my astonishment.

I learned Gary had not laughed at my words after all. His silence at the time had shamed me, since I assumed my assumptions had been right all along and he looked down on me. But he had thought about my witness. Then he had thought some more. Years later when the work of the Holy Spirit grew divine, deep roots, Gary turned to the Word. Gary had credited my awkwardness as courage and my poor

witness as an offered gift. My poor witness was watered and grown by the Spirit’s faithfulness. Gary became a Christian and started what would become a Texas megachurch. Not because of my timid faith, but because even small faith assumes correctly that God will be faithful.

At one of Pastor Moody’s after-service question and answer session, my son asked a question which had bothered him for years. “Why will a loving God punish for eternity people who don’t believe in him? Agony and pain that never ends. Why would a loving God do that?” My son has many friends who are not believers, and he tries his best to witness to them. His friends include chess masters, and proud intellectuals who assume their objections to a world created differently than their moral preferences can’t exist. Their thoughtless pride casts away like a stone into the sea any prospect of a God to be feared. My son’s tender heart hurts for them—for the promise of their futures, teetering on the edge of hell. It is a credit to him to care for his friends and believe in their eternal destiny with or without a Savior who took hell’s punishment for them.

What this means for me is an intimate meeting of his heart’s reassurance to my doubts that I merit so great a Savior. I don’t. That’s the point of such unimaginable grace. My son summed up the answer in terms of his tender heart and humbleness. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

(Proverbs 3:5) What this means is more profound than what my theology might catalog. Don’t assume I am right when I imagine what should be. Assume God is right. That’s a winning formula.

A pastor in recent years told me that my infant baptism in the Catholic church was not my responsible answer to life’s underlying crisis. Life is designed to be a crisis. God answers his own crisis hotline to anyone who calls on him.

I was then baptized as an adult to show my personal “yes!” was a visible sign of the invisible reality of God’s grace when I ventured the courage to trust him.

He took my sins and drowned them in his own death and then, coming out of the water, this was a sign I rose again from the dead along with him, bringing me with him into a new and glorious eternal life. Sometimes I doubt the miraculous power of such love for me, and then I assume he was right all along. I assume my doubts, my weak thoughts, my human assumptions, are not to be trusted. I know my body will die someday. But I will rise again!

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MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

A Church in the Midst of War: An update from Irpin Bible Church This report is based on interviews and presentations by three pastors visiting from Ukraine: Mykola Romanyuk, Vasyl Ostryi and Sergey Perevyshko the weekend of February 17.

A lot has happened since the pastors from Irpin Bible Church (IBC) were last with us just days before Vladimir Putin gave the command to invade Ukraine.

As the pastors made their way back to Irpin, most other people fled. If they could get out of the country, many did. Women and children had greater freedom to leave. The Russian invaders bombarded Irpin with an estimated 73 percent of buildings damaged from bombing. In that initial phase of the war, when Irpin was the path to Kyiv for those invading, many residents left for safer locations.

In his remarks to the congregation in the February 18 morning service, Senior Pastor Mykola Romaniuk said the last two years have been the most difficult of his life. “In the darkness light is more visible,” he said. “We learned in the last two years especially a bigger dependence on the Lord. We learned how important church is and gathering, to be together. You cannot stay home. You will go crazy. There is bad news, very bad news, and worse news, and you need community, others who tell you it’s okay, life goes on. Others who can cry with you and can be happy with you.”

Pastor Mykola, who oversees Baptist churches in the area, estimates 25 percent of the pastors and church leaders left the region, leaving churches without leadership. Younger families who could get out of the country did. Older people were forced into early retirements, meaning no work and povertylevel pensions. At the same time, people in the eastern part of Ukraine fled west. This led to a flooding of Ukraine internally displaced people (IDPs) in the communities of central and western Ukraine.

Irpin Bible Church sprang into action during this intense time. Over the course of the last two years, they responded in innovative ways.

They distributed food and clothing to the community at large, establishing a mobile kitchen and a clothing tent. The church provided shelter, food, clothing, even gasoline.

They established four churches in nearby areas. Even as people returned to Irpin, those four churches remain today—and point people who are disappointed, broken and constantly under the threat of death to the true source of hope, Jesus.

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SERVING IN UNCERTAINTY

For people living with war, IBC provided unprecedented levels of care and counseling in the face of massive challenges and an uncertain future. Here are just a few of the ways they helped and continue to show the love of Jesus in a dark time: New Elder/Pastor Training—accelerated training for younger church leadership that helps fill the pulpit and the church with needed leadership, especially with the challenges as well as opportunities in a time of war.

Chaplain/Counselor Training—IBC provided training for military chaplains and counselors to help the population cope with war, upheaval, family separations and grief.

Rebuilding homes—with so much of the city damaged by bombing, IBC helped with clearing debris, repairing and rebuilding homes.

Camps for children and students provide purposeful activities for their days, and opportunities to introduce them to Jesus and his love in these times where they may be most vulnerable.

Weekly Bible studies—these are providing people with their first look inside the Bible and are a natural link to the church.

WHAT NEXT?

Counselors Respite Retreat—The counseling ministry is a continual and difficult one for those doing the counseling. IBC is planning a retreat for counselors to help them rest and recharge away from the daily challenges in the Irpin area. As shepherds of the flock, IBC pastors want to create time for these counselors to be spiritually renewed for the work God has for them.

Post War Recovery Center—A multi-story structure is being planned to provide counseling and healing for the grieving, for veterans and their families, and for the growing numbers of internally displaced people.

Even as Irpin Bible Church plans for the future, the pastors are excited about the present with 100 people coming to faith and being baptized, and God is building his church in a war-torn country. To give to the Irpin Bible Church, a fund is established using the QR Code below. You can designate your gift to one of these projects in the memo section.

Our prayers and partnership with them is needed more than ever before.

MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

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MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

CHURCH LIFE MARCH HIGHLIGHTS

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICES

SUNDAY EVENING WORSHIP SERVICES

Everyone welcome.

Everyone welcome.

Join us at 8, 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Livestream broadcast is at 9:30 a.m. You can watch it at collegechurch.org/livestream

in Crossings at 5 p.m.

EVENING SERMON SERIES:

MORNING SERMON SERIES:

MARCH 3: 2 Corinthians 8:16-24, Pastoral Resident Matt Anthony preaching

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It Senior Pastor Josh Moody preaching MARCH 3: What Is Your Joy? Luke 10:20 MARCH 10: What Is Your Foundation? Luke 10:22

Strength in Weakness

Evening Sermons from 2 Corinthians

MARCH 10: 2 Corinthians 9:1-5, Pastoral Resident Felipe Chamy preaching MARCH 17: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Pastoral Resident Josué Alvarado preaching MARCH 24: Palm Sunday, no evening service

MARCH 17: Will Is Your Privilege?

Luke 10:23-24

MARCH 31: Easter, no evening service

NEW MORNING SERMON SERIES:

ADULT COMMUNITIES

How Jesus Is the Answer to Your Suffering

ALL NATIONS Sundays 9:30 a.m. in C104F • Teacher: Jim Tebbe

PASSION WEEK:

• Study: God’s Mission as seen in Scripture: The Life of Abraham • Description: Besides studying Scripture, we will have testimonies as well as information about and prayer for the church in countries around the world as a regular feature of the class.

MARCH 24: PALM SUNDAY He Protects You John 10:1-6 No evening service.

MARCH 28: THURSDAY COMMUNION TOGETHER, 7 p.m.

MARCH 29: GOOD FRIDAY, 6 & 8 p.m.

He Provides For You John 10:8-9 MARCH 31: EASTER SUNDAY He Pays It All For You John 10:10-11

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Testament. Knowledge of Greek is not required for this class.

LIFE TOGETHER COMMUNITY Sundays 9:30 a.m. in Commons Gym • Teacher: Teaching Team • Description: Short teaching with small group discussion.

Authentic, biblical community for adults ages 25–40 LIVING WORD Sundays 9:30 a.m. in C104A & C104C • Teachers: Felipe Chamy, Grant Flynn and Josh Maurer • Study: The Letter of James • Description: Fellowship and exposition of James, with application to life today LOGOS Sundays 9:30 a.m. in C104E • Teacher: Teaching team led by James Seward • Study: Psalms THRIVE Sundays 9:30 a.m. in Crossings-Clapham Main Area • Teachers: Joe Becker, Dan Haase, Dan Lindquist, Mark Odell, Dave Setran, John Yoder • Study: Gospel of John • Description: Fellowship, teaching and prayer with an emphasis on applying God’s truth to our lives.

VERITAS Sundays 9:30 a.m. in C104B & D

FORUM 15 Sundays 8 a.m. in C104F

• Teacher: Dr. Gregg Quiggle

• Teacher: Bruce Main

• Study: History of the Reformation

• Study: “Biblical Terms: Who We Are and How We Live” • Description: prayer time, singing and study with class interaction.

GREEK EXEGESIS CLASS Sundays 9:30 a.m. in the Board Room • Teacher: Jon Laansma

• Description: Teaching and discussion about the Reformation.

All Ages Welcome.

WOMEN’S MINISTRIES MOM2MOM

• Study: 1 John

MARCH 11: Large Group Gathering in Commons Hall, 9:30-11 a.m.

• Description: Reading and discussion of the Greek New

MARCH 18: Gym Playdate in Commons Gym, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY We hope you’ll join us as we study the Book of Acts. To register, visit our website.

MORNING: 9:30-11 a.m.

EVENING: 6:45-8:15 p.m.

Women’s Bible Study will not meet on March 6 (Wheaton College spring break) or March 27 (District 200 spring break) WOMEN’S GATHERING MARCH 9: 9–10:30 a.m. in Commons Hall

MEN’S MINISTRIES MEN’S BREAKFAST MARCH 2: 7:30 a.m. Commons Hall MEN’S BIBLE STUDY WEDNESDAY EVENINGS: Studying the Book of Acts, in Commons 6:45-8:15 p.m.

If you’d like to join the study, REGISTER HERE: https://tinyurl. com/4vc8smjv Men’s Bible Study will not meet on March 6 (Wheaton College spring break) or March 27 (District 200 spring break)

CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES (KIDS’ HARBOR) SUNDAY MORNING NURSERY (0–2) at 9:30 and 11 a.m.

BIBLE SCHOOL (preschool–fifth grade) at 9:30 a.m.

WONDERS OF WORSHIP “WOW” (K–third grade) during second half of 11 a.m. service.

CHILDREN’S CHURCH (older preschool) during second half of 11 a.m. service

ALL KIDS’ HARBOR SUNDAY P.M. PROGRAMS God’s Children Sing, Children’s Choirs, Preschool and Nursery Sunday evening programs will not meet on March 24 (Palm Sunday) or March 31 (Easter) KIDS’ HARBOR WEDNESDAY MINISTRIES KIDS KORNER 9:30-11 a.m. (connected with morning Women’s Bible Study) EVENING PROGRAMS 6:458:15 p.m.

Kids Korner and evening programs will not meet on March 6 (Wheaton College spring break) or March 27 (District 200 spring break) FAMILY OPEN GYM

HIGH SCHOOL SUNDAY MORNINGS: 9:30-10:30 a.m. in Crossings HYACKs will not meet on Sunday, March 17, 24 & 31 WEDNESDAY EVENINGS: (Clapham main area) or small groups in homes at 7-8:30 p.m.

MARCH 6: Large Group (Crossings) MARCH 13: Small Groups (Homes) MARCH 20: Large Groups MARCH 27: Not meeting (District 200 spring break) SPRING RETREAT: March 15-17 Spring Retreat at Dickson Valley Camp

COLLEGE GROUP SUNDAYS: College Group at 10:45 a.m., Sundays in the Crossings

Saturday, March 16, 9-11 a.m. in Commons Gym

College Group will not meet on Sunday, March 3 or March 10 (spring break) or on Easter, March 31

FCA BASKETBALL

TUESDAYS: The Table (dinner and Bible Study) 6:30 p.m. in the Crossings

Practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and games on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at College Church. Other practices and game times will be at Wheaton Academy.

MARCH 9: Final Game Day MARCH 12: Celebration Night

MIDDLE SCHOOL (KINGS MESSENGERS) SUNDAY MORNINGS: 9:30-10:30 a.m., in the KMs room (Commons Lower Level) KMs will not meet on Easter, March 31.

CHILDREN’S CHURCH (younger preschool) at 11 a.m.

WEDNESDAY EVENINGS: in the Crossings 6:45-8:15 p.m.

Kids’ Harbor will not meet on Easter; nursery only at 9:30 and 11 a.m.

KMs will not meet on March 27 (District 200 spring break)

The Table will not meet on Tuesday, March 5 (spring break)

STARS DISABILITY Adult and Multi-Generational classes meet at 9:30 and attend church together at 11 a.m.

Child/Teen class Sundays at 9:30 and 11 a.m.

STARS Choir Sunday at 5 p.m.

No choir on March 3, 24 or 31 STARS Moms Bible Study Sunday at 5 p.m.

STARS Praise in Action Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. No Praise in Action on March 6 or 27 continued on next page

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MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

STARS Friday Night Fun: March 8 at 6:30 p.m. Square Dancing with the STARS and HYACKs. STARS Friday Friends: March 8 at 6:30 p.m.

ARTSPACE Details on page 11.

KEENAGERS March 15 The Story of Tyndale House and The Living Bible.

related to tech. The featured speaker is Jen Pacer, GospeLife Kids Director at GospeLife Church in Carol Stream, and mother of eight. Also featured is a panel of parents from College Church.

NEW SERMON SERIES COMING IN APRIL

Gospel Now April 14: Lift Up Your Eyes!

John 4:35

Mark Taylor tells the story of the early days of Tyndale House Publishers and Ken Taylor’s project of paraphrasing the entirety of the Bible into everyday English. Ken and Margaret Taylor were long-time members of College Church.

April 21: Focus on Eternal Fruit!

John 4:36

The evening begins with a reception at 5:30, dinner at 6, and the program at 7 p.m.

Reservations are required by March 12 by emailing keenagers@collegechurch.org. The cost is $10 per person, payable that evening.

RUN FOR THE STARS 2024

Looking Ahead

April 28: Rejoice Together!

John 4:36-37 May 5: Time to Reap!

John 4:38

NEW DATE: September 21 Mark your calendar and plan to attend.

Under the Radar SPRING MUSICAL Wheaton Academy presents: Newsies.

Tuesday-Friday, March 12-15.

Performance times are at 2 and 5:30 p.m. For tickets, visit: https:// www.greenhousecoschool.org/ boxoffice

MAPLE SUGARING at Klein Creek Farm Discover how sap becomes syrup as you try tapping with tools from the 1890s, check the collection buckets, and watch sap thicken over the fire. Suggested admission donation of $5 per person ages 3 and up to enter the farm. All ages.

Free. No registration. Questions?

Happening in early March. Call (630) 876-5900 for details

SYMPHONY CSO at Wheaton: Mahler 4 Friday, March 22, 7:30–9:30 p.m.

Edman Chapel Tickets: CSO at Wheaton | Chicago Symphony Orchestra or call (312) 294-3000

ST. JOHN PASSION Music of the Baroque: Bach’s St. John Passion

MISSING SOMETHING?

An intimate and deeply human account of Christ’s betrayal, suffering, and death, Bach’s Passion According to St. John sets scripture and poetry in emotionally moving, expressively beautiful music. Dame Jane Glover leads the chorus, orchestra, and a roster of internationally renowned soloists in one of the greatest sacred works of all time. Use code SJP20 at checkout to receive 20% off all available tickets at the Harris Theater.

Check the various LOST AND FOUND bins throughout the church for missing Bibles, notebooks, coats, travel mugs and more.

Tickets and concert information: baroque.org/stjohn

PARENTING AND TECHNOLOGY: BIBLICAL WISDOM IN A WORLD OF WANTS, WIFI, AND WIDGETS Monday, April 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. in Commons Hall.

For parents of children in Kids’ Harbor, KMs, and HYACKs. This seminar will focus on the heart and discipleship, not specific “do’s” and “don’ts”

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Friday and Saturday, March 1–2; Thursday–Saturday, March 7-9.

All performances are at 7 p.m. Visit Newsies - Wheaton Academy for ticket information.

SPRING PLAY Greenhouse Co-School Spring Play: Children of the Revolution

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at the

BOOKSTALL We wanted to take the month of March to shift towards books that point our focus to Easter. What a glorious truth that Christ rose from the grave. His resurrection is just the first fruits of all things eventually being made new.

Our prayer is that one of these books will be an encouragement and help you to worship the risen Christ.

12 THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT EASTER

THE DAY THAT CHRIST DIED

by Bruce McLennan It can be helpful to remember all the events that led to Christ’s crucifixion. The Day That Christ Died addresses how it is that Christ died on the cross and why it matters. While this book may not concentrate on the resurrection itself, it does press our hearts towards a risen Savior who loved and died for us.

by Bob Lepine is an eye-catching little book meant to give away to your loved ones who don’t yet know Jesus. Bob Lepine provides some fun facts and then some very significant truths that lead directly to Jesus’ work on the cross and his resurrection. One great example is #10—Dead men do walk!

Bookstall Price: $3

Bookstall Price: $9

THE FRIENDS AND THE TRAVELLER

by Same Brewster Illustrated by Hannah Green The Emmaus Road…one of the most soul stirring stories in the Bible. The Friends and the Traveller delightfully tells the narrative of the disciples who were so sad, but met a man who opened their eyes to the scriptures all pointing to Christ. This rhyming book is great for ages 4-10.

Bookstall Price: $7

WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED

by Whitney K. Pipkin Dealing with death and suffering is never easy. Sometimes we aren’t ready. We Shall All Be Changed masterfully holds the reader’s hand and helps provide hope to the caregiver, the friend, the spouse of someone who is dying. What a blessing to know that we are not alone and that God is present even in these times.

Bookstall Price: $12

1 Corinthians 15:17 says—And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Praise the Lord that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! Why not pick up a book that will challenge you and help you fixate your heart on Jesus?! You can also check 10ofThose.com for other great Easter resources.

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UPDATE:

The Life Safety Team James Cook

The ominous wail of a tornado siren fades in and out as College Church attenders seek shelter underground.

Hoping to get a reaction, a group of protesters carry signs on Seminary Avenue outside the church on a Sunday morning.

An elderly woman passes out during the morning service and a pulse cannot be found.

A

ll these incidents have taken place at College Church in recent years. College Church’s Life Safety Team (LST), though virtually invisible most of the time, is ready to respond when needed to these situations and more.

Each Sunday, Wednesday, and for special events, the dedicated men and women of the LST ministry strive to maintain a warm and friendly environment that is safe and secure for all who are at College Church. Under the direction of the deacons, this ministry officially began in August of 2018 for the purpose of dealing with medical, security and safety issues. Designed as a ministry, the LST is viewed as such by its team members.

The LST has regularly conducted fire drills for the children of College Church (nursery through and grade five) who participate in Sunday morning Bible school as well as other programs on Sundays and Wednesdays. Training has been held for the junior high and high school adult leaders. The LST also meets regularly with the deacons, pastoral staff and directors; creates and updates policies and guidelines on what to do in various scenarios; cultivates ongoing relationships with the police; attends safety and security seminars sponsored and taught by professionals in the medical and security fields; holds CPR/AED classes; assists other churches with safety and security teams; advises the missions office; and strives to ensure the safety and security at College Church. In addition, the LST internally trains on a regular basis and follows the admonishment found in Proverbs 27:17 of iron sharpening iron.

In today’s environment, safety and security are everyone’s responsibility. If at any time you as a congregant see something amiss or not quite right, please say something to an LST member, as they are trained in how to deal with various situations. In addition, the LST is accustomed to handling situations in a confidential and discreet manner.

A member of the LST can be found at the ushers’ desk in the Narthex on Sunday mornings.

How else can the congregation play a role? You can help the LST with the following: • Should there ever be a need to evacuate the Sanctuary, please remember to use the nearest, safest exit. On a typical Sunday morning, all exits need to be used in order to swiftly evacuate the entire Sanctuary.

• Parents, should there be an evacuation, please do not go to your child’s classroom.

Your child’s teachers will have already evacuated your child safely. Instead, report to the reunification point which is in the Commons Lobby.

• Always look out for and assist fellow attenders. We have several attenders that not only need assistance but would welcome your help. (Mark 12:30-31) • Pray for the safety of College Church and the wisdom of the LST members as they serve in a ministry of safety and security so that all attenders might focus on worship.

(Nehemiah 4:9) The Life Safety manager is James Cook, and the coordinator is Tadd Lindsay. If you have any questions, comments or need clarification, please email James Cook at jcook@ college-church.org

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Dr. Joel Goodnough

What Is It?

I

n Francis Beckwith’s book, Politically Correct Death, he presents a scenario. Imagine that you are sitting in your family room when your daughter calls out from another room, “Daddy, can I kill it?” How do you respond? Most likely you want to know what it is that she wants to kill. Is it a spider, the family pet, her baby brother? What is it?

I am a retired Ob Gyn. During my career, I delivered thousands of babies—and I did some abortions as a part of my training. At the time, I thought it was a necessary skill, part of being a complete physician, and another tool for helping women. The desire to help is deeply imbedded in the doctor’s soul. It’s why we go into medicine. Women were facing unwanted pregnancies. They were on the verge of losing careers, families, friends and reputations. I felt these women needed doctors to solve their problems, to restore their well-being. I wanted to help. So, I learned what I needed to know to perform abortions.

There are defining moments in our lives, decisions that affect the trajectory of our lives. Defining moments can change who we are.

One defining moment for me was when a young, single girl who was a diabetic came to my office with her mother. The young girl was pregnant, and she was facing a difficult pregnancy with an uncertain outcome. Her life was about to be turned upside down.

At their request, I scheduled an abortion. It seemed like the right thing to do. Had I been in her shoes, I probably would have wanted the same. But that night, I had a graphic nightmare replaying the abortions I had done during my training. It was violent and disturbing. And it was clear that something was wrong.

When an abortion is done, what if anything, is being killed? Our society has wrestled with that question for decades. Are the un28

born fully human and a part of our human family? Or are they something less? If they are something less than fully human, we should be able to do with the upborn what we will. We just have to make it safe. But if they are fully human, shouldn’t the unborn have the same constitutional protection that the already born possess? Otherwise, we are depriving an entire class of individuals of the most basic natural right, the right to life.

Perhaps the simplest, most workable definition of a human being is that a human is someone who has human parents. It’s a definition that covers most situations. I am not a human being because I look and function like a human being. Rather, I look and function like a human being because I am one. The unborn looks and functions precisely like a human being at all stages of development because he or she is one. And the definition of life is having the ability to reproduce, grow, develop, and metabolize. So, it is clear from science that at the time of fertilization, a unique living human being is created. Wired into that human being is the capacity, if not yet the capability, to walk, talk, go to school, fall in love, have children, and grow old.

The question then becomes should we grant to the unborn living human being the legal status of personhood? Should the unborn have the right to life as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and codified in the Constitution? Or should we declare the unborn as being something less than fully human, to be killed for the benefit of someone else? Is there any morally relevant difference between the unborn and the born?

There is a biblical argument against abortion. While there is no thou shall not commit abortion in Scripture, Scripture is clear in the prohibition against killing an innocent human being.

MARCH 2024 CONNECTIONS

And Scripture strongly implies that the unborn person is the same as the person who is later living as an adult. Jesus went through all human stages of growth and development, from conception to birth. Scripture, however, was not a consideration for me in medical school.

I wasn’t a believing Christian at the time of my decision to learn to do abortions and if someone had quoted scripture to me, I would have ignored them. But God had planted in me a conscience, the knowledge that there is right and wrong.

Science and experience told me that something about abortion was wrong. It took a nightmare to wake me up.

I decided not to do the abortion for the young diabetic woman. I finally asked and answered the question. What is it? The unborn are human beings with inherent value. The unborn have natural rights. Women with unwanted pregnancies, difficult pregnancies, tragic pregnancies, need our help—not condemnation, not judgment, not abandonment by friends, family, and congregations. They need our help.

But killing an innocent human being is not the way to help. It can never be the answer in a representative democracy where the minority are at risk of being trampled by the majority.

The vulnerable in our society need protection. Might cannot make right.

So many of us have been affected by abortion. Try having a discussion about abortion. Tempers fly, people become defensive, or feelings are hurt.

The damage of abortion can only be repaired through love, mercy and patience. We are all in desperate need of Christ’s forgiveness. We are all in desperate need of encouragement.

So, what is it? Our hearts tell us that something is wrong with abortion. Our heads tell us what to do about it. A moral code, science, a physician’s vow to help without harming. And love. It’s a way forward in a confused and divided, hurting world.

SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE BE INFORMED

BABY BANK SUPPLIES

Image of God: A Stand for Life Curriculum Study and Discussion Group

Donating supplies teaches children about the value of life in the womb and helps Caring Network pregnancy center clients who have chosen life despite hard situations.

Sundays at 2:30 p.m. in Commons Hall MARCH 3: Building a Culture that Reflects the Image of God MARCH 10: Image of God in Every Stage of Life What is life? What is a person? How do we demonstrate love and care toward outcasts and the vulnerable?

The Image of God curriculum has been guiding us through essential questions of our day, helping us discern how to live out a holistic life-affirming vision and mission. Our last two session are this month, so join us.

40 DAYS FOR LIFE PRAYER Saturday, March 16 and April 20, 1:002:00 pm. Join Sanctity of Human Life Task Force at 40 Days for Life’s yearround peaceful prayer vigil. Meet on Waterleaf pregnancy center’s property across from Planned Parenthood Aurora’s driveway.

Diapers (all sizes- opened packages accepted), wipes, baby lotion, shampoo, and wash, diaper cream, and formula Look for the donation crib Sunday, March 3, outside the sanctuary For the rest of March, crib will be near the Commons reception desk.

After putting your items in the crib, please place the blanket on top.

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

COINS FOR CARING NETWORK April 21-May 12 Start collecting your loose change to fill the baby bottles which fund Caring Network operating expenses.

CARING NETWORK GROWING TOGETHER VISION TOUR Thursday, March 7, 7-8 p.m. at Caring Network, Glen Ellyn Meet our president, Kirt Wiggins, and hear our vision for Illinois.

Hear the story of a life saved. Tour the pregnancy center and enjoy refreshments Help us spread the word of Caring Network’s ministry by attending an informal, small group vision tour.

Invite friends! https://www.caringnetwork.com/ events/growing-together/

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F ROM W E E LI TTLE MA N TO G EN E ROSI TY GI A NT

H

e may have been a wee little man, but he was the kingpin of the Jericho tax cartel. He was a filthy rich little guy, this Zacchaeus.

But when he met Jesus, everything changed — not only his heart, but his hands. The same fingers that once reached to extort filthy lucre, now extended with generosity to the poor, and to pay back fourfold anyone he’d defrauded (Luke 19:8).

SIGN OF A NEW SOUL

It’s only a few verses earlier in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus encountered another wealthy man, who we call “the rich young ruler.” His great possessions were the barrier to him following Jesus. How we handle our money has everything to do with how we orient on Jesus. The rich young ruler chose his wealth over Jesus, but for Zacchaeus, meeting the Messiah loosed his hold on his material possessions.

There is no such thing as a Christian scrooge. We may know some scrooges who claim to be Christians, but I don’t think you can claim to really know Christ and be a stingy person. The gospel opens our soul — and with it, our hands.

IS TITHING ENOUGH?

Generosity is more than tithing, and more than just money. A stingy person can give ten percent. Ten percent is good, but that’s not the point. The point is to be generous. The total prescribed giving in the old covenant amounted to about 23%, not ten. Tithing isn’t necessarily a sign of grace. It can be very legalistic.

The issue is giving sacrificially. Christians ought to give in such a way that there are things we forego in order to be generous—that vacation, that new car.

Christianity encompasses all of our life.

If you would like to share a story of giving joy anonymously, email connections@ college-church.org.

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