Loop Church Chicago

A Liturgy made by Anne Fennema as we remember the events and invitations to serve and feed one another. 

For the Fourth Sunday of Lent we will be reading and meditating on Psalm 32. -With the song "Svo Hijótt" by Sigur Rós from the Album Takk...

For the Second Sunday of Lent we will be reading and meditating on Psalm 27. -With the Song Avalon by Sigur Rós

 Sunday,  September 29 was the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost and Abuse Awareness Sunday. Our scripture reading came from Mark 10:46-52;  the story of Bartimaeus' encounter with Jesus read through the lens of identity, marginalization, restoration and faith.Thank you to Tim for providing the original music. 

 Sunday, September 19, 2021 was the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost and the last Sunday of the 'official' summer season. Our scripture reading came from Mark 10:32-45, another pericope from the Gospel's 10th chapter that explores the themes of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, the disciples' desire for greatness, and the kingdom's insistence on service as an alternative to dominion. The passage inspired Pastor Derek to write the following poem and our Musician, Andy, to set the poem to music.  Astonished and afraid, Twelve disciples and a crowd,follow Christ who leads the way,Ain't no way to turn around. Up, Up, towards Jerusalem. The Holy Hill that boasts,Temple Mount and Lynching Tree,Life and death is now the toast.Behind the Dead Man Walking,Jesus told them where to go. Stay awake and pray he said, But even now eyes are closed. Sleepwalking in his footsteps,Glory now is the intent,To forget dire predictions,They sing a song of ascent:“Do for us whatever we ask,Fill our empty spaces!Do for us whatever we ask,In Glory prepare our places!” Jesus now stops the march, and turns to face the two, Eyes wet with tears he asks, “What do you want me to do?”“Up, Up, towards glory, We want to be with you!So when the kingdom comes, Reward us with a view!” “Reserve two seats of honor, Give us prominent places!People will look up to us, Let them see our faces.” The teacher's reply was simple, “You don't know what you're asking. My glory will be on a crossBetween two criminals I will be gasping.”“That is the cup I will drink, The baptism in which I will drown, This water flows only one wayAnd that direction is down.” Down, Down, is the call, To become the last and least, Do not sit at the place of honor, Be the servant at the feast. Another way is possible, A cloaked and hidden glory, Dominion not through domination, But an alternative type of story. The least will be the greatest, At the front a Child will lead, Glory to the lamb who was slain, And all creation will  be freed. Love and liberation, This is the only way, Let go of your expectations, And join this passion parade. 

The Fifth Word from the Cross: "I Thirst" The following is a short reflection created by Tim Fuchtman  created for the Lenten Art series at Loop Church, Chicago, 2021. This series contemplates the last words of Jesus on his journey to the cross.   The call for the artist/maker/writer/singer is to put something together that reflects to you the way Jesus' words connect to your own journey.In this piece Tim reflects on his hike down the Rio Grande Canyon near Taos and the words of Jesus on the cross, "I thirst."

This Wednesday marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent, a six-week journey of walking with Christ to the cross. On Ash Wednesday many Christians will be “marked” by a cross of ashes to be reminded of their mortality, humility, and intimate connection to the earth: “From the dust of the earth you were created and to the dust of the earth you shall return.” What do these ashes mean to you this year?

The following podcast is a telling of the Christmas story taken from "The Jesus Story Book Bible" written by Sally Loyd-Jones, Illustrated by Jago, and published by Zonderkids. The music features the Piano Guys' rendition of "Angels We Have Heard on High" and Joshua Cele's instrumental of "Go Tell it on the Mountain."

It is the Fourth Sunday of Advent and God draws closer wanting to be with us. The Holy Presence has a way of sneaking up and startling us: speaking to us, silencing us, spiriting new life within us. The first Chapter of the Gospel of Luke retells the story of how God came to be with two Galilean women, Elizabeth and Mary. We hear that story again today, waiting to see how God will show up in our hearts and lives. "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." --Luke 1:26-27

We are now approaching the Third Sunday of Advent and the Fortieth Sunday since we last worshipped together in the Sanctuary. What a season of waiting this has been! Come, Thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free!This week the lectionary Scripture readings come from Isaiah 64, Psalm 125. A Big THANK YOU to Andy Deboer who put together an awesome soundtrack to listen and meditate on these Words from the Lord."The spirit of the Lord GOD has fallen fresh upon us, and this is our anointing: to go into the world and bring good news to all who are oppressed, to bind up all who are brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the incarcerated. Let this be a proclamation of a new season, a new year, a year of the Lord's favor, a year of jubilee, and a day of justice unto our God." --Isaiah 64:1-2

This will mark the Second Sunday of Advent, a season of waiting, watching, preparing, and praying for God's Presence to be active among us. This week we explore the lectionary text from Isaiah 40, Psalm 85, and Mark 1. Three Passages that speak to a people who are to prepare a way for God's justice and peace come to earth. "A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain." -Isaiah 40:2

This Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, (and our second Sunday livestreaming..) we will continue our exploration of the Gospel of John in our sermon series, "The Questions Jesus asks."Our Scripture reading is John 6:1-13, a passage not about "flattening the curve," but about "feeding a crowd." Jesus and his disciples have "hunkered down" on a Galilean mountainside retreat, when a hungry crowd interrupts their best attempts at "social distancing."Like today, this is a situation of great and overwhelming need, but limited available resources. Jesus sees the need and wants to respond; the disciples see the need and feel overwhelmed.What do we do when there does not appear to be enough to go around? How do we respond when we feel under-resourced? How does God step into these situations? Check out our facebook page Sunday at 10 AM CT to watch the livestream and hear God's Word of Life! We hope you are able to join us. All are welcome.

This Sunday, the Second Sunday of Lent, we will continue our exploration of the Gospel of John in our sermon series, "The Questions Jesus asks."Our Scripture reading is John 4:1-10, a passage in which Jesus is leaving Judea and heading back to Galilee. On his way back home, Jesus travels through the region of Samaria and stops at a well outside of a small town. While the Disciples all go into town to get something to eat, a Samaritan woman carrying a water jar approaches Jesus at the well.A tired, hungry, thirsty Jesus looks at the woman and asks, "Will you give me a drink?" It is a question that crosses borders and breaks boundaries. It is a question that can be both uncomfortable and yet invites us to dig deeper. It is a question asked in the everyday, but pushes us to consider the eternal. "Will you give me a drink?"

This Sunday, the First Sunday of Lent, we will continue our exploration of the Gospel of John in our sermon series, "The Questions Jesus asks."Our Scripture reading will come from John 2:1-11, the fantastic story of what happens when Jesus gets invited to a wedding and the wine runs out (the wine always runs out eventually). It is a "sign" story that reveals who Jesus is and what God's glory looks like. It is a story about a God who is not too pious to party and who is more than willing to buy another round. It is a story that reveals God's glory through ordinary faithfulness, unexpected grace, and abundant goodness.

This Sunday, Transfiguration Sunday, we will continue our exploration of the Gospel of John led by Guest Preacher, Richard Mayo. Our Scripture reading will come from John 1:14-18, a passage that eloquently explores the mystery of the incarnation. While John's Gospel does not make explicit reference to Jesus' transfiguration up on the mountain, John boldly speaks of the glory revealed in the transfiguration of the Word becoming Flesh. It is not a transfiguration of going up into glory, but of coming down and revealing the glory of God all the same!

This Sunday, the sixth Sunday after Epiphany, we will begin a new sermon series exploring the Gospel of John. The series is called "The Questions Jesus Asks."Our Scripture reading will come from John 1:19-42, a passage that opens with the question: "Who are you?" And is quickly followed up with another question, "What do you want?"The passage breaks down into four scenes as these questions are explored: The one who knows and who actsThe one who sees and who speaksThe one hears and who followsThe one who finds and who brings

This Sunday, Loop Church welcomed Pullman Christian Reformed Church to celebrate a joint worship service. Pullman's Pastor, the Rev. Gary Foster, preached from Luke 15, a text that has become known as the parable of the Prodigal Son. The sermon explores themes of compassion, reconciliation, and restoration.

This Sunday, Loop was invited to Pullman CRC for a joint worship service to remember and celebrate the witness of God's servant, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The worship service included special litanies, selected readings from Dr. King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail, unison prayers, and special music. The Scripture reading was from Isaiah 49:1-7, a letter written by Second Isaiah from Babylonian Exile. A song of freedom and testament to the God who names, calls, restores, and saves.

This Sunday we explore Hebrews 4:14-16, a letter of encouragement written to a faith community in crisis.

This Sunday, Epiphany Sunday, we will hear the story of the Magi from Matthew 2:1-12. By now it is a familiar story to most: Wisemen bearing gifts, a bright shining star, and a baby born in Bethlehem leave few surprised. And yet, all these familiar elements are in many ways radical and subversive: outsiders understanding and insiders not caring, a king spurned and a child worshipped! Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Advent, we will continue our sermon series from the Book of Isaiah. The series is entitled Envisioning the Impossible. The text we will explore together is Isaiah 7:1-16, an enlargement of the lectionary reading, allowing us to hear Isaiah's word in context. By starting at the beginning of Chapter 7, we see that Isaiah's words are spoken to a king (and a people) who is scared. Jerusalem is threatened by its Northern neighbors and the shadow of Assyria looms large over the entire land. It is into this context of fear and trembling that Isaiah utters the word: "Immanuel! God is With us!" What a word for us to hear in our own contexts and climates of fear. How will we receive such a word and such a sign? Like Ahaz, will we hear it and activly ignore it? Like the young woman, will we carry this Word and this hope inside us?

We continue our Advent Series in the Book of Isaiah with a message that allows the community to actively listen and actively wait for God to act. We hear the prophetic words of Isaiah spoken between times of silence and meditative reflections. Take time to slow down as your listen to this message. Take time to pray. Take time to envision the new thing God is about to do! Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

We begin our Advent Season at Loop Church with Rev. Michael Hooker leading us in worship and meditating on Isaiah's bold vision for a preferred future found in Isaiah 2:1-5. Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, we will finish our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. We will explore three texts from the closing passages of Deuteronomy. Each text presents a different form that Moses uses to offer his last words to the people on the border: the law, a song, and a blessing. Deuteronomy is a book that often makes us uncomfortable because it refuses to let go of the tension between God's law and God's love, military occupation and care of the vulnerable, divine choseness and universal blessing. As we hear and are convicted by God's righteous law-code, let us not forget to also listen and hear God's song of justice and blessing of salvation.

This sermon, presented on Chaplain Sunday, explores Deuteronomy 30:11-20 as a Verbatim, an educational tool used during Clinical Pastoral Education. Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. The text we will explore is Deuteronomy 14:22-29; a passage that begins a much larger section on Sabbath regulations and social legislation. The text we will be considering deals with the command to tithe a tenth of the annual harvest by bringing it to the centralized place of worship where YWHW dwells. For what has become a rather routine practice or a life-long struggle, Deuteronomy offers a fresh perspective on the purpose and meaning of the tithe. How can this rather ancient statute written for a completely different political and economic context inform our giving today?Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. The text we will explore is Deuteronomy 10:12-22; a passage that Walter Brueggemann describes as "a bid for Israel’s most serious and most willing obedience to YWHW with the central motivation being who YWHW is and what YWHW has done.” The passage opens with a simple statement of what God requires of this people on the border: fear God, serve God, love God, and walk in God's ways. Thats it! Simple right!? How do we live into these commands that are both "simple and inexhaustible?" How do we follow after a God who reigns supreme in the highest of heavens and also gets down and dirty in the earthly work of justice for the vulnerable? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. The text we will explore is Deuteronomy 8:1-19; a passage that catches the people on the border between the realities of wilderness and promise, scarcity and abundance, dependence and complacency. In each reality God was with and would be with the people, but Moses fears that the people may just forget God. Moses fears that abundance in the land of promise will lead to an amnesia in which the people will forget their need for God. Such forgetting would spell disaster, destruction, and death for the people. Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. The text we will explore is Deuteronomy 6:1-9; a passage that includes the Shema, a Jewish prayer that serves as the centerpiece of Jewish Spiritual and Ritual life. The prayer invokes the people to hear (shama), to keep (shamar), and to recite (shanan) the command God has giving them, principally, the command to love God.How do hear, keep, and recite this command to love God? What does loving God look like in our lives and in our communities? How does love carry people across borders?Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. The text we will explore is Deuteronomy 4:1-14; a passage in which Moses exhorts the people to hear, keep, follow and observe the decrees, ordinances, and laws that God has given them. And as the people observe the law, the other nations will observe that God is near to them and just relations are practiced. And it is these two criteria, divine presence and social practice that will make Israel a great nation in the eyes of others. Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. The text we will explore is Deuteronomy 3:21-29; a passage in which God commands Moses to climb to the top of Mt. Pisgah and look out over the land to the East, West, North, and South. God tells Moses to take a good long look because he will not be able to cross over and enter that good land. Rather, Moses should commission, strengthen, and encourage Joshua, for Joshua would be the one to lead the people into the Promised Land.Seeing and Looking are central commands in the Book of Deuteronomy. And yet, we often struggle to be still and truly see the world, the people, and the land around us. When we climb to the top of mountain tops, sky scrapers, or significant life events what do we see when we look out? How does the seeing help us to cross over? What do we do when God says, "stay behind?"Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. The text(s) we will explore together come from Deuteronomy 1:20 - 3:3; chapters in which Moses recounts Israel's journey in the wilderness. The historical narrative recounts three times in which the people encountered "other" people and an "other" land. In each encounter God speaks and the people act. Sometimes they act in accordance with God's Word, other times they rebel against it. The text causes us to wonder what should we do when we come to the border of God's promises and we feel too afraid to cross over? What do when God's promises extend to other people and places? What do we do when God issues the command to confront, conquer, and take possession? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we will begin a new sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy. The series is entitled Words for People on the Border. Caught between wilderness and promised land, the community is confronted with a 'borderland' moment in which they must be "redefined in terms of their origin, purpose, and destiny" (Brueggerman, Deuteronomy, 24). The book is thought to have several authors, with one narrator writing from the border of Babylonian Exile. With this in mind, Deanna Thompson adds, "Deuteronomy insists that it is possible to move from the death of exile back to life in right relationship to God" (Thompson, Deuteronomy, 7). This series will run until the end of November and the start of Advent. The text we will explore together is Deuteronomy 1:1-8 in which the book begins with an aged and weathered Moses speaking God's words to all Israel. The speech is set on the banks of the Jordan River, in the Wilderness, on the border of the Promised Land. The words are spoken with a Sankofa sensibility, urging the people to look backward to their history of Exodus and Covenant in order to step forward into a promised, but unrealized future.Has wilderness wandering prepared the people for the new thing God is about to do? What will be required of the people to enter into the new land? How does their history shape their identity? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, we will finish our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. Former Loop Intern, Rev. Antonia Coleman will return to Loop as our guest preacher.The text we will explore together is Acts 19:23-31, in which Paul's preaching disrupts the idol industry in Ephesus. Silversmith's concerned about shrinking profit margins stir the people to revolt, accusing a foreigner like Paul of robbing Artemis of all her divine majesty. Only a pinch of fearmongering is needed to set the crowds chanting: "Make Artemis Great Again!" What will Paul do when faced with this angry mob? What will God do? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 17:16-34, in which Paul finds himself in Athens surrounded by political and culture ideals, as well as, stone and marble idols. It is an interesting place for the Jewish Apostle of Jesus Christ to find himself and it doesn't take long for Paul to speak out in the synagogue and make a scene in the market square. His whole Athens adventure ends in a debate held in the Areopagus in which Paul goes toe-to-toe with the Epicureans and Stoics; introducing them to a God who "is not served by human hands" and "is not far from each one of us."How do we come to know this God who is both mysteriously transcendent and intimately personal? How does this God come to know us? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the ninth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 11:19-30, in which the borders between regions are crossed, the church grows with unlikely outsiders, and two congregations meet each other in a moment of need. At the center of all this work are people whom God calls to cross the borders, people who share the good news, and people who connect one congregation to the other.More than just mere 'bridge-builders,' God uses these people as the actually bridges between Jew and Gentile, Antioch and Jerusalem, having enough and being in-need. How is God using Loop Church as a bridge? What borders we crossing? What good news is being shared? Who is being connected? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 11:1-18, the pivotal moment in the book of Acts and story of the Church. Over two chapters God's Spirit moves to set Peter, a Jew, and Cornelius, a Gentile, on a collision course that will blur the boundaries between clean and unclean, insider and outsider. As Peter enters into Cornelius' house, the law is broken, a prohibited intimacy is shared, and God's holy Spirit is poured out on unholy people. It is a moment of divine transgression and radical inclusivity that cause the faith leaders in Jerusalem to complain.What do we do when the Spirit calls us to cross the borders between "us" and "them?" How can we be obedient to God's new ​​​​​​​words and visions when they contradict our old and familiar ideas about faithfulness? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 9:1-9, a dramatic scene in which Saul's program to persecute the church is interrupted by a voice from heaven. With a blinding light, Saul is knocked to the ground and humbled by the intimate question: "Why are you hurting me?" Arrested by God, Saul is found guilty. He has abused the body of Christ. As we await Saul's sentencing we wonder what such abuse means for our own community as we seek to be a Safe Church that seeks to take the accusations of abuse seriously and practice restorative justice.Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. Loop Church is excited to welcome Rev. Shannon Jammal-Hollemans as our guest preacher.The text we will explore together is Acts 8:26-40, a scene in which the Spirit leads Philip down a desert road and an unexpected encounter with an Ethiopian eunuch. The Spirit moves and the Ethiopian official invites Philip into his chariot to read the Scripture. The whole trip down the desert road leads to a watering hole, where the scene ends with a baptism and great rejoicing. Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 8:1-4, a scene in which the new community is faced with great persecution, beatings, and imprisonment. The church is scattered and the Word of God is scattered with them. The Word carries the disciples through the time of persecution and the disciples carry the Word over borders and boundaries. The Word will not be silenced; violence will be mourned and liberation proclaimed. Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Third Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 6:1-7, a scene in which the new community struggles to live out the practice of redistribution so that all needs are met. Divided over cultural differences, the needs of the most vulnerable are overlooked, and an institutional change is required. While the Apostle's remain devoted to the teaching and preaching of God's Word, Deacons are selected to care for and serve the community. But can the ministries of Word and deed be so easily divided? Whose needs are still being overlooked? What kind of institutional change may be required in the church today?Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Third Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 4:32-37, a snapshot of human community transformed by the Holy Spirit of a generous God. The Spirit blows and the tight grip people have on their possessions is loosened. An economy of the commons is established where resources are shared, needs are met, and resurrection living is witnessed. Is this economic model of Christian Communitariansim practical or even possible today? How does the use of our possessions offer or distort our collective witness to Jesus Christ? Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 3:1-10, the beginning of the church's mission of witness in Jerusalem. In this scene, Peter and John head over to the Temple for daily prayers when they encounter a paraplegic begging for money outside. The two disciple's stop and offer the man some change; they don't put any coins in his cup, but in the name of Jesus they share the Spirit that transforms weak legs into dancing feet. The three walk into the temple together, praising God. And as the curtains close, the rest of the pious people who walked by the man are left to wonder what just happened. Loop Church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and worships in Chicago, IL at 410 S. Michigan Ave. in the Fine Arts Building.

This Sunday, the Day of Pentecost, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 2:1-13, in which the Holy Spirit makes a fiery whirlwind appearance on stage. The Spirit's presence is an unexpected, interrupting, and intimate force. It comes over and enters into the men and women disciples, resting in their mouths and touching their tongue's. The Spirit shatters any expectations of nativism or privatism to give birth to a new community conceived in difference: different language, different nations, different people. With the Holy Spirit inclusion would no longer require assimilation, but new languages would be learned. With the Holy Spirit, the disciples could no longer stay within the four walls of their church, but the walls protecting comfortability and privilege were being blown down.

This Sunday, Trinity Sunday, we will continue our sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. The text we will explore together is Acts 2:36-41, in which Peter comes on stage to deliver the story's opening monologue. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter, steps into Israel's prophetic tradition and begins preaching to the crowd. Peter's words give witness to Jesus Christ, the one who the people crucified and who God raised up as the Messiah and Lord of Life. It is a sermon in which the Spirit convicts people of their sin, pardons them from their guilt, and pushes them into new life, new community, and a new direction.

On Tuesday, April 23, 2019 our Welcoming the Stranger Missional Community hosted a panel discussion on the global refugee crisis, current immigration discourse and policies, and how we as a Christian community can respond.

This Sunday, Ascension Sunday, we will begin a new sermon series, Acts: Stories, Scenes, & Spirit. We will walk through the book of Acts paying attention to the ways in which God's Spirit was at work in the world forming a community called Church. It is a book that goes beyond objective historical reporting of the early church, but is described by Dr. Willie Jennings as, a book that produces a "life-giving historical consciousness...that pulls us toward a future with God in the new creation" (pg. 4). This week, we begin at the very start of this story, a sequel of sorts to the Gospel of Luke: Acts 1:1-12a. In this text we meet the living, breathing, resurrected Lord Jesus who spends 40 days on earth with the Apostles. During this time of preparation, Jesus offers instructions, speaks of promises, and calls the disciples to task. And just as the stage is set, Jesus disappears from the scene in a cloud bound for Heaven. How long should we look up at the clouds before responding to the instructions? How long should we wait to receive the promises? How will we know when we have been equipped for the task?(6/2/19)

This Sunday, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we continue to explore the letter Paul wrote to the church in the city of Corinth. As Loop prepares to transition to a new worshiping facility in June, (our first service at the new facility will be June 16) we reflect on what Paul's words to the young church in Corinth may mean for us today. The text we will explore together is I Corinthians 1:26-31, in which Paul continues to marvel at the backwards ways in which God is at work in the world in and through Jesus. Paul asserts that God has chosen the foolish, weak, and useless to shame the wise, the strong, and the 1%. Can this be true? Doesn't our chances of being chosen depend on college degrees and a strong resume? How do we make sense of the prophetic call for reversal when income inequality continues to grow? (5/26/19)

This Sunday, Easter Sunday, we will finish our sermon series entitled, “Thy Kingdom Come: The Great Reversals of God’s Reign in Luke’s Gospel,” with one last Great Reversal that changes everything! The text we will explore together is Luke 24:1-12, where we find a group of faithful women going to the tomb of Jesus to perform one final act of devotion before beginning the long road back to Galilee. Arriving at the tomb, they find the stone rolled away and the grave empty...At a loss for words, two messengers arrive on the scene with the good news: "Jesus is not here, he is risen!"The reality-altering report of resurrection, brings these women from the margins of Jesus ministry to center-stage as the first witnesses and preachers of the good news of the empty tomb. An empty tomb still leaves us at a loss for words. When we hear reports of empty tombs, we dismiss them as nonsense. When we come to empty tombs, stoop inside, and look around, the emptiness fills us with an unnerving awe. We wonder, "where is Jesus," and we wait for the risen Lord to be revealed.

This Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, we will finish our sermon series entitled, “Thy Kingdom Come: The Great Reversals of God’s Reign in Luke’s Gospel,” on the road to Emmaus.The text we will explore together is Luke 24:13-32, where two disciples traveling down the Emmaus road are trying to make sense of the conflicting realities of cross and empty tomb. Jesus joins the burdened and bewildered disciples on the road, concealed in the flesh of a stranger. The story continues through the sharing of Word and Sacrament and culminates as the disciples eyes are opened and they recognize the stranger as Jesus.

This Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we will continue our sermon series entitled, “Thy Kingdom Come: The Great Reversals of God’s Reign in Luke’s Gospel.” The text we will explore together is Luke 12:22-34, a passage in which Jesus employs the black ravens of the sky, and the white lilies of the field to teach the disciples about the unavailing affects of anxiety. In the midst of poverty, Jesus instructs the disciples not to worry. In the midst of foreign occupation, Jesus instructs the disciples to seek God's kingdom. In the promise of God's kingdom come, Jesus instructs the disciples to sell their possessions and give alms to the poor. In a world where economics are centered on scarcity and politics are ordered by power, how do we hear Jesus' instruction to worry-less and seek the Kingdom? Does the use of our possessions reflect the promise of God's coming kingdom?