Tim Harlow

God – who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine… 739 baptisms

Someone snapped this picture this weekend – I think it says it all.  One wet footprint on the church sidewalk! 

 
Actually there were a lot of them.  We had a little pool going in the office as to how many baptisms we would have this weekend.  I had 499, because we always seem to have one less than a big number :-).  We were really fasting and praying for 400.  That seemed like a huge number for us.  The highest guess was by our faith-filled Spiritual Formation Pastor Casey.  He had 600.  We all thought he was a little crazy.  And he was.  BECAUSE WE HAD 739!  I still can’t believe it.  739!  And I know for a fact that we missed counting some people, because they were coming at us from every direction. So we probably had more.

It’s quite the buzz around the area.  I was on Shine.FM radio on Monday morning, because Johnny the DJ was at our 4 pm service and was talking about it.  (Check it out here!)

You can get pics and video on our main website or just click  Baptisms at Parkview.

We have the 11 am service online and the baptisms from 11 am.  We’re working to get all the baptisms on there soon.

And Lockport set a new attendance record of 557!

This is going down as my favorite weekend of all time!

 

I got to baptize a lot of people with tears in their eyes.  People told me they felt the Spirit’s presence immediately when they walked in the building.  Imagine how many angels were rejoicing in heaven!  Of course we felt the Spirit.

Hey, it’s not too late to join us.  We can do your baptism any time. 

And now, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  GET UP, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on his name.  Acts 22:16

What a thanksgiving we’re going to have!  I can’t believe how much adrenaline I still have looking at these pictures again.

Do you get how cool this is?  Do you understand the spiritual significance of 739 souls obeying the Lord in submission to submersion?   UNBELIEVABLE.

Give thanks to the Lord – for he is good.  His love endures forever.  Psalm 118:1

And I give thanks for all of you who said, “I’m diving in.”

You will never regret it. 

I’m praying for all of you.

Tim

P.S. - Rachel's group, Mosaic,  has completed a Christmas album called Until the Son of God Appears. It will be on iTunes in a couple of days. They will be leading worship the weekend of December 19-20. Check them out.

 

Baptism

Jesus commanded us.

 

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
 
Baptism is one of the basic sacraments that Jesus commanded us to do.  And he did it too, as an example.  Baptism means “immersion” – it was a believer’s baptism in the Bible.  So you need to do it too.
 
I was just reading John Ortberg on this:
 
“If you would say that you’re a Christian, but you have never been baptized, and you have no plans to do so—then, in a way, what you are saying to Jesus is:

Jesus, I know You suffered for me. I know You died an agonizing death on the cross for me. I understand You clearly commanded that all of your followers are to be baptized as a way of declaration of devotion and being part of your community. And Jesus, I will take Your sacrifice to get into Heaven, but when it comes to obeying You in the very first step of the Christian life … when it comes to declaring to the church and the world that my ultimate devotion is to You … I think I’ll take a pass. When it comes to the first thing You’ve asked me to do … to obey You in the sacrament of baptism … I think I’ll disobey You.

This is not a good way to launch into spiritual life. It’s not a good dynamic to hold onto in spiritual life.”

Seriously!  He just asked you to get wet.  He didn’t ask you to jump off a tall building or become a Cubs fan.  He just asked you to – one time – give yourself in submission to him in baptism.

Submission to Submersion.  It’s pretty simple. If you haven’t done it yet, neither have a lot of people and they are going to do it this weekend.  We’ve rented two extra portable baptisteries and we’re going to baptize anyone who wants to do it during the end of the service and afterwards.  Bring extra clothes – or don’t.  You can go home wet.  People in other countries die for their faith.  Baptism for them means they may lose their family and their livelihood.  You just have to get wet.  Even if you have done it – you won’t’ want to miss this weekend.  It’s going to be unbelievable!
 
Be here on time – the service is shorter and I’m preaching early. Don’t miss it.
 
Baptism Information for Lockport

Baptism Information for Orland Park
 
This place is unbelievable!

Tim

This Parkview Thing is Unbelievable

It has been four weeks since we started our fourth service, and yesterday I had a meeting with executive staff about what we were going to do, because we have a full 11 am service - AGAIN. That’s no surprise except for the fact that we had 600 people in our new 5:45 pm service! So what basically happened is that we started a new service to offload people to make room for more, and then we instantly grew by that amount of people! We had 5325 people this weekend, which was a record by several hundred (non-holiday or Jesus-JimJ).  They had a record number of kids and the most ever at Lockport. We asked you to pack the house and pack the pantry – and you came through!
 
And all that means is we only solved our space problem for about 10 minutes!
 
Now what am I going to ask?  Anyone? Anyone? Bueller??
“Come on Saturday!”  Good answer, good answer.  Especially at 5:45, it’s got the most room.  
 
“Why would I inconvenience myself?”  Because of the Prodigals!  For whatever reason most of our new people come in through the portal of Sunday morning, and most of them at 11.  It’s just the normal church hour, and that’s when they usually decide to come whether they have church background or not.  So what happens is when someone who has been away from the Father – maybe even all their lives – comes a little late to the11 am on Sunday, they find no decent parking spaces. And if they finally decide to come in, the kids’ classes are full and they get an “obstructed view” seat for the service.

When Jesus told the story of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15, he said that even though the Shepherd had 99 safe sheep, he felt so compelled to find the lost one that he left the 99 in the uncomfortable situation of the “open country.”  They were inconvenienced and actually put in harm’s way – that’s how important the one lost sheep is.
 
I’m not asking you to get eaten by a wolf or wander off a cliff.  I’m asking you to come on Saturday night and sleep in on Sunday.
 
I know that everyone can’t do that.  But if you can, please consider it.  I don’t know these 600 new people that just showed up yet, but I’m guessing that if you met them, they would be very grateful for the space we just made for them. Let’s make more!
 
This place is unbelievable!

Tim

Happy Veteran’s Day

It’s weird when it’s in the middle of the week like this. Do you know why it’s on the 11th of November? Because it was in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 when they declared an end to WWI, the war to end all wars as they called it (too bad that wasn’t true).

So we’ve been celebrating every year since then, becoming “Veteran’s Day” officially in 1938. Most people don’t really know much about it, or think much about it. It’s a day off school and a chance to get started on some early holiday shopping.

I know when we recognize Vets in the service or pray for soldiers before they ship off that some people feel like we’re making some kind of political statement. That’s really not true. We don’t take sides on politics or endorse war either way. We are thankful for those who put their life on the line to serve their country in any way. Police, Fire, Armed Forces, you name it. If someone is putting their life on the line for me to have the freedom I enjoy, then I’m going to be thankful. You should too.

We wouldn’t have Thanksgiving to celebrate or the freedom to worship in this awesome place if some people hadn’t laid it all on the line.

That’s my commentary on Veteran’s day.

 

Here is a copy of the Poem from Coach Ron Tomczak.

This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. What I do today is important, because I'm exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something I have traded for it. I want it to be gain not loss; good, not evil; success, not failure, in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it, because the future is just a whole string of nows.

This weekend is Pack the House – so we can Pack the Pantry. Don’t miss it. I’m finishing up “Are We There Yet?”

Tim

I RECALL CENTRAL PARK IN FALL

That stupid Danke Schoen song has been in my head for two days since I made it to New York. So we finally went over to Central Park this afternoon and now it’s really stuck in there. I’m here hosting an event that is bringing in nine pastors and their wives from all over the country. The combined weekend attendance of those churches is over 50,000. We are trying to raise more support for church planting in the Northeast.

I’m the board of a church planting organization called the Orchard Group. We plant churches at a ratio of 50% in New York City, 40% in the Northeast, and 10% in major cities in the U.S. There are 22 million people in New York City, covering three states. Of those, 300,000 are professing evangelical Christians. One of our planters in Long Island reported today that they are running 800. They are probably the second largest church on Long Island, which is 120 miles by 20 miles in total area, but has a population the same as the state of Kentucky. We met with our planter in Philly who is in a new building and running over 1200. Exciting things are going on here.

And we met with a guy who is teaching school in Harlem while his wife is trying to break into theater and they are starting a church next year in upper Manhattan. Parkview is going to be in on this one. They are a very sharp couple.

We also met with a 5th generation Mormon guy whose dad is a bishop in the Mormon church and who is going to start a Christian church in the downtown area of Salt Lake City. We’re in on that too. Salt Lake City is only 3% Christian for obvious reasons. Who better to reach them than a guy who can speak their language?

I know I talk about 100 church plants by 2020 and that doesn’t necessarily mean a lot to you unless I tell you what’s happening. So that’s why I do this. And it’s why I’m trying to get other churches involved. This is tough ministry.

The president of Orchard lives in Manhattan in a 750 square foot apartment with his wife and two kids. They pay $4000 a month in rent! The people are from all over the world. 112 languages are spoken here. It’s not an easy place. But the people are already here! I believe that we need to be involved in planting churches and doing missions overseas, but we don’t have to go far to find them right here.

And in December I’m hosting an event for a bunch of pastors in Chicago to bring them into the three church plants we’re starting in our own city – as a result of partnerships we’ve made along the way. More on that later.

Just pray for this time, will you? Thousands, maybe millions of souls are at stake here in the long run. It’s very exciting.

We will see you this weekend for part three of “Are We There Yet?” as we unpack Proverbs 3 – Trust in the Lord…and he will direct your paths.

And I know what you’re thinking – no, I’m not going to the World Series tonight. But it should be an interesting evening if the Yankee’s win!

Tim