Tim Harlow

Easter and Such

What an amazing weekend, wasn’t it? A record number (12,000) came to one of our 11 services. Lockport had a great added Saturday night service and we added a couple at Orland. :)

I want to say thanks to all our teams and staff for pulling off so many extra things from the opening to the closing it was a great service.

If you missed it – go watch it online at Parkview's Media Center. 

So I’m in Orlando now (yes, you are jealous because I hear it still stinks back there) for the Exponential Church Planting Conference I’m a part of every year.

Four thousand church planters and people who help them all in one place (warm place).  And it’s been a great place for a bunch of us to debrief post-Easter and talk about what’s next.

What good is it to have 12k people if they go out and live the same way and don’t do something with the faith? And how do we reach the millions around us who don’t have Jesus. Twelve thousand would be awesome if we lived in a county with 20,000 people. But, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, there were still a bunch of people in my town who didn’t go to any Easter service and celebrate any amazing grace.

It’s really the same thing we always talk about in the church world. How do we reach them for Christ, then raise them as disciples, then release them to do ministry. I was laughing about it at dinner last night. I said I’m sure that by Acts chapter 4 or 5 the church leaders were sitting around asking the SAME QUESTIONS. Some of the leaders were asking “how can we do a better job in evangelism?” and some were saying, “We’ve got plenty of new people – how can we help them to grow?”

EVERY CHURCH HAS ONE OF THESE TWO PROBLEMS. I like our problem the best because the most important priority is getting people into heaven. But helping people actually become disciples of Jesus is such a huge deal! The thief on the cross didn’t get to go back out and live out his faith – but the rest of us do.

Francis Chan spoke yesterday (the author of Crazy Love) and he really challenged us all. I’ve been frustrated with Chan because he left his church and decided God was calling him to something else - but he didn’t know what it was. He realizes now that after the popularity of his ministry and his book he really just needed to get away and figure out if this was all still real. He really shared from his soul yesterday.

So on his pilgrimage, he went to India and China and many other places where Christianity is different – maybe a bit more like the early church because of persecution. What he found was that probably half of the world’s Christians live in situations where their faith is a life and death issue. We have 4% of the world’s Christians here in the US and we think we have Christianity all figured out. But when Chan told the people in India and China about American Christianity – they just couldn’t get it. He told them that we have buildings that we call Churches and people come to them once a week – or a couple of times a month and they gather together and sing and pray and listen to the Word, and then leave and live mostly like everyone else. THEY LAUGHED AT HIM.

They seriously thought he was joking. They gather together, mostly without buildings, and when they go home they may be killed for what they believe. They just can’t understand how you could have Jesus in your life and not be changed.

Well, it’s a good question…

Man, I am so excited about the people who had their “eyes opened” to Jesus last weekend! 12,000. That’s insane! Now what are we going to do with them?

I love my job…

Tim

The Big Game

It's time for the Big Game – and we already know the ending.

Shouldn't be as exciting when you know how it's going to turn out – but it works for me!

Everything is set and ready for you and your family and friends to come and hear the greatest news of great joy to all people. He's Alive! And that means I will live with him!

So listen – this sermon is really geared for your family and friends who don't get it. The ones that don't understand why their "goodness" isn't just enough to get them in. I'm really going to lay it out in a way that will challenge them to accept the free gift of Jesus and his amazing grace. SO MAKE SURE THEY ARE COMING!

Here is an electronic invite

• Orland Campus
• Lockport Campus

Send it to the people you want to spend eternity with. Just ask. Ask them if they would consider coming to church with you. Bribe them – do whatever it takes. Church studies have been shown that 82% of the people you ask will actually say “yes” to coming to church. If we would just simply ask.

Romans 10:14 says, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

Someone sent me this letter from an unchurched person to a church person:

Hi friend,

I know you go to church. Sometimes, I hear you talking about church around the office. Most of the time I don't seem interested because I don't know what to say. At times you seem interested in involving me in that part of your life, but you hold back. I just want you to know with Easter Sunday coming up that if you invited me to come to church with you on Easter, I would probably say, "yes."  I would probably say, "yes," because we live in America, and going to church on Easter in America is widely accepted as normal. I would probably say, "yes," because asking me to go to church on Easter isn't the same as asking me to become a member, or to commit to going every week. It isn't intimidating or scary, it's nice. I would probably say, "yes," because I like you and I would enjoy doing something with you. I would probably say, "yes," because I feel like going to church on Easter is something that I should do, but never do, because I don't have a church to go to. So, if you were thinking about inviting me to go to your church with you on Easter, do it.  Do it knowing that I would probably say, "yes."  Do it because Easter is important to you. And do it hoping that it will change my life.

Sincerely,

Your friend

Get on it.  This is the Big Game!

Tim

 

 

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY PARKVIEW!

Friday – April 15^th is not just tax day. It was also the 60^th birthday of this church! None of us were paying any attention to it – or we might have made a bigger deal out of it. (Does this count against me – like forgetting my anniversary?)

Vickie just brought it to my attention so it seemed like a good blog post. The truth is I talk about the history of this church at every “What We Believe” class because I think it’s important to know where we came from. Have things changed since 1951? Slightly - Fun Facts from 1951

The really great thing about Parkview (was originally Tinley Park Church of Christ) is that we’ve changed WITH the times. I mean, honestly, if you walk into a lot of churches you feel instantly transported BACK to 1951. You feel like Harry Truman could walk out at any moment!

The reason a 60 year old church could be the fastest growing church in the 5 state area is because we’ve moved locations 4 times, we’ve changed the name of the church 3 times, and we’ve transitioned our style – about a hundred times.

Paul said, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I may share in its blessings. I Corinthians 9:22-23

People ask what the “special sauce” is that makes Parkview tick.  I think this is it – we’re adaptable.

But we must never forget the vision and passion of the people who have made this thing possible. Let me take you through the history. Download History of Parkview Christian Church. 

And PLEASE COME TO THE ROYAL WEDDING PART 2. You can’t get into the one over there in April.  But you can come to this one – Rachel and Ash will be married here on May 27 at 3pm.  We’d love to have you.  You can RSVP if you want at Harris and Harlow  or just plan on showing up. We’re making tea and scones for everyone.

P.S. Casey interviewed author Rob Bell on Shine Thursday. Rob’s new book has been very controversial and I think you’ll want to listen to it for some answers.  Casey's Blog

Tim

Southtown Article

I wanted to comment on the newspaper article in the Southtown last weekend.

Donna was a great reporter and asked all the right questions. She was fascinated with the whole thing.  Which I think people like me (and maybe you) should understand because we take things like this for granted. The impetus for her article was the fact that other churches are encouraging people to “come back home” and we are telling people to move their butts out.

Here is the link to the blog post that sparked the discussion.

I really thought the article was great and fair. Of course I wasn’t big on the “competition” angle of the article. The fact that people come to Parkview from other churches is not a source of pride for me. It’s the opposite. I would love for ALL the churches in the world to grow and find a need for more parking and space. I would love to be only attracting people who don’t have a church home.

But we have to remember that in the culture of the newspaper – competition is key. They understand that someone is beating someone else and that’s news. I’m sure that other surrounding churches are unhappy that some of their people have left and come here. I don’t’ know what to do with it. I’ve been unhappy when people have left here and gone other places, too. 

I guess that was the only part of the really excellent article I wanted to address. I loved the way she captured the heart of who we are (and the video on in the online version REALLY captured it).

They say that “all publicity is good publicity.” I’m not sure Charlie Sheen would agree with that right now – and I’m pretty sure that I don’t either. But I believe this article really shared our heart. And I really had a great time helping a newspaper reporter understand that church can be different.

Tim