We have lots happening this Sunday at The Sanctuary!

MOTORCYCLE SUNDAY

Many of you probably remember what a great turn-out we had last year for Motorcycle Sunday! We are looking forward to hearing those motorcycles rumble into the parking lot again this year! Please make sure you park toward the back of the lot to allow plenty of space for our guests to park along the sidewalk. Please gather in the parking lot after the service to pray over our guests and see all of the motorcycles. We also will serve lunch in the parking lot! Everyone is invited to stay for hamburgers and hot dogs. Please bring lawn chairs or a blanket for your family to sit on during lunch.

COMMUNITY NIGHT

Then, Sunday evening please join us tonight for a special graduation ceremony during Community Night! We will be recognizing our 8th graders who will be moving from Thrive, our junior high ministry, to Crossfire, our senior high ministry. We also will be praying over our seniors graduating from high school. Community Night will include ministry updates and a time of worship. We will meet at 6 p.m. at New Song Church. We will provide childcare for birth to age 3.

GOOD WORKS MEETING

Those who are going on the Good Works missions trip this summer are invited to attend a planning meeting after the service Sunday. The meeting is at 12:30 p.m. at the home of Mark and Jennifer Fitzhenry, 556 Juniper St., Naperville. Please feel free to eat lunch with the church before going to the meeting.

CHANGE IN ZONING BOARD MEETING

The Village of Romeoville has changed the date it will consider The Sanctuary’s request to amend a zoning ordinance to allow the church to purchase a facility at 1255 Windham Parkway. The Planning and Zoning Commission will hear that request at 7 p.m. June 12. If approved, the board will consider the proposal at 6 p.m. June 20. Please be in prayer that God will open doors and pave the way with the village to purchase 25,000 square feet of that building to use for Sunday morning worship, midweek ministries and offices. We need as many people as possible to attend those meetings, which are at the Village Hall Conference Room, 1050 W. Romeo Rd., Romeoville.

NO SERVICE JUNE 3

We are not able to use Bolingbrook High School on June 3 due to graduation, so we will not be having a worship service that week! Please plan to do something refreshing that morning by spending time with God, your family or friends, whether that means attending another church, creating your own outreach event, or enjoying nature!

SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE

We also wanted to pass along some info for those who might have kids going into preschool or kindergarten.
Midwest Christian Montessori is having a Preschool-Kindergarten Open House on Wednesday, from 5-7 p.m. The school is located at 151 E. Briarcliff Road, Bolingbrook. For more info call: 630-783-8644.

The Time Has Come

Search My Heart

From the Inside Out

Before the Throne of God

Revelation Song

Sunday is Mother’s Day! We hope you have a fabulous day celebrating the mothers in your life. We are so thankful for all of the moms in our church and all they do all year long!

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” (Proverbs 31:28-29)

Motorcycle Sunday
On May 20, we are having our second annual Motorcycle Sunday! Please invite your friends to ride their motorcycles to our 10 a.m. service. Right after the service (around 11 a.m.), Pastor Ronn will pray over our guests, and we will serve lunch in the parking lot! It will be fun to see all of the motorcycles after the service.

Community Night
Please join us on May 20 for a special graduation ceremony during Community Night! We will be recognizing our 8th graders who will be moving from Thrive, our junior high ministry, to Crossfire, our senior high ministry. We also will be praying over our seniors graduating from high school. Community Night will include ministry updates and a time of worship. We will meet at 6 p.m. at New Song Church. We will provide childcare for birth to age 3.

Good Works meeting
Those who are going on the Good Works missions trip this summer are invited to attend a planning meeting after the service on May 20. The meeting is at 12:30 p.m. at the home of Mark and Jennifer FitzHenry.

We will be serving lunch at the high school that day as part of Motorcycle Sunday. Please feel free to eat lunch with the church before going to the meeting.

No service June 3
We are not able to use Bolingbrook High School on June 3 due to graduation, so we will not be having a worship service that week! Please plan to do something refreshing that morning by spending time with God, your family or friends, whether that means attending another church, creating your own outreach event, or enjoying nature!

Zoning Board Meeting
Whether you live in Romeoville or another city, we need as many people as possible to attend the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to support The Sanctuary. We are asking the village to include churches in the Business Park zoning district, which includes 1255 Windham Parkway, the property we hope to purchase. The zoning commission meets at 7 p.m. May 22 at the Village Hall Conference Room, 1050 W. Romeo Rd., Romeoville. If approved, the full village board will consider the proposal June 6.

Sanctuary softball
Softball season is in full swing! Please come out to cheer on The Sanctuary softball team. They play at Jamie McGee Elementary School. Check the calendar on the web site for the games or contact Bill Reimer Jr., for more info: bvreimer0523@yahoo.com.

Online giving
You can now give your tithes and offerings to The Sanctuary through our web site. Go to cometothesanctuary.org and look for the “online giving” button on the home page. You can use PayPal or a major credit card to give your offering online.

Men’s Retreat
Join other men from The Sanctuary in attending a men’s retreat May 18 and 19 at Timber-Lee Christian Center in East Troy, Wisc. This year’s topic is “Straight Thinking About Work.” The cost is $89 for those who register by April 30. Registration goes up to $99 after that. Please sign up at the Info Table if you plan to go on the retreat and also sign up online through the EFCA web site.

We are so thankful for all of our volunteers who give so much of themselves to teach our kids about Jesus, lead them in worship each week, and love them!

Click here to watch the video of our high-energy worship service!

A few weeks ago, our children heard about the upcoming outreach event at The Sanctuary to help families clean up their yards. My son eagerly asked me, “Mom, can we pleeeaaaase go to “Tend the Garden”?

Our family has had the privilege of being able to take part in some of the other events organized by our Justice and Compassion Ministry, and my kids know what a blessing — and what fun! — it can be to join with other families on a service project.

“Well, we can definitely do Tend the Garden,” I replied. “We are part of Tend the Garden! They’re coming to our house!”

Our four kids were bursting with excitement. “People from the church are coming to OUR house?!” they exclaimed. “They are going to clean up OUR YARD?!”

Our kids started counting down the days to May 5. They couldn’t wait.

I will admit that I wasn’t quite as ecstatic. “Anxious” might describe my emotions a little better.

In fact, when Cheryl Lynn Cain, director of Justice and Compassion, had e-mailed me a few weeks earlier asking if we would be one of the two project sites for Tend the Garden, my immediate internal reaction was, “NOOOOOOO!”

“We don’t deserve it,” I thought. “There must be someone else who needs help more than we do.”

But in her e-mail, she said that God had put our family on her heart. Hmmm. Maybe she was right.

Cheryl Lynn has never been in our yard, so she wouldn’t have known that our garden could use some tending. When we purchased our house, we inherited a lot of landscaping. We have trees that need pruning, bushes that need trimming and weeds that need pulling. We have a large barren spot in the backyard from where we moved our old sandbox. And we have tons and tons of landscaping that could use some mulch.

Our yard is a big project in an ordinary spring. This year, my husband and I had already decided that there was no way we were even going to be able to think about it.

He tore up his shoulder around Thanksgiving, and finally had surgery on it in early March. He could barely use his right arm for the three months leading up to the surgery. Post surgery recovery has been even harder. He still has several months of recovery time before he will be able to start building muscle in that arm and use it at even a minimal level.

Between helping him, taking care of our four kids, and staying on top of my job as communications director, I didn’t really have time to think about the lack of mulch and overgrowth of weeds.

After talking to my husband about the Tend the Garden project, we both knew we had to say “yes.” We know what a huge blessing it can be to serve others. Even though we were uncomfortable, we didn’t want to steal that blessing from those who wanted to serve.

And really, at the heart of our objection was pride. We realized that we like being self sufficient. We like being able to take care of things ourselves. We aren’t used to having to ask for help. We prefer to be the ones serving someone else. It was uncomfortable to be on the other side of things.

We realized that it’s hard to open up your life to people to invite them in, let them see your mess, and raise your hands and say, “I can’t do this on my own.” As the day got closer, I learned a lot about humility. I gained so much respect for the people in my life who have allowed me to come in and help them. I learned so much about serving others by being the one served.

At around 9 a.m. on Saturday, about 10 adults and 10 kids started swarming around our yard. They brought shovels, wheelbarrows, trimmers and work gloves. Joel, our project manager, kept everyone moving and working together. They trimmed bushes. They pulled weeds. They carried mulch. They filled lawn bags. They put down sod. One sweet friend even repaired the screen on our back door.

By the time they were done, we had filled 21 lawn bags with debris. The transformation was amazing. We heard the team that worked on the second house did an incredible job, as well.

Words can’t even begin to convey our thankfulness to the families who came to help tend our garden. We were so blessed. We felt so loved. And we are so humbled by their sacrifice.

After everyone had left, I was spraying down our muddy patio with tears running down my cheeks, so overwhelmed by what had happened. “I can never repay these people,” I thought.

Then, that still, small voice spoke to my heart.

“That’s the point,” I realized. “That’s what grace is. It’s an undeserved gift. You can’t repay it.”

I’ve talked so many times about how our church shows the love of Jesus to people through our actions. That’s what these people were doing for us.

Just like my yard, my heart can be a filthy mess. I’m not capable of cleaning it up on my own. But God showed us grace and mercy. He gave us the free gift of his son to die for us to clean up the dirt and mud in our lives. We don’t deserve it. We can’t repay it. We just have to accept it.

Thank you, Sanctuary, for showing that kind of love to us! We love you!

~ Emily Neal

Communications Director

(To view photos of the two Tend the Garden projects, go to our Facebook page and click “photos.” http://facebook.com/cometothesanctuary)

Dance, Shout and Sing

Touch the Sky

No One Like You

Every Move I Make

Rooftops

Everywhere That I Go

You Hold Me Now

This week is KidsTown Sunday! This is a Sunday where the kids get a chance to lead us in worship, and we get to celebrate those 5th graders who will graduate into our Junior High (Thrive) ministry! Klubhouse kids will stay in the service with their parents for the message. Krew will return to their class after worship.

BENEVOLENCE OFFERING
We will take a benevolence offering at the end of service Sunday. This is a special offering that is used to help those in our church who need financial assistance to pay bills, make home repairs or have other emergencies. Look for the ushers as you leave the service.

MOTORCYCLE SUNDAY
On May 20, we are inviting all of our motorcycle-loving friends to attend our 10 a.m. service. Right after the service (around 11 a.m.), Pastor Ronn will pray over our guests, and we will have refreshments in the parking lot. This is a great opportunity to invite your friends to church! It will be fun to see all of the motorcycles after the service.

GOOD WORKS MEETING
Those who are going on the Good Works missions trip this summer are invited to attend a planning meeting after the service on May 20. The meeting is at 12:30 p.m. at the home of Mark and Jennifer FitzHenry. Please bring a sack lunch.

ZONING BOARD MEETING
Whether you live in Romeoville or another city, we need as many people as possible to attend the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting to support The Sanctuary. We are asking the village to include churches in the Business Park zoning district, which includes 1255 Windham Parkway, the property we hope to purchase. The zoning commission meets at 7 p.m. May 22 at the Village Hall Conference Room, 1050 W. Romeo Rd., Romeoville. If approved, the full village board will consider the proposal June 6.

MEN’S RETREAT
Join other men from The Sanctuary in attending a men’s retreat May 18 and 19 at Timber-Lee Christian Center in East Troy, Wisc. This year’s topic is “Straight Thinking About Work.” The cost is $99. Please sign up at the Info Table if you plan to go on the retreat and also register online at gld-efca.org/MensRetreat.aspx.

SANCTUARY SOFTBALL
Softball season is in full swing! Please come out to cheer on The Sanctuary softball team. Their first game is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. They play at Jamie McGee Elementary School. Check the calendar on the web site for the games or contact Bill Reimer Jr., for more info: bvreimer0523@yahoo.com.

ONLINE GIVING
You can now give your tithes and offerings to The Sanctuary through our web site. Go to cometothesanctuary.org and look for the “online giving” button on the home page. You can use PayPal or a major credit card to give your offering online.

Click here to download the sermon notes and small group questions.

We would love to hear from you! How has God been speaking to you through the What Now? series? Leave us a comment below!

Here and Now

Chainbreaker

Mighty to Save

Forever Reign

All Creatures of Our God and King

Beautiful Exchange