Sure, we’re short on space today. Extra chairs are set up in the sanctuary most weeks and kids are meeting in the hallway. But, the focus of the proposed building plan remains to support the needs of the ministries that are making our vision a reality.

The Church Council presented a two-phase building project to enhance and expand our facilities at a special congregational meeting on March 22nd. The project is designed to support Good Shepherd’s vision as well as the ministry initiatives that have been and will be developed to reach families in our local community.

The plan was overwhelmingly approved at the Annual Meeting on Sunday, May 3rd.

Click on one of the photos to learn more about each phase of our recommended plan.

Phase 1	Phase 2
Sanctuary Multi-Ministry Space Welcome Center/Café/Third Place Adult/Children’s Classrooms Student Ministry Space	Children’s Ministry Space Chapel Lobby, Library and Adult Ministries Area

Next Steps:

Here’s what you can do to help:

• Please continue to keep the future of our church in prayer before God.
• Please continue to make your financial gifts to the Building Fund as each dollar given strengthens our church’s financial future.
• If you’d like to make a pledge to the Building Fund, call or email Sue Mitchell in the church office.
• Continue to explore more by checking out the Frequently Asked Questions page. Submit your questions, too, by leaving a comment.

Final details on design are complete with our design-build team at Aspen. Our Dream Team (building team) has saved an additional $400,000 on the project! In the meantime, the Church Council continues its work to determine and secure the best possible financing for the project.

The options for financing include:

• Working with a bank for financing; or
• Making available a bond offering that would supply the needed financial support.

Be assured that our Church Council is working diligently to find the most cost effective financial solution for our future construction. We firmly believe that God is guiding our church to a construction start date.

Get a closer look at the Phase I and II recommendations.

What you can do to support the process:

• Please continue to keep the future of our church in prayer before God.
• Please continue to make your financial gifts to the Building Fund as each dollar given strengthens our church’s financial future.
• If you’d like to make a pledge to the Building Fund, call or email Sue Mitchell in the church office.
• Continue to explore more by checking out the Frequently Asked Questions page. Submit your questions, too, by leaving a comment.

So far, almost 400 families have participated through a visit! Don’t miss this important opportunity to be a part of the growth of Good Shepherd and the fulfillment of God’s vision for this church. Sign up in the lobby or email Kim Jeske.

Click here for answers to your other questions about The Road Ahead.

Click here to read more about how Good Shepherd wants to reach and transform spiritually distracted families in our local community so they can come to know and love God.

This week, we check in on the Naperville Nelsons, as Nick and his neighbor, Dan, are fixing the Nelson’s home theater. Dan has noticed some changes around the Nelson household … and it has him wondering, “What’s up?”

Click here to watch the video

Doing that in the context of relationships and community is for me a sometimes joyful and quite often painful process. From conversations with friends there seem to be patterns that repeat, typical roadblocks encountered and temptations to overcome. One pattern in my life that gets me off-track is that in my efforts to “make things happen,” I move fast and start things without considering God’s perspective on my plans and actions. Then I have to backtrack!

The Psalm for this week sheds some light on the best starting place for gaining wisdom and healthy spiritual growth. It says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.” Psalm 111:10

Three questions:

• What are the barriers to spiritual growth in your life?

• What light or insight can you offer to others on the journey?

• What is the next step you will take in your life with Christ?

Have a terrific week!

Has your life been a “Story of Light” this past week? And how have your relationships been? Filled with more light than usual?
Hanging around Good Shepherd in the midst of a very cold winter has been good for my soul! There is a light shining from within this place that is not only individually warming but also community motivating!

I hope you are feeling it. It is found in every worship opportunity. It is found in every growth study and small group adventure. It is found in all the activities that abound from this place. It is beginning to be found in relationships that people take from this place to their neighbors and friends.

What is “it”? It is the love of God that is shining hope, joy, and promise into the lives of people who need and are hungry for love, truth, and right relationships. Are you feeling it?

Every time I get close to answering that question I don’t like the answer! There is so much that I don’t get right in my relationship with God. I am sure that “my story” often does not align with “God’s story.”

But when I really go deeper, I quickly realize that I am an important part of “God’s story.” His story includes me weaknesses and all!

I challenge you this week to assess your life - “your story.” How much of your story aligns with God’s story? What are the things you could be doing that would bring you into closer alignment with God’s story? Is there a key you have found that helps keep you on track? Is there a struggle that always gets in the way of life with God?

Know that as we do our assessment of where we are with God that we are an important part of God’s story! God’s love always is stronger than our weakness.

It’s the day after Nick and Nancy’s Stewardship Initiative home visit and they have a lot to talk about. Nick is surprised by what he’s seeing at Good Shepherd; Nancy is surprised by what she’s seeing in Nick.

How will they invest their time, talent and treasure into “their” church?

Click here to watch the video

As we engage our congregation by making Stewardship Initiative Visits, we are making each of our families more aware of what God is calling Good Shepherd to do. The call to “reach and transform spiritually distracted families in our local community to come to know and love God” is moving the people of Good Shepherd to respond with gifts of time, talent and financial treasures!

Let’s hear from you… What have you learned as you were visited?

If your visit hasn’t been scheduled yet please stop by the “Vizitz Blitz” display in the church lobby to schedule your visit.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

The Epiphany is the moment of light when the Wise Men follow the star to the manger in Bethlehem. The traditional date for celebrating the Epiphany is January 6 and marks the twelfth day of Christmas. Maybe you have already moved on to the “next thing”in your life and are focusing on the New Year celebration, but we want to encourage you take a moment to let the light of Bethlehem guide your life into the New Year.

One way to allow this to happen is to listen each day to our 14 day audio devotional. It all gets started on January 1! Use the CDs we handed out on Christmas Eve or download each days devotion from this site.

Use the “comments” feature to give us a quick response about how the light of Bethlehem is “Shining Light” into your life!

When you’re on a journey, gauging progress ensures you’re moving forward. For some reason, my kids learned this at a very early age. When on a car trip, they were always asking me, “Are we there yet?”

As a church, we need to track our progress along The Road Ahead to make sure all our resources (time, money, people) are propelling us closer toward our Vision.

As Christ-followers, it’s important we gauge our progress too. How are we doing in our walk with Christ? How are we using our time, talent and treasure to move us closer to being more like Him? How are we spurring others on to do the same?

The Stewardship Initiative — just like this past fall’s iShift teaching series — is all about asking and answering these questions before God.

How do you gauge your progress on your personal journey? Post a comment and join the conversation.

This week at worship we will focus on “obedience” and “truth.

Obedience and truth have a lot to do with the celebration of “The Unexpected Gift.” The obedient heart of Mary was willing to play an important role in God’s plan to send Jesus as our Savior, and, when we think about truth, we learn that Jesus is the One who brings truth to light. Join us for worship or listen to the messages that can be found at welcomegrowserve.org.

This week we catch up with the Naperville Nelsons, who - just like any “driven” family - are wrapped up in a busy Christmas season. But it sounds like this year, there’s something different going on.

In the midst of decorations and gift buying, the Nelsons get a call from Claire at church, who wants to come over for a visit. That leads to a conversation between Nick and Nancy that gives us some insight into what’s making this Christmas so original.

Click here to watch the video

The Road Ahead journey we are traveling this Advent has some amazing surprises. One of those, which really should come as no surprise at all and yet it does, is how incredibly relevant God’s Word and God’s presence is in our lives today.

For example, our focus this week, planned months ago, is on “Justice” and what it means to “Rebuild, Restore and Renew.” In light of what is happening in Illinois this week…is that not incredibly relevant?! Words from God, written centuries ago, address the issues we face this very week.

In the midst of crisis, “The Unexpected Gift of Jesus” provides relevance that leads to an ultimate justice designed to rebuild, restore and renew. This week in worship we meet a man named John, who the Bible tells us “…came as a witness to testify concerning (a) light (designed) for all to believe.” An unexpected surprise gift sheds light on our current circumstances.

How has God’s Word become relevant in your life lately? Leave a comment so we call can celebrate.