1 We Bring You A Newsletter... but, why? By Michelle Weger Oh the ol’ church newsletter... they make great coasters and look really swell in the bottom of bird cages... at least maybe your mama’s church newsletter did. However, as you may know- we tend to do things, in general, a little differently here at THE WELL. It is our hope that the following few pages of content will encourage you, inform you, and perhaps even make you smile once or twice. We have named THE WELL’s newsletter “INSTORY”... Why? Well, I’m glad you asked! The only thing in this life that we really have, are our stories. It is through sharing our stories and living our stories that others are most likely to be challenged, stirred, or impacted. A story well lived stands to bring about the most change in the world. Now, when we say “well lived” do we mean “well behaved”? Of course not. A story “well lived” is one lived on purpose. It is a life that understands it place in the greater Story being written. The truth is, we are all creative (I saw that eye roll...). But really, think about it. We are the creation of the ultimate creator- and we know that we were created in His image. To try and claim that we “aren’t creative” is ludicrous. Perhaps the greater tragedy is the belief that has been so promoted, telling people that “creativity” looks like a well played song, a perfectly painted picture, or a story written so compellingly you couldn’t put it down. However, creative might also look like how you pack your child’s lunchbox, the way you pour concrete, or the way you think and dream about “tomorrow”. Don’t limit what “creative” might look like as you walk out your own story. You were created perfectly with great love and intention. Live your live in response to that love and that will be a story “well lived”. For this issue of INSTORY, we spent some time with Derek Sneed. Derek is an incredible young man who relocated to the Crystal Lake area from Rockford. Derek is a talented artist in many facets and is engaged to Jessica Startzel. INSTORY:SPRING A Publication of THE WELL | Spring, 2012 Design By: Aaron Glenn
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We Bring You A Newsletter...but, why?By Michelle Weger
Oh the ol’ church newsletter... they make great coasters and look really swell in the bottom of bird cages... at least maybe your mama’s church newsletter did. However, as you may know- we tend to do things, in general, a little differently here at THE WELL. It is our hope that the following few pages of content will encourage you, inform you, and perhaps even make you smile once or twice.
We have named THE WELL’s newsletter “INSTORY”... Why? Well, I’m glad you asked! The only thing in this life that we really have, are our stories. It is through sharing our stories
and living our stories that others are most likely to be challenged, stirred, or impacted. A story well lived stands to bring about the most change in the world. Now, when we say “well lived” do we mean “well behaved”? Of course not.
A story “well lived” is one lived on purpose. It is a life that understands it place in the greater Story being written. The truth is, we are all creative (I saw that eye roll...). But really, think about it. We are the creation of the ultimate creator- and we know that we were created in His image. To try and claim that we “aren’t creative” is ludicrous.
Perhaps the greater tragedy is the belief that has been so promoted, telling people that “creativity” looks like a well played song, a perfectly painted picture, or a story written so compellingly you couldn’t put it down. However, creative might also look like how you pack your child’s lunchbox, the way you pour concrete, or the way you think and dream about “tomorrow”. Don’t limit what “creative” might look like as you walk out your own story. You were created perfectly with great love and intention. Live your live in response to that love and that will be a story “well lived”.
For this issue of INSTORY, we spent some time with Derek Sneed. Derek is an incredible young man who relocated to the Crystal Lake area from Rockford. Derek is a talented artist in many facets and is engaged to Jessica Startzel.
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As I looked around the classroom, I saw their little eyes shut tight, their faces were squished with concentration, hands folded tightly in laps, and not a sound. This is something I wasn't taught until I was in college, I asked myself, “Is this really going to work? Is God really going to speak to these children?”
Over the past months I have seen many of our families go through some pretty tough situations.
From death, to divorce, and even learning how to lose in a game. I have seen the gamut of emotions that come with these hardships. As their Pastor, my heart aches with theirs...what could I say, what should I teach? In my quiet
time God impressed on me to teach them to listen for His voice.
So, during the ending prayer I encourage the children to listen for God's voice. First I expected the generic answers but God had other plans! I'm amazed at what the children tell me every week. God is speaking to our children and they are learning His voice! He encourages them in their doubts and comforts them in their fears. He reminds them of His love for them and that He is taking care of everything.
“His sheep follow him because they know his voice.” John 10:4 NiRV
So I encourage you, set some time aside and listen for His voice. Pray with your children and listen with them. Ask them what they heard and share what you heard. This will open up wonderful conversation and teaching times with them, that they will remember forever
“God impressed on me to teach them to listen for His voice”
Elizabeth Noble
The Splash ZoneCan a Child Really Hear the Voice of God?By Elizabeth Noble, Children’s Pastor
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THE WELL was full of fun and activity throughout our first year in Lake in the Hills... Left: Diane and DJ Charwicz are chilling in the “mystery machine” during our fall event, Trunk of Treat.Right: Taylor Tonning is all smiles for The Splash Zone on Sunday mornings.
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Our mission here at THE WELL is “to introduce people to an authentic, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ by God’s Grace alone and to present the gospel to the saved and unsaved alike, simply Jesus, who He is, and Jesus, what He did, Christ crucified.” Trying to determine and shape what that looks like when we put skin on it has been a fun process. The reality is, at the end of that process... it looks a whole lot like... well, you.
If you are diggin' The Well and want to help spread the good news, there are many ways to get involved! Whether you like being with babies or kids, working behind the scenes during Sunday service, are a musician, want to help out from home or have a gifting in media/design, we would love to get you connected!
Here is a list of our current volunteer needs...
Data Entry/Database HelpWriter Someone to trim/upload audio files*Camera OperatorsAudio EngineersSet Design TeamComputer Operator*Musicians (by audition) *will train someone who has existing computer skills
If you are interested in any of the roles above you can visit our website purefilteredjesus.com to fill out the volunteer form or come see us at our Sunday morning gatherings.
Get Involved...Ways to be diggin’ THE WELL.
There are many ways to get connected and involved here at THE WELL... this is about life and community... not “showing up”. It is our hope that you will become deeply invested as a part of this highly relational community.
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHTCary Well GroupBy Pamela Donnan, Lead Pastor
One of the ways we introduce people to the transforming power of Grace is through our Well Groups. These groups meet weekly or bi-weekly where topics are presented with transformational discussions following, as we filter years of religious teachings and traditions through a New Covenant lens. Well Groups give you opportunity to remove the religious
mask… and you would be amazed at what ‘community’ looks like when that happens!
Our Wednesday night Well Group is a perfect example of that… it is not
like any home group you have ever gone to…
Topics are presented and discussion is encouraged. The whole evening is conversational and relaxed. Grace has stripped away pretense and agenda, allowing its power to break through religious mindsets that have held us hostage to an impotent gospel… Laughter and ‘ah ha’ moments are spontaneous and celebrated! We meet in Cary and recently finished walking through the book, ‘Destined to
Reign’, by Joseph Prince. Join us as we discover a whole new way of doing things!
Here is what people are saying...
“Our Well group is my regeneration to get
through the week.” – Joe
“We accept each other where we are at. It gives me freedom to open up and
share my thoughts because I know no one will stomp on my opinions. The teaching is
life changing, …” – Diane
“I've never had a group where we sat around the kitchen table. It's a celebratory
environment. I look forward to Sundays and Wednesdays, when we get to be together again. I just love it.”– Lori
“It's not about what you must accomplish but what has already been accomplished for you. It is not about using your will power to effect change, but His power changing you.”
~Joseph Prince
The Third Law ofConsequenceBy Michelle Weger, Worship Pastor
We live in a world where the acknowledged polar expressions are that of good and evil. Cartoons, movies, stories, all tell of the powers of good and evil. Religion speaks to us of this sense of good vs. evil, God vs. the devil… but I want to propose in this an “other”. I am tired of the idea that if God didn’t do it, then the devil must have. When it comes to our circles of American Christianity, I find that we give God a lot of credit for tragedies and hardships that he doesn’t deserve and in turn in the opposite spectrum, we credit the devil with a lot of schemes he never had the mind for.
We work really hard to pin everything into a good or bad box, we want desperately for our world to fit into our black and white mentality. But to argue that there are no shades of gray, is
to deny the brilliant kaleidoscope of God’s creation.
I believe there is an “other” – that there is a third thing at work here. I would call this the “Third Law of Consequence”. I actually believe that a lot of things occur as a natural result of consequence. If you make the choice to play in traffic, you may endure the consequence of being hit by a car. God didn’t send that car to hit you and frankly, neither did the devil. I think that God and the devil both stand close by the third law of consequence eager to use the results. God wants nothing more than to work your consequences for your good and the devil wants nothing more than to throw confusion on it and hear you say, “how could God let this happen?”.
What do you guys think? Is credit going where credit is due in this world or is the blame game poisoning our sense of reality?
The Cary Well Group Meets each Wednesday @ 7pm
Contact Pamela Donnan for information: 815.455.WELL
“But to argue that there are no shades of gray, is to deny the brilliant kaleidoscope of God’s creation.”-Michelle Weger
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Have you ever heard the metaphor of the “God-shaped hole”? It conveys the idea that every person is created with a hole or vacuum in their soul that only God can fill. It’s an innate longing for something outside of and much greater than our self. The authenticity of who coined that phrase is widely denounced, though that does not diminish its concept. I, for one, will be willing to claim authorship of that statement if no one objects, if I can figure out how to get Google to tie it to my name.
If there is such an innate void in all of us, why do so many people try a myriad of God-like alternatives to force-fill the void? Nonetheless the masses who place all manner of ungodly options in there hoping to fill the void?The apostle Paul said “when I was a child, I talked like a child; I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.” A little baby lies unashamedly on its back and cries to be cleaned,
fed and cared for. We grow up and learn self-sufficiency – I will clean myself and make myself better, somehow, anyhow. Jesus said “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
With as good of news as the finished work of Jesus, there’s a draw from within that resists something for nothing. There’s an internal sense that somehow I have to qualify for this to have value. Like going to a restaurant, a meal tastes better when you pay for it rather than someone treating you to dinner. We just need to get over it, Romans talks about wages and gifts. Go for the gift, it is unmerited favor.
So we get up off the bassinet of our beginning, fuddle around trying to tie our own shoelaces as we begin our education process, meander through decades of life sometimes trusting
God but often trying to show him we’re capable. Negotiate through scores of years and people often arrive at a place where they once again let someone else help them. A product of realizing one is incapable of completely caring for them self, they let someone else help them with even the most basic of tasks.
Romans 8:29-30... God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
Our heavenly Dad isn’t out to show us He’s better than us, He’s not remotely insecure about that fact. He’s not even out to convince us we need Him, again, that’s fairly obvious. He is scanning the horizon for the day we realize that void in our very person is where He is meant to live. He is our life. We’re as incomplete as an empty flashlight without the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
In my younger days in church, I often felt challenged by others who knew more than I did (or at least seemed to). Nowadays, not so much. It’s not that I have matured and amassed great understanding. These days I am completely comfortable with who I am in Jesus. I don’t feel a need to know it all, I know the one who does. I have surrendered trying to prove something to God; we’ve both seen that rerun many times. I am His beloved son and He’s my dad, and we like it that way. We’re past the exciting, but awkward, first date of trying to impress, we’re genuinely friends. I hope each of you get to experience firsthand that rest in Jesus. He really is that in to you.
“He is scanning the horizon for the day we realize that void in our very person is where He is meant to live. He is our life.”
Paul Donnan
From Our Pastor...The God Shaped VoidBy Paul Donnan, Lead Pastor
Photo Credits: Emily King
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“With as good of news
as the finished work of Jesus, thereʼs a draw
from within that resists
something for nothing.”
WELL GROUPS:Well Student
MinistriesSundays @ 6pm
Grades 6-12
Revo@TheWellSundays @ 7pm
Ages 18-30
Women@TheWellTuesdays @ 10am
Ladies Only...
Cary Well GroupWednesdays @ 7pm
All Are Welcome
for more information and meeting locations, contact
To sign up to receive this newsletter electronically, via email, please visit purefilteredjesus.com and click on “newsletter” under the “media” section.
You can opt out of the electronic mailing at any time. info@pure!lteredjesus.com | pure!lteredjesus.com | 815.455.WELL
THE WELL seeks to cultivate a community of passionate followers
of Jesus Christ whose lives are being transformed by Grace in
such a way that they enjoy health and wholeness in every area of
life, motivating them to extend that Grace to others, and thereby
impacting their communities in positive ways.
SIMPLY PUT, you are going to love it here...
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MISS SOMETHING?Catch up at our online campus by visiting http://thewellatcl.sermon.tv
