Welcome to Friends & Family
In Act II of William Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet, we were treated to one of literature’s most iconic lines. From her balcony Juliet announces as her forbidden sweetheart walks away, “Sweet, so would I: / Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing. / Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Parting is a sweet sorrow. This rings with uncanny truth for followers of Jesus. In his letter to the first-century Christians in Thessolonica, the Apostle Paul conveys a similar sentiment to his brothers and sisters with whom he is no longer in immediate fellowship. Paul writes, “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
In our first three years as a church and especially though the pandemic we’ve said good-bye to a lot of people who have “become very dear to us.” And while we have a fierce loyalty to our calling on the Northwest side of Chicago, we see the beauty and sweetness of parting with one another as the Lord directs and guides us. It’s hard. We miss you. But we trust the Lord and celebrate how by his Spirit he gives unique direction to his people. Parting is indeed a sweet sorrow. Many of you have stayed connected with your groups, asked how you can be praying for our church family, and even continued to financially support the vision and mission God has entrusted to Church in the Square. We’re so grateful for this tenacious and affectionate connection God has made through his Church. It’s clear though we may be absent in the flesh (as we often are during the pandemic!), by God’s grace we are still present together in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 5:3).
We’d love to stay connect. We’d love to cultivate a community of friends and family who through the years have been impacted and who have made incredible impacts in this fellowship of believers. Even though we may worship and live in different places we’d love to keep sharing our story with you. Because our story is your story too.
We’ll be sending out our first official update in the next couple months. So for now, please sign up for regular updates specifically for CITS Friends & Family. We’re planning on sending out a note a few times a year. In each update we’ll share prayer requests, financial needs, stories of transformation, discipleship material, and how the Lord is at work in Logan Square and beyond. Actually, this year we shared a year-end report with our church that we’d love for you to check out. We hope it gives you a good picture of God’s faithfulness and grace and provision to us through 2021.
Obviously Romeo and Juliet’s story ended in romantic tragedy. But we hope in staying connected this way we might continue to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24), until the day when parting will never be necessary again. Isn’t it good to know, because of Christ one day we’ll be in-person, in the flesh, together as God’s people forever? Until then, please know we love you, we miss you, and can’t wait to keep sharing our story together.
