Issue 1

April 201 3

I hope you are in amazing grace and love from the

risen Christ. Spring is coming to us soon. I l ike the

spring season because new seeds awaken from a

long winter sleep and sprout here and there on the

earth. In fact, the winter in Chicago is such a cold,

long, and depressing season because we could not

often see the warm and nice sun. However,

because of the cloudy winter weather of Chicago,

we may possibly real ize the importance of a soft,

warm spring sun.

From late autumn, my wife and I have made

war with bugs cal led “Box Elder.” I think most of

you are fami l iar with the bug, but we had never

seen them before. We have seen a lot of box elders

in our church and parsonage. Especial ly, the bugs

frequently appeared in a warm bedroom, kitchen,

l iving room, and even the bathroom during the cold

winter season. It was a very strange situation for us

because general ly we had not seen other bugs

during the winter before. Therefore, one of my dai ly

works for this past winter was to ki l l the box elders.

However, even though I ki l led many bugs al l day,

they were seen inside our house the fol lowing day

again. The more I caught the bugs, the more they

increased their members l ike weeds. Through their

horrible propagation power, I got a big spiritual

lesson; “Why do harmful things for a human being

have a strong influence on one’s l i fe?”

“Christ isRisen, Hallelujah!”

I bel ieve that our spiritual war is also simi lar. We have already

confessed Christ Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior in our faith. Through

God’s unconditional grace, we have received salvation and became the

fol lowers of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we are sti l l struggl ing with problems

of sin, a gui lty conscience, and difficult l i fe chal lenges in our dai ly l i fe. Why?

Because even if we have already experienced conversion, we do not yet

imitate the image of Jesus Christ ful ly. We are sti l l holding secular greed and

old practice in our mind, so we are fighting against those problems which are

persistent in one’s wi l l to l ive. I f so, how can we achieve a victory in this

spiritual war? We can receive a good lesson from Joshua’s words, “But if

serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for

yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your

forefathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in

whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will

serve the LORD” ( Joshua 24:15, NIV). Joshua encourages us to make a

good decision about whom you wi l l serve, and then you have to fight with

your enemy in spiritual war according to your decision. We can never go

forward to Christian perfection without the grace of God and guidance of the

Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are sti l l fighting a good fight against the spiritual

forces of evi l in our spiritual war through favor from God. If Jesus’ l i fe, death,

and resurrection are meaningful for you and if you

have already experienced undeserved, unmerited, and

unconditional grace from God, let us be soldiers of

Christ who put on the ful l armor of God to achieve a

victory in our spiritual war. When we throw away the

foreign gods that are among us and when we yield our

hearts to the LORD, risen Christ wi l l be with us in our

dai ly l i fe. I eagerly hope grace for you who love

our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. †

Grace andPeace in Christ.Pastor Jin-HoHong

“Christ isRisen, Hallelujah!”

Swimmingwith our

church friends!

I bel ieve that our spiritual war is also simi lar. We have already

confessed Christ Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior in our faith. Through

God’s unconditional grace, we have received salvation and became the

fol lowers of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, we are sti l l struggl ing with problems

of sin, a gui lty conscience, and difficult l i fe chal lenges in our dai ly l i fe. Why?

Because even if we have already experienced conversion, we do not yet

imitate the image of Jesus Christ ful ly. We are sti l l holding secular greed and

old practice in our mind, so we are fighting against those problems which are

persistent in one’s wi l l to l ive. I f so, how can we achieve a victory in this

spiritual war? We can receive a good lesson from Joshua’s words, “But if

serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for

yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your

forefathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in

whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will

serve the LORD” ( Joshua 24:15, NIV). Joshua encourages us to make a

good decision about whom you wi l l serve, and then you have to fight with

your enemy in spiritual war according to your decision. We can never go

forward to Christian perfection without the grace of God and guidance of the

Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are sti l l fighting a good fight against the spiritual

forces of evi l in our spiritual war through favor from God. If Jesus’ l i fe, death,

and resurrection are meaningful for you and if you

have already experienced undeserved, unmerited, and

unconditional grace from God, let us be soldiers of

Christ who put on the ful l armor of God to achieve a

victory in our spiritual war. When we throw away the

foreign gods that are among us and when we yield our

hearts to the LORD, risen Christ wi l l be with us in our

dai ly l i fe. I eagerly hope grace for you who love

our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. †

Ladies - Save the Date! Saturday, May

11th at 5:00 we are serving you dinner. It

is a women's night out.

This evening is open to any lady ofthe

church and community that would like to

come. And it's all free! †

A Night ofFun, Faith

and Fellowship

A delicious meal served by the men.

Entertainment and good fellowship.

A time to relax and refresh.

Breakfast andEasterEggHunt

Children'sChoir

Our newPraise Bandmember!

Issue 1

Beverly Hevrin lives at Franklin Grovenursing home. She is orginally fromRockford, Il and born ofSwedish parents.Her mother passed away when she wasaround 13. When she was 18 she soughtcomfort with the Salvation Army where shewas saved and learned to sing. The SalvationArmy had a lot ofSwedish speaking people atthat time so she sang in Swedish on a radiobroadcast. On March 12 she was asked tosing at the nursing home as an activityoutreach, so Charlene asked YunHee ifshewould play the piano for her. †

Our newPraise Bandmember!

Every year has a new set of challenges, as well as

goals, that we attempt to meet and fulfi l l . One of

those for our church is our “Raise The Roof”

campaign. Since the start of this fund raiser, we have

been successful at raising $3,381 .00. This campaign

is an ongoing project that has been established to

help off set the cost of a new roof for the church,

when it is determined that one is needed. Envelopes

of different denominations, for which contributions

may be made, hang on the display in the sanctuary.

In an effort to successful ly meet this challenge, please

consider taking an envelope, as you are able, during

the months that fol low. †

Issue 1

A check for $767.00was presented to JoeySagel, AFC ElementarySchool Principal, to beused for studentemergency needs.Individuals in thepicture are those whohelped with the supper.

Thanks to everyonewho helped make thispossible. †

Not present for the picture abovewere Dawn Summers, ValerieFair, Amy Hammond, PattiForrester, Karen and Ed Baylor.

Dinner"Murder at the Pie Auction" Dinner Theater

Saturday, Apri l 1 3th at 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, Apri l 1 4th at 4:00 p.m.

After years of trying unsuccessful ly topersuade Mother Mabel’s Pie BakingCompetition to come to Mynute , Alaska ,Phoebe Muffet and Minaret Towers final lyland the big contest when a Mother Mabelsecretary mistakes Mynute for Minot.Without the media and publicity, thecontest is bound to be a disaster. Addingto the tension is the fact that one of thecompetitors is writing a tel l-al l book thatthreatens to make everyone else look badby exposing petty jealousies, the seamyside of pie baking, and blackmail . Hoursbefore the contest begins, the pie judgegoes missing and turns up dead during thebidding for the pies baked by thecontestants. With an ample serving ofmotive and all the right ingredients formurder, Murder at the Pie Auction is theperfect dinner theatre recipe for big laughs,outrageous characters, and audienceparticipation in a wild pie bidding. †

I would l ike to invite al l who want to participate ina study of Christian’s timeless topic; PRAYER. Thisis a six weeks Bible study with six video sessions.The Bible study wi l l begin on Apri l 21st, 2013 andmeet every Sunday or Tuesday night from 6:30p.m. ~ 7:30 p.m. at the Church. We wi l l use thematerial , “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?”by Phi l ip Yancey. A main participant’s guide bookis $8.79. However, I would l ike to recommendanother suggested reading book by Phi l ip Yancey.The suggested reading book is of the same titleand the price is $11.55. The deadl ine wi l l beSunday, Apri l 7th for ordering the books. Bothbooks wi l l cost $20.34, which can be paid bycheck to J in-Ho Hong. If you wi l l be participatingin this study, or if you have any questions, pleasecontact Pastor Hong at 847-722-6357 orHYPERLINK "mai lto:hjhj lm66@hotmai l .com"hjhj lm66@hotmai l .com

Pastor's Bible Study

Community Garden

Spring will come!!! The broccoli is ready to plant as

soon as the snow is gone. Cabbage, peas and onions

will follow close behind.

We are hoping to use the garden as a way to

supply food to the school age childrem in Franklin

Grove. We hope to have a lunch program on Fridays

using food from our garden. The plan is to send a

supply offood and plants home to help with other

meals during the week.

Ifyou have leftover seeds from last year or this

year, think about donating them to our garden. A few

seeds can make a big difference to the diversity ofthe

garden. We would love to try to grow as many

different things as possible.

We are also looking for pine (untreated) 2"x6"

boards to create some raised beds. We will show

people the concept ofsquare foot gardening. The

raised beds will also give us the opportunity to enrich

the soil.

Thank you in advance for your support. †

Issue 1

Third Sunday Lunch wil l be Apri l21 st, fol lowing church service. Themenu wil l be meatloaf and mashedpotatoes.

The money donated towards theluncheon is used to support thegeneral Sunday School fund, whichhelps buy curriculum and supportSunday School activities. After thisone, May wil l be the last one for thisSunday School year. †

Alone

we can do so

little

Together

we can do so

much!

7lbs. 8 oz.Feb. 3rd

OurBabyGirl

Eulalia Ann Sokol

They say "the thirdtime is a charm"but forAnn andKarlSokol, it was the fourth time.Theirlittle girlwaswelcomedhome by bigbrothers Isaiah, Obadiah andAthanasius. †

OurBabyBoy

9 lbs. 7 ozs.

Jan. 28, 201 3

2:00 AM

God's

Blessing

Bryan Maurice Bishop

Bryan waswelcomedhome by hisbig brothersand sisters

JordanDenzellJasmineBryana †

A Night of Fun, Faith and Fellowship

DearFriends,

Thankyou forremembering us by yourmany acts ofkindness. We appreciatethe care you've shown us through yourphone calls, cards, visits, lunches andValentine basket.

Thanks again,HaroldandLeVaunRisdon

Issue 1

Franklin

Grove

UMC