December 2023
Magnifying the Lord Together
by Lexi Schmidt, Chicago City Director, LINC
Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together! Brothers and sisters, this is why we exist. There is no sweeter joy, no greater honor than witnessing the miraculous transformation God is doing in our lives. And the cherry on top? We get to be a part of it together.
Years ago, I was listening to a Stevie Wonder interview. Stevie had written every instrumental part on the Grammy winning album, Songs in the Key of Life. The interviewer asked Stevie why he invited the unknown artist, Greg Phillinganes, to play keys on the album when Stevie could have clearly played all the parts himself. Stevie replied that he simply wanted to invite Greg into the life-changing experience, something so much bigger than Greg was, but an experience that also wouldn’t be the same without him.
God can do absolutely anything, immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, and He invites us, sinners, to be a part of His story. Is there any greater grace than that? He could have brought Jesus into this world anyway He wanted to, and He chose Mary to be a part of the experience. Her response to the “more than she could ever ask or imagine” assignment is beautiful every time I hear it; “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” And we, generations upon generations later, call her blessed.
The gift truly is to be a part of it all, to be blessed to bless His name. That blessing comes in so many different packages; sometimes the blessing is favor and equipping, and sometimes the blessing is the hardship, the tough assignment, the failure, the rejection, and the breaking. He uses it all for the good of those who love Him.
We count ourselves blessed to be a blessing, part of a Gospel movement in Chicago and northern Illinois. What pure joy to serve together, each individual ministry living out its unique identity and calling to make a Gospel impact; the big C Church, magnifying the Lord together, that God might receive more glory through all of us – together. And praise God that our infinite God is also our intimate God, God with us as we live out our individual callings.
WITNESS: Encouraging personal witnessing, congregational engagement with their community, support of our NID partnerships and missions and sharing in a world mission field together.