Five weeks. Five rooms. The Owner came home.

Happy Tuesday, Reader

Easter is over.

And I want to say something that does not always get said the week after:

You did the work.

Five weeks ago, I asked you to do something most people avoid. Walk through the house. Not the presentable rooms. The ones you lock before guests arrive. The ones that have been dark so long you forgot what was in them.

You went into the Prayer Closet. You turned the lights on.

You went into the Relationship Room. You picked up the IOU you had been carrying.

You went into the Mind. You named what had been running your life without your permission.

You went into the Worship Room. You woke it back up.

And then Sunday happened.

The Owner came home.

Not to a perfect house. To an honest one. And that is exactly what resurrection requires.

The series is done. But the door you opened? Keep it open.

Watch The Replay

What I'm Carrying This Week

Easter was a win. Full stop.

The message landed, the house was ready, and every person who showed up, in person and online, showed up for something real.

Before we move on to anything else, I want to say this clearly: you showed up. Thank you.

Now we breathe for exactly one day. Then we build.

Which room in PREPARE THE HOUSE required the most from you?

🕯️ The Prayer Closet — I had to get honest about my prayer life

💬 The Relationship Room — I had a debt I had been carrying for years

🧠 The Mind — the way I think has been working against me

🙏 The Worship Room — I had been going through the motions

🏠 All of them — every single week hit something real

Drop your answer. And if you have not watched the Easter sermon yet, watch it this week. Come back and drop DONE when you finish the practice.

This Week's Practice

The series is over. The practice is not.

Pick the room that hit you hardest. The one you opened the door to but did not fully walk into.

Give it 15 minutes this week. Not to fix it. To finish naming it.

Then tell one person what you found and what you made room for.

What I am watching this week:

Two weeks until the next series. On April 19, we launch THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE. Five weeks. Jonah, Peter, David, the Prodigal Son, and Thomas. This series is built for the person who showed up Sunday for the first time and the person who has been in your row for ten years. Both need what is coming.
Rest is not laziness. It is preparation. You poured out this season. Let something pour back in. You cannot sustain what you do not replenish.

What's Coming April 19

THE GOD OF THE SECOND CHANCE

One question is going to drive this entire series:

Is there something in your life you thought God was done with?

Jonah. Peter. David. The Prodigal Son. Thomas.

Five people who thought the story was over. Five times God said: Not yet.

April 19, 2026, at 10:30 AM CST.

Start asking that question in your circles this week. That is the conversation that fills a room.

[JOIN US APRIL 19 →]

Giving

Every week of this series, somebody opened a room they had not been in for years. A prayer closet they had abandoned. A relationship they had written off. A mind they had stopped fighting for. A worship room running on empty.

That happens because people like you make Mars Hill Anywhere possible.

Everything we do, the online services, the resources, the community runs because people like you choose to invest in it.

Give Securely

Support the mission securely at marshillchicago.org/giving, in our mobile app, or by texting MHGIVE to 33777. You can also mail checks to:

Mars Hill Baptist Church
PO Box 6159
River Forest, IL 60305

The series is done.

But here is what I know about the people who actually did the work:

You are not the same as you were five weeks ago. The Prayer Closet is lit. The Relationship Room has been cleared. The Mind is being retaken. The Worship Room is awake.

And the Owner walked back in on Sunday.

Not because you finished. Because you opened the door.

Keep it open.

See you this Sunday Online.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.

P.S. The Easter sermon replay is live. If someone you know missed Sunday or if you want to sit in it again, send them the link. Some people need to hear that resurrection does not require a perfect house. It just needs an open door.