good news in the neighborhood

God doesn’t want part of your life. He wants your whole heart.

In Exodus 34–35, God renews His covenant with Israel and makes His expectations unmistakably clear. He calls His people to reject divided devotion, trust Him with their time and resources, and willingly live under godly authority. In this message, we look at three things God wants from His people:

• Total devotion — not a faith mixed with everything else

• Our best time and resources — not whatever is left over

• Healthy spiritual authority — without giving up our own access to God through Christ

The question isn’t simply, “Do I believe in God?” It’s: Does God actually have all of me? If following Jesus only fits around our preferences, schedules, ambitions, and independence, we may be giving God something very different from what He has asked for.

📖 Scripture: Exodus 34–35

Join us Sundays: 8.30 + 9.45 + 11.15 at 312 E Wood Street, Palatine, Illinois — Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago. www.gnn.church

 

This week's message takes us into Exodus 33–34, where Moses finds himself needing more than God’s provision—he needs God’s presence. After Israel’s failure, Moses asks God some deeply personal questions: Who are You? Where is this going? And will You go with us? What follows is almost like a re-introduction to God Himself. We’re reminded that His presence is what makes His people distinct, His glory reveals who He is, His name is the LORD, and His character is compassionate, gracious, patient, faithful, and forgiving. It’s easy to want what God can provide for us, but Moses understood that the greater gift is God Himself. If His presence doesn’t go with us, nothing else is enough. Join us as we look at what it means to know God, not just know about Him, and be reminded of the God who stays faithful even when we don’t.

Join us Sundays: 8.30 + 9.45 + 11.15 at 312 E Wood Street, Palatine, Illinois — Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago.

www.gnn.church

When Moses didn't come down from the mountain fast enough, Israel built a god they could see — then gave it credit for a rescue it had no part in. This week's sermon traces that story to ask what we forget about who actually got us here, and why remembering takes intention. Scripture: Exodus 32

Join us Sundays: 8.30 + 9.45 + 11.15 at 312 E Wood Street, Palatine, Illinois — Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago. www.gnn.church

 

Equal treatment under the law sounds like a modern ideal, but this week's sermon traces it back to the case laws in Exodus — and shows how God's justice was never about equal outcomes, but equal protection for the poor, women, and foreigners. Scripture: Exodus 20

Join us Sundays: 8.30 + 9.45 + 11.15 at 312 E Wood Street, Palatine, Illinois — Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago. www.gnn.church

 

We spend so much energy staring at what our neighbors have that we lose sight of what God's already given us. This week's teaching sits in the tenth commandment, "you shall not covet", and points to gratitude as the real cure for comparison. Scripture: Exodus 20:17

Join us Sundays: 8.30 + 9.45 + 11.15 at 312 E Wood St., Palatine, IL — Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago. www.gnn.church

Looksmaxxing, sleepmaxxing, proteinmaxxing... our culture has a hack for optimizing every part of life, but never a point where it says "enough." Scripture: Exodus 20:8–12

This week's sermon looks at two commands in Exodus 20 that offer real joy instead: keeping the Sabbath and honoring your parents. The Sabbath command turns out to be older than the Ten Commandments themselves — built into creation, not just Israel's history. And "honor your father and mother" comes with its own modern loopholes, the kind we're usually too busy or too "boundaried" to notice we're using. This week's sermon looks at two commands in Exodus 20 that offer real joy instead: keeping the Sabbath and honoring your parents.

Join us Sundays: 8.30 + 9.45 + 11.15 at 312 E Wood St. Palatine, IL—Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago. www.gnn.church

 

God's rules were never meant to keep you from something. They were meant to protect you for something.

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-7

Pastor Luke continues the study through Exodus, opening up the first three of the Ten Commandments: have no other gods, make no idols, and don't misuse God's name. Along the way he unpacks how easily good things like family, success, fitness, or politics can quietly take God's place, and why steadfast love, not fear, is what's actually waiting on the other side of obedience.

Join us Sundays: 8.30 + 9.45 + 11.15 at 312 E Wood St. Palatine, IL
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Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago. www.gnn.church

Most people believe in a God who gives everything and asks for nothing in return — but is that actually the God of the Bible?

Working through Israel's arrival at Mount Sinai, this message unpacks what it actually means that God chose His people for a job, demands to be known, and sets high standards — not to hold us back, but to protect us and push us toward real freedom. It's an honest look at why a God who "asks for nothing" isn't the God revealed in Scripture, and why that distinction changes
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Good News in the Neighborhood is a multi-ethnic, Bible-teaching, life-giving church in the NW suburbs of Chicago. www.gnn.church 

sunday sermons + good news weekly live from good news in the neighborhood, a new church led by luke + kristen macdonald in the nw suburbs of chicago. we are a multi-ethnic, bible teaching, and life giving church.

 

find out more about us becoming + bringing the good news at

 

www.goodnewsintheneighborhood.org

sunday sermons + good news weekly live from good news in the neighborhood, a new church led by luke + kristen macdonald in the nw suburbs of chicago. we are a multi-ethnic, bible teaching, and life giving church.

 

find out more about us becoming + bringing the good news at

 

www.goodnewsintheneighborhood.org