A couple quick things as we head toward the weekend. Our Men’s Breakfast is coming up tomorrow at 8:00am; it’s always a great time for the guys in our church to gather, encourage one another, and grow together. We’re also stepping into Reach Week, which is a simple opportunity for all of us to intentionally engage with our community in a variety of ways, as well as praying for the one person God has placed in our lives who may be far from Him.

Those reminders matter because the heartbeat behind them is the same question we keep coming back to in our SEEN series: who around us needs to encounter Jesus?

I hope you’re having a great week. A quick couple of reminders as we head toward the weekend: Forward pledges begin this month, so if you haven’t already, this is a great time to set up automated giving on the NBC app. Renovations are also underway at the Caring Center as we prepare that space for expanded ministry, and don’t forget that daylight saving time begins this weekend, so be sure to set your clocks forward Saturday night.

Thank you, Northbrook!

Our total Forward commitment is $3,303,027—praise the Lord! That includes the cash-in-hand Kickstart gifts of $823,062. And the total continues to grow as commitments are still coming in.

We’re still celebrating what God did among us. Watching baptisms and seeing new life declared was powerful. Celebrating this generous response to Forward was just as meaningful. More than the numbers, what stirred our hearts was the spirit behind it—surrender, obedience, and love for the Lord. When God moves like that, there’s only one right response: we keep leaning in.

This Sunday is Forward Celebration Sunday, and I’m genuinely looking forward to it. We’ll share what the Lord has done through your pledges and kickstart gifts, and we’ll celebrate several baptisms as well. It’s going to be a powerful reminder that God is at work among us, both in our shared mission and in individual hearts. I can’t think of a better combination than stepping forward together in faith and watching new life publicly declared.

We’re excited about Forward Commitment Day, and as you prepare for Sunday, we want to make next steps clear. You can watch this short video for instructions on completing your Commitment Card.

This is a meaningful moment for our church family to respond to what God has been stirring among us. Forward isn’t just a decision on paper. It’s about aligning our hearts with where God is leading and trusting Him enough to move. And moments like this surface an honest question: when God makes His direction clear, will we step forward or stay where it feels safe?

This past Sunday, Pastor Keith walked us through the Giving Exercise. If you missed it—or want to revisit this helpful exercise—you can watch it online anytime.

Watch Now ›

This personal coaching moment is designed to help you prayerfully consider what a generous, sacrificial response to God might look like for you and your family. Take time this week to walk through it.  Download Giving Exercise Card ›

Get Ready for Sunday

It’s easy to assume that what we see is all there is. But what if the biggest realities shaping your life right now are the ones you’re missing? When pressure rises, are you responding to what’s actually happening or only what feels most threatening? This matters because how we see shapes how we trust.

It’s easy to confuse generosity with faithfulness. We can give something and still keep ourselves at the center. That raises an uncomfortable question worth sitting with: are we offering God what costs us, or only what feels safe? This matters because generosity shaped by grace loosens our grip on control and reorders what we truly trust.

This Sunday, we’ll turn to Mark 12:41-44 and watch Jesus quietly observe a moment most people missed.

We often talk about legacy, but most of the time we mean reputation. Legacy is different. Legacy is what gets passed on, not just what gets remembered. So here’s the question worth slowing down for: what is actually being passed on through your life right now? This matters because every life leaves something behind, whether we’re intentional about it or not.

This Sunday in our FORWARD series, we’ll look at 1 Chronicles 29 and a powerful moment near the end of King David’s life.

Sometimes the most important step forward isn’t action, but attention. Before God moves powerfully through us, he often slows us down to remind us where real strength comes from. So here’s a searching question worth sitting with: when pressure rises, do you instinctively plan harder, or do you pray deeper? That question matters because what we depend on first usually reveals what we trust most.

This Sunday, we begin our FORWARD journey by looking at Nehemiah 1 and the kind of prayer that precedes lasting renewal.

Happy New Year to everyone! We pray that you'll experience a renewed sense of God's presence and the work of the Holy Spirit in your life this year in many tangible ways. And we also pray for and anticipate great things to happen in and through us as a church family. 

Now, as we look forward to Sunday, we know that it’s often possible to look like we're moving forward while actually standing still, like running hard on a treadmill but not going anywhere. That raises a hard but necessary question: are you truly pressing forward in your faith, or just spinning your wheels without real progress? This matters, because movement without direction and progress eventually leads to exhaustion, not growth.

This Sunday, Pastor Keith will open Philippians 3:12–21, where Paul speaks honestly to believers who are still in process and warns us not to settle into spiritual autopilot.

Spiritual drift rarely starts with rebellion. It starts with distance. So here’s the question: where have you been quietly cooling off toward God, even though you're still “showing up”?

This Sunday Pastor Dave will be walking us through Hebrews 10:19-25, one of the clearest passages in Scripture on how faith endures when life gets heavy. The author isn’t trying to shame tired believers. He’s trying to pull them back into nearness.

When life presses in, most of us instinctively pull back. But what if the moment you feel most exposed, weary, or overwhelmed is actually the moment you’re meant to move closer? Where do you usually run when you’re in need?

This Sunday in our Advent series Transfixed, we’ll turn to Hebrews 4:14-16, a passage that doesn’t invite us to admire Jesus from a distance but to move toward him with confidence.

This Week at Northbrook: Dec 12, 2025

What you give your attention to eventually shapes your direction. So let me ask you: are you steadily gazing at Jesus, or slowly drifting with only an occasional glance his way?

This Sunday in our Advent series Transfixed, we’ll turn to Hebrews 2:1-4, where we’re warned that spiritual drift doesn’t happen through rebellion but through neglect. These verses were written to tired, pressured believers who were tempted to loosen their grip on Christ.

This Week at Northbrook: Dec 5-11, 2025

Every one of us is being shaped by whatever we give our deepest attention and affection to. So let me ask you: what has been quietly pulling your focus away from Jesus lately?

This week in Transfixed, we’re looking at Hebrews 1:4-14, a passage that reminds us why our faith rests on only Jesus. In a world full of competing voices and impressive substitutes—at least surface-level—, Hebrews shows us the unmatched authority, goodness, and rule of Christ.

This Week at Northbrook: Nov. 28, 2025

Some things only change when you really see them. And the same is true for your faith. So let me ask you: When was the last time you slowed down long enough to truly look at Jesus, not just glance his way?

This Sunday we begin our Advent series, Transfixed, by walking through Hebrews 1:1-4. It’s a passage that pulls back the curtain and shows us Jesus in all his glory. Not just the baby in the manger, but the eternal Son who reveals God’s heart, who sustains all things by his powerful word, and who finished the saving work we could never do. Advent isn’t about trying harder to feel Christmas; it’s about fixing our gaze on the One who holds everything together.

This Week at Northbrook: Nov 21, 2025

A covenant only works if you keep choosing it. So here’s the question: what are you saying “I do” to with your life right now, and does it actually lead you toward God or away from Him?

This Sunday in Forged, we’ll walk through Deuteronomy 30:11-20, where Moses invites God’s people to step into a covenant relationship that leads to real life.

This Week at Northbrook: Nov. 14, 2025

Every day you are moving down a path—toward blessing or toward breakdown. The question is, which direction is your life actually headed?

This week in Forged, we’ll walk through Deuteronomy 28, where Moses lays out two very different paths for God’s people. One path is marked by obedience that opens the door to God’s favor. The other is shaped by disobedience that slowly unravels the life God intends.

This Week at Northbrook: Nov. 7, 2025

Marriage isn’t something humans invented that God later blessed; it’s something God designed that we get to walk in. What if marriage is meant to shape you more into God’s image than into your ideal of happiness?

This Sunday, guest preacher Chris Corder will unpack God’s design for marriage from Genesis 2:24 and invite us to see that marriage isn’t just for the married, but it’s a reflection of the gospel that shapes every one of us.

This Week at Northbrook: Oct. 31, 2025

Love isn’t something you master once. It’s something you learn over a lifetime. What if the reason your love for God feels stagnant isn’t because He’s distant, but because you’ve stopped cultivating it?

This Sunday in Forged, we’ll open Deuteronomy 6:1-9 and see what it really means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

This Week at Northbrook: Oct 24, 2025

Forgetting what God has done isn’t just careless, it’s dangerous. When you lose sight of His faithfulness, you start drifting toward substitutes that can’t sustain you. So the question is what part of your faith have you stopped remembering to live out?

This Sunday, Pastor Keith will walk us through Deuteronomy 4:1-9, where Moses challenges God’s people to remember His truth, live it out boldly, and guard it diligently.