Blessed

November 9, 2025

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Josh Parsons - North Shore

Luke 6:17-26 ESV

“And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great

multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear

him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And

all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. 20 And he lifted up his

eyes on his disciples, and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are

you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22

Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil,

on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in

heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24 But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your

consolation. 25 Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you

shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you, when people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false

prophets.’”


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December 19, 2025
The Orchard Itasca shared the following testimony about Kenny's baptism during their weekly Sunday service. Kenny is a resident of the Forest View Nursing and Rehab Facility in Itasca where our people have been ministering for the past two years. Kenny and his friend, Karen now regularly attend services, and Kenny was baptized on Sunday, September 28. We rejoice in the fruit that is being born through this ministry! We are also excited that one of the couples who regularly participates in the ministry has plans to offer a Bible study at the facility. We pray that The Orchard Itasca will continue to bring light and hope to the residents and staff!
December 12, 2025
The Orchard Itasca shared the following testimony about how they are ministering at Forest View Nursing Home. A man named Christian is a resident at the Forest View Nursing Home where our people go to minister quarterly. He likely has some form of Parkinson’s Disease and because of this has lost most of the function in his hands and feet. Some of our people have visited with Christian on previous trips. At our July visit, a couple from our church Mike and Deb Marunde went to his room. Since it had been a few months since our last visit, they didn’t think he would remember them. However, when they introduced themselves, Christian looked up and said “Mike!” He remembered! He looked at Mike and said, “I miss you.”
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David Althoff from The Orchard Barrington shared the following testimony about how he has seen God work in his life at his baptism. For most of my life, I carried the weight of the world on my shoulders. I believed in Jesus, but only in an intellectual way, shaped more by church tradition than by a personal relationship with Him. I thought my success, security, and happiness depended entirely on my own efforts. I worked tirelessly to provide for my family, to control outcomes, and to fix every challenge that came my way. Sin wasn’t something I thought about because I measured life by my own standards, not God’s.