Let’s not pretend that parenting does not come with unique struggles. Every parent, no matter the stage, has obstacles and challenges to overcome. You are not alone in these challenges. Do not forget that hard work, diligent prayer, and pursuing the Lord is worth every bit of energy that you put in. Yes, your family may not ever be perfect. But the goal is not creating perfectly obedient children who are successful members of society. We hope that your kids are functional, but even more that they are trained in the ways of the Lord. If your children have a deep-rooted love for God and faith in His strength, they will not be easily pushed down by the forces of this world.
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This Sunday we are beginning the six-week Parenting class designed specifically for our Grace Church families. Meeting in the Library during first service at 9:00am. We desire to give you a taste for godly parenting, strategies, resources, and connections to help you thrive in your home. As you will see in the class, there is no one size fits all! We pray that you will come away with a passion for shaping your kids Godward, understand prioritizing your kids, how to communicate with them, how to protect them in this media age, how to lovingly discipline, and provide you useful strategies for different stages.

Have you ever heard something so incredible that you could not help but share it with others? That is what happens in the church. As we serve a good God, He is going to blow our minds with the incredible things we see Him accomplish in us and in others. We have been trying to be good stewards of those stories by telling them to the church on Sunday mornings in our services. We call them “God Stories.” Slaves being freed in Pakistan, cars being donated in Ukraine, lost people being found here at Grace...those are all examples of the incredible things God is doing both locally and globally! 

Why are we talking about this in our blog post? We want to steward your story. We want to tell, or allow you to tell, of the incredible things God is doing in your life or in the lives of those around you. When we tell of the faithfulness and goodness of God it edifies the body of Christ. What does that mean? It means that the way God has blessed you, will be a blessing for others to hear about. Your story may build someone’s faith. Your story may encourage someone who is facing a similar challenge. Your story may inspire someone to approach you for help or support. If we don’t tell these stories, we miss out on these blessings.

Do you have a story that needs to be told? I would love to hear it and consider how we might best share it with the church so that we can praise God with you. If you have a “God Story” to share you can get in touch with us in one of two ways. First, you can call the church office and setup an appointment to share it with us, or just share it with us over the phone. Second, you can email me to accomplish the same thing: pastorpaul@gracechurchkelseyville.org

-Pastor Paul Mollett

​What does it mean to be the best? Who determines who is the best? A few months ago I received an email saying Grace Church Kelseyville was voted "Best Church" in Lake and Mendocino Counties. Thinking this was a ploy to get us to cough up money or entertain an undesired conversation I didn’t respond to the email. A few days later we received a non-disclosure agreement that we would not tell anyone until the news was published. Then came a phone call asking if we received the emails. Okay, this must be real by this point, right? Well, it was! Congratulations church, the people of Lake and Mendocino Counties voted and Grace Church received the most votes! We received a packet full of different items to help us celebrate. We have a certificate, a medal, a door sticker and some other literature for us to post to show others how great we are. Pastor Brent and I even joked about wearing the medal around or preaching with it on. Something about this whole process just doesn’t seem right...

Who determines if a church is healthy or thriving? God! Did He vote for us? Does He think we are the best? If the combination of all of His churches make up His bride does He play favorites? We know that God has given us warnings and instructions about how to BE the church. How are we doing at honoring those? I don’t think any of these things were the consideration of those who voted for us. Maybe they like the way we love in the community? Maybe they received a toy from the toy drive or a Christmas tree when we gave them away. Maybe they ate a hotdog from our hotdog cart. Maybe they came to our office for help in a difficult time of need. Perhaps their children or grandchildren attend Awana or Refuge on our campus. We don’t know the extent of our impact as ministers. Our job is to follow the lead of our Savior and to love the world. He is the judge of how we are doing as a church. I feel honored to partner with a church that loves people well and models obedience. I feel honored that people of the world have noticed that and even voted accordingly. 

My hope is that you take some time to reflect and consider what your banner says. Psalm 20 talks about raising a banner. The banners we raise don’t promote us, but instead promote a worthy God. How high are you raising your banner? What words does your banner have written on it? What is your countenance as you raise it? My hope is that the world will see a church (individuals) with a deep love for God! Are you the best? Consider how God may lead you to be the best follower of Him that you can be, bringing Him the most glory from your life. I am so blessed to serve this county and even globally with you church and I really am excited that mankind has taken notice of our efforts to love them.

In Him,
​-Pastor Paul

More more more? Ball throw? If you have been around my house at all, this is what you will constantly hear. My son Judah’s favorite three words are “ball”, “throw”, and “more”. The first two, “ball” and “throw” are simply because he takes after me. Those are two of my favorite words also. Where does he get that third word though? I realized that again he got that word from me. He got that word from me because like all people who have inherited sin we always want more. We always want more because inside we are all stuck in the depravity of sin, always wanting more for me. ​

But is wanting more always bad? What if we say more to the Bible, more to worship, more to God, more to loving others, more to forgiveness, more to prayer, more more more. What a world we would live in if we stopped saying more more more to ourselves and started saying it to the things that God declares as good. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” What this means is that when we delight ourselves in God what we want more of, is what he wants more of for us. 
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So are you delighted in the Lord today? Do you want more of Him every day? My hope is that we all learn to say more to what God wants for us every day, and that we learn to stop saying more to the things of this world. 
-Pastor Josh

A member is a committed believer who seeks God and unity in the Church family. 

As believers of Jesus Christ, we more than just attenders on Sunday. We are brothers and sisters united by our faith. As church members we are united by our Salvation (What God has done for use through Christ), our Statement of faith (why we exist as a church), and our Structure (when and were we fulfill our purposes). 

Have you been coming to Grace Church for some time and want to know more about being a member of the church? Come to our next membership class to find out more. 

Membership Commitment
Having received Christ as my Lord and Savior and been baptized and being in agreement with Grace Church of Kelseyville’s statements and structure, I now feel led by the Holy Spirit to unite with the Grace Church of Kelseyville family.  In doing so, I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following:
 
I Will Protect the Unity of My Church
                ...By acting in love toward other members
                ...By refusing to gossip
                ...By following the leaders
 
I Will Share the Responsibility of My Church
                ...By praying for its growth
                ...By inviting the unchurched to attend
                ...By warmly welcoming those who visit
 
I Will Serve the Ministry of My Church
                ...By discovering my gifts and talents
                ...By serving to build up the body of Christ
                ...By developing a servant’s heart
 
I Will Support the Testimony of My Church
                ...By attending faithfully
                ...By living a godly life
                ...By giving regularly
 
I Will Commit to Personal Growth Through Fellowship within My Church
               …By growing large through corporate worship
               …By growing small through small groups
               …By seeking accountability from other believers

Need a reminder that you, as a believer, are a minister? We're offering up wallpaper for your phone to keep your brain focused on the things of the Lord! Add one today! (more options will be available every so often here on the church web site).

How to add wallpaper to your phone: 
1) Open this article from your phone.
2) Hold your finger down on the image you're wanting to save. Chose a saving option from the menu that popped up. (most people save to their photos so they can easily find it later)

Next steps depend on if you have an iphone or an android. 
For Android, click here for the tutorial. 
For iPhones, click here for the tutorial. 

If you know these words, then you may know this was spoken by the rich fool in Luke 12. Or possibly you know this phrase from the Apostle Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 15. This statement is quoted from Isaiah 22 and Ecclesiastes 8. The teaching is simple and addresses a poor focus on the temporary and not relying on God for provision. Yes, we should be thankful for yield of hard work and enjoy the fruits of labor. However, we are warned of gluttony, drunkenness, and seeking mere temporary pleasures. Yet often we get caught up in our lives focused on eating, drinking, and the pursuit of happiness. This is vanity and leads to hopelessness. 

I love how Jesus transitions from talking about the Rich fool to pleading with His disciples to not be anxious for anything, even food or clothes. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. If God cares for even the birds of the fields, how much more will God care for His children. Let us then seek His Kingdom first and we will have no reason to worry because we have a living hope in Jesus.

So, instead, let us come together for more than food, more than drink, and more than earthly pleasure. Let us, as followers of Christ, come together to break bread in remembrance of Jesus and encourage one another to put our sinful lives behind us and live abundantly in Christ.
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-Pastor Brent 

​Valentine's brings back so many memories. As Katie came home from the store with Valentine's for our kids to give out at school I had a flood of emotions and memories from when I used to do the same thing. I remember in 6th grade I was excited to give out Valentine's and began writing the names of my classmates on them. As I was filling out the names two different thoughts came to mind: "I don’t want to give one to ________ (insert the name of my enemy)" and "I don’t want to give one to_________ (insert the name of a cute girl from class)." My love had strings attached; I didn’t want to bless my enemy and I didn’t want to be vulnerable to something I wasn’t sure would be reciprocated.

Does God's love come with strings attached? Romans 5 tells us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. That would have made us enemies. God’s Word tells us to love our enemies. God also has a huge heart for the vulnerable: those kids or adults who have trouble feeling loved or even noticed by others, the person who feels unlovable because of something they have done or something that has happened to them.

Church, it's time to see our role as a reflection of God’s love to the world. Valentine's Day is the perfect reminder that God’s love does not have strings attached. Actually, quite the opposite. God’s love pushes us into areas where people who have never been loved before might experience it for the first time through us. So bake those cookies! Give that hug! Write that letter! Make that call! Love the world well as a reflection of the love that God has shown you.

-Pastor Paul