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The line was long but the joy was still very visible. Our parking lot was full and overflowing and we were so glad to receive each person that came to our church campus. At the end of our event we were out of hot drinks, out of tasty treats, those who worked outside were soaked, and over 1000+ gifts were given away as thousands of people joined us for our toy giveaway. Those who worked inside likely ran out of words as they were guiding people through our sanctuary while learning their names, helping them find a toy, extending invitations for prayer and a brief gospel message when appropriate.
Why was this so fun? It was a great joy for me as a pastor to see the church in action. It was as if the body of Christ came alive on Saturday. Gifts of service were in use, gifts of evangelism, helps, prayer, encouragement, and an expression of love were evident. Everyone had a role and was operating in it. I saw parents leading their families to share the gospel and teaching them hospitality. I watched new church attenders being led by those who have been attending for years or even decades. I watched people who would otherwise not ever step foot on a church campus feel welcomed and invited. I watched the Gideons pass about hundreds of Bibles to those waiting in line. God Stories were abundant as prayers were being spoken over people who were anxious. Parents of children with special needs found our church family to be a listening ear and a safe place to share struggles and request help and prayer. Casa De Luce was a huge blessing as many of our visitors were primarily Spanish speaking and what could have been a lesser blessing was magnified because of their presence. Relationships going years back turned into invitations to come back to a place of worship and fellowship. I love that many of you were excited to introduce me to the people that you know in our community and even share of how your time in church has helped you grow. Thank you for the way you served the Lord and thank you for the way your service blessed me. -Pastor Paul The Toy Giveaway is this Saturday! If you have not yet signed up to help, please just come and help this Saturday. You can be on campus around 8:30am to be placed in a spot to serve. We are hoping for around 2000-3000 people to come to our campus and be welcomed by our awesome teams.
Invite someone! Do you know someone in the community who could use the blessing of a toy? Someone between birth and 12 years old? Invite them to come and eat a tasty treat, interact with our Christmas Characters and receive a toy. 9am-Noon Saturday December 2nd. Please tell them that children must be present to pick out their own toy. Pray! Each person who attends will be given the opportunity to hear the gospel, be prayed for and invited to church or other Grace Church Programs. We are calling on our church family to pray that we are effective in our attempts to show the love of Jesus to Lake County and put our church on the map as being a place they can join us in worshipping Him! What a cool Sunday! I really enjoyed praising God with you and watching you give Him thanks. As I reflect on all of the things that we as a church have to be thankful for, I cannot help but be overwhelmed by the goodness of God.
Did that gratitude that you offered on Sunday leave the room with you? If not, pick it up and take it with you. If you are in Christ you have so much to be grateful for. Practice what I spoke about on Sunday. Rejoice always, pray continually and give thanks in all things! I might encourage you do this OUT LOUD. Yes, it will be weird, but people need to know about a God that is so good to us. We should speak of His goodness. Rejoice! Proclaim the joy you have in the Lord! Pray, pray for others, yourself, to just speak to God. Give thanks, don’t forget where your blessings come from. All good things come from above! (God) We wish you a great time this week celebrating all that we have to be thankful for. We hope you have the opportunity to fellowship with others and the company of others things Thanksgiving Season. If you don’t have a place, I just want to remind you that the Kimsey’s and the Medlin’s are gathering at the church and all are welcome to join. You can bring a savory dish to share or if that is not your thing, you can come anyways. The meal and time together will be in the church gym and will go from 4pm-8pm. You can rsvp or just show up. I love you church, have a blessed week. -Pastor Paul Mollett Bring your thanks!
On Sunday we will gather to “Give Thanks!” Offering a “Thank you” has become common practice. Parents often instill this in their children at a young age. I think we have all given our kids that special look after they just received something from someone and said: “What do you say?” We can even be caught saying it as a practice or routine without even having thankfulness in our hearts at all. Every once in a while we see tears or other emotions accompany a thankful heart but this is certainly withheld for a time of great thanks. Those moments of great thanks typically come after a time where something great was given or a great service has been done that required lots of time or specific thoughtfulness to pull-off. Consider for a second the holiday, Thanksgiving. What is its purpose? To thank those around you? To be reminded of all of our blessings? To serve as a holiday to thank God for His many blessings? I don’t see why we should have to choose! We can praise God by thanking those around us that He has blessed us with. We can take a moment everyday to be reminded of our many blessings and offer thanks. We need to remember that God is the source of every good and perfect blessing we have received or will ever receive in our lives. This next Sunday, we will ask you to participate with us in a time of giving thanks. Come prepared with things you are thankful for written down. These things can be a “God Story” that you were blessed to be a part of in the past year. This could be thankfulness for God’s provision in your life, a miracle He has done for you, for protection, salvation! Did you have a child in the last year, adopt a child? We want to hear your testimony of God’s goodness to you and celebrate that as a church. At the end of the service we will ask you to bring your testimony of thankfulness forward and pin in to our Thanksgiving decorations. This will be a time for us to praise God for His many blessings and gather as a church family to share in that together. Don’t miss it. -Pastor Paul Mollett One of the biggest Christmas memories for Rachel Jensen and Elissa Reisbeck, who have been friends over the past 33 years, are the memories of singing together. As little girls, we spent a lot of our days up in Elissa’s dad’s music studio, belting out our best songs, while practicing and perfecting our voices (and performing for our American Girl dolls). We don’t know if that really perfected our singing voices as much as it surely grew our relationship and created memories forever. For Rachel, some of her very best memories that come to mind around Christmastime are singing and performing on stage at church with her sisters. Christmas is coming! With it brings so much joy and anticipation as we celebrate the coming of the Messiah with all of our meaningful traditions and the fond memories that come with that. “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”- Psalm 100:1-2 This is exactly what we envision in a children’s choir! Some of the singing may be more shouts than singing, but it is a joyful noise unto the Lord. The Lord has put it on our hearts to create that love for music in our children and we want to share that with the children of the church. We believe that creating a heart for worship is something that is so important for our children’s growth and relationship with the Lord. What better time than this Christmas to start! We will be having practices the first half of second service, starting November 19- December 10 from 10:45-11:15am. There will be a special practice on December 16 from 10:30-11am. The performance will be on December 17 at the beginning of both church services. We welcome children ages 3 (potty-trained) and up! We will be practicing two Christmas songs and they will be singing acapella. We pray that this will be a great bonding time for all the children involved and also a time spent joyfully praising our Lord during this Christmas season. If you’re a parent and want your child to participate, please contact Rachel or Elissa to sign up. If you’re not a parent of young children, we ask that you would pray that it will be a fruitful time, and hearts would be molded while the Lord would be glorified. We also invite you to come to the performance on December 17 and hear the joyful noises unto the Lord! We look forward to singing with the children and sharing in the joyful noise this Christmas! -Elissa Reisbeck and Rachel Jensen Over 80 ladies adventured up to Hartstone Bible Camp during this year's Women's Retreat. It was a spiritually encouraging time! As they enjoyed the beautiful scenery at the camp, they dug deep into the intricate details of true fellowship within the body of Christ. Throughout the retreat, ladies experienced a positive wide range of emotions, from moments of deep conviction and repentance, all the way to bursts of laughter. It was truly a weekend that provided opportunity for growth and refreshment. Our ladies had a variety of activities to choose from. Some enjoyed peaceful fishing at the camp's pond, while others tried out archery. Others ventured off onto the trails which provided opportunity to be reminded of God’s beautiful creation. And, of course, there were plenty of games that kept the spirits high and the laughter spreading. Not to mention the hilarious Grace Got Talent Show featuring a special appearance from the Beaudettes! But the true highlight of the retreat, aside from the spiritual growth, was the ample time for conversation and connection. Friendships were deepened, new friends were gained, new perspectives found, and stories were shared, making the retreat not just an event but a family reunion. We can't forget to note the incredible food throughout the retreat! As you go back to your everyday life, carry the lessons, the love, and the precious memories with you. It wasn't just about Jackalopes and Narwhals (inside joke for those who joined), it was about finding a deeper understanding of our faith and our connections with one another.
If you couldn't make it, here is your invitation to next year's retreat. Don't miss out on the chance to join our women as we continue to grow together in our faith and love for one another. We look forward to seeing you at the Women's Retreat in 2024! This weekend is Women’s Retreat at Hartstone Bible Camp! We are excited to send off our ladies for the weekend for a special retreat focused on the theme of fellowship using Colossians chapter 4. We believe that the power of prayer is critical. Please join us in praying for these ladies. RefreshmentPray that the ladies who attend will experience a deep refreshment. We hope for their spirits to be lifted, their burdens to be lightened, and their hearts to be filled with joy and hope. EncouragementPray that the messages, discussions, and interactions will inspire and uplift each woman, reminding them of their identity in Christ. ChallengePray that the retreat will encourage personal growth and spiritual transformation, pushing them to pursue fellowship and to step into their roles as women of faith. We firmly believe in the power of prayer and its ability to bring about change in our lives and the lives of those we are praying for. Your support in prayer for this women's retreat is greatly appreciated, and we trust that God will work mightily through the weekend.
I would be shocked if you had not heard about the unrest that has taken place in Israel and Gaza. It has been all over the news, I spoke briefly about it at church a few weeks ago and it even cancelled our trip to Israel that was planned just as the turmoil began. (I praise God for His timing and for the fact that we were not in Israel as this unfolded). What is a believer supposed to think and feel as we watch this unfold?
All sorts of feelings rush through my mind as I consider what is happening in and around Israel. My mind is flooded with the thoughts of what scripture says about Israel being a place of war and unrest and wonder what stages of Biblical Prophecy are being fulfilled. The humanity in me hurts for those that have lost life or are injured or displaced because of war. The lack of resources medically, food, water, shelter. The immense amount of stress and fear that families are living in at the moment. I think about the politics. What should our nation do to help? What is the political nature of Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran? If your mind works anything like mine, you think of the injustice for the innocent. Questions to God about why? What good is going to come of this? While researching, reading the articles, watching news outlets, listening to popular mainstream pastors and their perspective on the topic, this is happening because PEOPLE NEED JESUS! Without Him, we cannot properly love, care and understand the heart of God. The Jews and Israelis are angry and tired of being attacked by Hamas. The Palestinians feel as if they have been done an injustice by the Jews. Israel is a desirable place for its land, its religious significance, and a place where much brokenness and hurt has taken place. This hurt goes all the way back to Hagar and Ishmael. What is a believer to do? All people involved need Jesus! We pray for revival! The Jews need Jesus. They have rejected Him as their Messiah and they desperately need Him. The Palestinians are mostly Muslim and reject Jesus in favor of a different god. They need Jesus! The reality of war for people who reject God is that their death has eternal consequence. How can we accept perfect peace when the perfect love of Jesus is rejected? Pray for the salvation of all involved, pray for believers who are evangelizing during this time of war and unrest. Pray for wisdom for nations leaders. Pray for peace. Pray that God calls many hearts to Him through this terrible situation. Pray as Jesus modelled to us “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Please join me in prayer for those impacted by the chaos in the Middle East. -Pastor Paul John 16:33- "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
The question is not if we will have trials or sorrow our life. The question is when will we have sorrow? In fact, in John 16:33 Jesus promises us that we will have tribulation. We live in a world that is stained by the curse of sin. Many of you are going through this suffering and sorrow right now. I write this blog post looking out at so many people who are hurting in our church, in our county, in the world as these wars are going on. The world and the sin within this world are the cause for this pain and sorrow. The world does not have the answers to solve this pain, this sorrow that it caused. Anything that comes from the world will ultimately fail to sustain us through our times of trial. Today on my Worship playlist a song came on called 'Christ our Glory'. This is one of the verses from that song: "Though trouble and anguish increase all the more They cannot compare to the glory in store Come joy or come sorrow, whatever befalls The light of the Savior will outshine them all" Revelation 22:5 talks about this shining light of God that will illuminate the new heaven and new earth forever and ever. We serve this God. This is the God who split the red sea. This is the God who destroyed the prophets of Baal. This is the God who came down to earth and died for our sins. This is the God who has overcome the world. This is the God who we must run to in our trials, in our sorrow, and in our joy. Because our perfect Savior Jesus Christ will outshine our sorrow and our joy because he is better. Lean on Christ today in your joy and in your sorrow. He is the Good Shepherd. We are the sheep. He is the Almighty Father. We are the little children. He has overcome the world. - Pastor Josh Who doesn’t remember as a kid, laying on the couch watching your favorite movies, cuddled up in a warm blanket, towel on your forehead, sick. For me, those memories of being sick and laid up on the couch are actually, quite fond. It feels good to be fully taken care of, someone checking on you, making sure you’re okay and well fed. Something about that warms your soul, makes you feel like you mean something to the family member taking care of you. Who was it that usually took care of you as child when you were in need? How did it make you feel?
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:9 that “we are adopted into Gods FAMILY and have become Gods children.” If this is so, we should then be caring for our family members the way God intended us to. If a brother or sister is in need we should help carry their burdens as it talks about in Galatians 6:2 and further goes on to say in verse 10 “Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the FAMILY of believers.” Some of you may be unaware of the Meal Ministry here at Grace, so I wanted to share with you some about what it is. As I mentioned above, we are all part of one family and the meal ministry reaches our members in need by bringing them a meal during a hard time and unexpected events but also reaches out to people in Joyous times too. Meals are delivered for a week or two weeks or even more by their FAMILY members in Christ. I think this is a fantastic way to carry each other’s burdens and encourage our brothers and sisters in need, to help them feel a part of the family. My family has been blessed many times by this ministry and it has filled our cups during great and also hard times. The compassion that is poured into a home cooked meal or even a meal purchased with love is something that really does nourish the soul. I encourage you to prayerfully consider being a part of this ministry and serving our family members in need. If you are interested you can send me a text or email with your contact info and when we have someone in need I will reach out to you. It doesn’t take much to cook up a meal or share what you’re already making for dinner and it can really make an impact on someone else’s life! Or maybe YOU are a member in need and the blessing of a meal would really help you at this time. We would love to bless you too. So, please reach out! If you have more questions about this ministry feel free to call me or find me at church! Elissa Reisbeck 707-349-9479 misslissh@gmail.com |
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LocationOffice Hours: M-Th 8:30am-4pm
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