You Make the Difference - Tips on Gathering Well

Hello Grace Church family + friends. Gathering together on Sunday mornings is and always has been a very important part of our church's ministry. And a successful Gathering will always be corporate endeavor.  So here are some thoughts on gathering well... Be Intentional: Our mission + vision drives all we do: "Grace Church is a community of changed people committed to serve + renew the Greater Dunedin area with the movement of the Gospel." Everything we do is to this end and it can be summed up with one key word, discipleship (Matthew 28:19-20).  So, when we come to a Grace Church Sunday morning Gathering, let's remember #WHYWEGATHER  and come with an intentionality to grow, to learn, to serve, to give, to encourage, and to worship.  Do not come solely for social reasons. Do not come to be entertained. And do not come out of some begrudging sense of obligation (whether to God or to your church community).  Come because the MOST SATISFYING OBJECT in the universe has invited you to come and experience Him the best way one can... together, with other seekers. Be Committed: Another key component is to come regularly. Of course, we won't be able to make it church every single Sunday. Life happens; and there are plenty of good reasons to miss church. But I encourage each of you to make our Sunday Gathering a core part of your weekly routine; and to make regular attendance a priority. God most certainly isn't to be viewed as an "add-on" to your weekly endeavors and, therefore, neither should His people (nor our involvement with His people). "Let us not [give up or forsake] meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).  Also, a huge momentum-killer is a low turnout to church meetings. So, when you come, your presence and participation can do a lot for our church's forward momentum. Please consider that and realize what a crucial part that plays in the kingdom-building cause of our mission + vision. Be Punctual: Also, and related to that, being on time is also very important. When a large percentage of the Sunday morning crowd is 10 to 20 minutes late, unintentionally, a negative message is sent to our new comers and visitors. When our meeting space feels empty at 9:56am, it's not a pleasant feeling for a first-timer and, more importantly, no one is there to greet them and make them feel welcomed. And they can very easily get a sense that corporate worship may not be a priority to this group of people. Obviously, that's not the case for us and we don't want any new comers to feel awkward, so let's do our best to be on time. Be Curious + Expectant: Come ready to learn and grow through our times of teaching, our corporate worship, and our interaction with one another.  And may I encourage you to invest your mind and prayers into our teaching series and/or topic. Remain curious, ask lots of questions, and expect to learn something new. Also, give some thought to the text and/or topic ahead of time. Listen to the Grace Church Podcast to catch up if you missed a week. Consider doing some of the extra readings recommended throughout the series. Check the blog  and our Facebook page for more resources and quotes. Etc., etc., etc. The more personal effort you put into our Sunday Gatherings the more you will receive. I promise!  So, remain curious and come ready to be challenged, encouraged and equipped. In summary...  Coming with intentionality and expectancy while remaining committed and punctual will greatly help our Sunday morning Gathering experience together.  Let's keep going! May we experience all the spiritual growth and vitality we possible can together!  All are welcome. Sundays at 10am (DHS). Grace + Peace, P. Heath P.S. Oh...and invite a friend to join us!

GRACE - Receiving It + Giving It

Hello Grace Church family + friends!

Each February, we spend some time reflecting on the mission + vision of our church. It's important for us to remember why we do we do and what we hope to accomplish together as we follow God's call for Grace Church.

This Sunday will be our concluding Sunday in the series and we will be focusing on the grace of God and the grace God's people should provide to others.

Grace is tricky. 

Grace is often misunderstood. 

Grace is underestimated. 

And our prideful resistance to grace can keep us blind and deaf to God's continual invitations into the life he has called us to live. 

Flannery O' Connor once wrote, "All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful." Let's not resist God's grace. Together, let's fall in to the grace freely given to us in the wonderful Gospel of Jesus!

So what is Grace? One simple way to understand is Grace is to think of it as favor or kindness. But it goes further than that. It is favor or kindness shown without regard to the worth or merit of the one who receives it and in spite of what that person deserves. 

So grace essentially means gift. 

Due to our sinful (i.e., broken) condition, we desperately need the grace of God (Ephesians 2:1-10). Everything benevolent and lovely from God is due to this grace. It's all divine gift. 

So, in a fallen and broken world, grace essential. 

In a fallen and broken world, where we are both the victim and the perpetrator, grace is the only way we experience God; and showing grace to others in the best way to display God to the searching world around us. 

In a fallen and broken world full of fallen and broken people, grace may seem out of place, weak, and extremely difficult to give; but grace is always necessary. 

We, the body of Christ, the church, are the greatest recipients of God's grace; therefore, we should be great at giving grace to others. 

Join us this Sunday as we learn how to do this together!

Missed any Sundays in our A Church called Grace series? Here they are:

February 7th: Mission + Vision

February 14th: A Jesus Community
February 21st: A Serve + Renew Community
February 28th: A Grace Community (yet to be recorded)

Hope to see you Sunday morning at DHS. All are welcome. Invite a friend to join us!

Grace + Peace, 

P. Heath

Tim Keller on The Jealousy of God

This is a really great talk from Pastor Tim Keller on the Jealousy of God. God's law, his creation of man and woman and the sending of his Son all reveal a God who is passionately in love with his people. He doesn't just want us to serve him out of obligation, he declares to us, "Love me with all you are as I love you."

Jealousy of God

A Great Book on Church Unity + Mission

Something we forgot to mention in today's Gathering (on 9.07.14). John Armstrong wrote a great book, Your Church is Too Small, that deals with the issues we pondered as we read through Romans 14 + 15.  We highly recommend it and we some copies on the back table! Here's the scoop on John Armstrong and the book...

We’ve been friends and supporters of John H. Armstrong for a long time now. His current ministry, ACT 3 in Carol Stream, Illinois, serves “to advance the missional mandate of the Lord Jesus Christ in the third millennium.” Armstrong founded ACT 3, formerly Reformation & Revival Ministries, in 1991 for the purpose of encouraging the church, through its leadership, to pursue doctrinal and ethical reformation and to foster spiritual awakening. Read here about it’s mission and purpose. He has a new book coming out soon entitled Your Church is Too Small.

In Your Church Is Too Small, John Armstrong presents a vision of the unity possible for Christians across social, cultural, racial, and denominational lines. When Jesus’ followers seek unity through participation in the kingdom of God and the mission of Christ, they demonstrate God’s character to a watching world…

Book Description: Your Church Is Too Small gives voice to a gnawing sense many believers share: the contentious nature of differences among Christians cannot be pleasing to God. Jesus’ prayer in John 17, “May they be one as we are one,” seems like a dream possible only occasionally at best. Minister and teacher John Armstrong tells the story of how his own passion for Christian unity was ignited, shares his vision of individuals and churches united in the mission of God, and gives direction for how this vision can become a reality for God’s people. However, such unity will not happen by sheer willpower or denying the real differences among believing communities. Armstrong encourages Christians to rely on God—Father, Son, and Spirit—to build the worldwide church. Such reliance entails both a deeper experience in the triune life of God and a connection to the church’s past. More specifically, the history, belief, and practice of early Christians form the roots that today’s church requires to chart a unified path for the future.

Some other resources by John Armstrong:

John H. Armstrong’s Blog - ACT 3: Equipping Leaders for Unity in Christ's Mission

You can sign up to receive free podcasts, download lectures and sermons here at ACT 3. 

Watch and listen to this recent YouTube clip from Kiononia on Lesslie Newbigin’s life and influence.