Get to Your Feet!
Many of us know the familiar passage in Romans
3:22
We are made right with God by placing our faith in
Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who
believes, no matter who we are. Ok, so we believe...
therefore we?re made right with God ? that?s GREAT
news!
What next? As I camped out during my time with
the Lord, in the book of Acts over the past few
months, I was struck with the vibrancy of the first
century church. They were EXCITED about what
they were hearing...they would no longer be bound
by
the law, but were truly EXCITED about the free gift!
When our children were young, just after we moved
to Texas we were at the local grocery store doing
our weekly shopping when we heard, ?Mrs. Hoe-K-e-
stra, Sheila Hoe-k-es-tra please report to customer
service YOU have just won a brand new 10-speed
bike!? Sure, I had registered for the drawing, but
never dreamed I?d win anything plus I barely
recognized my own name when it was called ? so
there we stood (all 4 of us) jumping up & down,
screaming and laughing ? we were so EXCITED! We
enjoyed that bicycle many, many years before it hit
the junk heap.
How excited are you? No, not about the bicycle my
family won, but about your free gift? Yes, your name
was called, you?ve taken hold of the gift...how
EXCITED are you? Excited enough to stand in front
of the meat counter and jump up and down? Excited
enough to share it with a friend who doesn?t know
about it yet? Excited enough to walk across the
street and give your neighbor the same gift? Acts
26:16 tells of our Lord telling the Apostle Paul, ?Now
get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to
appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to
tell the world what you have seen and what I will
show you in the future.?
I challenge you...?Get to your feet!?
Sheila Hoekstra, Ministry Development
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Just Walk Across The Room
If you saw your neighbor?s house on fire would you
call the fire department? If you saw someone injured
in an accident would you call for an ambulance? Sure
you would, and trust that they would do the same for
you. But when it comes to telling someone about the
greatest news the world has ever heard, the
good news about eternal life through Christ's
accomplishment on the cross, we freeze up! It?s too
personal. I don?t want to offend anyone... I don?t know
what to say... I?ll just leave that to the
professionals.
Beginning March 4th, I invite you to join me on a
journey that will not only change your life forever, but it
will change Grace church. Come with me, as we ?Just
Walk Across the Room," and learn how to share
Christ with the people around us. We will learn the
Biblical basis for evangelism, and the practical tools
of evangelism. This series will challenge Christians
to move beyond their insulated ?evangelism-void
vacuum? while learning how to develop friendships,
discover stories, and discern next steps?in a clear,
conversational way.
Join us on Sunday morning during our worship
celebration time as we ?Just Walk Across the Room"
together. We are so united in this mission that our
Life Groups ministry will serve as a learning
environment for "Just Walk Across The Room" to
practice this together. I'm excited to see what God
does as we learn to...Just Walk Across The Room
together ? To reach our community for Christ . . .!
Joel Walters, Senior Pastor
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From Our Perspective
The following is an interview with Don Thoes who is a
serving Elder of Grace Church. He is a committed
believer, has attended Grace since 1994 and currently
serves on EFCA's Retirement Fund Board and Grace
Church Capital Campaign committee.
What has God been teaching you lately?
God has taught me and continues to teach me that he
has a mission for me. Not too long ago I developed a
Personal Mission Statement for my life. The first part
is the Misssion Statement consisting of 5 simple
sentences, the next is 20 activites I am committed to
in order to fulfil the mission. The third section is my
work commitment which goes something like this: A.
Build an island of health and strength. B. Work only
with those who are receptive to what I am trying to do.
C. Work only on things that will make a difference if I
succeed, and so on.
What is the most important thing you've learned
about walking with God?
The most important thing I have learned in walking
with God is that He is perpetual. You will never attain
the perfect walk on this earth. As you learn to walk
with God the walk will get closer.
How do you keep your time with God fresh?
The best way to keep your time with God fresh is to be
persistent and press on. Preparing to teach or share
also helps.
Who has been influential in your spiritual growth?
My wife has been very influential in my spiritual growth.
She is more spiritual than I.
How has being in a small group at Grace impacted
your life and the life of your family?
Over the years we have lived in different places which
can make it difficult to build relationships - The
people we have become close to are those we share
a small group with.
Complete this sentence...Some Day I?d like to...
Someday I would like to be a better writer.
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The Mission of Grace Church
The community of Grace is here to reach people for
Christ and to help those who already believe in Christ
become more like Him.
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Life Groups
Have you heard those words...Life Group? Have you
wondered what Life Groups were and how you can get
connected?
Life Groups are the Grace Church small group
ministry led by
our newest staff member, Kevin DeStefano. Kevin
describes Life Groups like this, "It's a group of people
living life together. People who want to care for one
another, grow together and make an impact in our
community for Christ."
Life Groups are the very heart of Grace Church and
have
already grown from 7 to 11 groups. There is no better
way to connect at Grace than through a Life
Group. If you are ready to make lifelong friendships,
and take your spiritual walk to a deeper level contact
Kevin at kevindestefano@hotmail.com or by calling
972.727.4512.
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What did they say?
The Grace Women's Ministries went to Jan Kay Ranch
in Paris, TX for Broken and Beautifully His Retreat.
Here's how God worked in the hearts of our
women...
"The Women's Retreat was an amazing weekend of
unity and encouragement. It may have been believed
that I was planning the retreat - but
WOW, did God prove otherwise! HE
orchestrated every moment of the retreat to create a
masterpiece. He made his presence and his
sovereignty so clear this weekend.
Ladies, may we continue to come, commit and cling to
our covenant God. And let us put on courage and
confidence as we anticipate Christ's return! ~ Laura
Hall
- "I don't always make the best use of my time but
the 42 hours of this years women's retreat was
definitely not the case. The time spent sharing and
getting to know these Godly women and being taught
God's Word through our highly genuine and
passionate speaker was great. I am inspired by
these sisters in Christ who's goal it is to glorify God in
their lives and to be a light and an encouragement to
others. I am truly blessed to have the Women of
Grace in my life."
- "One thing that has stuck in my head from this
weekend is that we are commanded to pray and not
lose heart. Satan is much more afraid of our PRAYER
than our works. Come to Him in prayer daily, hourly,
even minute by minute. He is the glorious King and
we come to Him as His bride. Are we ready and
waiting for Him to arrive?"
- "What a Blessing this year's Retreat was to both
the young and older ."
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What Are Those Connection Pads for, Anyway?
Have you seen them? Have you filled them out?
The reaction to the Connection Pads has been...well,
funny. Some asked, "Is this "BIG BROTHER" keeping
tabs on me?" "What are you going to do with this
information?"
The Connection Pads were a (not so original)
brainchild of Grace Church staff after recognizing the
importance of knowing when one of our own family
was missing but having no way to recognize this.
They found
themselves having to answer questions like, "Why
didn't
we know _____ hasn't been to church for the last 4
weeks?" "That visitor sped right past the information
booth, do you have her name?" "How can I
get on the e-mail list?"
Simply put, it is just another way to care about
our Grace family. We know that people are
God's
first priority, so they are our our first
priority!
Next time you're in the Grace worship service, please
don't ignore or simply pass the Connection Pads -
stop a moment, fill it out and pass it to your neighbor -
we care about you!
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