One of the most effective ways to get connected to Grace is through a Small Group. Small Groups are, as the name describes, a small group of people coming together to share their lives.  Here, God’s word is studied, mutual burdens are carried, and each others’ needs are brought to the Lord in prayer.  Deep and lasting friendships are established, many of which long outlive the life of a particular group and reach across the distance of time and space. 

Our Small Group Ministry has had its ebbs and flows and over the last year or so it has been ebbing.  So, over the past months a plan for revitalizing our small group ministry has been prayerfully and carefully evolving.  I’ve been meeting with three Elders here at Grace, Kirk Ball, Kevin Gallagher & Kevin Natrin and together we’ve worked on a plan to revitalize this ministry.  There are, of course, a good number of existing, vibrant small groups that will continue, structured as they have in the past.  Some of these groups are a part of previous small group systems, and some are spontaneous groups that are quietly and effectively touching the lives of many.  Our desire is to come alongside existing groups with a structured approach that will expand the number of small groups available to shepherd our congregation.  Existing groups may or may not become a part this newly structured ministry (you know the adage, “if it aint broke don’t fix it!).  In this new system the three elders I mentioned before will be coaches who will provide support and encouragement to small group leaders.  In our new system, each coach will shepherd the leaders of up to five small groups.  So, at the moment, we’re prepared to care for up to fifteen small groups.  Our hope and prayer is that the Lord will raise up new coaches as the number of small groups grows.  A key and central feature of our small group ministry will be developing new leadership and thus each small group leader in the new system will have an “apprentice” whom he is mentoring and bringing into leadership. In this way we will have a constant supply of new leadership and thus the ability to multiply the number of small groups.  This growth will not happen overnight but we are confident that, by God’s grace, in the years to come, we will have a more vital small group ministry than ever before.

Please be in prayer for this new facet of our Small Group Ministry.  Pray for leaders.  Pray for apprentices.  Pray for the lives of many to be touched by our Lord as He uses this part of the ministry of Grace.

Jonathan Seda 

“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!”

These are not the words of glee or gloating over the fallen one, but these are the words of mourning over this fallen one and the depths to which he fell!

God loves all of his creation! And he is not immune to the suffering of his creatures. Suffering occurs when there is an investment in something or someone and that investment is lost, wasted, or resisted by the one in whom the investment is made. Hence the investment made in Lucifer of beauty and brilliance and leadership was lost in that he became proud and resisted the One who gave him these gifts!  So the suffering that God expresses is that of the loss of one of his creatures in whom he had made an incredible investment! And God, who is love, suffered the consequences of this loss without exempting himself from the pain of it!  For love does not exempt itself from the possibility of pain or the pain of others. Those who wish for a world without suffering are wishing for a world without love.

If God had created a world that was exempt from suffering he would have had to make a world that is free of love!   That was impossible and would be out of his character! He could not remove love, but he can remove the effects of pain and suffering. And he does it through his Son, Jesus, who submitted to suffering for loves sake. Because he loved us he joined us in our pain and suffering in order to bring us to God and remove the effects of pain and suffering by rising from the dead.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"

Revelation 21:3-5

 

Kenny Foster

 

Article of interest: posted by Jonathan Seda

The New Shape of World Christianity
Thursday, July 23, 2009, 8:55 AM
Joe Carter

In his new book, The New Shape of World Christianity, historian Mark Noll provides some intriguing—and, for those of us in the West, sobering—facts about the state of the faith around the globe:

This past Sunday it is possible that more Christian believers attended church in China than in all of so-called “Christian Europe.” Yet in 1970 there were no legally functioning churches in all of China; only in 1971 did the communist regime allow for one Protestant and one Roman Catholic Church to hold public worship services, and this was mostly a concession to visiting Europeans and African students from Tanzania and Zambia.

This past Sunday more Anglicans attended church in each of Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda than did Anglicans in Britain and Canada and Episcopalians in the United States combined—and the number of Anglicans in church in Nigeria was several times the umber in those other African countries.

This past Sunday more Presbyterians were at church in Ghana than in Scotland, and more were in congregations of the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa than in the United States.

The past Sunday more people attended the Yoido Full Gospel Church pastored by Yongi Cho is Seoul, Korea, than attended all the churches in significant American denominations like the Christian Reformed Church, the Evangelical Covenant Church or the Presbyterian Church in America.

This past Sunday the churches with the largest attendance in England and France had mostly black congregations. About half of the churchgoers in London were African or African-Caribbean.

Today, the largest Christian congregation in Europe is in Kiev, and it is pastored by a Nigerian of Pentecostal background.

This past week in Great Britain, at least fifteen thousand Christian foreign missionaries were hard at work evangelizing the locals. most of these missionaries are from Africa and Asia.

For several years the world’s largest chapter of the Jesuit order has been found in India, not in the United States, as it had been for much of the late twentieth century.

Check out this article at the Reformed Resurgence website about a PCA pastor and congregation in NYC. 
Posted by Emily Andres

Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Whenever we come together around the table, take bread, bless it, break it, and give it to one another saying: "The Body of Christ," we know that Jesus is among us. He is among us not as a vague memory of a person who lived long ago but as a real, life-giving presence that transforms us. By eating the Body of Christ, we become the living Christ and we are enabled to discover our own chosenness and blessedness, acknowledge our brokenness, and trust that all we live we live for others. Thus we, like Jesus himself, become food for the world. (Henry Nouwen)

Posted by Jonathan Seda

Here's a 4 minute video documentary from Andy Jordan of the Wall Street Journal about some important ministries dealing with pornography addiction and the road to recovery. If this is a battle for you or if you need internet protection for you or your children, check it out. (In our home we use SafeEyes by InternetSafety.com). Posted by Jeff Rakes. 1 Cor. 6:18. 

Click link below to view the video or for more info.

Blessings, 
Jeff Rakes

 I was greatly blessed this afternoon with a few rich moments of private worship while listening to a song from Hillsongs Church in Australia. The song hasn't been released yet on CD but a video recording version can be viewed on CCLI TV. I don't know how long this link will work (I think they rotate in new videos every few days). If it doesn't come up when you get to the site, look for the song "It's Your Love". I know everyone may not relate to this particular style of music, but the Lord used to bring me into His presence in a celebration of the gospel and to rejoice in His love.  So, if you can relate to the music, sit back, take it full screen, turn it up . . . and worship!

It's Your Love Hillsongs

Worshipping our Lord Together!

Jeff Rakes