Jan. 13, 2010 Grace Weekly

Verse for the Day:  Proverbs 3:3-6 from the Message:

^3-4 Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
   Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well
   in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

 5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
   don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
   he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
   Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
   your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
   give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
   your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
   don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
   a father’s delight is behind all this.

Grace Received:  Great news! Last Wednesday night following the teen worship service, one young man accepted Christ. As Paul said in Ephesians 2, we are saved by grace through faith, not of works so that no one can boast. Praise God for another who has experienced the saving grace of forgiveness and new life in Christ!  Congratulations to Sydney Kabrich, Zachary Taylor, and Connor Thomas who were baptized into the Christian faith Sunday morning! 

   After services here on Sunday, I drove to West Virginia to visit my ailing aunt Gail, and to attend the funeral service of a girl named Natalie, whom I had the privilege of holding in my arms a few hours after she was born 17 years ago when I was serving as the youth pastor of the church her family attended.  Natalie’s parents have been dear friends of ours for over 18 years and their daughter’s death was a sudden shock.  What has sustained my aunt in a hospital in Charleston, WV who has been terribly sick for several months, is the same thing that is carrying a broken hearted family through the valley of the shadow of death- which is the same thing that came to a teenage boy in Clarksville, TN last Wednesday night – and that comes to all of us in new and fresh ways this very day – the abundant, amazing, always-enough grace of God.

Grace Shared: As normal, I have received some great reports from our 2:42 groups which met in homes all over Clarksville Sunday night. Relationships are being strengthened, joys are being celebrated, and burdens shared. I am grateful for the gift of each other, and the ways God is at work in and through our relationships at Grace.  If you have not yet become part of a 2:42 group, I invite and encourage you to give it a try.

Grace Extended: Last Friday night another of our 2:42 groups provided transportation, a hot meal, warm hospitality, and extended the love of Christ to a group of homeless men with Room in the Inn.  More and more people are experiencing the fulfillment that comes when we serve others, and it is a beautiful thing! Then on Monday, God’s grace came through Roger and Kay Deffendall, Grace House, and several others who had been reaching out to Roy and Cindy, a couple who found themselves without a home.  By the end of the day, they had an apartment, several furnishings, two TV’s, and a whole lot of hope!  The One who has begun a good work in them will surely bring it to completion (Phil. 1:6)!

We also celebrate an overwhelming vote of approval for our remodel project which will begin this week.  We will be communicating necessary information concerning changes in Sunday School class locations via e-mail and on the church website.  If you haven’t looked at the website in a while, please take a few moments to explore what all is on our site (www.clarksvillegrace.org). The church calendar, past sermons, the locations of our 2:42 groups, helpful links and several blogs (you can post your comments on the blogs) are just a few of the features. 

URGENT PRAYER REQUESTS: Please pray for those in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. Todd and Jennifer Edgerton (Dave Kahle’s daughter) are serving as missionaries there with Mission Aviation Fellowship and are two of the missionaries Grace supports each month.  Also, John Hackett’s father is having multiple bypass surgery today. Please pause to pray for these needs throughout the day.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Steve