New International Version (NIV)
16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
Paul’s Use of His Freedom
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

New International Version (NIV)
The Prophet
14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”

17 The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

Grace Received: “I was found.” Those were the words written on the friendship pad by a young lady who was at Grace on Sunday for the first time. She wasn’t the only one who experienced the grace of a pursuing Savior that day. Jamie, who has been at Grace for almost a year came out of one of the services and with a huge smile on her joy-filled face said the same thing, “Jesus found me today!” Praise the Lord!!! I am grateful today (and every day) for a God who seeks us, finds us, loves us, forgives us, and invites us into a life of following Him -- not following a list or a program, but a life of following a Person who makes life worth living. I’m praising God today for His saving grace that found me, and continues to find people today.

LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU TOMORROW!

Grace Shared: I’m excited that we are seeing a lot of growth in two of the venues we have for sharing grace -- Sunday School and Wednesday nights. (The other is 2:42 groups and if you would like to participate, contact Helen Etson hetson4@yahoo.com or Pastor Elizabeth ecassle@yahoo.com). We are expanding the options on Wednesday nights for adults and continue to provide a full range of ministry for children and teens. Currently there is a group meeting in the sanctuary going through the Gospel of John, a men’s group using curriculum from Courageous, a ladies group that is going through Daniel and we will be starting a Financial Peace class in February. If you are interested in Financial Peace contact David Kahle for details (there will be a cost involved for this class) david_kahle@hotmail.com. For your convenience, we also offer dinner every Wednesday night at 5:00 (and it’s always GREAT! Cindy Coday is our cook and she’s excellent) for $5 per person or $15 per family. If you have not yet gotten involved in 2:42, Sunday School, or Wednesday nights, give one (or more) of them a try -- it’s a great opportunity to get to know some of your church family better as we share in this journey of becoming more like Jesus.

Grace Extended: Last Saturday night Nate and Charlotte were eating out. While at the restaurant they struck up a conversation with another family and made the most of an opportunity to invite this couple and their son to Grace. On Sunday morning, there were here! We never know where we might be or what we might be doing when an opportunity comes. When it does (and it probably will between now and Sunday), make the most of it!

One of the ways I like to describe communion is that it is a “tangible, taste-able experience of grace.” God has promised to give us all the grace we need to live holy lives, but we are not just called to receive -- we are also called to share and extend the grace of God to others. Sometimes that too takes a very tangible and taste-able form. Every Saturday at Grace House (operated from the house on our property where we also house folks for Room in the Inn -- if you’ve never been there you should stop by!) from 10am-12pm volunteers extend grace in the form of free food and clothing to those in need. Typically 20-25 families a week receive varying levels of assistance but the same amount of gracious hospitality and dignity. If you would like to help by sorting clothes, distributing food, or simply showing the love of Jesus to folks who are having a hard time, contact Melanie Dickerson: gracehouse.cares@yahoo.com

Grace Received: It was wonderful to celebrate the baptisms of Meghan Thomas, Jake, Holly, and Kayla Goguen last Sunday! Tammy Hicks also gave a re- affirmation of her baptism in testimony to the grace of God that she has received. I enjoy these celebrations that are outward signs of inward grace. Praise God for the ways He continues to pursue, forgive, and restore!

Grace Shared: Monday night your church board voted unanimously to open our facility to Pastor Josh Phillips who is starting a new church. This new congregation called Community Life Church has been meeting at Mary’s Music and will begin meeting at Grace on Sunday nights later this month. On Sundays our building will host 3 different churches every week (us for three services in the morning, our Korean Nazarene Congregation at 12:30, and the new Community Life Church in the evening)!

Tuesday nights at 6:00 (every Tuesday) is visitation. If you would like to visit first time guests or folks who have been absent for a few weeks, please join us!

If you have not yet joined a 2:42 group of Sunday School class, try one! For questions about 2:42 contact Pastor Elizabeth Cassle ecassle@yahoo.com and for questions about Sunday School, contact Kay Deffendall kdeffendall@aol.com For a list of Sunday School classes, see the back of your bulletin this Sunday.

Grace Extended: Grace will host Room in the Inn this Friday night. Thanks to those who will cook for, serve, eat with, and stay the night with the homeless folks we will house.

This Sunday would be a GREAT day to bring some of your friends who need Jesus. Invite them! Plan to have them over for Sunday dinner or take them out to eat after the service. As you prepare for Sunday, pray specifically for God to work in the hearts of those who do not yet know Him.

Grace Received: God likes new things. He tells us to sing to Him a new song (Ps. 96:1, 98:1). He gives us a new heart and puts a new spirit in us (Ez. 36:26). When we enter into a relationship with Him through Jesus, He makes us new creations (II Cor. 5:17). His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23). When we find ourselves in new places He always provides new graces. While we need to be grateful for the things God has already done (ending 2011 is a good time to reflect on His goodness to us the past year), God also invites us to lean into the future with a sense of anticipation about the new things He has in mind to do. Good things. God-sized things. Powerful things. New things. As we begin a new year I’m excited to see what our gracious God has in store -- for you, for me, for us!

THIS SUNDAY 9:30 AND 11:00 SERVICES ONLY -- REGULAR SUNDAY SCHEDULE RESUMES JAN. 8. This Sunday we will be using the Wesley Covenant Service as a guide for our worship experience. It is a very meaningful service designed to renew our corporate commitment to follow Christ in the year ahead.

Sunday, Jan. 8 is Baptism of the Lord Sunday. If you are interested in being baptized please let me know. There will be a baptism class this coming Wednesday, Jan. 4 at 6:00 p.m.

Grace Shared: Happy Anniversary! This coming week is the 4 year anniversary of the God-ordained covenant between you (people) and me (pastor). I am thankful for the privilege and blessing of walking this Christ-following journey with you as we receive, share, and extend grace together!

Saturday night at 9:00 -- New Year’s Eve Party for all bikers at the home of Russ and Brenda Russell. No matter what the weather is, the plan is ride in the new year. For questions call Russ at 931-302-9364.

Interested in leading, hosting, or joining a 2:42 group? If so contact Helen Etson hetson4@yahoo.com or Pastor Elizabeth Cassle ecassle@yahoo.com. 2:42 groups (Based on Acts 2:42-47) meet the 2nd and 4th Sunday nights of the month in homes all over Clarksville for a meal, discussion of the scripture that is preached that morning, and prayer. It’s a great way to get to know other folks at Grace on a deeper level than a Sunday morning “hello” and we’d love to see EVERYONE involved in this small group ministry designed to build strong, intentional, disciple-making relationships.

Grace Extended: A couple days ago I received a message from my friend Landon Meadow who is the pastor at the Vineyard Church here in Clarksville. He said the latest statistics had been released and there are now more people than ever in Clarksville who do not claim any church home. The percentage is over 85% which means somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 people. That number is staggering! Starting Sunday, Jan. 1 their congregation is going to spend 40 days praying and fasting specifically for the lost in our city and for a great move of God that will result in the salvation of thousands of people. I want Grace to join our brothers in sisters in Christ at Vineyard on behalf of those in our city who need Christ. If you’d like to join this effort let me know with a response e-mail.
Whether by prayer and fasting, witnessing, large outreach events, or simply serving others in a tangible way, we have been called to extend grace to those around us -- not as a program, but as a lifestyle. As we receive grace from God and share grace with each other, let’s be on the lookout for thos who need us to extend the grace of God to them.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBDFxwb1QTQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi4A4cr7OBo

Grace Received: For me. I’m continuing to reflect on Elizabeth’s statement after she conceived John (his name means God is gracious). God’s grace is for the whole world, but it is a powerful and personal gift to every single person on the planet. God’s grace comes to us in a variety of ways and I want to remind you today that we have a “for me” kind of God. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness extends from generation to generation. His grace is always enough. He loves us. He favors us. He covers our disgrace with His amazing grace.

Christmas Eve Service 6:00 p.m. Christmas Day Service, 11:00 a.m.

Grace Shared: Last week I received a certificate from the Board of General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene commending Grace for our faithful and full support of the mission of our denomination. Not only do we share grace/time/resources with one another in this local expression of the body of Christ, we are part of a much larger effort to share Jesus with the whole world and therefore have a significant connection with our fellow Nazarenes around the world. Thank you for your faithfulness not only to Christ, but to each other!

FYI -- December 25 will be the last Sunday for 2011 charitable contributions. Donations/offerings made on during Sunday, January 1, 2012 services will be counted as 2012 charitable contributions(even if you wrote the check in 2011). If you mail contributions, the envelope needs to be put in the mail in 2011 for it to be counted as a 2011 charitable contribution.

Grace Extended: The final numbers are in. 2,237 people came through our drive-thru nativity. 80 un-churched families gave us their contact information. You did a fantastic job displaying the story of the Savior’s birth and I’m so proud of this effort to share Christ with our community. Please pray with me that this will bear much fruit.
A couple weeks ago one of our families (the Borgmans) went out to eat after church. Then they went to a local nursing home. They don’t have any relatives there. This wasn’t an organized youth or Sunday School class outing. They walked the halls singing Christmas carols and visited with residents whose spirits were lifted because of the kindness of this family who is embodying a lifestyle of extending grace to places that can sometimes be very lonely. May God use us all as instruments of His grace to our world!!!

CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND!! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE TRAVELING, BE CAREFUL AND WE’LL SEE YOU IN 2012!

--
Dr. Steve Estep
Grace Church of the Nazarene
3135 Trenton Road
Clarksville, TN 37040
www.clarksvillegrace.org

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfetqtPLEZU

Luke 1:26-37

New International Version (NIV)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

Luke 5:1-25

New International Version (NIV)

Luke 5
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy.[b] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
17 One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. 18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. 19 When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 25 Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.