grace•ology

Easter at Eola!

In less than 2 weeks this place will be packed!

 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

                                                                                   Hebrews 13:15-16 (NIV)

Easter At Eola allows us to worship God in two different ways. First by offering Him praise by singing and gathering together. Second, by sharing with others, serving the poor and helping those in needs.

April 12th is going to be a GREAT day! You do not want to miss it.

The best way to experience this incredible day is by signing up to volunteer. There are many different areas that you can serve. Contact Jason Vermeulen today. jason@gogracefellowship.com

Biggest Event Ever!

Last year, Grace embarked on our biggest event ever, with Easter at Eola.  This year, we're doing it again, and it promises, once again, to be the biggest event ever.  This is awesome because it means that God is moving, growing, challenging us as a church.  The only way this event will be a success is through the presence of God over everything.  

We are collecting almost twice the amount of groceries as a church as we did last year--which means that at least that many more of those struggling with poverty are going to have a tangible hand up.  Thank you, church, for the sacrifices you have made to bring in those groceries--we have been so energized by your generosity.  The best is yet to come!  Mike is going to have a not-so-little announcement on Sunday that relates to the food drive--you will not want to miss it!  

My role is helping Shannon and Heather, as well as Dave Fox, who are coordinating all aspects of the event outside of the worship service itself, which is being masterminded by Chad, Pastor Mike, and Kelly.  I am gathering equipment, taking care of logistics, and driving the truck.  

We are SO thankful for the involvement of the Destiny Foundation.  They are going to be there again this year, assisting us with handing out the groceries we've collected, and offering a number of services that will be highly effective in helping out people who are in dire need right now--hundreds of them!  

What each of you can do to help with Easter: 

1.  PRAY

2.  PRAY 

3.  PRAY 

4.  Not discount 1-3 as givens.  Really seek God and ask for an abundance, ask for life change, ask for protection for all those involved.  Ask that thousands of people would come out ready to be challenged with the news that we are lost without Jesus, but he offers abundant life to all who surrender to Him.  

5.  Volunteer on a team: Many of you have stepped forward already.  Thank you!  We are so excited, and glad to have you making this happen.  We still need more.  If you can double up on teams, do it!   

6.  Bring your groceries to the church this Sunday!  We will be loading up cars, so you can leave them behind your car as long as it isn't raining, or bring them to the doors and we'll load them in for you!  

the good stuff: baptism recap 2008

We showed the baptism recap from 2008 in service on Sunday:
Grace Baptism Review Video 2008 from Grace Fellowship on Vimeo.

You know you want to get in that water this year on Sunday, April 26th at Lake Virginia! Sign up to be baptized by shooting me an email.

Is your child ready to be baptized?

The single most important decision a child can make is the decision to be a Christ follower.  As a parent, you may be wondering how to talk to you child about accepting Christ, and/or what step your child should take once they have accepted Christ.

This Sunday, March 22nd we are offering a class called JUMP START for kids (7 years - 5th grade) and their parents to address all of these important topics.  Kids will hear the gospel presented in a way they can understand.  Parents will be given a resource to use at home to talk to their kids about making the decision to follow Christ.  JUMP START will take place on the 3rd floor @ 11:45 a.m.  Children must attend JUMP START to be baptized @ the All Church Baptism on April 26th.

To register your child for JUMP START, email beth@gogracefellowship.com. 

Sunday Music Review - 3/15/09

I wanted to do something a little different than our normal weekly rock anthem worship. We stripped the band back to just a small drum set (Jay Caudle) and me on acoustic guitar. I wanted to remind the church that we don't have to have a big band, flashy lights and cool media to worship our God. All of those things are great and I am glad that we have them, but true worship is when our hearts are connected to God's. It is when we respond to what He has done and is doing in our lives. Yesterday I wanted us to focus on the lyrics that we were singing as a church. I wanted the words to move us. I really enjoyed all three services and I would love to hear your thoughts.

We opened each service with an acoustic cover of Coldplay's "Lost". Jay and I had a a lot of fun performing this song. We did something a little different. instead of Jay playing actual drums on this song, he played on plastic tubs. One larger tub to create a bass drum sound and a skinnier tub with a tamborine attached to the top for a snare sound. It created a really cool vibe. Of course, Hilary and I spray painted the tubs and added a little glitter so that they would be stage worthy. There are some pictures below.

Worship set:

Lost - Coldplay (acoustic cover)

Reign in us - Starfield
This is our God - Hillsong
You are my strength - HIllsong (during communion)

Sunday Wrap Up

The day began with a different set up on stage, carried out by our amazing worship production crew.  Meanwhile, we trained a brand new person on the setup crew--it's always awesome to have new guys join in on getting things ready in the morning.  

Worship began with a striped down band to an acoustic guitar and a really funky drum kit made with two pails and a tamborine and lots of duct tape!  After an amazing cover of Coldplay, we focused in on the lyrics to the songs in an acoustic worship set, accompanied with a special means of Grace--communion.  

Mike answered some difficult and challenging questions, and through the texting technology, which has worked really well, we've learned that you guys have some REALLY good questions!: "what happens to people who commit suicide?"  "Does the mode of baptism matter?"  "Do you believe in a literal hell?"  

We closed with a very important service project: Easter at Eola.  Our church took home around 400 bags today for a run to the grocery store in preparation for our Easter service to the community--we still have 100 to go!   Over the next three weeks, bring your bags of groceries with you to church, and leave them behind your vehicle when you park.  We'll come by after the service starts and collect them!  

Headed North for the durty South

Today the Grace Fellowship staff and ten volunteers are traveling to South Carolina to NewSpring Church for a one day church conference called Unleash (it will be broadcast live on the internet.You can watch it from this link). Pray for safe travel and that God will inspire, challenge, and motivate us to do bigger and better things for His kingdom.

Hopefully I can concentrate on learning some stuff. I am so excited for this weekend's services. Pastor Mike will be continuing the Ask Anything series and we are doing something extremely different in worship, but you have to be there at the very beginning or you will miss it.

See you Sunday!

Help Us Help Others: Grocery Drive

Get ready for this Sunday: We are starting activities this Sunday that will lead and catapult us to a HUGE day at Lake Eola on Easter!  We are going to be building the excitement, and we need EVERYONE at Grace to participate.  You've already seen the volunteer cards for the many different teams it will take to put this event on.  

This Sunday we are going to be handing out empty grocery bags at the doors.  We're asking everyone to take at least one bag home per person, and bring them back over the course of the next three Sundays: the 22nd, 29th, and the 5th.  We'll be asking people to leave their bags of groceries at the back of their cars when they pull into the parking lot.  

We need your help these three Sundays:  We need a team of 3 people, for each service, for those three weeks, who will go through the parking lot (2 walkers and one driver) after the service starts, and collect the full bags of groceries.  You'll load them into a truck, and after the last service, we'll be bringing the bags to the Destiny Foundation.  This task will only take 10-15 minutes per service, but it should not be during the service that you plan to attend!  

If you will serve on this grocery collection team for 9, 10:30, or 11:45, for any of these three Sundays (March 22, 29 or April 5), email Jason.   If you have a truck, van, or SUV that we can use to collect food, please also email.  We will not be able to collect these groceries without your participation--help us reach into the lives of hundreds of families this Easter!  

what you missed, what's ahead

Yesterday was awesome — sex question day in the Ask Anything series. Your questions were amazing, and I wish that had time to answer them all.  

I know people don't believe it, but it is the best thing ever for me to answer your questions on the fly and to talk about things that don't often get addressed in church. Why? because people need the answers. They need to know how to live out practical issues of faith on a day to day basis. They need to understand why God gave us truth instead of just what the truth is. 

We got more questions about sex than about any other topic, which goes to show just how unsure people are about this area of life. We answered stuff about premarital sex, homosexuality, masturbation, sex practices within a marriage and a lot more. If you missed it be sure to check out the podcast this week.

Next Sunday is the Speed Round, where we will set the clock and I will get through as many of the questions you submitted as I possibly can. You asked some great questions, and we'll try to cover it all from alcohol to dinosaurs to the role of the Holy Spirit. Fun stuff.

On another note, had a great time yesterday after church having lunch with some more church planters who are headed to the area, starting a church in Volusia County. This is the third time in a few weeks I've met with other planters. They are hearing about the amazing things you are doing at Grace and want to come learn how it's all happening. I couldn't talk you up enough.

One more thing, Poverty 5K was awesome on Saturday. Thanks for getting out to help the Destiny Foundation help the working poor.

And the winner is....you.

You did it, guys —— more people from Grace Fellowship ran or walked in the Battle Poverty 5K than any other church in Central Florida. We also had several division and overall winners to brag about. Way to go, Grace!