On Sunday, I shared yet another “God-only” GRACE Church Story. Earlier in the week, a woman came into the church office. One of our team met her and welcomed her. The woman surprised our staff member by saying, “I have a gift for you.” The two sat down and the woman continued, “I know your church’s story and I believe in what you are doing. God told me to give you this gift.” She pulled out a bunch of dollar bills. Our staff member asked the woman’s name. She wanted to give the name to me so, of course, we could thank the woman for her gift. But the woman wanted to stay anonymous and never gave her name. She walked out of the office and drove off in her car. It turns out the gift was 1000 dollars.
Isn’t that encouraging! Of course, I’m glad she knows our story. But, even more important, I know that our story points her to God’s story! God so loved the world that He sent Jesus into it. The purpose of GRACE Church is to point people to that story. I’ve shared before one of my favorite quotes from William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury in the late 1800s. He said,
“The Church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit
of those who are not its members.”
In all that we do as a church, we are inviting all people into God’s story of GRACE in Jesus Christ. This weekend, we are getting out in our Bethlehem community to do that. We are taking worship to Musikfest. We will be at the Festplatz Tent on Sunday at 10 AM. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE TIME.This is a great opportunity for you to invite your friends. And it’s a great chance for us to show those who walk by the warm and welcoming and exciting community that we are.
We will also have our 9 am service at BECA. Mark will preach at BECA and I will be preaching at Musikfest. Due to being in 2 venues and the demands on volunteers, be aware of two changes. This week only, we will not have coffee after the service. Feel free to linger and fellowship after the Classic Service at BECA or come on down to Musikfest afterwards. Also, communion will be moved to the following Sunday, August 12. It’s another not to be missed week at GRACE.
What a privilege to be your pastor,
Marnie Crumpler
Senior Pastor