Children & Worship

Why are there children in the service? Is there a reason the children are in the service during worship and then get dismissed instead of going straight to their classrooms? How come at times children remain in the whole service – isn’t there a place for them?

These are questions I get asked and sometimes ask myself! (Especially in Sunday service when my own son desires to run to the bathroom 3 times in 10 minutes or doesn’t use his “whispering” voice!) In transitioning to my new role as Director Children’s Ministries, I have begun to seek out the answers to these questions for myself – even checking out what other churches do for their children. I can say that I’m thankful and excited that our families get the opportunity to worship TOGETHER! We are blessed to be able to model our worship, to share in praise together, to show our children how to be engaged and at times talk them through the service and talk with them after the service.

This is the first year that Isaac (in Kindergarten) gets the chance to worship with us and sit with us. While it can be challenging, distracting, and at times loud (“Mom, when can I go to Pastor R’s house??”), it is also a beautiful opportunity to disciple Isaac and share the benefits of corporate worship. I have observed children focused on their parents and others as they sing and raise their hands to the Savior. I have seen parents lean down and explain the different aspects of the service or allow their children to put the offering in the plate. I watch moms and dads and grandparents, love on their children by putting an affirming arm around them or enjoying having them close. I have also observed parents doing the hard thing and reinforcing to their children how to be quiet and respectful. For our children to see our passion to worship, our desire to be respectful, reverent and engaged and also to know the importance of being part of a church is a way to biblically disciple your children.

Your excitement or lack thereof translates to your children. If you take each opportunity as the chance to teach, model or just reaffirm your love for them, God will bless your efforts!

Some ideas:

- Make sure your child can “see” what is going on. If you have to, sit closer to the front or allow them to stand in the aisle or on a chair to help them to participate in the singing.

- Encourage your children to worship by giving – remind them to bring their own allowance tithe or give them money to put in the offering.

- Listen for key words or points in the sermon that you can reinforce on your way home or talk with your child about. Ask them to listen for one thing they can tell you about after the service.

For those of you who are not in the specific season of having an active youngster in service, pray for those parents who do and who are investing in their children - it is not the easiest part of the job! Take a fidgety baby to hold or smile at a young child and talk to them after the service. You can be part of raising our children in the Lord and in His church.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Worship Quotes

Here are the worship quotes from the December 18th service during the offering moment at the 2nd & 3rd services.

To hear the sermon from this week or any other week be sure to check out the sermon page on the church website or find us on iTunes.

"It behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell."

~C.S. Lewis

"Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

~Luke 2:13-13 (NIV)

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

~Colossians 3:17

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks."

~John 4:23 (NIV)

"If you do not know how to worship God in spirit and in truth, even God will disappoint you, because you will end up using him. You will end up not coming on his terms. That is why God said, 'You have sniffed at [worship] and what a weariness it is." (Mal. 1:3)

~Ravi Zacharias

"So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, Caesars and Napoleons will duly arise and make them miserable."

~Aldous Huxley

"Now we can understand how worship counters the sense of loneliness, because loneliness cannot be dispelled by love alone. Only worship can bind all our passions. Something love alone cannot do. This is the reason that worship is the supreme expression in life, the root from which life's branches grow and its expressions flower."

~Ravi Zacharias

"We usually define sacrilege as taking something that belongs to God and using it profanely. Sacrilege is at its worst not when it takes something that belongs to God and uses it profanely, but when you take something and give it to God and it means nothing to you."

~G. Campbell Morgan

"But King David replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing."

~1 Chronicles 21:24

Answered Prayer

By Jim Peterson

For a year or so, we have been building what we call our “wish list”. This is a list of wants that have not yet become needs for the church. One of the things on that list was a new video projector for the Family Life Center. The current projector is outdated and displaying vertical lines on the left side of the screen that can be distracting.

I am pleased to report that our prayer has been answered. A member of the church has provided us with a gift that will allow us to replace the existing projector. He told us that God had greatly blessed him and his business this year and he wanted to give back to support the church. The new projector should be in place in the next week or two.

We are so grateful for the ways that God continues to bless us. Knowing that some people like to give to meet specific needs, I have included the rest of our wish list to this blog. If you would want to address any of these items, please feel free to give me a call at the church.

1. ***Retractable Basketball Hoops - $14,000

2. ***Replacement projector in FLC - $7869 (includes installation)

3. ***Portable Stage Lighting (LED) - $5,850

4. ***Painting the walls and ceiling of the FLC [walls-paint only approx $3000 ceiling would have to be professionally done - approx. $10,000)

5. ***Landscape lighting to clear up all the dark spots around the church building and parking lots – approx. $8,000

6. ***AED (defibrillator) – approx. $1,000 purchased

7. ***New Carpet for chapel and lobby – approx. $10,000

8. ***Painting of the North Lobby and some carpet – approx. $3,000

9. ***Bookshelves for the Mezzanine Lobby

10.***Completed Youth Space – approx. $900,000

11.***Completed Kitchen and Classrooms on first floor – approx. $300,000

12.***Secondary parking lot – approx. $90,000

13.***Portable Baptistry - $2000-4000

How have you seen God at work and answering prayer in your life lately?? It's never a bad thing to pray specific prayers! That way we get to see how God specifically answers them.

He is Worthy of our Thanks and to be Praised!

Submissions from the Grace Family for Thanksgiving

I am thankful that I have my health, and I am employed. I am thankful that I have my house and the bank doesn’t own me. I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband.

I'm thankful for His growth in my life and for the work He does through me for His glory. He knows all of the work, and I have only finite knowledge of what He does through me. The things I go through, or receive, or circumstances that "work out" mean nothing compared to the relationship I have with Him, so even though I'm thankful for those things, those things aren't the importance of my life or the reason for my thanksgiving and praise. This world will pass away, and I'm thankful that He created me, loves me enough to not let me stay sinful, provided a way through Jesus Christ to wipe those sins away so that I can come back to Him (God) where I belong. That's what I'm thankful for every day, He allows me to wake up and live for Him, and Him through me.

I am very grateful to God and to my family at Celebrate Recovery here at Grace . I have been growing in a lot of different ways through the step studies and share groups at Celebrate Recovery in the past four years. I also got the opportunity to go to California for leadership training, which was very exciting . I have had serious problems with intimacy and trust issues because of my background. Growing up in a alcoholic home and being married to an alcoholic took a real toll on my character. I struggled with low self-esteem and lack of confidence and I isolated myself for fear of letting people really know who I am. I became lonely and non-productive. I could not share God's word with anyone. I wasn't sure I even knew what being a Christian was. I saw Christians as perfect people, and I just did not fit the profile. Through the Step studies and the share groups, I learned to share my heart with other people and through this I also learned that many people had problems just like me. This experience helped me to stop isolating myself and I felt this was a place of belonging and a place I could be real and share my pain and my thoughts without any judgements. I have made friends and I have gotten married again to a wonderful man (I did not say perfect). I know I need the teachings in Matthew on the B-attitudes. I need to be reinforced with the lessons that speak truth to my heart every week, and I need the fellowship of Christian people to succeed in my walk with God and follow his will for my life, and I find all this here at Celebrate Recovery on Thursdays at 7pm. I am Thankful at Thanksgiving and throughout the year.

For two weeks last month I had experienced lower back pain. Pastor Mike prayed for me, as did the church. I no longer have this pain and I believe that God took it away. I am very thankful that I belong to a praying church!

Wow. Where do we start? I am thankful for our kids' health and their relationship with the Lord. I am also thankful for the financial provisions that God has provided over the last year. One year ago things did not look very good for us, but by His grace, he has provided.

God never stops His work in the believer's life. He perfects His children. I am thankful that day by day and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here, for in my Father's wise bestowment I have no need to worry or to fear.

Moments of peace when the whispers of God seem clearer.

I am thankful for a full van.... Both of my teens are in youth group, so every Wednesday night I find myself driving to and from church. I kept thinking something is missing. At the end of this summer, as I looked at my two kids in the van, I asked God to fill my van with others. God answered. At first we had a wise-cracking, fun teen boy join in, then about two weeks later a shy neighbor teenage girl joined in, and then in mid-October, a loud, fun-loving teen girl joined in. All are seekers. Every Wednesday, my van is now filled with joy, jokes, loud music and laughter as this group of teens and I trek to and from youth group. I have one seat left in my van, and I know God will fill it. I am thankful for my loud van full of teens!

I am thankful to God for his orchestration of relationships in my life. He has shown Himself and introduced to me new ideas and insights and understanding through family and friends that I never would have received on my own.

This past year I have been blessed by the gift of a family:

1) my daughter living closer and being a reminder of the "awesomeness" of God

2) my awesome new son-in-law and daughter depending on God for everything and making me laugh

3) the love of a great, Christian husband

I have so much to be thankful for this year, but above all I am thankful that God has healed my husband. I know that God uses him in my life to speak the truths of His Holy Spirit and to surround my children and me in love. We are truly blessed for everyday that God gives.

I am a teen and I am thankful for the club volleyball team that I have been accepted on. It is a team that was created by coaches, parents, and players that didn't want to have to choose between church and sports. So they only play at Saturday tournaments and no practices on Wednesday night. I am so thankful that I can continue on the youth leadership team at church, be at youth group, attend Epicenter, go to TBF and still play competitive volleyball!

I am grateful for my diagnosis of diabetes this year. It was a wake-up call for me to attend to health issues I was ignoring. With God's grace, I have changed my attitude and lifestyle, so that now I am off the medication for diabetes. Praise God and his infinite wisdom.

I am so thankful for God's faithfulness and provision this year, and for the ways that he has shown his love to me and my family through other believers.

I am thankful that such an awesome and powerful God would care about me and my kids. I am thankful for my two amazing children. And, after much prayer, he sent me the perfect job! I am thankful that we have a beautiful home to live in and that we are all healthy. I am truly thankful for my wonderful small group family and all that they mean to me.

My wife and I are both thankful for continued good health even at our advancing age and for a long lasting sweet marriage of 51 years. Finally, we’re thankful for our kids, in-laws, and grandchildren, and how the Lord has been active in their lives, even when they don’t know it.

We are thankful to God for guiding us in raising our children and teaching us that they will always hear us and learn from us! Parenting is a role that we both have been praying we do right and without God's grace we never would have made it! We will always be thankful knowing He works through us in ways we still don't know!

I am thankful for a fresh understanding of God’s unconditional love for me that is eternal. I am grateful for the renewed sense of closeness between my wife and me in our relationship. I am thankful for increased times of prayer and scriptural discussions and closeness with my wife helped by a devotional book for couples. I am humbled by how God is convicting me of how much I talk about prayer and how inconsistently I practice prayer.

I have seen God demonstrate His love for me through countless unseen realities . . . the things we cannot touch . . . hope, encouragement, music, solitude, reflection, beauty, understanding from those close to me. I am so very thankful.

I am thankful for the Women of Grace who serve so selflessly. In particular, I am thankful for the ministry of the MOPS – Mothers of Preschoolers. The leaders of this program have blessed so many of us who struggle with parenting. I thank the Lord for this ministry and how it has touched me and so many others.

A renewed faith in our Creator through difficult times. He is faithful and I’m truly blessed as a single father to raise my teens with Godly wisdom and see them grow in faith. Side note – finding a special woman to share this joy with and soon to become my wife. God is more than Good; He is awesome.

I am very thankful that the Lord led our family to Grace Community Church. We had been looking for a church home for a long time!

The Lord has been so very real to me as my heavenly Husband in this year that my earthly husband was taken home. He, the Lord, has asked me if I would go with Him to the end of the journey on earth….to the edge of the sea. He has shown up with joy and filled me unspeakable on a lonely road. He has sent a friend or a phone call at the needed time. When no one was there, he was there. He accepts me where I am and what I am feeling. He carries me thru the good and the bad. He is changing me and I am grateful beyond words.

I am grateful for a husband who takes his health seriously. Just over a year ago he had a heart attack. Since that time he has lost over 20 pounds, reduced his stress, and stayed committed to an exercise routine. Some people don't take these wake up calls seriously. I am thankful my husband did!