The benefit of this survey process is to identify areas of strength and areas of need – to take the temperature of our congregation in a number of areas.

Consequently, this document is a summary of what we believe God is saying to us, as a leadership team, as a result of the survey.

Luring us with love, Christ steeps our lives in His Gracious Presence, gifting us with a Jesus-is-near-to-me sense of wholeness to enjoy and to share. Be a part of a four-week series about living in God’s Gracious Presence and being the Gracious Presence of Christ to others.

8.21/22 – A Gracious Presence for Children
8.28/29 – A Gracious Presence with One Another
9.4/5 – A Gracious Presence in the World
9.11/12 – A Gracious Presence in Me

Grace Fellowship Church is on a God-directed journey toward the future He has for us, and maybe you’re wondering where we are and how are we doing. We hear a number of questions from time to time including “What’s up with Grace Rising?” and “What is our current financial situation?” or “What is our vision for the future and are we on track?” We would love to address these questions in detail, but we simply don’t have time in our weekend services to adequately do so.

So, you are invited to a progress meeting – you might think of it as a GPS navigational meeting – to ask (and have answered) these and any other questions you may have.

We are so grateful for your partnership in the gospel, and we want to honor that partnership by communicating with you well. These congregational gatherings will be at 7:00 p.m. in the Mini Auditorium at Grace Timonium on July 6, July 7, August 10, and August 11. They will be offered several times to accommodate summer schedules, and we hope that you’ll attend one of these sessions.

If you have an urgent matter, please email info@gfc.org. We will do our best to respond in a timely manner.

Listen to the parable.
In the parable is a truth.
The truth is eternal.

“Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Matthew 13:9

Our simple summer day-dreaming will become pictures of the Kingdom as we seek the priceless truths that Jesus, the Master Story-Teller has hidden within each tale.

Plunge into the Parables as part of your summer reading by joining us for weekend services at Grace.

7.10/11 – Lamps
7.17/18 – Coins
7.24/25 – Travelers
7.31/8.1 – Treasures
8.7/8 – Debts
8.14/15 – Loyalties

We know that relationships, values, who we are, and how we live are really what define us…and we want to do well with these most significant parts of our lives.

Because of the earthy nature of these topics –relationships, sex, parenting– we want to follow up on our weekend service teaching of these topics by offering a more in-depth and interactive experience.

If you have a question, bring it. If you’ve learned a life lesson, maybe you can share it. And if you want to explore these topics further, then come.

We’ll host a discussion in the Grace Timonium mini-auditorium at 7:00 p.m. on the following dates:

April 29 – Divorce
May 6 – Singleness
May 27 – Sex

Let’s visit the biggies together and possess real LIFE — abundant and overflowing. Hope to see you there!

More information on the LIFE series is also available.

It started in one city with 2,200 leaders from 300 churches in 1995.

In 2010, The Global Leadership Summit will reach 350 cities across 50 countries, challenging more than 120,000 leaders from 10,000+ churches!

Effective leaders are the agents of transformation. They call out what’s wrong, set goals, launch initiatives, motivate, challenge, and move people to get on the solution side of solving our worst problems. Pastors, teachers, business leaders, law enforcement officials, politicians, musicians, athletes, and others are answering the call and choosing to lead where they are to make a lasting difference.

Far more than an annual training event, The Global Leadership Summit has become a galvanizing event in this worldwide leadership movement. Leaders representing an amazing diversity of race, cultures, ethnicities, languages, and denominations are coming together to give themselves to redeem and restore this broken world.

This year’s speakers include Bill Hybels, Jim Collins, T.D. Jakes, Jack Welch, Andy Stanley, Christine Caine, Tony Dungy, Zhao Xiao, Blake Mycoskie, Terri Kelly, Daniel H. Pink, Adam Hamilton, and Jeff Manion.

Mark your calendar for August 5-6, because Leadership Summit 2010 is an event you won’t want to miss!

It’s still not too late to register. The Conference starts Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m., so come and register that morning as a walk-in attendee. The cost for registration is $105.

Lunch will be catered by the Milton Grill on Thursday and Roly Poly on Friday. Tickets are $8 and available for purchase on-site.

Since parking is limited, we are encouraging all of our attendees to park in the parking garage out of consideration to our corporate neighbors.

Any questions you may have can be directed to Kelly Montgomery, kmontgomery@gfc.org or 410.561.8424 ext. 224.

He tells a story about a guy who takes everything, but still has nothing. His empty life is destroying him, until…

Interested in a real-life resurrection story? Do you need to come face-to-face with a hope that reminds you new life is not only possible, but also real?

Meet Luke. He’ll change your mind if you’re on the fence about this kind of change.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I come that they may have and enjoy LIFE, and have it in abundance, ’til it overflows. ~John 10:10

Remember the game?

Every player gets a little plastic car and off you go on a road of possibilities. To get a job, pluck a “Career Card” from the deck. Need a bank loan? No problemo! And if you want to get married, don’t wait around wondering whether you’ll meet Mr. or Ms. Right. Simply stop at the “Get Married” space, throw your mate into the car, and away you go, driving together into the adventure of your shared destiny. Whichever player has the most money at the end of the game wins!

If only it were that easy, right? There are plenty of times we may wish LIFE was easier, but more than anything, we want it to matter.

Relationships, values, who we are, how we live…these are the biggies, the real stuff that defines us.

Let’s visit the biggies together and possess real LIFE — abundant and overflowing.

Singleness and Marriage

4.10/11 – Made For Each Other

4.17/18 – We’re Not In Eden Anymore

4.24/25 – Divorce: A  Fork In The Road*

5.1/2 – Singleness: It’s A Wonderful Life*

5.8/9 – Marriage: From This Day Forward

Sexuality

5.15/16 – Sex: The Gift

5.22/23 – Sex: The Wreckage*

5.29/30 – Sex: The Remedy

Empowering the Next Generation

6.5/6 – Kids: The Heart Of The Matter

6.12/13 – Kids: The Art Of Paying Attention

6.19/20 – Kids: What’s Church Got To Do With It?

6.26/27 – Kids: A Call To Action

7.3/4 – LIFE Together (with Communion)

*For further discussion on these topics, check out our LIFE Sessions.

Prepare
Experience the season of Lent more meaningfully by participating in the Lenten seminar “The Last Days of Jesus: The Greatest Story Never Told” March 12-13. More information on the seminar is available online.

Prepare your heart for Easter weekend by participating in Grace’s Maundy Thursday experience. On Thursday, April 1 in the Mini-Auditorium at Grace Timonium you can guide yourself through a reflective experience on the final events of Jesus’ life. The experience is available 7:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. and is appropriate for elementary-aged children through adults. Parents, please plan to accompany young children.

Attend
Complimentary tickets are provided for Good Friday and Easter services. Tickets are available in the Gallery during weekend services, at the Welcome Desk during the week, or anytime online.

Invite
Consider someone in your life you would like to invite to attend an Easter Weekend service with you. As you get complimentary tickets for yourself, take a leap of faith and grab an extra one to invite someone new!

Serve
Be a part of serving more than 6,000 people who will remember Good Friday and celebrate Easter at Grace. Throughout March, you can sign up for a serving opportunity either in the Great Room during the weekend services or online.

Join us for this comprehensive six-hour seminar presented by Doug Greenwold. The seminar will change the way you read the Scriptures as you learn about the culture, context, and geography of Jesus’ time.

Doug Greenwold is the Executive Director of Preserving Bible Times. PBT is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and presenting Biblical truth. For more information about PBT, click here.

You can download the brochure or register online.

The gates.
The hill.
The tomb.

A king rides in. A lover dies. A stone moves.

God’s passion expressed.
Majesty * Mourning * Miracle
I John 4:10

Find out more about expanding your Easter experience, get ticketing information, or sign up to serve Easter weekend.

Sunday, February 14

All campuses operating on a normal schedule.

More information is available at www.gfc.org/services.

Monday, February 15 – President’s Day

All GFC facilities are closed and there are no events scheduled.

Everything you might want to know is posted under each campus. Here are the shortcuts:

• www.gfc.org/timonium/weather for the Timonium Campus
• www.gfc.org/shrewsbury/weather for the Shrewsbury Campus
• www.gfc.org/gracecity/weather for the City Campus

Whenever there are cancellations due to weather, we will post the information on the main news page (www.gfc.org/news).

For many, it’s a kind of last-minute tax planning. If that applies to you, then we want to make sure you know what the IRS policy is for gifts to be counted in 2009.

Year-end contributions can be mailed or dropped off at the Welcome Desk, but must be received by Grace or postmarked no later than December 31 in order to qualify for tax purposes in the current year. The Grace offices in Timonium will be open until 5:00 p.m. on December 31.

Gifts made at services in the month of December will be counted in 2009, but gifts made at the first services in January will be receipted in 2010.

If you are planning to make a gift of securities, you will need this information. Gifts through mutual funds or other gifts of property can be more complex. In this case, please contact the Financial Ministries Department as soon as possible in order to ensure that your gift can be processed before the end of the year. You can call Stacie Porter at 410-561-8424 x238 or email sporter@gfc.org.

Much more information about giving at Grace is available at http://www.gfc.org/giving.

Life moves fast this time of year. It seems like there is more to do than time to do it. I hope and pray that you’ll be able to carve out some time to reflect on how incredibly loved you are by our God and Creator. Our theme for this Advent season is “Love Came Down,” and it’s an amazing reality that God’s love came down and took on human form in His Son, Jesus Christ.

By God’s grace, people have been encountering God’s love for nearly thirty years at Grace Fellowship Church, and our lives have been changed. Recently, we received a note from Lonnie Spence. Lonnie has been part of Grace for the past couple of years and has recently become involved in the SHAPE ministry, helping people find the service opportunities that fit the way God has made them. Here is part of what Lonnie wrote:

“You have no idea how you and the Grace family have changed my life and continue to do so…When I first came to Grace I was surprised by how joyful everyone seemed. When I started to get to know people I realized that the joy went all the way to the heart. The more I attended, the more I listened, the more relationships I entered, the more I realized that a true personal relationship with God was what I was missing. I have begun my relationship with my Father and I’m now seeing how really amazing He is, how He is always so close and I see all the gifts He has given me and why. When I talk about the love I feel at Grace, it overwhelms me. Grace feels like home to me. I love serving in SHAPE and want to get more involved in other ministries. I feel His Spirit on this team.”  

For nearly thirty years, stories like Lonnie’s have been coming to life at Grace. And in the past month, there have been more praiseworthy events. But none of this is possible without your faithful support. Despite the difficult economy, our congregation has demonstrated great generosity. We are profoundly grateful for your commitment to Christ and His church. Current trends in giving indicate that this will be a challenging year for us economically. Please pray with us that God will provide all that we need to do what He has called us to do this year. If you have the ability to make a special year-end contribution, it will be a welcome blessing. 

May this Christmas season be one in which you experience the God whose Love Came Down.

With profound appreciation,
Danny O’Brien
Senior Pastor
Grace Fellowship Church