|
|||||||||||||||
A Message from the Pastor Checking to see if you will fit in? I know - it is not easy visiting a church for the first time. Sometimes you feel like a nonmember visiting a country club. We all remember asking questions like:
As pastor, I want to make visiting Grace Church an enjoyable, stress-free experience for you. We work hard here to create a safe, inspirational place for people to explore spiritual truths. So whether you are a skeptic or a convinced believer, we are all on a shared journey - and YOU are welcome! The people who gather together and make up Grace Church come from many diverse backgrounds. We are people who are searching for a higher meaning and calling in lives that are hurting, busy, isolated, lost or alone – people from different places and backgrounds with varied opinions about life. Some of us are extroverts, some introverts, some with intellectual prowess, some not so much, some skeptics, some cynics, and even a few optimists. One thing we do have in common is our desire to authentically connect with God. Some of us grew up in the church; others of us had no church background at all. Most of us were offended by what was passed off as the “real deal”. Some of us had given up on church for that reason. However our desire for the spiritual survived. Perhaps like trying to keep a beach ball under the water – our hunger for God kept rising to the surface. As we seek to engage God authentically, we don’t believe church should be boring or irrelevant to our daily lives. So we have done something about that. We’ve helped to create an environment that fosters spirituality without all the trappings of pomp and ritual that so often turns us off. We simply are a church that is moving from being informed by ritual and tradition to being formed and fueled in a fresh, modern way by the mission of Jesus Christ. So we crank up the volume with lively, modern music. Some may even say we are a “flock that rocks.” You will experience a modern band with drums, keyboard, bass, acoustic and electric guitars. And since we live in such a visual era, every Sunday we seek to incorporate multi media presentations to help communicate the message of the day. Short drama sketches are also included into the services from time to time. You would never have gotten bored listening to Jesus speak! So we work hard to make our services as creatively engaging as possible. Each week will be different, but you will always hear a biblical message with take-home value. My talks, even the not-so-great ones, will examine real life issues in light of the Christian faith. We want to be a place where people are
asking spiritual questions together. If it sounds wishful, that’s because it is. We know it is idealistic, but we still believe that there’s room for change - in our families, in our lives, in our relationships, in our culture. A change that is possible when people without pretense connect with Christ. It has to start somewhere. Consider yourself personally invited by me to come join us in the journey! Oh and by the way – you will not stick out. You can remain as inconspicuous and anonymous as you like. You can leave mid-service without interrupting, since it is a darker theatre setting. You will not be asked to give your money. We have fun active teaching environments for your kids. Most everyone dresses casually, but everyone dresses comfortably. And please know everyone at Grace Church is in process. No one has arrived. We all come with our questions, doubts and baggage. We are finding strength as we point one another to faith in a most amazing God! I hope to meet you soon! In His Grace, Pastor Matt |