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February 17, 2017
Grace & Peace to You Grace Church!
Let me ask you a question: have you ever felt alone in a crowd? I know I have, and it can be one of the loneliest feelings in the world; can’t it? Imagine this, you’re with a friend who’s talking with several people that you don’t know. You’re in the vicinity of the conversation, but you’re never really invited into the conversation. They’re talking about people, contexts, and situations that you don’t know. How does it make you feel? Like an outsider, right?
Or imagine that you’ve been invited to a party. It’s clear from the time you arrive that although you don’t know many of the people, pretty much everyone else does. While they’re engaged in conversation, you find a place in the crowd hoping to mingle, but no one comes up to you. You feel lost in a sea of people.
While it’s inevitable that this can happen in life from time to time, I strongly believe that the church is the last place that this should happen. But let’s be honest; it does, because sometimes we forget that even though we’re completely comfortable here at Grace, we have guests every week who are not yet connected.
I crunched the numbers around how many guests we had last year--in 2016--at Grace. Can you guess how many we had over the course of a year? 22? 45? 60? Would you believe that according to our records, which record only the guests that filled out our Relationship Cards, that we had over 103 guests this past year! What if we would have been able to keep half of them!? We could have added over 50 people to this amazing church family!
I want to introduce you to something I recently learned about that might be able to help us sincerely and authentically interact with our guests, making them feel welcome and at home in this amazing tribe of Christ followers at Grace; it’s called the 5-10-Link Rule. Here’s how it works…
5 (Stands for 5 minutes)
Five minutes before worship and five minutes after worship, pay special attention to who is around you who you don’t know. These are the most important five minutes of the worship service for a guest. It will determine the entire future of their experience with our church. We have a tendency to hang out with friends during these two five minute periods. Hanging out with friends isn’t a bad thing, but can it wait five minutes? That’s really not a very big cost for making sure a guest feels welcome.
10 (Stands for 10 feet)
Your “guest radar” should be set to at least ten feet around you. You don’t have to “work the entire room.” It can feel overwhelming to try to take in that many people. I know most everyone in our church, and it is always a little overwhelming for me. But you don’t need to do that much (unless you’re uniquely gifted with hospitality!). Just pay attention to who is sitting or walking within ten feet of you. Invite that person into your conversation.
Link (Stands for creating links between people, especially those who might share something in common)
So you’ve paid attention during the five minutes before worship begins and the first five minutes after worship is over, and you’ve noticed someone you didn’t know walk within ten feet of you. You reached out and introduced yourself and started up a conversation. In the midst of that conversation you come to find out that this guy just moved here and has a son at Western High school. So, what do you do? Ask yourself, who do I know who has a teenage kid at Western? When you get that person in your head, you scan the room, spot him, and ask your new friend if you can introduce him to your old friend. “Hi, my name’s Tony,” he says. Your guest will then introduce himself back. “Hi, my name’s John.” You then say, “John just moved here and he’s got a kid at Western High School, I know your son goes there to, right?” Aaaaannnndddd….LINK! Tony and John are now linked with something they share in common.
It’s that easy. 5-10-Link. It’s a simple tool that we can begin to use here at Grace to make sure that our guests move from visitors to vital and vibrant partners in membership here at Grace!
Looking forward to seeing you when the tribe gathers on Sunday!
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Eric |
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Pathway Points
Stepping Up for Jesus
Monica Lebsack, Creative Ministries Director
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It’s that time of year again. You know, where one holiday barely ends before the next begins. First, it’s Valentine’s Day, then Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, and then St. Patrick’s Day (because…you know…green beer), and Palm Sunday, and…wait…you don’t feel the pressure? I know it’s not Christmas, but nothing? Perhaps a bit of review is in order. After all, there’s no point in Christmas if there’s no Easter, and Easter is forever intertwined with Lent and Holy Week. Let’s begin with the end in mind. Candy hearts and green beer aside, Easter is the big holiday on the horizon. It’s the day that we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s the whole reason that Christmas happened in the first place. So…it’s pretty amazing that Jesus rose from the dead (the resurrection) but if that’s all that we focus on, we completely miss the point. Just like with Christmas, we have a season of preparation for Easter. At Christmas, it’s a time of celebration called Advent. Starting March 1st, it’s a time of introspection and reflection called Lent. We as Christians use this time to focus on our need for a Savior--our sinful natures, His perfection; our stubborn grip on earthly things, His patient pursuit of us anyway. Join me each week as we dig a little deeper into this holiday season and what Easter really means. Also, be on the lookout for Lenten Devotionals coming soon to a Welcome Center near you!
Stepping up with you in His strength!
 Monica
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Current Series
@ both Campuses:
REVELATION
This week's message:
"The End of the World as We Know It"
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(Requests will stay on the prayer list for 1 week. If you have a repeating request, please check the box on your Relationship Card, and your request will remain on the list for 4 weeks.)
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 One Call Now
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 SCOUT SUNDAY
FREE “Thank You” Pancake Breakfast from our Scouts to the congregation:
East Campus—February 19th
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 Please be sure to put your FULL NAME on your offering envelope each week to ensure giving credit. If you would rather used your assigned number, please call the office, and we will provide it for you. Thank you!
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Nursery Help Needed on March 19
If you are willing and able to care for Grace's youngest members on March 19 at West Campus, please see Elizabeth Hulka in the nursery.
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FOOD PANTRY NEEDS
The food pantry at West Campus is in need of the following food items:
Pork & Beans
Peanut Butter
Mac and Cheese
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Calling all youth (grades 6-12) to a fun time at the waterpark! Featuring Brian Pruitt, All American football player & motivational speaker, and Daren Streblow, stand-up comedian. Check with your Youth Leader for more information.
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Mental illness, just like physical illness, is real. Becoming educated about a topic helps us move beyond uncomfortable feelings some might experience. Let's welcome our speaker from the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) of Midland on Tuesday, February 28th at 7:00 p.m. at West Campus. There will be a presentation and a question/answer period.
The program is open to anyone in the congregation who is interested in this topic. Refreshments and a business meeting will follow with a Lenten Call to Prayer and Self Denial devotion, featuring Maternal and Child Health.
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 Grace Church is assembling a team for the Bay County Relay for Life Event on May 20th. Please contact Rick Thibo if you’re interested in participating in this worthy cause to help the fight against cancer.
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Pastor Eric's Bible study will not meet on the second Thursday of the month.
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Levi's Table
February 27
6:30-8p
Uptown Grill
3 E. Main St., Bay City
in the uptown development
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The New Membership Class will be held Sunday, March 26, 12:30p, at West Campus. Join us for lunch and discussion about Grace Church.
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