Psalm 95: 1-7

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
or he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

Let's give God our full attention - let's give Him our praise, let's give Him our hearts - for He is good and His love never fails!

Take a moment now to pause... draw near to God, allow Him to come close, allow Him to speak. Be still and enjoy His presence.

Father God loves it when His children sit with Him, He loves to speak to us. Why not ask God to speak to you right now. He might drop a picture into your thoughts, or bring to mind a word or scripture. Allow Him to comfort you and fill you. Remember, He knows what you need even before you ask Him.

We want to share what God is doing and saying in these moments, so please email in with anything you sense God is saying and in future weeks we'll share these here.

We also want to share testimony of the amazing things Jesus is doing in and through us. Read below a fantastic story of healing and please share any other testimony you have to stir our faith and give God glory.

Here is a word and a testimony sent in this week:

Denise: (from Isaiah 55: 6-13)

God really wants us to know that whatever He has planned, whatever His desire for our lives, he will make it happen.
Just as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth.....so is His word that goes out from His mouth. It will not return to Him empty but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it. (vs 10-11)
For those in our family who feel that the Coronavirus has robbed them of an opportunity; stopped them being involved in something that was just taking off; destroyed something that has taken years to build up or any such negative action; let me encourage you to trust in God.
We will go out with joy; we will grow pine trees* instead of thorn bushes and myrtles* instead of briers.
 *Replace these with the things that we desire or most long for in our own lives. It could easily say, "Instead of isolation, you will have the freedom of the earth"!
 

Take some moments now, before and during the next song, to share some bread and wine. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, remember all that this food and drink represents for you. Spend time thanking Jesus for his sacrifice. Remember your debt has been paid in full! Your sin has been washed away! Rejoice that you are now a child of God and a new creation.
And as you take time over this meal remember you are doing this
along with your church family right across the city so let's remember and pray for each other.

Guests
If you are new to Grace Church - WELCOME! 
We'd love to hear from you so please get in touch! We'd especially like to invite you to come and join in with our online chat after the service on Zoom. Our hope would be to get to know you and find out how we can serve you and involve you in the most suitable parts of the church family.
We'd also love to invite you to join in with any of our mid-week activities so please subscribe to our regular emails on our website to find out more.

Offering
We're thinking and praying about how we can divert church resources to those most in need, within our church family and in the city. We're very grateful for people continuing to give into the church, and we appreciate that if you used to give into the offering tubs in our meetings, you will need to find another way to give. To help with that, please look on our website or click button below.

Prayer: Father, we pray now for all that is given into Grace Church as an offering of worship to You. We thank you for so much generosity and devotion and we thank you for Your great provision and faithfulness for all who come to You in need. We pray You would help us as a church family to use all the resources You have put at our disposal wisely and courageously. We ask for great grace to meet many needs and see Your gospel advance. Amen

Good Friday Service
We're doing this LIVE on Zoom so please click on the link below at or 10.30am on Friday morning. We plan to worship, share communion and take time to remember Jesus dying for us.

 We would love for you to join us for this special service.

Bible Reading
A number of Grace Church folk enjoy reading the same section of scripture together through the YouVersion Bible app, and then sharing thoughts, prayers and comments.

Those reading one chapter of the New Testament per day, are needing to sign up to their next set of readings (from 6 April) and so please look out for the link in your emails. And if you if would like to join in with one of our reading plans, please email the office.

Prayer
We're sensing an increased urgency and need to pray over the weeks ahead. We especially want to pray for two groups of people. The first are those struggling: either with their health, in job situations and their finances. The second group are those "on the front line" in different ways: those working in the health service, those in shops and supermarkets enabling food to be available for us all, those in care homes and working with people struggling with their mental health. We're also aware of how stressful these last weeks have been for teachers. We want to especially invite you, if you fall into any of these groups, to join us at our regular prayer gatherings. We'll especially take time to gather around you and pray for you to be built up and encouraged.

If you have any specific prayer requests for these times, please email them in to office@gracechurchmk.org. 

Please spend some more time in family groups and in our online communities discussing all James has shared, and what God has spoken most to you about through today's service.

Thanks so much for joining with the GC family this morning.

Please join with us now (approx 11.30am) for "Coffee & Catch up" (link below) or later in the week at one or more of our prayer, social or discipleship online gatherings - see the email this afternoon for more info and to get involved!

May God bless you richly!

Grab yourself a coffee and click on the link below to join in with others from Grace Church for a chat!
Depending on how many people join in, we might divide people up into "Breakout rooms" so we can chat with a few people a bit easier.

You'll need to download the Zoom app/program (which is free) and enable audio and video for the best experience.
 

More Worship!

Below are a couple of new worship songs Rupert is recommending for us to enjoy and listen to, that we might use in future weeks:
(Don't forget to join us tonight at 7pm for different styles of worship and prayer.)