Building Plan Update, December 2015

[From Jim Wilson, Assistant Pastor for Operations]

Progress is hard to see sometimes.  This is not a sinkhole. It is not the first hole on our new putt-putt course. This is progress! In a very small way, we “broke ground” for the new addition to the building when several “core samples” were drilled to verify that we have stable soil for a foundation.

We plan and we meet over and over, but sometimes we just can’t see substantial results.  We recently showed you the plans for our building addition and the artist’s rendering of the addition. We all have hope that construction will start soon and our planning will result in action. We are waiting for the architect, civil engineers, and engineers who make the actual construction drawings to complete their work so the builder can get bids from various contractors and apply for permits to begin construction. Please pray with us that these pre-construction tasks will be completed quickly and that the process will produce visible results soon.

And yes, you can play putt-putt in the parking lot if you wish.

For more information on the Building Plan, visit begrace.org/building.
For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org.

Prayer Tip: God’s Actions Linked to Our Prayers

(taken from 31 Days of Prayer – Myers) Have you ever wondered why God chose to link His actions with our praying?  Why did He decide that our prayers would cause Him to accomplish certain things or expand what He does?  And that by not praying we would limit Him?  Could He not carry out His purposes far more efficiently without us?   Yet He has established the prayers of His people as a powerful influence on how and when He meets our needs (material, emotional, spiritual) and the needs of others throughout the world.

            The answer goes back to why God created us.  He created us to be His family with whom He can share a relationship of mutual enjoyment – the fulfillment and significance of being included in Kingdom work, the security of His unconditional love and acceptance, and the joy and delight of being pleasing to Him and enjoying His rest.

            God longs to express His boundless love by meeting our needs to the point of overflowing.  Even if we don’t pray, He still holds all things together and is the source of every good thing.  But prayer keeps us aware of Him as our Source and opens our lives to receive His greater bounty as well as linking us with His exciting purposes and power.

            More importantly, it brings us into a love relationship with God, rooted in our realizing how much we need Him and our choosing to depend on Him.  The more we pray, the more we’re able to let God meet our emotional and spiritual needs and love others through us.  Prayer ushers us into an experience with God, with a growing sense of wonder, delight, and gratefulness.

Let God catch you up in wonder, delight and gratefulness this week.  Pray.

For more information on the Grace Bible Church Prayer Team, visit begrace.org/prayer.
For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org

Songs of Worship, 12/20/2015

This Week’s Songs of Worship:
Music helps us to connect right thinking and right feeling. The more we know God, the more we’re inspired to sing and to live our entire lives worshiping Him. Here’s a chance to learn this week’s songs ahead of time!

CREATION
God is the great and loving Creator

• Angels We Have Heard on High
• O Come, All Ye Faithful

FALL & REDEMPTION
We have rebelled and need Jesus

• Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
• O Holy Night

RE-CREATION
God is making us new in Jesus

• COMMUNION SONG:
  Peace to You, My Soul

For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org.

Prayer Tip: Lacking Confidence to Pray? (continued)

When we sense we are living in obedience to God it is easier to pray with confidence and come boldly to the throne of grace.  But what should I do when I have sincerely confessed all known sin (last week’s tip) and still have a vague sense of guilt robbing me of confidence in prayer?

I John 1:5  This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Do you think the fog of doubt and fear come from God or somewhere else?  Exactly.  Satan is the ‘accuser of the brethren’ (Rev. 12:10)  God does not give a spirit of fear (II Tim. 1:7).

When the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, He is specific, He is firm, He is persistent but also gentle.  He is not out to condemn but to give us freedom and draw us back into unhindered fellowship with God.  What to do?

James 4:7,8  ⁷ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

By faith and the authority of God’s word, claim the victory.  Give thanks for the cross of Christ and that His shed blood cleanses you from ALL sin.  Praise God that Satan is a defeated foe, that Jesus is Victor over him and you are free from his oppression and lies.  (Heb. 2:14,15)

Then go on praying with renewed assurance…always listening for His leading…with much praise and thanksgiving.

For more information on the Grace Bible Church Prayer Team, visit begrace.org/prayer.
For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org

Songs of Worship, 12/13/2015

This Week’s Songs of Worship:
Music helps us to connect right thinking and right feeling. The more we know God, the more we’re inspired to sing and to live our entire lives worshiping Him. Here’s a chance to learn this week’s songs ahead of time!

CREATION
God is the great and loving Creator

• Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)
• Joyful Joyful

FALL & REDEMPTION
We have rebelled and need Jesus

• O Come O Come Emmanuel
• O Holy Night

RE-CREATION
God is making us new in Jesus

• COMMUNION SONG:
  Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)

For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org.

Prayer Tip: Lacking Confidence to Pray?

When we sense we are living in obedience to God it is easier to pray with confidence and come boldly to the throne of grace.

But what should I do when I don’t have this sense?

The first thing to do is take inventory and ask God if there is unconfessed sin?  Remember sin is simply not trusting God but rather depending on myself or something/someone else and going my own way.

As God brings specific things to mind, immediately confess (agree with God) they are sin and ask God to help you turn away from them.  (Prov. 28:13)

God is always eager and ready to forgive because of what Jesus has done on our behalf.

Psalm 86:5  For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.

He longs for us to confess sins, including our lack of trust, and reaffirm our commitment to Him.  And part of obedience is to believe His promise to forgive.

I John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What about all the sins we don’t recall or are just too numerous to name?  Look at the word ‘all’ in the last part of the promise.  As we confess the sins God clearly brings to mind, He cleanses us from ALL the rest. HALLELUIA, WHAT A SAVIOR!

And when we receive God’s forgiveness, we stand before Him as though we never sinned – totally blameless and innocent, covered with the righteousness of Jesus!

But what do you do when you’ve confessed all sin that God clearly brings to mind and you still have a vague sense of guilt; there’s still a cloud of doubt and general feeling of sinfulness and failure hanging over your head robbing you of confidence in your prayers?  More on that next week.

For more information on the Grace Bible Church Prayer Team, visit begrace.org/prayer.
For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org

Songs of Worship, 12/6/2015

This Week’s Songs of Worship:
Music helps us to connect right thinking and right feeling. The more we know God, the more we’re inspired to sing and to live our entire lives worshiping Him. Here’s a chance to learn this week’s songs ahead of time!

CREATION
God is the great and loving Creator

• Furious
• Once in Royal David’s City [Lyrics]

FALL & REDEMPTION
We have rebelled and need Jesus

• Come As You Are
• Love Shines

RE-CREATION
God is making us new in Jesus

• COMMUNION SONG: How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

For more information about Grace Bible Church, visit begrace.org.