Church Yard Signs – March 1st
 
4 Spiritual Renewal Week Yard Signs will be placed on the side and front lawns of the church by Wednesday, March 1st.
 
50/20 Challenge – March 1st
 
50 Church Members will be challenged to make 20 personal invitations to the Spiritual Renewal Week services beginning March 1st. Each participate will be given a packet of 20 Invitation Brochures and asked to place one brochure in the hands of friends, relatives, neighbors or first-time encounters offering a personal invitation to attend the event. An example encounter will be performed in the worship service on Sunday Morning, February 26th.
 
Front Door/Back Door/Side Door Prayer Plan – Week of March 6th
 
Church Members will be asked to open their front doors on Monday, March 6 and pray for all their neighbor’s homes they see.
 
Church Members will be asked to do the same thing on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 7 and 8 praying for all their neighbors who live in sight of their back doors and side doors.
 
After having prayed for their neighbors, church members will be asked then to go to their neighbors’ homes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday inviting them to attend the Spiritual Renewal Week services. Everyone is encouraged to use the Invitation Brochures as a means to offer their invitations.
 
Text Day at Grace – March 5
 
On Sunday Morning, March 5 all members who own smart phones will be asked to text a friend, family member, neighbor, work associate, classmate, or Facebook friend during a designated time in the service to invite them to attend the Spiritual Growth Week event. A sample invitation text will be shown on the screens to give everyone a recommended text they can share. Once the texts are sent, the church family will pray together that God will empower these invitations to touch the hearts of those who receive them.
 
All Night Prayer Vigil – March 11, 6 pm to 6 am
 
A sign-up sheet will be available in Sunday School, and Worship on February 26th, to begin signing volunteers up to assume a 15 minute time between 6 pm and 6 am on Saturday, March 11 in order to pray for the “Unleash” Spring Renewal Week Services. A printed and on-line Prayer Guide will be available for every volunteer to use during their prayer time. We will bath our Spring Renewal Week in prayer before it begins Sunday morning, March 12th.
 
Nightly Emphasis and Goals:
 
Sunday Morning – Sunday School Attendance  100+
                           Worship Attendance            150+
 
Sunday Night – Family Night, Families sitting together, prize for the largest family represented
                            Attendance Goal – 120+
 
Monday Night Madness - Wear your brightest, most decorative, most outlandish outfits. Be Decent!
                            Attendance Goal – 120+
 
Welcome Wednesday– Bring a Friend/Neighbor to church, Desserts of All kinds, prize for the person with the most friends and neighbors present.
                            Attendance Goal – 120+

Good Words from God’s Word
 
The passage I am preaching from today makes a powerful point, “…and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostle’s feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:33b-35).
 
What the Bible describes here is radical in today’s economic world. These believers were liquidating material assets in order to take care of one another. The Bible labels this kind of benevolent downsizing as a demonstration that “…great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33b).Grace then was an exercise in living with less in order to bless others. Grace was not measured in how much you owned, but in how much you gave up and gave away.
 
Imagine a church filled with people who are all working to simplify their lives in order to take care of each other. The focus of this congregation was not on things but on the needs of others. Success was not defined by ownership, but by fellowship. Wouldn’t you like to be a member of a church like that?
 
The most powerful verses in the Bible about living a simple life are those spoken by Jesus about the lilies of the field and the birds of the air. Jesus said, “…do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25).
 
Then Jesus points out how God amply feeds the birds and how God fashionably clothes the lilies. While on earth Jesus lived by these principles of complete simplicity, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20).
 
I think these early believers were downsizing their possessions because they not only wanted to take care of each other, but also they wanted to show the unbelieving world what it meant to look like Jesus.
 
When Robbie and I went to study for the ministry in seminary, we sold almost everything we owned. We got down to the basics, moving to a new place and a new church with only the things we would absolutely need to make a new beginning. Everything we had left fit into a mid-sized U-Haul. Many years later, when we moved from our house on Ben Hill Drive to where we live today, it took 4 full loads crammed into the largest U-Haul truck available. Now instead of a small, two bedroom apartment in seminary, we have a four-bedroom house on Cypress Place and a 5,500 square foot Vacation home in Tennessee. Robbie and I, over the years have certainly acquired a lot of stuff, and I even find it difficult to write this article about how the church in Acts committed itself to a simple—non-cluttered lifestyle.
 
GOOD NEWS! Robbie and I have made a beginning toward simplicity. We are cleaning out closets, garages, cabinets, shelves, cedar chests and work areas. I have made countless trips to Goodwill and the Salvation Army. The Good Samaritan has come to our place to pick up our donations of furniture and furnishings. We’re giving stuff away. We’ve got a long way to go, but at least we’re on our way toward simplicity. You know what SIMPLICITY feels like so far? It feels like FORGIVENESS. It is an amazing feeling. It’s like saying good bye to old transgressions and sins. I highly recommend it.
 
Pastor Mike

Good Words from God’s Word
 
There is a word in the 23rd verse of the 4th chapter of Acts introducing the text from which I will preach today that speaks loudly to our church today. That word is “COMPANIONS” in the New American Standard version of scripture. That same word is translated as “THEIR OWN COMPANY” in the King James Version.
 
When Peter and John were released from the hands of their adversaries, they wasted no time in returning to fellow believers to report all that had happened. These believers are called in the Greek text, “pros tous idious” which mean, “one’s own kind”. You might say “KINDRED” or even “FAMILY”. Peter and John went home to be consoled and restored after the enemies of the gospel had worked them over. They needed a spiritual break.
 
Over in verse 27 of the same chapter, those who opposed Peter and John are identified, “For truly in this city thee were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel” (Acts 4:27).
 
These adversaries of the gospel worked hard to maintain their own positions of power and control by arguing against, putting down and even crucifying God’s own Son. In today’s passage, these spiritual bullies were ready to do the same thing to Peter and John or any of Christ’s followers. There are two distinct groups identified in the 4th chapter of Acts, the “COMPANIONS” in the gospel, and the “ENEMIES” of the gospel.
 
The point I want to make is, in a world that regularly opposes, beats up on, and works against the people of God, we need COMPANIONS and a CHURCH where we can go for support, prayer and rest. Peter and John did not waste any time returning to their place and their people. I believe that it is important for every believer to have such a place. Peter and John demonstrated a sense of urgency and desperation when they returned to their spiritual family. This world and many people in it display a growing intensity in negativity and opposition to the gospel message. We must, like Peter and John, be determined to find, and be loyal to, our church family in which our COMPANIONS in the gospel gather.
 
DO YOU BELIEVE WITH ME THAT YOUR COMPANIONS AT GRACE CARE ABOUT YOU, PRAY FOR YOU, AND SUPPORT YOU IN YOUR WALK WITH JESUS?
 
That’s what “pros tous idious” believers like us are called to do just like they did with Peter and John.
 
I read about an elderly lady who frequently visited the post office just down the street from her home. One day during her visit, she was confronted by a long line of people waiting for service. As she waited patiently, the customer behind her asked about the nature of her business. She told him that she wanted to purchase some stamps. He said, “Why don’t you use the stamp machine over there in the corner and save some time?” She politely answered, “That machine can’t ask me about my arthritis.”
 
COMPANIONS care about each other. Lord Jesus, help us to care about each other.  Make Grace a church that is filled with COMPANIONS.  Amen. 

Good Words from God’s Word
 
I just finished reading a great little book about breaking the 100 barrier in Sunday School. The premise of the book is that more new people attend Sunday School because they were INVITED than for any other reason. The power of the invitation is more powerful than slick ads, compelling signs, beautifully landscaped buildings or accessible parking lots. Just a simple, “Will you join me for Bible study,” carries with it a magnetic appeal. The movie “Field of Dreams” said, “If you build it they will come.” Sunday School experience says, “If you invite them, they will come.”
 
The 100 in Sunday School threshold is centered in the power of an INVITATION. The book goes on to explain how a church can build a “culture of invitation” into every Sunday School class and the church as a whole. 
 
One of the things that struck me as important was the point that a “culture of invitation” is advanced when leaders arrive early to prepare for and welcome class members and guests as they arrive. When the teachers and leaders are in place early, members and guests are given the message that they are important and welcome. Early arrival opens the possibilities of one-on-one conversations with members and new-comers. Getting to know people better is vital within the “culture of invitation.” Getting to the church late and playing catch-up just conveys that the Bible study and worship experience is just another thing added to an already overworked and crowded schedule. People feel that way all week long with all they have to fit into their lives. People feel special when they see that their presence is important enough for leaders to be in their places early and eager to greet them.
 
George Washington promptly ate dinner at 4:00 pm every day. If a dinner guest arrived late, they would often find him halfway through the meal or even pushed back from the table. To his startled, tardy guests he would say, “We are punctual here. My cook never asks if the guests have arrived. He always asks, has the hour come”
 
The “Culture of Invitation” never asks if the guests have arrived, but has the hour come for me to be in my place and ready to receive those whom God sends me to teach. Begin today—arrive early and join me in building a “Culture of Invitation” here at Grace.