Pastor Paul's Paragraphs

     One of the greatest assets any church has available is people, those who are part of the larger Body of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. It is such a blessing to hear the many stories of God at work in and through the lives of His people. Just this last week I had a note left on my desk reflecting the joy and excitement of seeing eight students from GCA introduced to Jesus Christ all in the same day. Grace Baptist Church and Grace Christian Academy and Preschool are made possible by the desire and dedication of people who love the Lord and love the privilege of being faithful to God's call upon their lives. The Apostle Paul wrote to his young son in the faith, Timothy, and said the following: "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." II Timothy 2:2. I see the reality of this verse being played out in the lives of so many here at Grace.

      The comprehensive list of people and positions involved is quite lengthy, and I will not attempt such a task lest someone somewhere be overlooked. All are vital and all are appreciated and every task of ministry done in the name of Jesus is remembered by our Heavenly Father. There are a few people I do wish to mention. My goal in doing so is two fold. First, I want to honor them for all that they do. The Scriptures tell us to honor those to whom honor is due (Romans 13:7). Second, I want to clarify the many responsibilities that our office staff is handling. Just recently we have gone through a restructuring process and Lori, Trish and Abby have all taken on additional job duties that will play an important role in the future ministries within our church.

      Lori is our office coordinator. She manages the church office and oversees a multitude of responsibilities which include bookkeeping, insurance, legal issues, the church master calendar and facility use, hospitality for guest speakers, church history, housekeeping, Sunday service orders, music coordinator, secretary to the pastor, and more. Lori also helps to write and coordinate all church policy.

      Trish is our primary office receptionist. She is usually the first person you will see when you visit the office and the first person you will talk to when you call. Trish tracks attendance, handles both our prayer hot line and prayer bulletin, purchases office and church supplies, copies CD's, orders and maintains our tract supply, handles bulk mailings, keeps our church sign attractive and thought provoking, handles many of the children's ministry responsibilities including some hands-on with our nursery, Wednesday night Olympians Club, Sunday School, and the volunteer screening program. Trish is also the point of contact and support for Vacation Bible School and summer camps, and support for those ministries which include our sixth graders and below.

      Abby spends an enormous amount of time in communicating to the church body all the details of what is happening here at Grace. She publishes the weekly bulletin and the monthly newsletter. She maintains our membership records and assists the deacons with their care groups. She is our safety coordinator which requires her to conduct safety meetings, safety inspections, and maintain our IIPP (Injury Illness Prevention Program). She is in charge of our Welcome Center and communicates with our visitors whenever possible. Abby is currently learning our bookkeeping system, working towards the organization of a visitation and care program and keeping us informed as to opportunities of ministry within our community. She is responsible for support of those ministries which include our youth through adults.

      I want to encourage you to pray for our office staff and let them know how much you appreciate all that they do. There are many silent and secret servants around here that simply serve the Lord just because they are faithful. Lori, Trish and Abby are three of those servants and I appreciate the privilege of serving along side of each of them.

      Pastor Paul

Fireworks Booth

Grace Christian Academy & Preschool
June 29 - July 4

Raley’s Center Parking Lot
(Near Toys R Us on Bridge Street)

• Easy and fun way to raise funds for GCA.
• Volunteers are needed to staff the booth for two-hour shifts during the hours of operation.
• Call the school office at 674-7210 for more information.

GBC's Summer 242

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42

SPECIAL NEWS ARTICLE

CHRISTIAN BUSINESSES CAN SHOW THE WAY OUT OF AMERICA’S FINANCIAL PERIL

At a time when our nation’s government is incurring massive debt injecting taxpayer dollars into America’s failed financial markets and industries, we must ask the question - what has happened to us? There is an answer. America’s politicians, courts, entrepreneurs and financial leaders have spent decades ignoring the importance of morality and ethics, character traits that can only be sustained through an emphasis on Biblical values.

The truth is that America’s financial markets and businesses are nothing more than the sum of multiple individual decisions and transactions in the marketplace. When these decisions and transactions are not made based on old-fashioned Biblical values, the result is what we see in America today. Add to this the decisions of politicians and judges who are not relying on the Word of God, and social chaos and financial collapse become inevitable.

Every individual business dealing or financial transaction has moral implications that affect our entire culture. All parties have a moral responsibility to deal fairly and honestly with each other. Remember the day when a man’s word was his bond, and business deals were routinely concluded with a handshake? What has changed? The answer is simple. We have become a less Christian, less ethical nation.

If the cornerstone of religion and morality is lost in America, we can expect increasing financial peril followed by our nation’s economic undoing. When business and financial leaders, politicians and courts seek to be set loose from all religious values, it is inevitable that they will become selfish and greedy. Old-fashioned dishonesty sets in to replace Biblical values and the result is America’s current economic disaster.

America’s Founders were well aware of the human tendency toward sin, greed, and corruption when they wrote our nation’s Constitution, James Madison commented on the basic sin nature of man in the Federalist Papers when he wrote, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” He understood that sinful men require the restraint of government. But America’s Founders also understood that the people must be responsible to see that government itself does not become corrupt.

No free society or political system can survive if the culture as a whole ceases to care about Biblical virtues. Our Founders based America’s political system of justice and freedom on the Judeo-Christian religion. Our current financial and cultural crisis is the direct result of turning away from these foundational Bible-based values. Moral relativism has become the basis of American culture, leading to the demise of justice and honesty. Loss of freedom and economic chaos are the inevitable result of a culture seeking to banish God from its midst.

The best way to fix today’s political, cultural, and economic problems is to return to the values and ideals of our Founding Fathers, which means returning to Biblical principles of ethics and virtue. John Adams properly pointed out that America’s system of government can only be sustained by a moral and religious people. If Americans cannot govern themselves from within, a corrupt government will impose order from without. We are seeing in our own time what happens when the people and government turn away from religion, ethics, and morality. Our entire economy teeters on the brink of collapse. Because the people have not continued to shore up their freedom with religion and morality, a corrupt government is now attempting to enforce order on an equally corrupt financial and business community. While order may come, oppressive power will be its weapon and freedom will be its victim.

For America to remain a free and prosperous nation, individual Americans must return to basic principles of ethics, honesty and Biblical values - particularly in their business and financial dealings. America needs a spiritual revival. In the meantime, those Americans who already know the God of the Bible need to show self-control in business as well as in other areas of life.

Reprinted by permission from “The Legal Alert”, a publication of Christian Law Association.

The Truth Project

Do you live your life like a believer or non-believer?

In a 2003 study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to echo throughout the evangelical world – only nine percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview. Because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers.A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy, and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is.We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation. Join Grace Baptist Church for a 13-Week DVD Series, Sunday Evenings at 6 PM May 31 through August 30. Childcare will be available.

The Truth Project is an attempt to engage in that battle for truth. This project is designed to build a systematic and comprehensive biblical framework by studying God’s blueprint for all of life. But even more so, we pray that it will be an encounter with God as we endeavor to gaze upon His face and seek to know Him more deeply. Because it is there, and only there, that we find true transformation - a metamorphosis that will renew your mind and heart and equip you to resist conforming to the world (Romans 12:2).

GBC Visitation & Care Program

Click on the link below and print out the form. Fill out this form and return it to Abby in the front ofice.


GBC_Visitation_and_care_program.pdf