Families
Sunday Corporate Worship
We believe that worship is the heart satisfied in God, or a heart seeking to be satisfied in God. Therefore the affections (emotions of the heart) are absolutely necessary for true worship. The great commandment is a command to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deut. 6:5). Therefore, the music and the style of the worship service must seek to help people feel and think right about God. The music that is chosen, must be God-centered and theologically sound. We are to worship God in spirit and in TRUTH. The words that we sing are important and they should matter to us. However, they are not all that matters, for we are to worship in SPIRIT and in truth. How many times did Jesus say with grief in his heart – “with their lips they praise me, but their hearts are far from me”? I believe that the worship service must strive for these two important elements.
PREACHING
At Grace Church we primarily preach through books of the bible, verse by verse. Our aim is to explain what the biblical text means within its original context, within the context of the entire bible (particularly the gospel), and for us today. We’re committed to this type of preaching because we believe it is most consistent with the nature of God’s word and most necessary for our souls. This is called expository preaching.
Expository preaching is preaching that makes the main point [and emphasis] of a biblical text the main point [and emphasis] of the sermon. It has been and will continue to be the main preaching diet at Grace Church. If we skip around and search for “relevant” topics, it’s likely that we will begin to favor encouraging messages or man-centered topics and forsake other more difficult topics. But God’s plan is for us to consume the entire Word, not just bits and pieces—all Scripture is profitable.
Pastor Dave preached a two-part sermon on the rationale and value of expository preaching. They are foundational to life at Grace. Listen to Part 1 and Part 2.
MUSIC
We sing both old hymns of the faith, which are filled with great, beautiful poetry that help worshipers feel and think like they ought to about God, and contemporary worship songs that communicate sound theology and a passionate hunger for God. We believe that the beautiful musical heritage of Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley, John Newton, William Cowper, and others should not be ignored. We also believe that many of the new worship songs (Getty’s, Sovereign Grace Music, etc.) are helpful to enjoy God and express that all-important affection.
If you love Jesus and play an instrument or sing and would like to serve on the music worship team at Grace Church, click here to begin the process.
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP
We encourage you to prepare during the week for corporate worship. One way in which to do this is to read and consider the primary Scripture passages for the sermon and the lyrics to the songs that we will be singing. You can read the Scripture and the lyrics under the sermon post for each week under Weekly Worship.
Sunday School
At Grace Church we have Sunday School for all ages. Our adult and teen class is called “Berea”. Both groups meet from 9:00-10:00am on Sunday mornings.
In Berea, the adults are working through the whole Bible by looking at one book of the Bible per week. We are using “The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made” and “The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made” by Mark Dever as a guide.
In Sunday School for kids we use Children Desiring God curriculum, which is developed by Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. The goal of the curriculum is to fuel spiritual desire in children by exalting the greatness and worth of God and His glorious work in Christ. And it has all the content of a God-centered, Christ-treasuring, Faith-building, Prayer-empowered, Bible-saturated, Family-strengthening and Christian-fun children’s ministry.
If you are interested in finding out more about or assisting with the Sunday children’s ministry, please contact Eric Lewis.
Generation 2 Generation
Generation 2 Generation (G2G) is our weekly family night. G2G meets on Sunday evenings from 6:00-8:00pm. Everyone is welcome to come early (5:30) if you would like to join us for a brief meal. This weekly event will primarily be for accomplishing our mission to equip parents to be the primary disciplers of their children, and to teach, challenge, and provide godly fellowship and service opportunities for those kids.
The night will consist of two different parts: 1) a time where all of the families (with kids ages 3 and up) are together, and 2) A time where parents, kids ages 3-9, kids ages 10-13, and kids ages 14-18 will be doing separate things. We also have a nursery for kids younger than 3. Please be in prayer for this important ministry!
If you have any questions please contact Michael Zvonar at ministryassistant@gracewyoming.com.
Adults
Discipleship Groups
Who: Everyone who has a heart for (or curiosity about) following Jesus and calling others to follow Him as well.
What: In order to foster and maintain the kind of honesty, openness, vulnerability, fellowship and community that we believe the Bible urges us toward, we have discipleship groups. Discipleship groups are small gatherings of families and are designed to build relationships, spur one another on in following Jesus, and serve as a springboard for life together.
The Apostle Paul words it this way, “Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:6-8).
In other words, Paul says that coming alongside others by sharing the gospel and our lives, best models the example of Christ and the personal nature of God. This is at the heart of our discipleship groups—coming alongside one another in order to follow Jesus together.
When: The discipleship groups meet at various times on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Where: Various locations (usually homes) determined by the group and group leader. Currently we have discipleship groups happening in the Wyoming, North Branch, Lino Lakes, and Ham Lake areas. Please contact the church for a list of leaders and locations.
Why: To glorify God by obeying His calling to be disciples (followers of Jesus) and His commission to make disciples of all nations because of our love for God and others.
Please feel free to contact Pastor Dave, or any of the other elders, if you have any thoughts or questions.
Children
Grace for Kids
We offer a teaching time for children from age 3 through 2nd grade during the sermon time of the worship service. The children are brought back in after the sermon for the closing songs.
Nursery
We provide a nursery ministry for kids through 3 years old during the service (10:15 AM-11:45 AM). The infant nursery is for children 18 months and younger. The toddler nursery is for 19 months through 3 years old.
We view the nursery ministry as something much more than a place for childcare during the worship service. We desire for this ministry to be an opportunity to spiritually serve the parents and children through prayer, care, and instruction.
If you are part of the Grace Church community and desire to serve in this capacity, contact Naomi Caneday.