![[Sunday] Bells On Christmas - Kingdom Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1734099772571-8RJ2AT9SECGMA7R3QR6Q/KW+4a.jpg)
[Sunday] Bells On Christmas - Kingdom Way
Listen to the bells being rung, God’s promise of peace, hope, and salvation breaking into the world, even in the midst of suffering.
- Listen to the bells being rung, God’s promise of peace, hope, and salvation breaking into the world, even in the midst of suffering.
Questions for the Week: Kingdom Way: Bells on Christmas
Have you ever experienced a moment in your life when you felt like you could hear "bells" breaking through a time of pain or despair? How did that moment impact you?
Read Matthew 2:13-23 (See also Exodus 1:1-13). What similarities do you see in Matthew to what God’s people went through in Exodus? How is God always at work saving His people in both accounts?
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day during the Civil War, a time of personal and national struggle. How can we find hope in difficult circumstances, even when it feels like there is no peace?
The sermon compared the despair at the cross with the hope of Jesus’ resurrection. How does knowing that Jesus was raised give you hope when facing struggles or brokenness in your life?
Notes for the Sermon
Information on Charles Longfellow
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![[Wednesday] Christmas Variety - Mid-week Advent](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1733924964327-I9YR743FVTOYQ86ZWMRY/Wed+2aaa.jpg)
![Kids Christmas Party! [Photos]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1733928628392-N7477FH4B9A06TS1YAF5/PXL_20241208_175846459.jpg)
![[Sunday] Guiding Light - Kingdom Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1733503885800-F4KROQ9IYUMJNWO7F1XF/KW+3a.jpg)
![[Wednesday] Century of Gifts - Mid-week Advent](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1733193276465-55WSP3L40ZUEL4QUY98B/Wed+1aaa.jpg)
Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Dec. 15th 4pm Sable Palm 6
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Dec 15th. Starring Lauren Graham, Judy Greer, and Pete Holmes.
Movie: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
4PM Start, 3:30pm Doors open.
Food is Good, Full Service from your seat. Menu below
2539 S US Hwy 1, Fort Pierce, FL 34982
In Between Publix and Staples.
I encourage you to get there early.
December 15th, Sunday
Event Starts at 4pm, Doors open at 3:30pm
Tickets are 10 Dollars, Only 110 Tickets Available
Address: 2539 S US Hwy 1, Fort Pierce, FL 34982
Theater gets Dark at 4pm
Doors Open 3:30PM
Sable Palm is a full service Theater.
Waiters will serve you from your seats and they have a full menu of food which you can eat at your seat.
Each Seat has a swing out table.
Each seat reclines.
Dicken's A Christmas Carol Study (Stave 4-5)
A Study of Dickens A Christmas Carol
Stave 4-5
We are reading through Charles Dickens’ a Christmas Carol
Christmas Variety Photos
See the photos of the variety show.
Played games, Sang Songs, heard some sweet stories, and ran around with some ribbons.
[Wednesday] Christmas Variety - Mid-week Advent
Our Christmas Variety Show.
- Join us for some Fun and Game at our Christmas Variety Show
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Kids Christmas Party! [Photos]
Kids had a great time exchanging gifts and learning about Christmas.
Our Kids exchanged gifts and learned about the Christmas Story.
Also big thanks to the Crafters Group for giving the kids some presents.
See also Kyler as santa in his School’s Christmas Play.
Grace LWML Decorates for Christmas!
LWML Decked the Halls for Christmas!
Big Thanks to our LWML for making Grace look so festive for Christmas!
[Sunday] Guiding Light - Kingdom Way
The Magi following the light of a star mirrors how God has always worked, giving a light to follow through the wilderness, away from the darkness that holds us down.
- The Magi following the light of a star mirrors how God has always worked, giving a light to follow through the wilderness, away from the darkness that holds us down.
Questions for the Week: Kingdom Way: Guiding Light
What do you have on top of your Christmas tree? A star? An angel? Something else? Why is that important to your household?
What do you think the star represented for the Magi in the story? How does it compare to the angels' role in other parts of the Christmas story?
Read Matthew 2:1-13. People often get too focused on the power of earthly rulers like Herod. What are some examples of times when we might be tempted to focus more on worldly power than on God's true power?
The sermon talks about how the Magi were “unlikely” people to be part of the story. How does this remind us of God’s ability to use anyone, no matter their background, for His purposes? Can you think of examples from your own life where God brought an unexpected person into His family?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Dicken's A Christmas Carol Study (Stave 3)
A Study of Dickens A Christmas Carol
Stave 3
We are reading through Charles Dickens’ a Christmas Carol
[Wednesday] Century of Gifts - Mid-week Advent
Christmas expectations are often Joshed. Yet the name Emmanuel breaks all expectations as Jesus comes to be with us.
- Singing some classic Christmas Carols and talking about gifts over the last 100 Years
What Had happened at Grace this week.
![[Sunday] Named Expectation - Kingdom Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1732674628275-BT5YOQCW9FVYUE1GCROF/KW+2a.jpg)
[Sunday] Named Expectation - Kingdom Way
Christmas expectations are often Joshed. Yet the name Emmanuel breaks all expectations as Jesus comes to be with us.
- Christmas expectations are often Joshed. Yet the name Emmanuel breaks all expectations as Jesus comes to be with us.
Questions for the Week: Kingdom Way: Named Expectation
Can you think of a time when you had high expectations for something, only to be disappointed? How did you feel? How did you cope with the disappointment?
Read Matthew 1:18-25. Joseph faced a situation that completely shattered his expectations. Can you think of a time when your expectations were not met, but looking back, you saw how God worked through that situation?
Jesus was an ordinary name in the days Matthew wrote his Gospel. Emmanuel was not an ordinary name. How does the idea of the ordinary connected to the extraordinary of God coming to be with us (Jesus & Emmanuel), change our understanding of how God works?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Guys Night - 5:45pm 1st Thursdays
No Guys Night in December, Back in January
Back Guys night is every 1st Thursday
- January 9th 2024 - 5:45pm
Spiro's Taverna
of St. Lucie West
https://maps.app.goo.gl/XM8RCQKd76PSPRxj8
1680 St Lucie W Blvd #107, Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
Thanksgiving and the Human Family
This short Thanksgiving Day devotion comes to us from Paul Walker: Virginians, being Virginians, like
This short Thanksgiving Day devotion comes to us from Paul Walker:
Taken From Thanksgiving and the Human Family - Mockingbird
Virginians, being Virginians, like to claim that the first Thanksgiving took place not at Plymouth Rock, but at Berkley Plantation in Virginia in 1619. The ships that arrived from England had a charter that required that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a “day of thanksgiving” to God.
“We ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.” So, on that first day on Virginia soil by the James River, Captain John Woodleaf held the first service of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving, of course, has become an annual celebration of food and family. Many families have longstanding traditions. When I was I child, my family traveled every Thanksgiving from Richmond to the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where both my parents had grown up. The undulating rhythm of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge brings back the anticipation of arrival. We rushed to get out of the house, because my Aunt Mary Hamilton held a High Noon Champagne Cocktail Party for all her family and friends on the Shore. This part of the day became more interesting to me as I became an older teenager.
After the friends had departed, we gathered together for the meal. Sometimes we ate at Winona, my Uncle Herman’s home overlooking Hungars Creek. Winona was built in the late 1600’s, just 60 or so years after Captain Woodleaf’s first Thanksgiving service. Aunts and great aunts, uncles and great uncles, cousins and second cousins were seated around the table (or the children’s table) together. Uncle Jim always said the blessing. Neenie’s Pecan Pie always finished the feast. And, the meal was always followed by the annual backyard football game.
There was much that was wonderful about our Thanksgiving gatherings. And yet, no family is immune to the difficulties that beset us all. Divorce, disease, death and estrangement disrupt even the most hallowed traditions. My own parents divorced after I graduated from college. There are cousins I haven’t seen in years. I officiated at my Uncle Jim’s funeral 2 years ago. Such is the nature of life.
Families break apart because people are broken. Most families are no different than this priceless description of William Faulkner’s family by his niece, Dean Faulkner Wells:
“Over the generations my family can claim nearly every psychological aberration: narcissism and nymphomania, alcoholism and anorexia, agoraphobia, manic depression, paranoid schizophrenia. There have been thieves, adulterers, sociopaths, killers, racists, liars, and folks suffering from panic attacks and real bad tempers, though to the best of my knowledge we’ve never had a barn burner or a preacher.”
Sounds like my family and I would guess, your family, although now my family does have a preacher. But Dean Faulkner Wells is just describing the human family. We’re pretty much all the same. Just think about God’s family as described in the Bible. Noah was a drunk, Jacob was a liar, Rahab was a prostitute, David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, and the Samaritan woman was divorced 5 times and shacking up with her current boyfriend!
So on this “day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God”, no matter what permutation of friends or family we find ourselves in, what old traditions we maintain or what new ones we forge, or whether we’ve decided to bypass the whole affair and enjoy a quiet day alone, we might pause to give thanks that we are a human family, all connected to one another. And the comforting news is this: the God to whom we give thanks is the God who, on account of his son, accepts us exactly as we are.
His forgiving grace will outlast any tradition and is stronger than any divorce, disease, death or estrangement. And even if you are alone today, or feel alone in the midst of difficulty, you are not alone. He is with you.
I’ll close with a prayer from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. It’s called a Prayer for the Human Family.
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen and Happy Thanksgiving.
![[Sunday] Royal Introduction - Kingdom Way](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1732292654207-IOAL90WWETSNSYJWNI92/KW+1a.jpg)
[Sunday] Royal Introduction - Kingdom Way
Introducing Him who completes all of creation with everything humanity has to offer.
- Introducing Him who completes all of creation with everything humanity has to offer.
Questions for the Week: Kingdom Way - Royal Introduction
Share the greatest ancestor that you have in your family. What is so significant about them?
Read Matthew 1:1-17. Discuss the inclusion of Rahab, Tamar, and Ruth. How does their presence challenge our understanding of holiness and God's plan?
The sermon emphasized the significance of the number seven in the Bible. How does this biblical symbolism deepen our understanding of Jesus' role as the culmination of God's plan?
The sermon emphasized that God's kingdom is not limited to the perfect. How does this understanding challenge our own expectations of ourselves and others?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Update From Habitat for Children in Haiti
Some Haiti Updates.
Amazing to see the Girls from their First day of School
Haiti has had a few more setbacks which you have heard in the news lately.
Here is Meschac giving a few video updates about the good things happening in Haiti
Kingdom Way (Teaching Series)
The Kingdom of God is right here: The lowly manger being lauded by well traveled kings; wisdom from on high unearthing the way of love; the blind seeing the light radiating from a cold tomb. It's backwards. It's beautiful. It's the Kingdom way.
Kingdom Way
The Kingdom of God is right here: The lowly manger being lauded by well traveled kings; wisdom from on high unearthing the way of love; the blind seeing the light radiating from a cold tomb. It's backwards. It's beautiful. It's the Kingdom way.
Christmas / Advent Schedule
Wednesdays December 4th & 11th
Potluck Dinner 5:30PM
Carols & Fun 6:30PM
Wednesdays December 18th
Christmas Dinner Out 5:30PM - TBD
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve Service 4PM & 7PM
TDD Service with the Korean Church
Christmas Day
Communion Service 10:15am
Sunday December 29th
Communion Service 10:15am (just one service)
January 5th
Normal Sunday Schedule
Reading Plan
Read around the readings for Sunday
-
11/24/24
Geneology of Matthew
2 Samuel 23:1-7
Revelation 1:4b-8
Matthew 1:1-17
12/1/24
Birth of Jesus
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
12/8/24
Magi
Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
12/15/24
Flight to Egypt
Isaiah 63:7-9
Hebrews 2:10-18
Matthew 2:13-23
12/22/24
John the Baptist prepares the way
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12
12/25/24
Christmas
Isaiah 52:7-10
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18
12/29/24
Baptism of Jesus
Isaiah 42:1-9
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17
Dicken's A Christmas Carol Study (Stave 2)
A Study of Dickens A Christmas Carol
Stave 2
We are reading through Charles Dickens’ a Christmas Carol
Directory Photos (Last Week)
Last Week! We have shot 54 Different photos! (great stuff!)
We are shooting Directory Photos Oct 27 - Nov24
The 24th is the last week we are shooting Photos.
We have shot 54 different photos. Very Good!
Get Ready.
We are shooting photos for the Directory.
Be Ready Reformation Sunday through Thanksgiving.
We will be doing basic shots before and after service.
![[Sunday] All Things - Keep It Simple](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5852f18a20099e30cd2c01dc/1731687836393-04YTHZK3FOM503Y57MM3/Simple4a.jpg)
[Sunday] All Things - Keep It Simple
It's right there, all around us is the party of God's abundance. The question for us all is: Will we enjoy ourselves in God’s generosity, or will we rely on our own strength?
- It's right there, all around us is the party of God's abundance. The question for us all is: Will we enjoy ourselves in God’s generosity, or will we rely on our own strength?
Questions for the Week: KEEP IT SIMPLE: - All Things
In what specific areas of your life are you currently relying on your own strength instead of trusting in God's? How can you shift your perspective to embrace God's sufficiency?
Read Philippians 4:10-20. How can we practically apply Paul's example of contentment in all circumstances to our daily lives, especially when facing challenges or hardships?
How can we share the message of God's abundance with others, particularly those who may be struggling or feeling overwhelmed? What specific actions can we take to encourage and support them?
The sermon challenges us to "keep it simple." How can you simplify your life to focus more on God's abundance and less on your own worries and anxieties?
What Had happened at Grace this week.
Listen to the bells being rung, God’s promise of peace, hope, and salvation breaking into the world, even in the midst of suffering.