Star of Wonder. IRSC Planetarium, Dec 10th 23'

Event Starts at 3pm, No Entry after 3pm

Doors Open 2:30PM

Craker Barrell Fort Perice I95 Dinner after at. 2550 Peters Rd, Fort Pierce, FL 34945

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Tickets are sold out, but some more may become available

Join us For a fun Christmas event!

An astronomer’s search for the mystery of the Nativity Star, a Hallstrom Planetarium tradition since 1993.

December 10th, Sunday
Event Starts at 3pm, Doors open at 2:30am
Tickets are 5 Dollars, Only 70 Tickets Available - Only 5 Left as of 11/17
Dinner After Cracker Barrel in Fort Peirce.
Childcare will be made available

Address: 3209 Virginia Ave, Fort Pierce, FL 34981

Photos of Dec 6th Advent Fun!

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Matthew Christmas Bible Study

Judges chapters 17-19

When Perfection Isn't Enough

Read the whole article at When Perfection Isn't Enough - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

By now, I am sure you’ve seen it. It went viral almost immediately. Sunday, December 3rd, 2023, the Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles were left out of the College Football Playoff (CFP). The video of the team’s reaction while watching the results found its way to screens all over the nation in a matter of minutes. See for yourself here.

Dejected. Shocked. Deflated. Angry. Frustrated. Speechless. Rage. Mistreated.

Why? Well, FSU had just won the Championship for their conference (ACC) the night before. They had completed a perfect season, winning 13 games and losing none. The week prior, they found themselves ranked number 4 in the CFP rankings. Win the ACC Championship, it was assumed, and you’re one of the 4 teams playing for a National Championship.

Wrong.

Leap-frogging the Seminoles into the coveted top 4 were two one loss teams: Alabama and Texas. The perfect, undefeated team moved to number 5. FSU would be on the outside looking in. No Natty for the ‘Noles……………

Read the whole article at When Perfection Isn't Enough - Mockingbird (mbird.com)

[Wednesday] Christmas Characters - Mid-week Advent + Photos

6:30PM Wednesday Dec 6th
5:30PM Potluck Dinner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx1t3VlZplI

Step into a festive wonderland at our upcoming Wednesday Advent event! Join us for an enchanting evening filled with Christmas characters spanning from the mischievous Krampus to the beloved St. Nick, and journey through time with Old Testament prophets, Mary, and Joseph. Immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of global holiday traditions, and delight in the joy of singing classic Christmas carols. As a special touch, don your coziest Christmas sweater—don't worry, we'll turn down the AC to keep the holiday spirit alive! It's a magical celebration that brings together the best of Christmas past and present, promising a memorable and heartwarming experience for all.

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What Had happened at Grace this week. 

[Sunday] Christmas Letter - Emmanuel: Joy in the Midst

Ahh the Classic Christmas Letter, where we divulge all the braggadocious details of our year but leave out certain difficult parts of struggle. What details would Zecheriah include in a letter? Helping the Temple? Going mute because of unbelief? Childlessness? But Emmanuel comes into his and our midst bringing songs of joy.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:  Emmanuel: Joy in the Midst

1.  If you were writing a Christmas card about your life over the past year, what details would you include?  

2. Read Luke 1:5-25, 57-80.   Why do you think Zecheriah doesn’t believe the angel?   What happens to him?   How does Elizabeth respond to the news?  What does she say about God?  What does Zecheriah realize in v.57-69?

3. Read Luke 7: 11-16.   What was the woman’s problem?  How does God visit her?

4. How might you encourage someone this advent season that Jesus has come to be with them?

New Song this Week!

Listen to our recording and the artist rendition.

Also Check every week, to listen to the songs of the week.

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What Had happened at Grace this week. 

Judges Chapter 20-21 Bible Study

Judges chapters 17-19

New Song! Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

New Song

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery

Grace Sunday Recording

Original Artist

Verse 1

Come behold the wondrous mystery
In the dawning of the King
He the theme of heaven’s praises
Robed in frail humanity

In our longing, in our darkness
Now the light of life has come
Look to Christ, who condescended
Took on flesh to ransom us

Verse 2

Come behold the wondrous mystery
He the perfect Son of Man
In His living, in His suffering
Never trace nor stain of sin

See the true and better Adam
Come to save the hell-bound man
Christ the great and sure fulfillment
Of the law; in Him we stand

Verse 3

Come behold the wondrous mystery
Christ the Lord upon the tree
In the stead of ruined sinners
Hangs the Lamb in victory

See the price of our redemption
See the Father’s plan unfold
Bringing many sons to glory
Grace unmeasured, love untold

Verse 4

Come behold the wondrous mystery
Slain by death the God of life
But no grave could e’er restrain Him
Praise the Lord; He is alive!

What a foretaste of deliverance
How unwavering our hope
Christ in power resurrected
As we will be when he comes

What a foretaste of deliverance
How unwavering our hope
Christ in power resurrected
As we will be when he comes

Emmanuel - Joy in the Midst (Teaching Series)

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The Christmas story is filled with struggle where unbelief, loneliness, waisted life, and acceptance fill the pages of the story.  But where there is struggle we find songs filled with Joy and discover God has come, He is Emmanuel,  and brings joy in the midst.

Christmas / Advent Schedule

• Wednesdays December 6th & 13th

  • Potluck Dinner 5:30PM

  • Service 6:30PM

• Christmas Eve

  • Small Communion Sunday Service 10:15am

  • Christmas Eve Service 4PM & 7PM

    • 4PM Service with the Korean Church

• Christmas Day

  • Communion Service 10:15am

• New Years Eve

  • Communion Service 10:15am

• January 7th

  • Normal Sunday Schedule

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Reading Plan
Read around the readings for Sunday

• 12/3/23

  • Psalm 69:16-21

  • Luke 7:11-17

  • Luke 1:8-25

• 12/10/23

  • Isaiah 7:10-16

  • Matthew 9:9-13

  • Matthew 1:18-25

• 12/17/23

  • Micah 5:2-4

  • John 5:1-15

  • Luke 2:8-20

• 12/24/23

  • Luke 2:1-20

  • Luke 1:46-66

• 12/25/23

  • Genesis 1:1-5, 24-28

  • Galatians 4:4-7

  • John 1:1-14

• 12/31/23

  • Psalm 27:11-14

  • Mark 5:24b-34

  • Luke 2:22-40

• 1/7/24

  • Exodus 13:1-10

  • 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

  • Matthew 2:1-18

He Who Comes

Read the rest at He Who Comes (1517.org)

Our text is an advent text, the announcement of the coming of the Lord by John the Baptist. The announcement, it seems, threw people into considerable consternation. So much so that they were led to cry out, “What then shall we do?” And John’s answer is direct and unequivocal: “Bear fruits that befit repentance...He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” (Luke 3:8,11) “Right now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). That’s the way it is when the Lord comes. 

In our day, when some seem to be alarmed about the apparent rebirth of nasty things like “the social gospel,” and similar movements, I suppose there might be some nervousness about the manner in which John the Baptist moves so immediately from the coming of the Lord to giving away your coat and sharing your food. We would much rather, I suppose, that he had spent more time in transition, explaining how the coming of the Lord means first of all that we should devote ourselves to the cultivation of our piety, or pointing out that the gospel really has to do only with man's relationship to God. 

[Sunday] Christ the King Sunday 2023

Just as Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,” at the close of every liturgical year, we look forward, with renewed hope, to Christ’s coming again in glory to reign as Lord forever. In the same way, we also look forward to our own resurrection and the time of a new earth — an earth that is no longer broken by sin and groaning. Christ will come again in glory just as surely as He came the first time, when He was born. So we have these three weeks of “transition” at the end of the “long green season” into the Advent Season: the new beginning of the liturgical year.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Christ The King

1. Skim over Matthew 23-25.  What is Jesus primarily talking about?  How does it make you feel?

2. Think of a time when things seemed out of control in your life, where did you think God was in that time?   

3. Read Matthew 25:31.   At the end times where does Jesus say he (the son of man) will be?   

4. Read Matthew 25:32-40. How do the sheep (the righteous) respond when Jesus tells them all the good kingdom of God work they had been doing and welcomes them into His kingdom?   Think of a time when you didn’t realize when God was doing His Kingdom work through you as you were His hands and feet loving others.

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What Had happened at Grace this week. 

When Politics Predominates

Read whole article at When Politics Predominates (1517.org)

Among the many great insights of C. F. W. Walther’s The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel is his counsel to preachers that the gospel must predominate in every sermon. Scripture is the manger that holds Christ. We can’t forget to preach the law because it’s the thing that leads us to him. The law’s work of judgment and condemnation hands us over to the Christ, who saves us from sin and death. The work of the law is not the last and final thing but is always penultimate – awaiting its end and fulfillment in the gospel.

Politics is provisional. It belongs in the old world in which sin, death, and the devil reign.

The gospel must predominate because it is the destination, endpoint, and conclusion of the story of Scripture.

Service of Thanks 2023 | Thanksgiving

What, Me Worry – A Sermon For Thanksgiving

Read the whole article here https://mbird.com/bible/what-me-worry-a-sermon-for-thanksgiving/

If there is one thing most human beings are good at, it’s worrying. Even a day set aside to give thanks can become a day set aside for extra worry. Every year, our family has a Wednesday Thanksgiving dinner with another family. It started out as a kind of Friendsgiving before there was such a term. This year we were to be in charge of the hors d’oeuvre and cocktail side of things. So last Sunday, after 4 church services, I began to worry about where to buy the oysters and when to get to the ABC store during a short and busy week.

A certain person I live with suggested that I have a propensity to take something fun and turn it into a burden, draining the joy out of what is supposed to be a nice, relaxed time. As you might imagine, I received this bit of “constructive criticism” less than cheerfully, but as usual, the person I live with was right on the money.

Had I taken to heart the gospel appointed for this Thanksgiving, I might not have needed the “truth spoken in love.” Employing his ability to speak directly to our deepest selves, Jesus says, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food?”

Is not life more than food? The answer to that question is debatable on Thanksgiving Day, especially when there are oysters, turkeys and martinis involved. (Now I’ve got you thinking about your own Thanksgiving menu, which is clearly not the intent of Jesus’ question.) His question is eerily prescient, for in the absence of God food has become the great new religion, with celebrity chefs our new great high priests. Foodies are the new disciples and hot restaurants the new cathedrals.

In the absence of God, there is a tremendous amount of sense in making life about food. After all, King Solomon and the prophet Isaiah said as much. So did Dave Matthews in his song Tripping Billies. Summarizing the wisdom of the kings and prophets he sang, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” At least the first half of that injunction is on everyone’s agenda this Thanksgiving Day.

To be honest, hedonism isn’t a bad start. However, a hedonistic emphasis on living life hasn’t done anything to solve the worry problem. So, Jesus says something different. “Do not worry about your life.” Some 2000 years later the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea said, “The entire world is worried.” He was talking about the fallout from the bickering between the US and China, but it also serves as a pretty good blanket statement of the human condition in all times and all places.

The entire world is worried. What kind of help is there for our worry? I used to read Mad Magazine growing up. Do you remember the iconic cover of Alfred E. Neuman, a redheaded, gap-toothed boy whose motto was, “What, Me Worry?” Al Feldstein, Mad’s editor, talks about his famous cover boy. “I want a definitive portrait of this kid. I don’t want him to look like an idiot—I want him to be lovable and have an intelligence behind his eyes. But I want him to have this devil-may-care attitude, someone who can maintain a sense of humor while the world is collapsing around him.”

What — me worry? There is great wisdom in maintaining a sense of humor while the world is collapsing around us. I highly recommend it. Not only will having a sense of humor help you when you are seated next to angry Uncle Ralph later today, but humor will be an essential coping mechanism when the deeper problems of life come knocking. The problem is that most of us can’t pull it off, especially when we are bogged down in worry.

Humor is closer to the heart of Jesus’ teaching than hedonism, but we still need more help. So Jesus tells us to become birdwatchers. Birds don’t gather food, he says, and yet our Heavenly Father feeds them. In actual fact, Jesus is a better theologian than ornithologist, because chickadees, nuthatches, jays, and crows can store thousands of seeds per year. Maybe he was just thinking about doves and sparrows — birds that don’t store food. His point, of course, is that, the only real counterpunch to worry is knowing — I mean really knowing — that God will provide all that we need.

Jesus says that the world is worried because the world (i.e. “Gentiles”) needlessly strives after all the things that God is going to give to us anyway. “Indeed, your Heavenly Father knows you need all these things.” To stop striving sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Striving and worry are birds of a feather. The cessation of striving might land you peacefully and happily at a place where you can open your eyes and see the kingdom of God. And as Jesus says, why not have a look around there first? You know the song: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The kingdom of God is a place to eat and drink and be merry. It is a place where humor is high on the list of virtues. And most of all, it is a place to give thanks to God who has already given us everything we need. Most of all — His Son. For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish but have everlasting life.

Amen.

[Sunday] Speak Well - Generosity

What she does is pretty outlandish. But while the disciples scold her for being wasteful, Jesus stands up for her. May we stand up for even the foolish, because we might just be emulating the grace of Jesus.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Generosity -Speak Well

1. How does a person’s reputation affect his standing in society?

2. Read Mark 14:1-9.   What do the disciples think about the woman who pours out the nard?  How do they describe what she’s done?  If you were that woman, how would you have felt at that moment?

3. How does Jesus respond to the disciples?  What does Jesus do for this woman?  How does Jesus do this same thing for you?

4. Who will you see this week that is normally slandered?  How might you speak well of them this week?

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What Had happened at Grace this week. 

Alzheimer's Community Care Advocacy Trip 23'

Ed and Pastor Cris had a impactful time advocating for Alzhimer’s rights in the Florida Capital.

Rep Robin Bartleman

Info table at entrance to capital

Corey Recvlohe, Rep, Anderson's Aid

Representative Chip Lamarca

Allan Bramhill, Rep. Mike Beltrain's Aid

Shorty Robbins, Rep. Stevenson Aid

Victoria Mohebpour, Sen. Brodeur's Aid

Julie Fishman, Senator Resalind Osgood Aid.

Kelsey Chase, Rep, Tyler I Sirois Aid

[Sunday] Coveting Abundance - Generosity

We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance,  house, wife, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to them in keeping it.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Generosity - Coveting Abundance

1. -What kinds of things are done under the guise of fair dealing by people who want what belongs to someone else yet do not want to appear dishonest?  How does society aid and abet such practices?

2. Read 1 Kings 21:1-16.  How do Ahab and Jezebel covet?  How are their actions dishonest?  

3. What ways today are we tempted to act in a similar way to Ahab and Jezebel?

1. In a world full of coveting, Jesus “gives his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  How is Jesus the opposite of the world?  What hope does this hold for you? 

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What Had happened at Grace this week. 

Christmas Box Packing

Giving Ginny a Gift from LWML.

Had fun Packing Many Boxes for those in the world.

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Photos; Crafters, Walther League, Brother's Keeper and Youth Gatherings. Oh My

Did not shoot many pictures of the youth weekend. 400 Students!

Brothers Keeper Packing Bags of toiletries for the homeless in the area.

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Crafters Had fun making angles

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Great time Playing Games at Walter League

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Judges Chapter 17-19 Bible Study

Judges chapters 17-19