Covid Update Letter - GracePoint
There have been some significant changes this last week in regards to the coronavirus (Covid-19) and we're updating you on how as a church community we should respond. We will be working to do our best to care for our church community and our wider community, especially to those who are most vulnerable to the virus.
The Threat To God's Mission
The greatest threat to God’s mission is actually our hearts propensity to replace Him with an idol. Author Miroslav Volf writes that when we forget God’s grace to us, ‘Our hearts become factories of idols in which we fashion and refashion God to fit our needs and desires.’
Vision Sunday October 2019
On Vision Sunday 27th October 2019 we want to share with you our 2020 ministry initiatives and plans, and what we hope to see God do for us as a church. We want you to come together for the gospel at GracePoint in praise for the God who has saved and gathered us, in prayerful dependence on the God who brings growth, and in partnership together serving the God who sends us to bring the gospel to the nations and for the generations.
Taking Personal Responsibility For Your Growth In Godliness
“No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat of Scripture.” - Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life
Are We Chasing With As Much Fervour?
The Apostle Paul states it most sharply when he says: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (1 Corinthians 9:24-25) Are we running with as much fervour in the Christian life?
Good Friday 2019
Our order of service for our 2019 Good Friday Service that you might like to use for your personal worship, prayer and Bible reading
Studies in 1 Peter 2019
1 Peter has much to say to a Christian community feeling the weight of living as outsiders, exiles and strangers in culture and society. The church as the people of God have and will always be a counter-cultural community, and historically have always lived on the margins of society and culture. How do we navigate life as God's people in a culture that's hostile to the Christian faith and way of life? How do we respond when we're unfairly treated as God's people?
Who's Responsible For My Growth At Church?
Who’s responsible for MY growth as a Christian at church? It’s a great question and sometimes it’s driven by the common misconception that the church needs to cater for ‘my’ growth as a Christian. So unless I’m getting something out of the preaching (it’s too long), or unless the worship moves me (it’s not very exciting), or unless I have friends (I haven’t got any close relationships), or unless there’s programs that meet my needs and my children’s needs, this church is not catering for my growth as a Christian! Can I say to you that to make your growth as a Christian solely dependent on your Sunday’s at church is not only a mistake, but far from what the Bible teaches. In fact, I would go as far as saying that it’s foolishness.
God's Amazing Grace For The Undeserving
Sometimes we think that God operates on the principle of our performance. Getting right with God or securing God’s approval depends on our work and our effort. Let me say to you that the Bible never teaches that. You cannot earn your way into his family and you cannot work your way into his good books. God doesn’t work on a performance scale where he judges you on the basis of whether your good works in life outweighs your bad works. God actually works on the principle of grace i.e. he gives us what we don’t deserve.
The Welcoming Work Of The Gospel Makes Us A Welcoming People
If we’re a community gathered together by the ‘welcoming’ work of the gospel through Jesus, then it shouldn’t be a surprise that God’s people would also be a ‘welcoming’ people i.e. a people who welcome all who visit our church community and a people who are actively seeking out those who would not normally be welcomed. The work of welcoming the newcomer isn’t the work of the welcoming team or those with the gifts of welcoming, it’s actually the work of all believers in a church community who have experienced the ‘welcoming’ work of the gospel (2 Cor.8:9)
