Dear Church Family,

I have a love/hate relationship with spring. The good thing about spring is things start growing again. The bad thing about spring is things start growing again; including my to-do list. Till the garden. Plant the garden. Clean the yard from winter debris. Clean rain gutters. Mow the yard. Etc. The list goes on and on. I really do love spring; I’d hate to have winter all year long. But the truth is, at least for some of us, winter is easier.

Sure, we have to shovel snow on occasion but apart from shoveling, there’s not much else for the average person to do outside. Winter is made for reading books, watching movies, cooking gourmet meals, and getting fatter. This past winter I was able to accomplish all of these things. It was easy. It felt good. Whereas times of good growth aren’t necessarily easy. They don’t necessarily feel good.

This concept applies to the church as well. It’s easy to be in a “maintaining” mindset. It’s harder to be in a “growth” mindset. It’s comfortable to enjoy the things right you already have. It’s harder to actively pursue those things which are not yet in sight.

I don’t know what God has in store for us but I know God wants us to grow and not get comfortable. I know God wants to stretch us and challenge us. I also know this may lead to some difficult moments for each of us but as we know, planting and growing leads to a harvest. I’m excited to see what harvest God has planned for us. I hope you are too.

Love you all,

Pastor Daniel

Spring is here!!  While the weather has still had times of coolness, the warmth has been felt in the air.  Spring is a time of renewal, growth, birth, and rebirth.  It is during this season that we celebrate the resurrection of Christ during Easter, so it is a good time to review and renew our spiritual life as well.  To go with that, it is a good time to look toward the future and align our path and lives to that of Biblical truth; to evaluate how we have been living and the goals we have made for ourselves, our families, and our careers.  As a church we did this Friday, March 19, and Saturday, March 20.  We spent time as a leadership group looking at the past and how Grace has done in following our calling as a church.  We then spent considerable time looking at where we felt God was leading us as a body of believers into the future:  how we could serve, lead, and follow as God directs us.  You will hear more soon about the outcome of this time spent in concerted focus on the calling of God for our church. We will review some of our thoughts during the annual business meeting, and later throughout the next year as we allow the church to give feedback and vote upon possible action steps. I want to ask for your continued prayers for our church and the leadership as we communicate to you these steps of faith we believe God is calling us to.  I want to thank all those that helped make this weekend happen.  As well as all those that gave their time and energy to participate in the actual meeting.  I especially want to thank all the hands that facilitated the support roles to serve those of us that were involved in the meetings:  Eden Bear, Leah Jaeger, Natalie Hall, Jill Sharman, Jeri Mendyk, and Alice Osterman.  Thank you for taking such great care in serving us during this time.
Pastor Eric