Church In Real Life
July Youth Pool Party
Our next youth night is scheduled for Saturday, July 27th from 4-8pm at the Casper's house. We plan to enjoy their pool (weather permitting - please pack swimsuits and towels), share a meal together, and continue our study through the Sermon on the Mount.
Saturday, July 27th | 4-8pm
We currently meet once a month to learn and grow. Every meeting is different. Sometimes it's a party. Sometimes it's a service project. Often we have deep theological conversations. 7th-12th graders from inside and outside the church are welcome to join.
Pray For Romania
Nicu Sotir (wife Marta) serves as one of the pastors at Biserica M28 Bucuresti (Church M28 in Bucharest). The M28 stands for Matthew 28 and represents the church’s commitment to the Great Commission. The church recently hosted a VBS where over 40 children attended. The two youngest Sotir children, Abbi & Anna Greta, were participants while their oldest, Nikolas, helped his parents and others as volunteer workers. As the church has grown, Nicu & Marta were able to transition to an advisory role. M28 plans to repeat this event again this summer.
Still A Need For Christ In Romania
Nicu has expressed a deep concern for Romania as the culture continues to embrace an open tolerance to sin and an unhealthy interest in self-esteem - even within the churches. They are noticing a lack of love for truth, love for the Scriptures, and any desire at all to sacrifice for the Gospel and Christ. One way they have tried to combat this trend is to get more involved in Biblical Counseling. There are a few ACBC certified counselors at M28 but they are praying for more and working on another training seminar in October of 2024. This is a bigger task than we might realize since all ACBC curriculum is in English. It is upon them to translate all of the materials and brochures. They have also started a podcast within this part of their ministry.
Bringing Good News To The Gypsies
Nicu has been more intentional working with the few Gypsy pastors in the area to help equip them for ministry. They were able to reach out to children in two different towns and spend time in local Gypsy churches.
Pray for wisdom as they take steps to advance Biblical Counseling in Romania.
Pray they will rest on God’s providence.
Pray for safety and fun during the Sotir’s summer vacation.
3rd Annual Chili Bowl
Start digging up your chili recipes for this year’s 3rd Annual Chili Bowl. On Sunday, October 13th, following the church service, we will feast on chili and judge one another in the process.
Chili Bowl 2024
As the date approaches, you will all have an opportunity to enter your chili for the competition, and have the chance of a life time: to win the 2024 Chili Bowl. Be creative and come up with a name for your chili (e.g.: Afterburn, Fire In The Hole, Lake Of Fire). You’re not a chili chef? No problem. Make whatever chili-themed meal you like. If you call it chili, we will judge it!
Sunday, October 13th
This year’s winner will have their name engraved on the legendary Grace Hill Chili Bowl - to be proudly displayed in the Grace Hill trophy case for all to be amazed!
A Meeting For Us
The church is like a body with many members. Membership in the local church is the logical implication of membership in the global Church, which comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, publicly demonstrated through baptism. Our lives are connected. We need one another. Church membership is our way of ensuring everyone who belongs to our congregation enjoys the benefits and privileges of being Grace Hill Church.
One Meeting You Won’t Want To Miss
If you’re a member of Grace Hill Church, we want you to save the date for our next member meeting, to be held on Sunday, September 8th from 6-8pm. Come ready to hear some important updates, highlight God’s grace as we see Him at work, affirm a few improvements, and enjoy all the custard you can eat!
Sunday, September 8th - 6-8pm
How Can We Pray?
Life is filled with both blessings and difficulties. One of the ways God amplifies our joys and comforts us in our sorrows is through one another’s prayers. Submitting our prayer requests to the church is just one of the many ways our members are equipped to pray for the needs in our body. It’s also an opportunity to love one another by going to our Lord regularly in prayer throughout the week.
Do you have an upcoming surgery or procedure?
Did you or a loved one recently receive a difficult diagnosis?
What has God been doing in your life that we can celebrate together?
Are you on the hunt for a job?
Submit your requests in the form below. Let the members of Grace Hill Church know how they can bring your needs before the throne of God. Once we receive your request, they will be added to the prayer list on The Hill.
Love Your Neighbor
At Grace Hill we make it our priority to live on mission and love our neighbors. Here are seven helpful principles to provide some perspective as we look to make much of Christ in our community.
Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing
Love God and love your neighbors. Don’t let those moral imperatives drift from the center of your Christian life. “I have come to believe that, as followers of Jesus, one of the worthiest endeavors we can undertake is to take the Great Commandment seriously and learn to be in relationship with our literal neighbors.” – Jay Pathak
Resist Hurry
It’s hard to love your neighbor when you’re too busy for your neighbors. “Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. Love always takes time, and time is the one thing hurried people don’t have. Can I live at a pace that allows me to be available to those around me? And if not, are all of the things I’m doing more important than the neighbors God has placed me in the midst of?” – Jay Pathak
Occasionally Say No to Inward Activities
Sometimes, you have to say no to neighbors in the church to say yes to neighbors outside the church. Have you ever heard of an ingrown church? An ingrown church is like an ingrown toenail. God designed our toenails to grow outward. But sometimes, a toenail curves and grows inward. The result? An unhealthy, painful toe. God designed a church to move outward toward its neighbors. But when a local church neglects or forsakes that outward movement, it begins to become ingrown. And an ingrown church is an unhealthy church. "But as we get more and more involved in the ministry of our church, it’s easy to get so wrapped up in what God is doing in our congregation that we lose sight of the big picture—God’s kingdom” – Dave Runyon. We are giving you permission to prioritize your unbelieving neighbors. Even if it occasionally comes at the cost of time spent with one another.
Draw Boundaries
If you aim for everybody, you hit nobody. Who are your neighbors? Focus on the neighbors who live directly around you and the neighbors nearest to our church.
Embrace the Mess
Loving your neighbor WILL BE messy. This neighboring stuff is messy. Part of the reason churches become ingrown is because neighboring is really messy. If your neighbors aren’t Christians, then they probably don’t act like Christians. Or talk like Christians. Or parent like Christians. And you know what Jesus says to you and to me about them? Love them as yourself. And if you find yourself shying away from the mess, remember Christ who stood condemned before the people He came to love as they yelled “crucify Him!” And though they did and though our sins were the reason He went to the cross, He went to the cross anyway. Nobody entered into the mess like Jesus did for us. And it resulted in our salvation. And our joy. It will be messy. But it will be worth it.
Commit to Every Member Neighborhoodism
It has to start with pastors. The moment that the leaders of a church put loving the neighbors outside our walls in the backseat, the church becomes ingrown. But it has to extend beyond the pastors. The moment that outreach becomes the sole job of the pastors, a church becomes ingrown.
Tell Neighbors the Gospel
We are called to proclaim. To preach. To proselytize. To evangelize. To persuade. If there’s anything we hope our neighbors love about being our neighbors, it’s that they have come to know Jesus and His love through us.
Thanks to pastors over at Cross of Grace Church for these insightful principles.
Let The Children Come
At Grace Hill our goal is for every child to worship with the church. However, not every child is ready for this, and we work hard to make our church a safe place for parents to train their children. If you have young children, don't feel you must suppress their wiggles while we worship. You are encouraged to quietly explain the different parts of the service and the actions of those leading us. Remember that our children learn by watching. So relish the opportunity to worship with them by your side.
A Safe Place For The Little Ones
Though children are welcome during the service, volunteers are on standby to help you every step of the way. Grace Hill provides nursery care during the morning worship for children ages 0-3 years of age. And should you need to leave the service with your child, feel free to do so. There is also a cry room available in the rear of the auditorium.
A Work Of The People
The word “Liturgy” sounds foreign to some of us. The word is often used today in reference to the formal order of worship in church. Some people assume that such language came from the Roman Catholics or Anglicans. However, the word liturgy is a biblical word. It comes from the Greek leitourgia, which is the combination of two other words: “people” (laos) and “work” (ergon). A liturgy then, is a “work of the people,” or perhaps more helpful, a “public service.” Therefore, at the most basic meaning, “liturgy” refers to the order of a corporate worship service.
In the New Testament, the word liturgy is used broadly to speak of our service to God (Rom. 12:1–2) or our service to others (Phil. 2:30). It is also used narrowly to speak of service in relation to the formal worship of God when his people gather together (e.g. Heb. 9:21; 10:11).
Christ-Centered Liturgy
All churches from every denomination have an order of worship. Sometimes we think “liturgical” is only an appropriate adjective for churches that meet in cathedrals. But this is simply not true. If a church worships, it has a liturgy. Churches that claim to be “non-liturgical” all follow a pattern of worship. Since we are all liturgical, the question to ask is what kind of liturgy do we have? What should our services look like? At Grace Hill Church, our goal will continually be to exalt Christ throughout our liturgy on a Sunday morning. While every Sunday liturgy may differ in the elements, the Gospel of Jesus Christ will forever remain at the center of all we do when we gather.
June Youth Event
The youth are invited to the Malone’s home for our monthly youth event on Sunday, June 30th. Our Junior and Senior High School Ministry exists to spread the joy of Jesus to the next generation. We aim to see the gospel applied in the lives of teenagers, trusting it is the power of God to save and transform them into young men and women who worship God.
Sunday, June 30th | 1-4pm
We currently meet once a month to learn and grow. Every meeting is different. Sometimes it's a party. Sometimes it's a service project. Often we have deep theological conversations. 7th-12th graders from inside and outside the church are welcome to join.