Category: Weekly Encouragement

Sometimes as kids squirm and fidget during church services, parents feel embarrassment. For many families that attempt to have their kids attend worship, “shushing” and subtle threats of consequences are pretty common. Perhaps you have been in this exact situation, and wondered if it was worth it. Does laboring week after week to require children to attend service make a difference in who they grow to become? Last week I found myself in this scenario, asking these same questions. Later at home, one of my boys showed up to the lunch table and handed over a Care Net baby bottle filled up with his own birthday and chore money. He had been listening to the service. He was stirred by an announcement. He wanted to enter in to the mission of all those around him, and in this case, help young mothers facing an unexpected pregnancy. 

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

2 Corinthians 9:8

Praise God that GraceWay Church is a place where individuals are awaking to the concept of grace. Who can stir a child’s heart to give away their ice cream and fun money to a stranger, except God alone? God wants to make your heart fertile to display grace, just like He did for this child. Attend service each week. Worship. Listen. Join in the the mission of those around you. Live sacrificially for others, even those who don’t deserve it. Rejoice that God has made GraceWay a place where we can practice and grow from each of these disciplines! Let’s all commit to having hearts that are fertile to display grace.

GraceWay Church has so many groups coming and going to Guatemala, that it is possible to overlook the frequent reports and announcements. But significant things are occurring throughout these endeavors. On June 22, a team of youth and leaders will fly out for a week of ministry in Antigua that will likely include: conversation clubs, local home visits, touring ministry centers and seeking out opportunities for impromptu service. I’m personally excited that this team of students is going to get an up close look at beautiful people, in a culture very different than ours, that God loves deeply.

Childhood can be a very nationalistic experience; our education, traditions and holidays are very centered around our immediate ethnicity and community. And yet, God’s love for people is so much wider! In 2 Kings 5, Elisha is used to bring about a healing of a commander of a foreign army (that at times attacked Israel). In the book of Jonah, a prophet is sent to the metropolis of Ninevah. In multiple Gospel accounts, Jesus heals gentiles, even someone from a Roman soldier’s household. The book of Revelation declares that heaven will be filled with worship of Jesus Christ from every tongue, tribe, and nation.

Please be in prayer in the weeks ahead that God will use this trip in a beautifully formative way to expand the world view of those on the trip, even cultivating or widening the group member’s understanding of how vast God’s love for people is.

There is so much positive ministry collaboration occurring at GraceWay Church! This Saturday is just one example, as the Seasoned Encouragers have initiated a “Family Fishing and Pancake Breakfast” at the Lake Wisconsin Boat Club (any time from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.). A number of the seniors in this group will cook and serve breakfast, in addition to baiting fishing poles and assisting young people as they cast out and reel in (fishing licenses are not required on Saturday). The Seasoned Encouragers have been looking forward to this for months! What a great example of the Scripture that says:

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, God. I will declare your power to the next generation, and your mighty acts to all who are to come.”

Psalm 71:18 

I am so grateful to be a part of a faith community where the older generations delight in demonstrating their love of God, church, and community to the young ones around us! As they see our enthusiasm for these things, it will become a value for them as well.

On May 2, believers gathered throughout the community to celebrate the National Day of Prayer. Special thanks to those who organized a day of events out at Blackhawk Ridge. Additional thanks to those who gathered in the GraceWay sanctuary for a small prayer service. Maybe you just prayed individually at home, and praise God that He hears all these requests!

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

Life is difficult, and culture is changing. Despite the comforts that innovation and technology bring, anxiousness is more common than it has ever been. Let’s continue to make prayer a practice. Exchange your anxiety, via prayer, with the reminder that God is for you and with you and eager to bestow help upon you. 

Sunday, May 5 was a special day in the history of GraceWay, as three people followed Jesus into the waters of baptism! Gabe, Diane and Kyle gave moving testimonies, speaking of the new spiritual life that Christ has made available to them. Each spoke of the role that the church body played in their growth. Pastor Bryan concluded the service with the great question “should we do this every month?” Please pray that GraceWay would continue to be a place where new life in Christ is found and celebrated. This is the main mission of the church! 

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

Finally, if you have not embraced Jesus’ call for (all) believers to choose to be baptized, consider talking to one of GraceWay’s pastors about the significance of baptism in the Christian life. And thank you to all in the church who played a role in welcoming, encouraging and mentoring those who were baptized!

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Mark 1:40

Back on April 15, a team of staff and ministry leaders from GraceWay were able to attend the Forest Lakes District Spring Conference. The speaker, Dave Rhodes, presented on discipleship; the main talk addressed how to best bring transformation to those who don’t know God. Dave used the story of Jesus cleansing a leper to expose how we sometimes duplicate the example of the Pharisees (avoiding the unclean among us, in an effort to stay uncontaminated). But in this same story, we are reminded that the righteousness of Jesus has the power to make that which is soiled and sinful, renewed. We can carry this same message, that our renewal came from the righteousness that Jesus extended to us, not from behaviors or even obedience (which of course is a good thing). Be encouraged! God has placed us in a good town, albeit among people that are dirty and discouraged from living wrongly. We aren’t asked to avoid them. Nor save them through our moral example. We humbly carry the good news of our transformation (through Christ’s righteousness) into these circles. And we can trust that Jesus continues to save, transform, and remove ugly scars!

Last Sunday, two new adult education hour classes began, both of which you can still join. Dale Wright is leading a new member class that focusses on GraceWay’s beliefs and systems. The second class asks if obscure books like Hosea, Habakkuk and Joel are worth our time. What exactly do 2,500 year-old proclamations to Israel’s leaders have to do with us in the year 2024?

Last week we learned how Obadiah’s condemnation of Edom’s lack of help and mercy to their neighbors (Israel) angered God greatly. But Obadiah was clever enough to use a word for “Edom” that also means “humans.” Have most of us humans, made the same mistake that Edom did?

This week we turn our attention to Amos, a beautiful book that Martin Luther King famously quoted in his “I Have a Dream” speech (“We won’t be satisfied till justice flows like water and righteousness like streams.”) Dr. King was reminding church folks that the justice and righteousness of God are meant to flow through His people and then in to the lives of those around them. Does God’s justice and mercy that saved you, now pour out of your life as an aid to others?  

Consider joining us, to learn more about how God confronted Israel, over and over, when their hearts and obedience drifted. And be encouraged that He does the same for us, today! Consider letting God speak to you, though these same prophets of old.

I recently was invited to spend the morning with a group of GraceWay women committed to memorizing Scripture together. Some were memorizing entire books of the New Testament. Others were focusing on a favorite chapter. All had enthusiasm for gathering and sharing how their progress was going. Though no one had brought food, all were being fed.

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:4

Just like we need a certain amount of calories to get through the day, the same is true spiritually. We need to hear and to study the truth of God, in Scripture, in order to make wise choices and ignore the lies of the devil. But we also sometimes need the encouragement of how others have been impacted from Scripture, to be motivated to memorize and live by it as God intends. Be encouraged that there are many in our midst at GraceWay that are doing this! And do contribute to this work of God’s Spirit by encouraging those around you with the things that God is speaking in to your life.

Thursday, March 21 – Pastor Scott

When we think of ministry, most of us think of a great sermon, moment of worship or testimony shared. But all throughout the Bible, there are also tasks in ministry. Abraham built an alter of stones. The priests inspected and collected offerings for the feasts. The disciples passed out bread and fish.  Nehemiah was even tasked with one of the first church building projects:

They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

Nehemiah 1:3

On one Tuesday evening each month, a team at GraceWay meets to approach the tasks and responsibilities of owning our building. Like Nehemiah, they have passion to maintain what God has blessed us with. Be grateful for a building that meets our ministry needs. And also give thanks for a team that serves cheerfully and uses their areas of expertise to work through the ministry tasks involved with building maintenance. The existence of both are reminders of God’s favor and hand at work at GraceWay Church.