Welcome to Grace at Home. Happy Mother's Day to all Moms - biological moms, spiritual moms, adopted moms, and all the women that serve God's family! May the joy and peace of Christ be with you.
The procession of God's limitless love is alive and growing in this season. Thank you for worshipping with us online this morning. Click on the pictures below to access the inspiring educational video content. Scriptures and prayers are located beneath the links.
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"Motherhood: The Skit Guys"
(Video for reflection)
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"Let It Rise"
(Opening song)
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"Kids recite Psalm 23"
Children's Worship Moment
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"I've Got Peace Like A River"
(Song of reflection - sing along)
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A Community of Faith
Learn more here
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10am central live at Grace
Sermon by Rev. Yvonne Gilmore
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Gifts of generosity and grace
You may give gifts, tithes, and offerings online below or mail in a check to Grace Community Christian Church.
Thank you for making space for Grace to be shared between, among, and beyond our walls. Your faithful tithes and offerings make a difference. We are grateful for your ministry.
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We are a part of something BIGGER...than time, than ourselves, than darkness. We are a part of God's movement for wholeness and limitless love.
Perhaps the most well-known of all 150 Psalms is one you may have memorized as a child. The 23rd Psalm sometimes is a night-time prayer, sometimes recited at funerals, and often is sung in our own time of worship.
Have you ever thought about this familiar Psalm as a report of what God gives us?
Like a shepherd caring for sheep, God gives us abundant nourishment, safe water, and leads us toward peace in life. With God’s leading , we need not fear, knowing God is with us. Our cup overflows!
We may not have everything we desire. We may live with challenges and difficulties. But this Psalm speaks to each of us, reminding us we’re followed by goodness and kindness, everywhere we go.
What better response could we make to God-the-Giver than to offer back our lives! Offering our time, our abilities, and our finances (which can all work together), becomes a regular and life-long “thank you.”
Today, I invite you to be a grateful lamb, filled with all the gifts offered by the Shepherd…and eager to offer more than our words.
Let us share our gifts, our tithes and our offerings!
Offering prayer
Shepherd God, we offer these gifts to you, filled with gratitude for all you offer us. Receive what we’ve presented, and inspire us to use these resources to help create a world in which each person knows abundance, safety, and security. Amen
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Click here to give online using Paypal or your credit card
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Opening Prayer
God of the ages, we offer you our praise this day, for the ways you continue to make your presence known to believers in every age.
Thank you for the Lamb, who is our shepherd. Thank you for your tender care for each and for all. Thank you for welcoming those who come with joy, and those yearning for you to wipe away every tear from our eyes. We offer you our hearts, our hands, and our voices. Amen
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Prayers of the People
God, when you heard Peter say to the body,
'Tabitha, get up'
were you delighted with his faith?
With his belief that in Christ
death is actually overcome?
Do you will us to believe yet?
To believe that almost one billion people can
hunger and thirst no more, and every tear can be wiped away from their eyes?
Help us to hear the call to life,
to get up and serve as Tabitha
'devoted to good works and acts of charity'
and to live in resurrection hope,
that is both now and then.
As we reach out in love and service to others, remind us that the work we do in your name, with love and compassion, is an echo of your tender mercy and loving care. Strengthen us and give us enthusiasm to follow the Shepherd all the days of our lives. Amen.
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36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. 37 At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. 38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, "Please come to us without delay."
39 So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. 40 Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, get up." Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. 41 He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. 42 This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 Meanwhile he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.
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Unified Choir Spring session |
It's time to sing again.
The Unified Choir includes young adults and people with different abilities, regular-ed and special needs, that enjoy performing.
Join us April 8 to May 13 from 6 to 7pm.
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Week of Compassion is focused on providing immediate relief, while also strategizing with global and domestic partners for a long-term coordinated response. Because of the ongoing conflict, large numbers of refugees can be expected in the neighboring countries with huge numbers of internally displaced people inside Ukraine.
Contributions can be made online or by check, designated for International Emergency Response where 100% of your gift will go to people who are impacted by this crisis.
The situation is evolving rapidly on a daily basis. Our ecumenical response, our mission to work with partners to alleviate suffering throughout the world, continues - as do our prayers for safety, freedom, and peace in Ukraine.
Some congregations are also discerning sponsoring refugees, working with Church World Service to support long term resettlement plans, and other recovery efforts that will be necessary in the coming months and years as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. More here.
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Grace Community Christian Church
2770 Montgomery Road
Aurora, IL 60504
www.graceccc.org
630.898.7990
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