March 17, 2023

In This Week's Update

• Sunday Sermon and Song List
• GriefShare
• Wednesday Night Meals
• Small Group Opportunities
• Praise, Update, and Prayer Potluck
• Church Calendar
• Hy-Vee Gift Cards
• Gathering Grounds Updates and Volunteer Openings
• Living Free Jail Ministry
• Songs For The Church

This Sunday's Sermon:

You know what it's like to expect something. We all know the expectation surrounding Christmas or the transition from Winter to Spring. We know what it's like to anticipate a graduation, an exciting move, a new job, or making a purchase for which you've been saving a long time. Sometimes an entire culture is bound up with the same anticipation. Consider our collective anticipation during COVID - all equally anticipating and expecting some relief from lock-downs, masking orders, and empty toilet paper shelves. Before Jesus came humanity had also been expecting something for a long time. Even if they couldn't entirely explain what they were expecting, they were expecting something big. Israel knew the truth. They knew why things were not as they should be and they had been given the special grace of knowing what happened to plunge humanity into sin and chaos. They knew what God had promised to do about it. They knew a chosen Savior was coming. John 1:19-51 is our sermon text this week and it's full of this kind of anticipation. In it, Jesus is identified as the fulfillment of all this human anticipation and longing. Join us on Sunday as we see Jesus this way and consider how we are called to respond. 

To get yourself ready to sing on Sunday you can start listening to the songs we'll be singing together:

• O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
• Come Praise And Glorify
• All I Have Is Christ
• Amazing Grace
• Before The Throne of God Above



We created a playlist on Youtube in case you want to start listening today. You can find that by clicking HERE.

GriefShare Continues This Sunday

Discovery Church is hosting a special seminar and support group, Grief Share. The materials specifically address topics and issues for those who are grieving the death of a loved one. The content is Christ-centered and participants will find this to be a place where they can be around people who understand the pain of their loss. Our next Grief Share group began Sunday, January 8, 2023, at 6:00 PM and will meet weekly for 11 weeks. Please feel free to call the church office at (605) 689-2211 for more information about the group. 

Wednesday Night Meals

Volunteers will provide the main course for Wednesday nights. You may turn in a receipt for the meal if you desire to be reimbursed. The meal begins at 5:45PM. Volunteers will need to have the meal here ready to eat at that time or bring frozen to the office ahead of time with instructions for cooking. The sign up sheet for next semester is located on the back table.

Here are all the study/fellowship opportunities currently available through our church:



• Monday Evening Men's Group - 7:00PM at Discovery
• Women's Tuesday evening study are studying Philippians and will meet at 5:30PM in the Annex. This study will be facilitated by Mary Holdahl. Childcare is not provided.
• Wednesday night activities- 5:45 PM meal and 6:15PM classes for all ages
• Wednesday Evening College Bible Study
• Women's Thursday morning study are in the book of Philippians. They will meet at 9:00am in the Annex. This study will be facilitated by Mary Holdahl. If you need child care, please contact the office.
• Saturday Morning Men's Group- 7:30AM in the Fellowship Hall.

Questions? Contact the church office at (605) 689-2211.

Praise, Prayer, and Update Potluck- March 26th!

On Sunday, March 26th we will host a congregational meeting after church to share testimonies of praise, give a few church updates about our spring schedule, and have a time of prayer. This is a time that people should feel free to share ways in which they really need prayer right now as well as encourage the body by sharing how the Lord is showing up in their lives. Simply bring a dish to share and we'll share testimonies and pray as we enjoy fellowship time together.

Did You Know You Can Give To The Church By Purchasing Hy-vee Gift Cards?

Discovery Church receives 5% back on all gift cards purchased from the church. You can purchase your $50 or $100 gift cards on Sundays from Jeff and Dawn Herron (Fellowship Hall) or weekdays from the office. There is no limit on how many you can purchase. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the church office. 

Discovery Zone Continues This Week!!

Discovery Zone Wednesday Schedule

Schedule

5:45PM - Free Family Fellowship Meal- Everyone is welcome! The meal this week is spaghetti and meatballs.

6:15PM - Classes Begin!

7:00PM - Dismiss

Pre K-K: Grapevine Studies: Stories in Genesis

1st-3rd: ABC'S Of God

4th-6th Grade: To Be Like Jesus

Revival Youth (7th-12th Grade): Doctrine of Scripture

Adult Bible Study: Daniel

Gathering Grounds Updates and Volunteer Openings

Gathering Grounds continues to be busy every day that it's open! This is a welcome reality and provides lots of opportunities to show the love of Christ to our community. It might provide challenges once in a while but if we didn't have those we'd have fewer opportunities to experience the sufficient grace of Christ in our weakness. 

NEW VOLUNTEER SPOTS AVAILABLE: Starting immediately we need to fill our Saturday morning shift. Here's the grand ideal we're shooting for: We would like 8 volunteers from our church or the surrounding community to commit to one Saturday a month. This allows our volunteers to be paired up and only sacrifice one Saturday a month. This commitment could be seasonal or just month-to-month. We've been blessed to have this shift covered for over a year and we thank God for that provision. But now, the Lord is opening that opportunity to others. Give it some thought and reach out to the office if you're interested. 

Living Free Jail Ministry

Every Thursday 2 volunteers from Discovery lead a group of incarcerated women through Stepping Into Freedom.

Each attendee receives a work book and a Bible.

Please be in prayer for our volunteers and the women they meet each week. May their hearts be open to receive the gospel.

If you would like to donate towards the cost of the workbooks or Bibles, you may put donations in with the offering, but please mark it as jail ministry. There are envelopes in the brown offering box located on the east wall by the sound booth if you are giving cash.

If you have any questions please contact Peg Wittmeier, Brenda Vermeire, or the office.

Songs for the Church

Over the years I've grown to appreciate "church music" more and more. I seriously used to think that the songs I sang in church were what I had to get through in order to sit down and hear the good stuff. As I've aged I've not only grown to appreciate a lot of music written for congregations to sing but have begun to feel like I truly need it in my life. With that in mind, I thought I would just share a link to a playlist I made on Youtube with a bunch of music I listen to almost on a daily basis to feed my soul. Hopefully you'll discover something new to you or rediscover something you haven't heard in a while. In any case, I hope these encourage you the way they encourage me. 



You can listen HERE.

Elder Meeting Minutes

To read the minutes from our most recent elder meeting, please click HERE.

To read the minutes from February 7th, please click HERE.

To read the minutes from January 17th, please click HERE.

To read the minutes from January 12th, please click HERE.