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Service of Thanks 2020
Join us for the Service of Thanks
Click here for Service https://youtu.be/FDyOSFS9ii4
Movies You Can Watch With Your Extended Family That Are Actually Good
The Holidays may be a difficult time this year. Not seeing family like normal. You can still watch a movie with them even distantly. Here is a list that is better than most
Read Full Article Here https://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/movies/movies-you-can-watch-with-your-parents-that-are-actually-good/
OK, presumably, not many of us are headed home for the holidays. Unless you’re already living with your parents (which, all things considered, is neither unlikely nor anything to be embarrassed about) you’re probably, hopefully keeping Thanksgiving a small, socially distanced affair this year as we all do our best to flatten that nerve-wracking curve until the vaccine starts rolling in.
But being socially distant doesn’t mean we’re not involved with our families at all on the big day. Teleparty, for example, is a great way to watch movies together over long distances. It synchronizes Netflix, HBO Max or Hulu movies over multiple accounts so you can all watch a movie together and even keep the conversation going with each other.
Ah, but what movie? Assuming you’ve already made it through the ranks of the Pixar classics and Disney’s better options, you might be looking for a solid option to watch with the parents. Of course, nothing with any spicy content will do — there’s nothing worse than white-knuckling it through a sex scene with your mom and dad right there. You also don’t want too much swearing or grisly violence. But you do want the movie to be good, right? Just not too good in a way that some relatives might consider “pretentious” or “artsy-fartsy.” You want it to be wholesome but not stupid.
What’s a movie-lover to do?
Never fear. We at RELEVANT have combed through the ranks of movies to find some broadly appealing options that should win over anyone on your list………………………………
Read Full Article Here https://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/movies/movies-you-can-watch-with-your-parents-that-are-actually-good/
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Covid Style Youth Retreat, Nov 7th
Gripped Virtual Youth Retreat
November 7th from 6-8:45 PM
Romans 8:38-39
Get to Grace around 5:30PM
Going live at 6 PM
We will have Pizza and Snacks and Starbursts.
The Night will be filled with Speakers, performances by bread of Stone and Group discussion.
Pre Gathering Bible Study
What the Night will Look Like
Virtual Gathering Elements EMCEE Wes Wright Live - Wes is back again to be our EMCEE for the event and will be appearing live throughout it! He will be sharing some social challenges throughout the night so be ready! Winners will be shown live during the gathering with chances to earn prizes. Instagram @MSYG_flga #gripped2020
Bread of Stone Music - We welcome back BoS to lead our worship! A song list will be made available if you want to print lyrics sheets or listen to their music ahead of time. Stay tuned!
Main Speaker Sessions - Dr. Jake Youmans and his high school daughters Leilani and Maile will be unpacking our theme from Romans 8:38-39 in three mini sessions during the night!
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[Bible Study] Mark Chapter 2B - Zoom to Scripture
[Bible Study] Mark Chapter 2 Completely today
Jesus is Bigger than Your Vote
You are free from allowing anyone to cast doubt on your salvation based upon your political preferences. And free from causing anyone else to question their faith due to what Christian convictions they may have to compromise to vote in one direction or the other.
You are free from allowing anyone to cast doubt on your salvation based upon your political preferences. And free from causing anyone else to question their faith due to what Christian convictions they may have to compromise to vote in one direction or the other.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve written anything. Between running a very demanding business during COVID and just an overall lack of inspiration I haven’t had much time or energy to write anything. But here I find myself at my keyboard this morning with more time on my hands, because my business is seasonal, and for the first time in months I feel like I have something to say.
If you have spent any time on social media or in front of a television this Summer and early Fall you have been bombarded with encouragements to vote. I can’t remember any other election in my lifetime where there has been so much emphasis placed upon the importance of registering to vote. We are continually being told that this is “the most important election in our lifetime.” I don’t know if that’s true or not, maybe it is, but who decides these things?
The NFL is running a whole campaign urging Americans to vote. Facebook is even paying for ads on television, as if their ubiquitous “are you registered to vote?” banner on your newsfeed isn’t enough! So in the spirit of election season, I’ll add to the cacophony with another encouragement to vote. Yes, if you’re of voting age and you live in a place where you are given the freedom to cast your ballot then by all means show your love for neighbor and go vote. However, please recognize that your vote does not define you, it’s not your identity, and those that vote differently than you are certainly not your enemy (but even if they were you’re still commanded to love and pray for them (Matt. 5:44)……………
Read the whole article Here. https://www.1517.org/articles/jesus-is-bigger-than-your-vote
Don't Be Early for Church!
Set Your Clock Back This Sunday Morning, NOV 1st
Set Your Clock Back This Sunday Morning
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Pictures of Backpacks in Haiti
During back to school we gave Children in Haiti Backpacks
In Defense of Martin Luther
This is an adaptation of the introduction from “In Defense of Martin Luther” written by John Warwick Montgomery (1517 Publishing, 2017). Used with permission.
o defend Martin Luther — whose courage in the face of overwhelming religious and secular attack has become a byword in world history — may well seem a superfluous if not presumptive task. One is reminded of the exchange between an eager young man and the great 19th-century evangelist Charles Finney. Young man: “Mr. Finney, how can I defend the Bible?” Finney: “How would you defend a lion? Let it out of its cage and it will defend itself!”In a very real sense, Finney’s reply is applicable to Luther. Since the monumental and as yet uncompleted labor of the Weimarer Ausgabe began in 1888 and the so-called Luther-research movement commenced in the labors of Karl Holl at Tubingen, the Reformer has been “let out of the cage” of secondary and tertiary interpretations to speak for himself; and his own writings are a magnificent vindication of his person and work.Yet just as the reading of Scripture does not automatically cause all criticisms of it to evaporate, so Luther’s writings do not in themselves eliminate superficial or perverse analyses of him. The poetical ideal expressed by Horace, De mortuis nihil nisi bonum, or “Of the dead say nothing but good,” has seldom been followed, particularly in the treatment of men like Luther whose controversial ideas and acts have elicited violent opposition. In point of fact, the dead — even those who were most adroit in defending their interests while alive — are pitifully at the mercy of their critics after their demise. What our Lord said to Peter concerning old age applies with equal force to death: “When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst wither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee wither thou wouldest not.” Little study of the history of Luther interpretation is needed to demonstrate beyond all question that the Reformer, powerful enough in life to intimidate popes and emperors, has been “girded” again and again with viewpoints appallingly inimical to his true beliefs and has continually been “carried whither he wouldest not” since his death……………..
Read the full article here…..https://www.1517.org/articles/in-defense-of-martin-luther
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The Absolution I Didn't Want [Video][Read]
It’s easy to slip into thinking about forgiveness solely in terms of our authority over it.
Last week at the annual Here We Still Stand Conference, during a conversation with Matt Popovits, I unintentionally stepped into something I wasn’t quite ready to receive. The moment was caught on video, which you can watch above if you would like. While I was trying to get Matt’s thoughts on the psychological effects of the law in general, I used a specific example from my own life - mom guilt - which quickly led to my shaky voice and quiet tears. For reasons I can’t fully explain, all of the pressure, changes, anxiety, and depression I’ve experienced in the past eight months dumped over me at that moment. Both my admittance of guilt, followed by Matt’s pronunciation of absolution, caught me off guard. I wasn’t ready for either, and to be honest, I did not enjoy any minute of it.
For months, I’ve been wrestling with the new balance of motherhood and work. One of the reasons I started working in the theological realm and decided to go back to school to receive my masters in theology was because I was tired of seeing women in theology do nothing more than shed tears about motherhood. And yet here I was, doing precisely that, on camera. I was in front of God only knows how many people and in a situation, where at least momentarily, I had no control.
It’s so easy to slip into thinking about forgiveness solely in terms of our authority over it.When we offer it to people, we think it’s on our accord; when we receive it, we think it’s because we feel ready to be at peace with whoever or whatever has wronged us. In other words, we operate according to the assumption that forgiveness functions (successfully or not) based on our control, our emotion, or our ownership. But Christ doesn’t wait to give us his word of forgiveness until we are rationally, emotionally, or physically contrite, and sometimes he doesn’t even wait for us to recognize what this word is before he pronounces it on us.
Christ’s word of absolution may come before we are ready. We may even misconstrue these words into more law and more guilt. But that doesn’t change the fact that, in Christ, the declaration that we are forgiven and that we are made righteous is both good news and true.
“Giving absolution and receiving it are just two sides of the same faith coin in which we trust God will continue to keep his promises.”
At first, I didn’t hear Matt’s pronunciation of absolution as good news for me. But others did for themselves. That’s how powerful God’s promises are - once they are unleashed on the world, we have absolutely no control of how, when, or on whom the Spirit will use them. All that we are promised is that they will take effect. We see this in the conversion of the Syrophoenician woman whose faith, as theologian Jim Nestingen is fond of saying, came from the rumor of Christ. She believed before she even spoke to him! God’s word is so living and active that it goes to work in secondary and tertiary ways; in ways that surprise us and in ways we will never see.
Hearing that Matt’s word had impacted others, in turn, impacted me. I don’t want to claim that the multidimensionality of absolution is always this black and white. To do so would be to wrongly assert, again, that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is limited to our own experiences and our own authority. We cannot assume to know when or even for whom forgiveness will function - we are only commanded to faithfully hand God’s word over to others and also to believe his words when they are delivered to us. Giving absolution and receiving it are just two sides of the same faith coin in which we trust God will continue to keep his promises.
So, just as Matt did, we hand out forgiveness when we see someone in need of it. Sometimes this happens in response to a co-worker’s apology. Sometimes, it follows a friend’s confession that they’ve messed up their marriage. Sometimes it’s needed to comfort the conscience of a loved one stuck in the clutches of the law’s terror, and sometimes it is essential after a new mom unintentionally unloads her guilt.
When we hear the words of forgiveness in Christ in our own ears, whether they are intentionally said to us or to another, we must believe they are true and true for us.
God’s word has the power to forgive, to create faith, to comfort the guilt-laden and downtrodden. This much is certain.
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Freedom and Why We’re Afraid of It: Dave Zahl [Video]
Here We Still Stand is a Two Day Digital Celebration of The Freedom of the Christian: The theme of our 2020 Here We Still Stand Conference is The Freedom of the Christian.
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Mask Myths and Covid 19! [Video]
Bottom line: Masks work. They are safe for almost everyone to wear, and the more people that wear them along with adhering to physical distancing and other strategies, then that’s more lives we’ll save. But there’s still a lot of confusion and misinformation out there when it comes both to wearing masks and the actual risks of getting infected with COVID-19. In this video I address a few of the most common myths and misunderstandings using scientific evidence. #WearAMask
This is where pastor Cris got his information from last sunday.
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