Grace Abounding

You’re invited to a free Alexandria Community Picnic our church is holding on Saturday, October 1. Come enjoy a cookout (lunch is on us!), children’s and adult activities (including climbing wall, inflatable bounce house, quarterback throw, bean bag throw, velcro wall, etc), live music, and a free gift. Drop in anytime.

When: Saturday, October 1, 10 AM – 2 PM.
Where: The grounds of Franconia Baptist Church, 5912 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA 22310
Cost: free!

Five Alexandria churches are coming together to host this festival to say thank you to the community! Everyone is welcome to attend, whether you’re from Alexandria, Springfield, Franconia, Kingstowne, or another neighborhood. Come by on October 1 for a fun family time at the 3rd Annual Alexandria Community Picnic!

Grace Church attenders, if you’d like to help, 40+ volunteers are needed.

• Volunteer to help here.
• Invite Friends using the Facebook Event here.

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Sunday’s 10:30 am service of Grace Church of Alexandria is canceled as a precautionary measure due to Hurricane Irene.  With the chance of flooding, power outages, and power lines down, we feel it best to cancel Sunday morning as a precaution for everyone’s safety.

You are welcome to attend West Community Group which will be happening Sunday (8/28) at 6:30 pm. It’s at the Beninates in Centreville, VA. Call 703.475.4390 for directions.

What if Sunday turns out to be nice? Feel free to:
1) Meet up with others from Grace Church

2 ) Visit another local church like Franconia Baptist Church or Alexandria Bible Church

3) Help your neighbors clean up after the storm.

Join us next week at our regular meeting time of 10:30 am Sunday.

Sermon Title: Kingdom Come: The Message of Colossians
Speaker: Jonathan Matias, Pastor
Text: Colossians 1-4
Series: Kingdom Come: Studies in Colossians

This is an unusual sermon. Listen here to a short summary of the book of Colossians, and then as four readers come and read aloud Colossians in its entirety to the congregation.

Reading a book of the Bible out loud during a service is an annual tradition at Grace Church of Alexandria. We do this annually in the spirit of 1 Timothy 4:13 which instructs the church to devote ourselves to preaching, teaching, and the public reading of Scripture.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Mid-Atlantic Bible Conference
Theme: Male and Female–How Are They Different?
When: October 29, 2011, 8:30 am to 4 pm

Come attend a Bible conference on October 29, 2011 that will explore the roles God has given men and women in the church and home. This annual conference is hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Bible Fellowship, a cooperation of  local churches in the Washington D.C. Metro area that are similar to Grace Church of Alexandria.

This year’s gathering will discuss a theology of manhood and womanhood and discuss practical ways men and women can pursue our God-given roles in marriage, church, and culture. It’s also a fabulous opportunity to get to know Christians from likeminded churches from Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

Where: Hope Bible Church, Columbia, Maryland
7195 Oakland Mills Road, Columbia, MD 2104
Lunch: catered lunch provided.
Cost: to be determined, probably $15.00
How to Register: Online registration coming soon here.

Come hear discussion about questions such as:

• Why is it important for us to rediscover the Bible’s teaching about the role of men and women in the home and church?
• Is the Bible’s instruction for wives to “submit” outdated, or to be practiced today?
• What does the Bible teach about masculinity and femininity?
• What does it look like for a Christian man to lead as the head of the home?
• What does the Bible say about women pastors?
• What impact on a single man or woman’s life should the Bible’s teaching on manhood and womanhood have?
• What does Galatians 3:28 mean when it says that after Christ’s cross, in the church there is “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”?

I encourage everyone from Grace Church to consider attending this conference. Christy and I are attending and hope you will join us. The Bible speaks a great deal about gender roles in the family and the body of Christ. This is a marvelous opportunity to explore Scripture’s teaching on this topic and apply it to our lives for God’s glory.

As a new church in Alexandria, we’re grateful for the ongoing partnership we have with Heritage Bible Church, a congregation that plants grace-based churches across the country. In our three year history, Heritage has continuously and generously provided funding, team members, and pastoral care to help Grace Church of Alexandria become a healthy local church inside the Washington D.C. beltway.

The value of our partnership with Heritage was evident as a team of seven pastors and deacons from Heritage spent April 1-3, 2011 with Grace Church’s elders and deacons, strategizing prayerfully about our opportunities and challenges as as thriving new church. The team from Heritage provided sound, practical advice in areas including discipleship, church finances, problem-solving, real estate for churches, and biblical parenting. Here are some images from our brainstorming and discussion sessions:

We want to express our everlasting thanks to the congregation and leadership of Heritage Bible Church for praying for and supporting our church plant every step of the way. We are grateful to be part of the grace-based family of nine churches that Heritage has planted across the country. Thank you, Heritage, for teaching us to value the utmost importance of the gospel, the power of God’s grace, and the marks of a healthy church!

Join us for our Joint Good Friday Service, Friday evening, April 22nd, 7 pm, as we remember the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. This special Easter event will be held at Franconia Baptist Church as Grace Church of Alexandria joins with several other local churches to reflect on the cross and on how Christ has added us all to His family.

Along with a Good Friday sermon, we will sing songs of the cross, hear Scripture readings, and celebrate Communion together. Childcare is provided. Click here for directions. The address is 5912 Franconia Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22310.

See you Friday evening, April 22nd, as we commemorate the death and burial of Jesus Christ to set the stage for celebrating Resurrection Sunday.

At Grace Church of Alexandria, we try to choose songs for Sunday worship that flow out of Scripture and point us to Jesus Christ. Graham Kendrick’s hymn The Servant King ably does this, so we’re singing it several times together in March.

Verse 3 portrays especially vividly how much the Son of God served us: “Hands that flung stars into space / To cruel nails surrendered;” then the chorus calls for us to serve Christ as he has served us. This hymn points us to the cross so we can live as Christ lived, “for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Listen here (click on the 22nd song in the list) or watch an old video (1991) of the song here.

The Servant King

From heaven You came, helpless babe,
Entered our world, Your glory veiled,
Not to be served but to serve.
And give Your life that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King;
He calls us now to follow Him;
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King.

There in the garden of tears
My heavy load He chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
Yet not my will, but Yours he said.

Come see His hands and his feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice;
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered.

So let us learn now to serve,
And in our lives enthrone Him.
Each other’s needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we’re serving;

Words and music by Graham Kendrick. ©1983 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music.

Listen to other songs we sing at Grace Church of Alexandria here.

Sermon Title: Deacons: Servants of the Church
Speaker: Jonathan Matias, Pastor
Text: Acts 6:1-7

Deacons_Servants

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On Sundays at Grace Church of Alexandria, we sing carefully selected songs and hymns that draw our attention to the majesty of God and the glory of his grace. This winter we’re singing “A Debtor to Mercy Alone” on several Sundays so that we get to know it well as a congregation.

I invite you to meditate on these lyrics to remember the extend of God’s love for his people through Christ:

A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing;
I come with your righteousness on, my humble off’ring to bring.
The judgments of Your holy law with me can have nothing to do;
My Savior’s obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view.

The work which Your goodness began, the arm of Your strength will complete;
Your promise is yes and amen, and never was forfeited yet.
The future or things that are now, no power below or above,
Can make You Your purpose forgo, or sever my soul from Your love.

My name from the palms of Your hands eternity will not erase;
Impressed on Your heart it remains, in marks of indelible grace.
Yes, I to the end will endure, until I bow down at Your throne;
Forever and always secure, a debtor to mercy alone.

Original lyrics are by Augustus M. Toplady from the 1700′s. You can listen to the music and alternate lyrics by Bob Kauflin (1998) here.