Grace Abounding

On December 6, 2009, the congregation voted to affirm Garrett Lee as our church’s second elder, and Shayne McAllister and Peter Beninate as our first deacons. These three men have served on our Leadership Team since our church was founded two years ago and have demonstrated themselves to be compassionate, Spirit-led, and Word-centered men.

So during Sunday morning worship on December 13, 2009, Pastor Jonathan Matías laid hands on them and prayed over them, recognizing the Spirit’s calling of them to be officers of our church (Acts 6:6 and 1 Timothy 4:14).

Peter Beninate, deacon; Garrett Lee, elder; Jonathan Matías, elder; Shayne McAllister, deacon

Garrett Lee recognized as Grace Church’s second elder.

In accord with the Bible church form of church government, the elders of Grace Church are ministers of the Gospel charged with shepherding the flock, preaching and teaching the Word, praying for the body, and overseeing the ministry of the church (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-3; 1 Timothy 4:11-16). Our deacons are servants who tend to the physical and benevolent needs of the congregation, and doing so free the elders to focus on their ministry of the Word and prayer (Acts 6:1-6). We praise God that Christ has given Garrett, Shayne, and Peter as gifts to His church (Ephesians 4:7, 11)!

Thanks to a member of our church, Michael Collins, for the pictures.

Our Sunday worship on December 27th will be held at 10:30 am at a members’ home, the Wiebe’s Home, in Alexandria. On that day we will not be meeting at our regular location, the Samuel Tucker Elementary School. This change affects only Sunday, December 27th. Please call the church office at 703.475.4390 or contact us via our web site for directions to the alternate worship location on that day.

We warmly welcome you to join us this Christmas season to worship Christ, our Redeemer & King! Our theme for December is “The Three Canticles of Christmas,” as we look at the three songs in the Gospel of Luke that celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Want to get to know others from Grace Church of Alexandria and enjoy a good evening of fellowship? Join us this Wednesday for a night of mini-golf in Alexandria (Sept 30th)! We’re gathering for our church family get to know each other better. 7 pm at Top Golf in Alexandria on Van Dorn Street. Cost is $4 for 36 holes for groups of 10. If you’re planning on coming, RSVP here. Afterwards we’re heading to a members’ home for smores over a fire.

One year ago this month Grace Church of Alexandria hosted our launch service and began meeting publicly in the city of Alexandria. My wife Christy and I along with a core group of 14 others began meeting in November 2007, gearing up to start Grace Church. Then in September 2008 we launched a web site, invited our neighbors & friends, put up dozens of yard signs, and hung Grace Church posters in the city. Since that time, we’re amazed to see Christ forging a closely-knit church family from the varied individuals and families He has gathered to be Grace Church of Alexandria.

We’re Growing!

We have grown numerically, for we have about 60 people who regularly attend or have joined as members. An average Sunday brings about 45 worshipers to Samuel Tucker Elementary School where we meet. Particularly, God has faithfully nurtured and grown our congregation in spiritual growth and unity of the Spirit. I’m thrilled to see the friendships springing up, which are focused on helping each other see and savor Christ.

A Diverse Group

When you visit, you’ll find a a diverse group – vibrant believers who are Ethiopian, Japanese, Korean, Caucasian, African-American, and me, a pastor with Hispanic roots. We’ve been able to minister to Congressional interns who are here for  just six months, business people who are always traveling internationally, military families from the Marines, Navy, and Army, coffee shop baristas, and even a family of a major league baseball team player! We are residents of Alexandria, Arlington, Washington D.C., Springfield, Manassas, Quantico, Maryland, and Fairfax.

An Ever-Changing Congregation

The transience and mobility of residents in the Washington D.C. area poses challenges for starting a stable & mature congregation. Many families are posted here for one or two years for their military or government jobs. We don’t mind the turn-over, for it allows us to equip families to live by the Gospel and carry this God-centered way of living to the ends of the earth. One family has been called to a several-year stint teaching English in China, representing the King. Another has gone on to pastor a Gospel preaching church in Ohio.

Thank You

To all of you who financially give to Grace Church of Alexandria and to Jonathan & Christy Matías as missionary church planters, thank you! The Gospel is advancing inside the beltway of Washington D.C.! Your investment of prayer and finances is enabling us to baptize & disciple believers, herald the Gospel which brings life, and display the glory of God in our nation’s capital. We continue to rely on the gracious support of churches and friends to minister here.

You’re Invited

If you’ve never visited Grace Church, please be our guest! We endeavor to be a Christian church with a love for our community, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and each other. We seek to faithfully preach the Word of God as inerrant and true, words which bring life and hope. We constantly keep our gaze on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for there we find the power and grace of God to live for God each day. It is our prayer that in 2009 God will allow us to lead neighbors, co-workers, and friends to faith & repentance in Christ. Come join us as we build a new community for God’s praise together in the Washington D.C. metro region.

This Labor Day weekend, we’re going to be giving back to our community once again. We’re grateful for the reception Alexandria has given us as a new church in the community, and we want to say thank you!

• Free cold bottled water: In Cameron Station at Ben Brenman Park & Alexander Boothe Parks this Sunday from 12-3 pm.
• Free organic dog treats: If you’re at the dog parks at Ben Brenman Park & Cameron Station, we’re giving away free organic dog treats for your pets too! They’re all-natural organic treats baked by Buzz Bakery, an Alexandria favorite.

Look for us this Sunday from 12-3 pm in these West End Alexandria parks.

During the last week of July our church focused seven days on “Giving Back To Our Community.” We got our hands dirty by doing grounds keeping at Ben Brenman Park. Several teams weeded around trees & sidewalks while others picked up trash. Other volunteers roamed the park, giving out 300 free chilled water bottles to residents who were there. If you received a free water bottle, we warmly invite you to visit Grace Church of Alexandria. We meet Sundays at 10:30 am, just a few blocks away from the park, at the Samuel Tucker Elementary School in Cameron Station.

A hearty thank you goes to the 16 young adults from Heritage Bible Church in South Carolina who spent an entire week serving our church and helping us give back to Alexandria. They went from home to home of our members, doing yard work, delivering groceries, and babysitting to give parents’ a night out. They were a visible demonstration to us of the kind of self-giving love that God gives to us generously through Christ. They also put up over 300 posters inviting city residents to come worship with us at Grace Church of Alexandria. You can now spot our posters in Old Town Alexandria, Kingstowne, Springfield, Crystal City, and Pentagon City. Thank you, friends, for contributing to our church family and to our community!

This Sunday for children 12 and under, Grace Church is hosting a special reading of “Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress.” Kids will be dismissed from corporate worship as the sermon begins to hear this dramatic reading of a classic Christian tale.

At Grace Church of Alexandria, we desire to cultivate meaningful Christian relationships that help us grow in our faith and enable us to weather the storms of life.

So our Men’s Community Group meets at a Panera Bread on Saturday mornings over freshly-baked bagels, coffee, and pastries. We read aloud a few pages of The Bruised Reed, a booklet written by the Puritan Richard Sibbes, and we discuss it together. Sibbes, like his fellow Puritans, helps his readers grasp the depth of their sin and then draws their gaze to Christ’s tender mercy for us through the cross and his ongoing intercession for us. We discuss what’s going on in each others’ lives and then pray the truths of that chapter for one another.

So if you’re a member of Grace Church or just checking out our church, you’re invited to Men’s Community Group. Click here to contact me for more details on where and when it meets. I’ll blog again soon about other small groups our church hosts.

When you’ve identified a weakness in your local church (you will find flaws in your church and in ours), you can respond in two ways. One one hand, you can search for greener pastures by looking for another Gospel-preaching church. On the other hand, you can consider how God might use you to strengthen your church in the area of weakness you’ve noticed.

Along these lines, Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp offer this advice:

“Are there places where your gifts are needed in the body of Christ? A better question is, Where are your gifts needed? One good way to determine your gifts is to ask yourself where you see weaknesses in the body. It is highly likely that you see these weaknesses because you are looking at the church through the lens of your gifts. Where you see weakness is probably the very place where God wants you to serve your brothers and sisters.”

~ From page 77 of How People Change by Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp, published in 2008.

Far too many believers just keep perpetually shopping for the ideal church. As they develop relationships with a new church family, they spot its warts and flaws and are far too quick to move on in search of greener pastures. I’m grateful for members of Grace Church of Alexandria who have identified weaknesses in our church and have presented themselves as the solution! They have rolled up their sleeves, gotten their hands dirty, and helped us resemble Christ more clearly as a church. That’s the spirit of Ephesians 4:13 where together as a church family we “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Curious what a Sunday morning worship service is like at Grace Church of Alexandria? Take a look at a recent order of worship below.

On Sunday morning, a guide to worship like this one is handed out to everyone in attendance. Public prayers & Scripture readings are interspersed throughout our corporate worship. We sing a mix of old songs and new. The preaching of a text of Scripture stands as the centerpoint of our worship as we let God’s Word shape our lives. We regularly observe the Lord’s Table. Every Sunday we gather to resound with praise to the great God who made us and redeemed us!

Sample Order of Worship