Mission of Grace

Church in the Yampa Valley

The Good News Blog

Jesus, Lord at His Birth

The Birth of Jesus

Luke 2

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!  Blessings from your friends at Mission of Grace.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 2020

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
— Jesus speaking at the Mount of Olives (see John 8:12).

Come worship with us on Christmas Eve this wondrous truth that the Lord came and is indeed the light of the world showing us the way, and we in turn are called to be the light (see Matthew 5:14-16).

DETAILS:

We will gather on the parking lot at Mission of Grace at 6:30pm. The service will be short with some singing, a prayer, and lighting of candles.  Song lyrics can be found here.

Please know we have a very large parking lot and you can stay in your cars as well if it becomes too bitterly cold. We will also attempt to live stream the event on our Facebook page.

Note: we will abide by state/county requirements with respect to the corona virus precautions. More important, we do not want anyone to become sick.

Afterward we will serve coffee and hot cocoa as well as some treats for the kids.

We hope to see you there!

Congregating is Not a Dirty Word; Let’s Do Some This Weekend

Zoom, Facebook, YouTube and streaming software are useful, and our little church has made use of them with good effect. We’re thankful for that. But social media sites and software wonders can only do so much to facilitate relationship. Eventually people want to see each other irl (in real life). That’s natural.

The Lord created us to be in relationship, and He even came to us in the flesh in a relationship, born into a family. He didn’t have to do that. He could have come from on high in a beautiful cloud with all of His glory, and we would have all bowed down immediately. But He came as a son and eventually was a brother and a friend and a teacher who taught us who He is as a Savior. He’s the Lord, the Almighty, who is capable of renewing our minds and hearts which can produce the spiritual fruit we read about in Galatians 5:22-23, and He’s also our friend whom we can relate to one-on-one. Astounding.

In Hebrews 10:24-25 the scriptures also encourage us to assemble in order to encourage each other in the Lord. If you think about it, encouragement is best done in close, loving bonds with others.

Let’s do some of that this weekend and in the Lord’s name and see what happens.

And of course we will observe all of the precautions for the corona virus. We do that as a matter of care and respect.

Please read the Details:

The church will be open on Sunday for worship. There will be two services: one at 9am and one at 11:00am. We will clean after each service. If you would, please let us know if you will be attending and which service. You can text Pastor Doug at 970-819-7894. We understand if someone comes unexpectedly. We are planning an additional area of the church so we can accommodate overflow and no one will be turned away. But it helps to have some idea of how many are coming and who is coming so we can seat you in groups if possible. No social distancing required between you and your family so we can seat you together. The state at least recognizes the intimacy and importance of that relationship. So it’s helpful if we have a heads up on who and how many are coming. Again, you can text Pastor Doug at 970-819-7894. As to any other requirements by the state or local government, we will have those posted on the door.

If you are not able to come, we will still be streaming the service. But if you’re in Hayden or Yampa Valley, please feel free to worship with us.

God bless you all, and we hope to see you Sunday either in person or in spirit.

Waiting on God

Waiting on God can be jarring like the technical difficulties image. But is it? Or is that just how we see it and the Lord is teaching us another way to look at life and Him? Pastor Doug talks about this in today’s message.

You can find the video on our YouTube channel.

We also live stream to our Facebook page on Sunday at 11:00 Mountain time.

Today’s scripture Reference: Psalm 40:1-3