Announcements for March 30 - April 5

CHRIS & COURTNEY HARSHBARGER--It is our privilege to announce that Chris and Courtney Harshbarger have been received into membership at Greenville Grace. It is our joy to have the Harshbargers committed to growing at Grace and committed to serving our Body. Please take the opportunity to welcome the Harshbargers and celebrate with us!

>ELDER LEADERSHIP--The elder team would like to present Marshall Gipe to the church body as one who desires to be an elder. While Scripture says it is an honorable thing to desire the office of an elder (1 Timothy 3:1), the chapter goes on to lay out very specific guidelines for elder leadership (3:1-7). We would encourage you to examine this passage (along with Titus 1 and 1 Peter 5, among others) and also Marshall’s testimony. As elders, we desire to know if you can affirm Marshall’s qualifications for elder leadership. Would you please consider these texts, examine Marshall’s life and then share your confirmations or concerns with a current elder?

>BLOOD DRIVE--April 13, 3:00-6:30pm There is a sign-up sheet for snacks and juice on table in narthex. You can go online to http://www.donortime.com/ to register an appointment or call Cheryl Wysong @ 547-0792 if you need help registering. Appointments aren't necessary but are encouraged to reduce wait time. Guidelines for donating sometimes change so even if you have not been eligible to give in the past, please go online and see if giving is a possibility now. It's free, simple and you could save up to 3 lives with a single donation.

HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE AGE CONFERENCE--Basore Grace Brethren is offering "Committed to Christ: Walking the Talk" Conference April 18th. Cost is only $25 (lunch and dinner included). This conference offers main sessions as well as 16 different mini-sessions to choose from. Looks like a great opportunity! See the table in the narthex for more information.

VBS--June 14th – 19th
Mark your calendars now. The dates for this year’s VBS have been set.

HAPPY CAMPERS--Are you looking for a summer camp experience where your child can have fun and grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus? We've got two options for you. Our Tristate District of Grace Brethren Churches is offering "Creation Adventure" July 12th-17th. Skyview Ranch is also offering camps five different weeks in the summer. If interested in either camp (we'd recommend either one!), you can check in the church office for information or check out their websites. (tristatecamp.com or skyviewranch.org)

ATTENTION LIFEGROUPS--We are moving our Leviticus studies around slightly to better fit with Resurrection Sunday. We will be looking at Leviticus 16:1-17:16 on April 12th and Leviticus 13:1-15:33 on April 19th. Please take note of this switch to better facilitate your LIFEGroup discussions.

MEN’S FELLOWSHIP--Join us this Saturday morning for our Men's Fellowship breakfast. Food will be served at 7 am and discussion will be centered around peace as we continue our series on the fruit of the Spirit.

Announcements for Mar. 23-29

LADIES NIGHT OUT--March 27, 6:30-9:30pm

QUIET TIME SEMINAR--If you are interested taking the Quiet Time Seminar (March 28, 8:30-12:30) at Bible Fellowship, Pastor Chris Cobb has graciously offered that all people from our church can pay the group rate. See the table in the narthex for more information.

DOWN SYNDROME FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP--Down Syndrome touches many families. If yours is one of them, come join us in starting a local Greenville Area Support Group on Saturday, March 28, 10am at Greenville Grace. For more information, or to R.S.V.P. call Heather at 937-968-3669 or email at ocelot210@yahoo.com.

DATE CORRECTION--Communion, April 10 at 6:30pm

BLOOD DRIVE--April 13, 3:00-6:30pm There is a sign-up sheet for snacks and juice on table in narthex. You can go online to www.DonorTime.com to register an appointment or call Cheryl Wysong @ 547-0792 if you need help registering. Appointments aren't necessary but are encouraged to reduce wait time. Guidelines for donating sometimes change so even if you have not been eligible to give in the past, please go online and see if giving is a possibility now. It's free, simple and you could save up to 3 lives with a single donation.

HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE AGE CONFERENCE--Basore Grace Brethren is offering "Committed to Christ: Walking the Talk" Conference April 18th. Cost is only $25 (lunch and dinner included). This conference offers main sessions as well as 16 different mini-sessions to choose from. Looks like a great opportunity! See the table in the narthex for more information.

VBS--June 14th – 19th
Mark your calendars now. The dates for this year’s VBS have been set.

HAPPY CAMPERS--Are you looking for a summer camp experience where your child can have fun and grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus? We've got two options for you. Our Tristate District of Grace Brethren Churches is offering "Creation Adventure" July 12th-17th. Skyview Ranch is also offering camps five different weeks in the summer. If interested in either camp (we'd recommend either one!), you can check in the church office for information or check out their websites. (tristatecamp.com or skyviewranch.org)

ATTENTION LIFEGROUPS--We are moving our Leviticus studies around slightly to better fit with Resurrection Sunday. We will be looking at Leviticus 16:1-17:16 on April 12th and Leviticus 13:1-15:33 on April 19th. Please take note of this switch to better facilitate your LIFEGroup discussions.

ELDER LEADERSHIP--The elder team would like to present Marshall Gipe to the church body as one who desires to be an elder. While Scripture says it is an honorable thing to desire the office of an elder (1 Timothy 3:1), the chapter goes on to lay out very specific guidelines for elder leadership (3:1-7). We would encourage you to examine this passage (along with Titus 1 and 1 Peter 5, among others) and also Marshall’s testimony. As elders, we desire to know if you can affirm Marshall’s qualifications for elder leadership. Would you please consider these texts, examine Marshall’s life and then share your confirmations or concerns with a current elder?

GRACE BLOG--To keep informed about happenings here at Grace, check out our church blog (ggbcnews.blogspot.com) for special announcements, missionary updates, baptism testimonies and much more.

Blessed Beyond Measure...

I shared the following over at my blog, but wanted to make sure as many in our church as possible knew the encouragement they are to me (and to all our pastors/elders):

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.--2 Corinthians 5:18-21

I don't deserve to be a child of God. I do not deserve to be entrusted with the gospel message. I do not deserve the privilege of being an undershepherd. And I do not deserve to be born and live to see this time.

John MacArthur recently shared why he is encouraged:

[Rick Holland] What encourages you most about the future of exposition, and what discourages you the most as you look at the up and coming generation?

[John MacArthur] Well...I have to tell you that I am greatly encouraged. You know, we opened "the vault" at Grace to You [all mp3's are now free]. That was ridiculous.

[RH] What were the statistics of the first weekend or month...

[JM] Listen, just to put it into perspective, my thought was...we had a $3 deal where you could download a sermon on mp3...$3. We did four thousand a month. So that's $12,000 a month, $144,000 a year. We kind of thought, if people want it, they'll pay for it, and it will have value to them. And then we finally realized, people are getting stuff for free, they're getting bad stuff free. They're getting almost everything free. Why don't we just make it all free? It went from 4,000 a month [downloads], so far, we're in about the fourth month, to a million a month.

So, the great conclusion is, people preach what's free! That's scary. So if that's what they are going to preach, we got to get it to them free. [on the audio, these sentences are clearly tongue in cheek]

No, but it has removed the barriers. So my response: I literally, in one month went from wondering if anybody cared about Bible exposition, to being absolutely thrilled about how many people must be doing biblical exposition...because there is no other reason to be downloading that stuff. It's stunning! Al Mohler and I were talking about it yesterday, the young generation is coming up literally owning reformed theology and Bible exposition. I promise you, that is what is happening to the young generation. These older ministers and pastors who aren't into Bible exposition and aren't into sound reformed theology are not capturing the young generation. They are not capturing them.

MacArthur then went on to explain that the older he gets, the younger his congregation gets.

I see what MacArthur is saying, but I also see more. I must say that this is one other reason why I believe I am blessed beyond measure to pastor at Greenville Grace. I love our people. It has been a thrill to see younger generations respond to the church's ministry [we recently added a third nursery, and it really isn't enough!], but God has given us this opportunity without sacrificing the "older generations" (wince...who really wants to be labeled like that?).

I preached a heavy, hard sermon this week (you really have no other choice when God is killing people), but did not have to fear whether the congregation would listen and receive it. I do not face pressure that the church does not want to hear the Word. I told someone this week, "It's so nice to know I am at a church that would get rid of me if I chose NOT to preach the Word."

I love you all, and don't want any of us to take it lightly. He is the One who causes us to "hunger and thirst for righteousness." We have not done that work on our own. He's really doing an amazing thing here at Grace. But not just at Grace, but around the globe as well!

I truly do not deserve to shepherd at a church where people of all generations crave the Word of God.

Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.--Psalm 119:38

Announcements for March 16-22

SHAUN & JENNIFER SACHS--It is our joy to welcome Shaun and Jennifer Sachs as members of Greenville Grace. Shaun and Jennifer recently publicly testified to their faith in Christ through water baptism. They have taken the "Welcome to Grace" class, understanding the nature of the commitment of church membership, and want the family at Grace to know their commitment. We're excited to make it official!

DANIEL/TERESSA PIERCE--As pastors/elders of Grace, we want to thank the body for their overwhelming support for Daniel and Teressa last week through a love offering. God was glorified and the Pierces were blessed. Please join with us in praying for wisdom for the Pierces as they seek God's next step for them in ministry.

SERMONEUTICS--"Sermoneutics" is two things: 1) a made up word. 2) an upcoming men's study exploring the "why, how and what" of preaching. If you would like to refine your gifts in preaching/teaching, would like to explore whether God has called you to preach/teach, would like to know how to evaluate preaching/teaching, or would simply like to dive into some Scriptures with other men in order to grow closer to God...then this class if for you. We will meet every other Monday night starting this Monday night.

Men's Ministries March Madness Mayhem- Come watch Friday night's March Madness action at the church this Friday night at 7 pm. A sign up sheet is available in the narthex for those interested. Also, be sure to fill out your bracket in our Yahoo league (league ID- 26119, password- grace). For more details/instructions, see the table in the narthex.

Men's Fellowship- Join us this Saturday for our Men's Fellowship as we continue in our "Fruitful" series. This week will focus on the first of the listed fruits, love. Breakfast will be served at 7:00 and discussion should conclude at 8:15 am.

LADIES NIGHT OUT--March 27, 6:30-9:30pm

QUIET TIME SEMINAR--If you are like many other believers, establishing and keeping a disciplined, effective quiet-time is a real struggle. Bible Fellowship Church is offering a four-hour seminar on Saturday morning, March 28 from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Pastor Chris Cobb will be teaching how to have an effective, personal quiet time. Bring your Bible, a pen and a heart ready to hear the Word. For more information, contact Pastor Cobb at pastorchris@biblefellowship.com or the church office, 937-547-1952.

DOWN SYNDROME FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP--Down Syndrome touches many families. If yours is one of them, come join us in starting a local Greenville Area Support Group on Saturday, March 28, 10am at Greenville Grace. For more information, or to R.S.V.P. call Heather at 937-968-3669 or email at ocelot210@yahoo.com.

DATE CORRECTION: We will be having our Communion Service on Friday, April 10 at 6:30pm.

BLOOD DRIVE--April 13, 3:00-6:30pm There is a sign-up sheet for snacks and juice on table in narthex. You can go online to http://www.donortime.com/ to register an appointment or call Cheryl Wysong @ 547-0792 if you need help registering. Appointments aren't necessary but are encouraged to reduce wait time. Guidelines for donating sometimes change so even if you have not been eligible to give in the past, please go online and see if giving is a possibility now. It's free, simple and you could save up to 3 lives with a single donation.

HAPPY CAMPERS--Are you looking for a summer camp experience where your child can have fun and grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus? We've got two options for you. Our Tristate District of Grace Brethren Churches is offering "Creation Adventure" July 12th-17th. Skyview Ranch is also offering camps five different weeks in the summer. If interested in either camp (we'd recommend either one!), you can check in the church office for information or check out their websites. (tristatecamp.com or skyviewranch.org)

Announcements for Mar. 9-15

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC--Praise God for the recent trip to the Dominican by several within our church body. Tim Wolfe provided a brief update on their trip (which is found on our blog) and the team will be sharing with us next week, during the services. Be sure to join us next week to hear how your prayer and support have been used to further the gospel and how God used these brothers and sisters to help you fulfill your calling to proclaim His name to all nations!

LADIES NIGHT OUT--March 27, 6:30-9:30pm

QUIET TIME SEMINAR--If you are like many other believers, establishing and keeping a disciplined, effective quiet-time is a real struggle. Bible Fellowship Church is offering a four-hour seminar on Saturday morning, March 28 from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Pastor Chris Cobb will be teaching how to have an effective, personal quiet time. Bring your Bible, a pen and a heart ready to hear the Word. For more information, contact Pastor Cobb at pastorchris@biblefellowship.com or the church office, 937-547-1952.

DOWN SYNDROME FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP--Down Syndrome touches many families. If yours is one of them, come join us in starting a local Greenville Area Support Group on Saturday, March 28, 10am at Greenville Grace. For more information, or to R.S.V.P. call Heather at 937-968-3669 or email at ocelot210@yahoo.com.

BLOOD DRIVE--APRIL 13, 3:00-6:30pm There is a sign-up sheet for snacks and juice on table in narthex. You can go online to www.DonorTime.com to register an appointment or call Cheryl Wysong @ 547-0792 if you need help registering. Appointments aren't necessary but are encouraged to reduce wait time. Guidelines for donating sometimes change so even if you have not been eligible to give in the past, please go online and see if giving is a possibility now. It's free, simple and you could save up to 3 lives with a single donation.

Thank You Jesus!

As many of you have probably seen through the prayer chain, I lost my last living grandfather yesterday.

About 16 hours later, I finally had a good cry.

Then God blessed me by causing me to see this:


It Happened To Me from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

We truly serve a good God!

Greenville SCORE Team

Dominican Update

Tim Wolfe sent the following information about our team from Grace, this week:

3/01/2009. We all attended the SCORE church this morning and had a great time in fellowship and worship. Yesterday we were at the almecen in Mt. Cristie cleaning it and rearranging the supplies. In the afternoon the group got all ready for ministry next week.

3/02/2009. We went to a new village called Los Llamos. It is to the north over an hour. It has a small Baptist church with pastor Raul. Everything went well with two doctors and one dentist. The gospel was given in the morning and in the afternoon. We had people in line all day and saw around 90 patients.

03/03/2009. (Dad's birthday) Today was a clinic held at the village called Palo Viejo just Northeast of Mt. Cristie. Although it is only a short distance off the main road, it is like stepping back in time. It is a small, remote village with access down a muddy truck path through the sugarcane field. The housing is from the early 20th century; a row of single room concrete homes, side-by-side with no windows and broken down front doors. The people are dirty and smell as well as the surrounding area. They have a hog in a wallow, donkeys, horses and many mangy dogs running around all over the place. The kids are barefoot and scarcely clothed. We didn't see anyone eating anything but sugar cane while we were there.

The morning looked threatening so we prayed for no rain and within a half hour we had sunshine and partly cloudy the remainder of the day. The gospel was preached in English, Spanish and Creole morning and noon. The people are mainly Haitian old men and young women. There were no middle-aged men to be seen. We suspect that there is much abuse here in a village of less than 100 people. The clinic was successful; much good professional treatment was given. We set up under a metal roof held up by rusted steel poles on a concrete slab.

3/04/09. Today was similar to yesterday. We went to a small, old, poor village just East of yesterday. I don't even know the name of it. It was close to San Pedro, close to the main highway, but about 70 years back in time. There were rows of single room concrete houses. The village is Haitian and dirty with trash everywhere. Primitive is a good choice of words. We set up in a sparse church building. They had basic musical instruments all hand made including the banjo a guy played. Chickens were running everywhere and the kids all eating raw sugarcane. There were many old people as well as middle aged men which indicates they had no work. Like yesterday, the people were dirty and shoe less; some of the young children naked.
The gospel was preached. We saw over 100 patients. Dental had many patients and on one guy, they pulled 7 teeth as they were all bad. Dr. Studebaker did a minor surgery removing a large cyst from a guys chest. It did not rain all day but was threatening. When we left and drove South a mile the roads were wet. It all went very well.

Praise God for the good report and continue to lift our brothers and sisters up in prayer!

Daniel Series

For those of you who have been following Oscar Stroede's series on the book of Daniel, the study questions are up for the next section (chapter 3). Also, if you've missed out on any of the series thus far, be sure to download the audio from the sections you may have missed here.

Additionally, if you missed any of Marshall GIpe's series on Ruth, it would be well worth your time to go back and review. You can download those messages here as well.

Announcements for Mar. 2-8

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC--More of our family at Grace are joining the Nilsen’s and Wolfe’s this week in the Dominican. Please pray for their time in the Dominican. May the Lord watch over them and use this ministry opportunity to encourage our missionaries there, grow each participants faith in Christ and see His kingdom expanded through the message of the gospel!

ELDER LEADERSHIP--The elder team would like to present Marshall Gipe to the church body as one who desires to be an elder. While Scripture says it is an honorable thing to desire the office of an elder (1 Timothy 3:1), the chapter goes on to lay out very specific guidelines for elder leadership (3:1-7). We would encourage you to examine this passage (along with Titus 1 and 1 Peter 5, among others) and also Marshall’s testimony. As elders, we desire to know if you can affirm Marshall’s qualifications for elder leadership. Would you please consider these texts, examine Marshall’s life and then share your confirmations or concerns with a current elder?

SERMONEUTICS--"Sermoneutics" is two things: 1) a made up word. 2) an upcoming men's study exploring the "why, how and what" of preaching. If you would like to refine your gifts in preaching/teaching, would like to explore whether God has called you to preach/teach, would like to know how to evaluate preaching/teaching, or would simply like to dive into some Scriptures with other men in order to grow closer to God...then this class if for you. We will meet every other Monday night starting March 16th. For more information, see Danny or the table in the narthex (sign up is also on the table).

FIREPROOF--As Greenville Fellowship wraps up their Love & Respect series here at our church, they have extended us an invitation to join them tomorrow night at 7:00 pm as they watch the recent movie, "Fireproof."

SPORTSMEN'S DINNER & OUTDOOR EXPO--Tuesday, March 3, 6pm at Community Grace Brethren Church, West Milton. Cost $10, kids 12 & under $4.00 If you interested in going, meet here at Grace at 5:30pm.

MEN’S FELLOWSHIP--This Saturday, March 7, all men are invited to our Men's Fellowship time. Breakfast will be served at 7 am and the meeting should conclude around 8:15. Hope to see you there!

MOM’S GROUP DATE CHANGE--Mom’s please join us March 11 at 9:30am here at Grace for a time of fellowship. Diana Manges and Tammy Garber will be speaking about “The Art of Hospitality”.

WEEKEND TO REMEMBER--Another Family Life Conference is coming to Cincinnati this March 6-8. Many people in our church can vouch for the benefit of these conferences. Every marriage, regardless of its condition, can benefit from some intentional focus. We'd highly recommend you check out the table in the narthex to receive more information. Also, see Dan or Jeni Berger for information about a church discount.

QUIET TIME SEMINAR--If you are like many other believers, establishing and keeping a disciplined, effective quiet-time is a real struggle. Bible Fellowship Church is offering a four-hour seminar on Saturday morning, March 28 from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Pastor Chris Cobb will be teaching how to have an effective, personal quiet time. Bring your Bible, a pen and a heart ready to hear the Word. For more information, contact Pastor Cobb at pastorchris@biblefellowship.com or the church office, 937-547-1952.

UPCOMING BLOOD DRIVE--April 13, 2009 (more details to come)

LADIES RETREAT--Unbreakable Bonds Retreat, April 17-18 at The Golden Eagle Retreat Center, Palestine, OH. See fliers on table in narthex for more details.