Indonesia Hurry up and Wait

We received a call Sunday around Lunch time from Alicia, one of the five on the Indonesia Missions team and she was pretty disappointed. I don't think she will mind me sharing but she was crying tears of compassion, her heart was with the people of Indonesia who need to feel the love of Jesus. These tears were initiated by their flight which was cancelled due to safety reason with the plane.

The back up plan ended up being to stay with Alicia's parents who live an hour from the Washington DC airport and return bright and early in the morning for their rescheduled flight. The team would then be back on their way to share with the those in Medan and Banda Aceh.

Thank you for your prayers so far as the team has safely arrived in Singapore and praise the Lord that problems with the plane in which they were to board were realized before take off.

Pray for continued safety for remainder flights and travel on the road as they reach their destinations. Pray that the hearts of those they come in contact with while traveling and while working with the people of Indonesia will be softened and receptive to the Gospel.

And praise the Lord for those with a heart to share the love of our Lord and who are willing to sacrifice.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Community of Sharing

What a joy it is to be a part of a church that believes in sharing in word and action. Putting legs and feet to the Word is a lot harder than simply being present and claiming Christ as the Savior. That being said let me share with you ways in which those here at Grace Point are claiming the Lord as their Savior with their words and actions during this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Operation Christmas Child
Thank you to everyone who put together Christmas gift boxes that will be sent all over the world. So far we have taken over a 100 boxes to Life Care to be delivered as gifts of love to children who probably will not receive anything else this Christmas.

Project Helping Hands
Thank you to the Life Point groups and BSD&T group for committing to helping families this Thanksgiving and Christmas. The food and gifts will go a long way in showing those who are going through tough financial times the love and provision of our Lord and Saviour.

Indonesia Missions Trip
Thank you to the Grace Point Riders and all those who helped contribute to the missions trip to Indonesia, over $5,000 has been raised toward the trip. Thank you to the group of five from Grace Point who are sacrificing their time, finances and efforts to international missions. This trip which will take place Dec. 9 -18 will be beneficial in sharing the love and knowledge of Christ to university students by teaching English using the Bible.

Other great things are happening here at Grace Point, from individuals and small groups, that go without mentioning and we thank you. We mention the item above not out of pride but out of encouragement and thanks to a bunch of people who want to give back, who want to put action to the Word and who want Jesus Christ to work in and through them.

On behalf of The Church at Grace Point thanks,
Matt

Biblical Parenting

The following talk from Tedd Tripp, author and pastor, gives foundational teaching on raising your children in the image of Christ, based on scripture. This talk is incredibly valuable for parents forming the lives of children.

Key Points

- Instruction is key in influencing your children.
- We must teach our children to interpret life.
- Your life breathes life into your children.
- Failure in the home is the demise of a pure Christian witness.
- The home is the primary place for biblical teaching and instruction.
- Falling deeper in love with the Lord will provide you the strength and power needed to be the parent God has called you to be.




"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord"

Matt

Prayer Schedule for South Africa

Please cover our South Africa missionaries by praying each day for the following activities.

Thurs. 10/09 Arrive in Jo'Berg and find the Nazarene Center
Fri. 10/10 Shop for materials, Meet with John Ndlovu, visit Cosmo City/Prayer
Sat. 10/11 Game Drive, Prayer walk/Canvas Cosmo City
Sun. 10/12 Worship at Cosmo City, First Bible School Session, Worship at Honey
Ridge Church
Mon. 10/13 Purchase Groceries for Bible School, Bible School
Tues. 10/14 Bethesda Children's Home, Purchase Groceries for Bible School, Bible
School
Wed. 10/15 Morning Time, Purchase Groceries for Bible School, Bible School
Thurs. 10/16 Door of Hope, Fellowship Time with John & Church Family
Fri. 10/17 Depart from Nazarene Center, Friday night accommodations are open
Sat. 10/18 Arrive at Jo'Berg Airport, Depart Jo'Berg
Sun. 10/19 Arrive in Chattanooga, TN

As a church family we can assist, in great ways, the efforts in South Africa by praying.

In Christ, Matt

South Africa Missions Trip 2008

South Africa here we come! Departure Date Wednesday, October 8th. Please pray that the Lord goes before the South Africa team as they reach out with love, with the gospel, with Bible teaching and with food for the hungry. Your prayers are needed and appreciated!

* Thank God for what he has done for you!
* Pray for our physical safety during our travels.
* Pray that each team member will be obedient to the
calling of the Holy Spirit.
* Pray that Holy Spirit will open the eyes of the spiritual
blind in Cosmo City. The Bible School will be Mon-Thurs.
* Pray that the food will be multiplied each day. We plan
to provide a small meal to everyone after Bible School.
* Pray that each team member will be healthy during our
travel and stay in South Africa.
* Pray for John & Rosinah Ndlovu as they "work the soil"
in Cosmo City in preparation of our arrival.
* Pray for Jr's Dad & Kristi's Mom that they will be OK
while we are gone.
* Pray for Heather & Dwayne as they take care of our
animals and home while we are gone.
* Pray that God will give Jr wisdom & spiritual guidance as
he shares the Word of God on Sunday.
* Pray for God's material provision. We are still $2,800
short of our money to be raised.

Team Members: Ema, Zeke, Erica, Roxanne, Jackie,
Kristi, Steve and Jr.

There's More!

As we dive deeper into the plan that God has for a man and woman under the guise of marriage we realize that God has more for us. There is not one of us that can say "I have arrived in my marriage" or "I have arrived in Christ".

I started falling for my wife Yaunette early one summer before my junior year, her sophomore year of High School, while at a birthday party for a mutual friend. I followed her around the whole evening, please note though she did not mind it one bit, and from there I could not get her off my mind. I spent the remaining part of the summer thinking about her, infatuated even to the point where I recorded myself on a handheld tape recorder asking her out (I think I still may have the tape). Now there were a couple of hurdles in getting together for a date, to hang out or even a phone call and that being she was a PK (preachers kid), that and the fact she was not allowed to date until she was sixteen. I got over some of my anxieties involved with getting to better know a PK with the help and prompting of some of Yaunette's girl friends. After the help, the sit down meeting with her dad in his study and after she had turned sixteen we began a dating relationship where we fell madly in love. The chase that began at the birthday party during the summer of 1990 continued from our High School town in the Midwest all the way to the far northwest, Alaska where she moved with her family and we began our long distance relationship. The chase then got a little closer our freshman year of college, Yaunette finished high school a year early to get out of Alaska and started at Lee University and I at Penn State. Although the amount of travel was a bit closer, the distance had taken a toll and we started growing a part. The freshman year in college for me was monumental in my life in that for the first time I really began laying my wants and desires aside and started focusing on what he had for me. In that seeking and searching I saw that the Lord was leading me to Bryan College where I could play college soccer, pursue a Christian Education degree and where only a ferry ride across the Tennessee river separated Yaunette from myself. The chase continued and led to a closer friendship, a deeper love, more devotion to each other, engagement and then marriage.

I encourage you as I encourage myself to continue to pursue the one you love and while doing so pursue the Lord and Savior with an even greater intensity and you will fall deeper in love and in doing so revel in the joy that follows.

Matt

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

"Love your neighbor as yourself..." Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14 and James 2:8. I did not realize until I started this post that the Lord asks us at least 5 times to love our neighbors as ourselves. It is vital that we as believers share the love of Jesus Christ to those who live around us.

Good neighbors are here at Grace Point for example the person who felt compelled to help their single mom neighbor who did not have a washer machine to wash her daughters clothes for school, to the person who felt led to help a coworker fix their roof, to the person who saw a need for a handicap ramp for a person just a stones throw from our church building.

I want to encourage you, as Christ asks us, to Love your neighbor as yourself and do it in big ways and in small ways.

Grace to you, Matt