After church last Sunday, I reflected on God’s work in my life, and I found myself feeling a deep sense of gratitude and joy for how He has blessed me with vast deposits of grace. I received one of those deposits on Monday evening. Kimberly and I were invited to be part of an 80th birthday celebration Facetime conversation with a dear woman who used to live here and was part of our church. Each person invited had an appointment at a set time to talk with her.

The first thing she said was that our call was the most important of all the calls she had received. She said, “I can never replace Twin Cities and the love I feel from you guys." (She moved away eight years ago after her husband passed away.) She then went on to talk about how our church had been so pivotal in her walk with Jesus. We helped her and her husband know the love of God as she had never known – and she had been part of many churches. What a grace-filled moment that was as we cried together over God’s goodness to us all through the church God has built here.

Another person sent me this email this week in response to my email blast from two weeks ago. “You should have no regrets of how you and your staff have handled connection and processes during the pandemic. It's actually been an answered prayer for our family, as we are on the side of believing the science and not wanting to spread a disease that could be fatal to someone else. So, encouraging the safety of the church community gets a big thumbs up from us! We've stayed connected via streaming options and have kept in touch with our community group via Skype meetings. We still feel loved and still worship a mighty God.”

Folks, as we take steps out of our COVID logjam, it’s imperative that we place all our hope in God and our mission to Love Everyone Always. We love people by giving them the space to be where they are – even if we may disagree – allowing God to be the ONE we follow. I’m excited to be taking more steps to reopen our services and ministries and provide opportunities for people to hear about the love Jesus has for them.

Easter is just two weeks away. We’re going to have four identical services so you can invite your friends to attend in person with you or gather online with you. You will be able to make sure we can have plenty of space by choosing to attend at 6:00pm on Saturday or at the 8:00am service on Sunday. That will allow us to have plenty of room for everyone.

Our Children’s Ministry team has adapted and creatively changed the annual Easter Egg Hunt into an Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. Families will go on an adventure by car to various locations around our community where they will snap a photo, collect candy, and meet some of our Ministry Partners. They will then race to the church and celebrate victory by having a picnic. You can bring your own lunch or buy a Domino’s cheese pizza for $5. Join us on the lawn for live music and games. Make sure to watch for more details as it becomes available.

We’re also going to baptize at all the services for Easter. If you’ve never been baptized, please consider this opportunity. We’ll make sure to be COVID safe, and you’ll be part of making our services even more Spirit-filled. If you’re interested in going public for Jesus, please contact Mare. She’ll give you the scoop and get you ready.

Our next Drive-Thru Food Drive is Friday, March 26 from 8:00-10:30am. Please bring your non-perishable food items by the church and drop them off. You don’t even have to get out of your car. This is just one of the ways we’ve been able to adapt to our current situation and still help our community in tangible ways. 

Last Sunday, continued our vision series called Journey with Jesus. What a fantastic beginning to a new ministry season together. Jesus invites us to more than a Sunday worship service or weekly Bible study or service project; He invites us to a life with Him. It’s all about developing a lifestyle of engaging in spiritual practices.

In this series, we are laying out a paradigm of spiritual growth and personal transformation that is powerful for our church family. If you’ve missed the first two messages, you’ll want to watch them soon and be ready to engage with the rest of the series. The key idea is that we’re called to be Followers (Apprentices) of Jesus. Our quest is to carve out space to Be with Jesus so that we Become Like Jesus and then we naturally Do What Jesus Did.

On Sunday, we’ll talk about Become Like Jesus. I’m eager to learn new practices for developing intimacy with God. We’ll also be engaging in Communion together. If you’re going to be onsite, we will provide COVID-friendly Communion elements. If you’re going to gather with us online, please have your elements ready, so you can fully immerse yourself in this experience.

Here are the links you’ll need to be fully prepared for Sunday’s Service:

• Message Notes and Study Guide
• Weekly Spotify Playlist
• Children's Ministry
• Student Ministry 

If you aren’t ready to attend a public gathering yet, let me encourage you to keep your Sunday rhythms by watching the service live at either 9:00 or 11:00am. I believe that will help you stay disciplined as we walk this road of COVID restrictions together and help our church family feel your nearness and encouragement as we continue to “gather” in His name.           

You can watch the current service or an archived service on demand any time you want from our website or APP. Here’s an idea: When you’re watching online, please invite your friends to join you. If you haven’t downloaded the TCC APP, go to the APP store and search for TCC GRASS VALLEY and download it today. You can watch the service right from your device.     

Joyfully living everyday life on mission in intimacy with Jesus and others,

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