The 12 days of Christmas is a good time to remind ourselves of the story of Jesus. December 25 — Luke 1:26-56 December 26 — Luke 2:1-21 December 27 — Luke 2:22-38 December 28 — Luke 2:41-52 December 29— Isaiah 7:10-17; Isaiah 9:2-7 December 30 — John 1:1-18 December 31 — Matthew 2:1-12 January 1 … Continue reading "Suggested Readings for the 12 Days of Christmas" Read the article
By Cara Garrity, GCI Development Coordinator It seems Christmas sneaks up on me almost every year. Maybe it’s the busyness of the year-end or the daily routines that obscure meaningful passing of time. Maybe it’s overwhelming preparations or inattentiveness and distractibility. Whatever the cause, I wonder if you are like me and find yourself unprepared … Continue reading "Christmas Presence" Read the article
The birth of a child is not only exciting, it changes everything. I’ll never forget the excitement that filled our home as we anticipated the birth of our daughter. We decorated her room, we bought furniture, a car seat, clothes and all the items needed to take care of a newborn. We talked and talked … Continue reading "A New Birth" Read the article
Psalm 148:1-14 • Isaiah 61:10–62:3 • Galatians 4:4-7 • Luke 2:22-40 The theme for this week hope in the God who is always in control. The call to worship Psalm encourages the whole world, from the smallest creatures to the mountains, to ring with praise for God who is over all. Isaiah 61 gives us … Continue reading "Sermon for December 27, 2020" Read the article
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 • 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16 • Romans 16:25-27 • Luke 1:26-38 The theme this week is God with us, which reminds us that we are never alone. The Psalm 89 call to worship confirms God’s abiding presence with us, as it was with David. In 2 Samuel we read the story of David’s … Continue reading "Sermon for December 20, 2020" Read the article
Psalm 126:1-6 • Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 • 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 • John 1:6-8, 19-28 Our theme this week is Jesus brings restoration and joy to all. Our call to worship Psalm praises God for his restoration. The passage in Isaiah 61 focuses on the joy God’s people will feel because of the renewal brought about … Continue reading "Sermon for December 13, 2020" Read the article
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 • Isaiah 40:1-11 • 2 Peter 3:8-15a • Mark 1:1-8 This week’s theme is Comfort in God’s faithfulness. The call to worship Psalm recounts God’s faithfulness and encourages us to be comforted by God’s words of peace. The readings in Isaiah and 2 Peter both speak words of comfort to people in … Continue reading "Sermon for December 6, 2020" Read the article
As all GCI churches are making efforts toward better church health, one key focus across all avenues is the development of new leaders. Through mentoring relationships, ministry leaders are developed and the lives of both mentor and mentee are enriched. Check out this month’s Church Hack about the mentoring relationship. Read the article
The impact of the pandemic has touched every area of our lives, including the life of the church. Because of Jesus’ call to love our neighbors well, we have found innovative ways to safely worship together and developed new policies to keep one another safe. This means that there are new ways to serve within … Continue reading "GCI Church Hack: Avenue Job Descriptions" Read the article
If you are using PowerPoint for your worship service, here are a number of tips to make things run smoothly. By Tim Sitterley, U.S. Regional Director, West In the not-too-distant past, movies were delivered to theaters on large rolls of film. The skill of the projectionist was to sync the film so that when one … Continue reading "PowerPoint Pointers" Read the article
