Dear Grace Family,
These announcements and prayer requests are being sent out every Thursday to inform us of what is happening in and the needs of our church. Please note that since next week is New Year’s week, please send any announcements or prayer requests to office@gfccsf.org by Monday night (12/30/24).
Grace and peace, The Session and Staff of GFCC
Announcements for the week of 12/23/24
Join Us for Sunday Worship, December 29 at 10:00 AM
Pastor Al will be preaching from Luke 2: 21-40. “Raising Jesus: On Being the Holy Family of Nazareth”
Last Week, Pastor Al preached on “Love Come Down: The Why of Christmas”
Christmas Love Is…
Timeless Love
Embodied Love
Saving Love
Human Love
Slides from Pastor Al's Sermon 122224
If you want to re-listen to Pastor Al’s sermon (and any other previous sermons), you can do so on our church’s website.
Sermons | GFCC (gfccsf.org)
Sign the “This is Us” Document
The link to this document is below. We are invited to sign the “This is Us” document if we resonate with what is stated. This is a tangible way for us to say yes to who we are and why we exist.
This Sunday, December 29 will be the last Sunday that it will be left out for signatures. If you need more time to review and wish to sign it at a later time, just let Jennifer or Caroline know.
This Is Us
Christmas Offering - Bridge Ministry
This year, we want to direct our Christmas Offering to the Bridge Ministry of Pastor Nelson Ng’ang’a and his wife, Annet. The link below details what their dream for the Bridge Ministry would look like in Kenya. They are called to minister to the most vulnerable in Kenya - children.
Our offering will go toward the purchase of a 4-wheel drive pickup truck. This truck will be most valuable for their outreach, travel and transportation of people and goods.
If you wish to make a gift to the offering, you can do so online or by placing a check in the offering box and indicating that it is for the Christmas offering.
For accounting purposes, please give the Christmas offering by December 31.
The Bridge Ministry
New Year’s Eve Event at Church
Let’s put on our dance shoes and let loose on the dance floor. If you want to share part of New Year’s Eve with the church family, come to church for some good music (from Motown, Elvis, Beatles to Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift), fellowship and food.
Note - Dancing is not a requirement. Come and spend the last day of 2024 with family!
4PM - 7PM at church.
Any questions, contact Caroline
Joy Kreider of Deliberate Dialogues, January 19 (Shane Chao is our Ministry Partner Liaison)
Joy will be in San Francisco for a few weeks in January. She will be worshiping with us on Sunday, January 19. Joy will share briefly about her Deliberate Dialogues ministry during the service. After service, all are invited to a light lunch (in the courtyard) to hear Joy speak more about her ministry.
About Us — Deliberate Dialogues
Love Feast and Family Meeting, January 26
We will continue our pattern of having our monthly Love Feast of eating together and having extended fellowship time. That Sunday will also be our quarterly family meeting when we will be updated in all aspects of our life together.
If you are able to help with making a casserole for the Sunday lunch, please let Jennifer or Caroline know.
Cana Winter Weekend for Couples “Discerning our Priorities Together”
Jan 31- Feb 2 at Mount Hermon, CA
In the day-to-day grind, we sometimes fail to remember what is really important to us. Take some time away for a weekend in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains and revisit your priorities as a couple! The weekend will include time alone and together, teaching, free time, prayer & worship, and the good company of other couples. Click here for more information, or go to canausa.org/events. Questions? Ask Dave & Lisa or Robert & Margie.
Registration Deadline is January 13, 2025
Ministry Partners Update
Langham Partnership (One of our Alternative Gift Recipients)
This Christmas season, as our hearts cry out for those in the Middle East and Ukraine, Dr. Rula Mansour, a Langham Scholar who lives in Nazareth, reflects on this famous hymn and Isaiah 11:1-10, the passage of Scripture that inspired it.
Isaiah paints a picture of hope and restoration, one that comforts us in the midst of the sadness, anger and hatred.
INFEMIT (International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation) (Jensa Woo is our Ministry Partner Liaison)
Dear partners,
As we come to the end of 2024, we are deeply grateful for this fellowship and for the many ways we got to learn together over the year. In this newsletter, we share some brief updates from 2024 as well as opportunities as we look ahead.
Thank you for journeying with us, and we wish you a meaningful Christmas celebration!
- The INFEMIT Team
INFEMIT Newsletter
Jubilee Immigration Advocates (Randy Chang is the Ministry Partner Liaison)
See below for the latest Jubilee newsletter. Note - the client featured was a former GFCC attendee.
https://mailchi.mp/jubileelegal/dec-2024-newsletter121924-courageousjoy
Oriented to Love 2024 Highlights (Matt McDonell is the MInistry Partner Liaison)
We did more work than ever within communities (which we believe leads to more sustainable change), taking our conflict training and retreats to...
Mennonite Disaster Services national staff
Redeemer Community Church (San Francisco)
Esperanza Health Center (for underserved populations in Philadelphia)
Christian Community Development Association
Candler Seminary in Atlanta
We hosted...
3 confidential dialogues (in San Francisco, Philly, Phoenix)
2 public fishbowl conversations (DC, Portland—with a combined audience of about 175 people)
We continue to delight in the growth and growing engagement of the OTL alum community, who astound us with their generosity as they give back to the work as...
fishbowl conversations partners
big sibs (emotional support) to new dialoguers
resource producers and thought partners
faithful financial contributors
reunion hosts
dialogue recruiters
We strengthened the future of OTL by...
Prayer requests for 2025:
As we look ahead to the coming year, we ask for prayer for
our 4th BIPOC-only dialogue (May)
our 6th facilitator training (Sept)
the funds to do a qualitative study of OTL’s sustained impacts (which should help us with future grant-writing)
good health, safe travels, strong relationships, and inspired spirits for our team of facilitators, spiritual directors, and support staff
2024 Alternative Gift List (December 31 will the last chance to give)
During Advent and Christmas, our congregation has practiced giving alternative gifts to each other by redirecting our monetary resources towards ministries. Here is the Integral Mission Team’s list of recipients for this year’s Alternative Gifts:
Alternative Gift Giving Worksheet (to indicate what gifts and amounts you wish to give) and Gift Cards are available by the offering box.