LENTEN WORSHIP SERIES

GRUCC Worship Series – Lent and Easter 2023

February 22 – April 9, 2023

Finding Our Place in the Story Too:

Lent is an early-church practice meant to prepare followers of Jesus for celebrating Easter. It remains a life-giving tradition that has the potential to transform the weeks leading up to Easter from a time of busy chaos into a season of beautiful connections with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Lent has taken many shapes and forms throughout history. There’s no one way to do it.

The stories of the Lenten Bible passages are powerful and inspiring. These stories, especially the ones from the gospel of John are unusually long (check out the lessons from the gospels in the next page of the schedule of worship in Lent 2023). Their length requires some careful reading and study. During Lent 2023 we will explore these gospel texts with care and openness for what they can say to us in these days.

We will also discover that these ancient stories about Jesus—and the people Jesus encounters along the way—can be our stories too. Indeed, they are our stories. We are tempted. We receive gifts of grace, abundant grace. Our spiritual thirstiness is often quenched. In being open to new spiritual insights, we are renewed and inspired for a better life…indeed, a more spiritually meaningful life.

Worship Schedule – Lent 2023

March 5 – Lent 2: Spiritual Gifts -- Bold Blessings

Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17;

John 3:1-17 (Nicodemus Visits Jesus)

A Story of ‘Being Born Again’

Sermon: “How Many Times Can I be Born Again?”

March 12 – Lent 3: Thirsty Voices -- Living Water

Exodus 17:1-7; Ps 95; Romans 5:1-11;

John 4:5-42 (Samaritan Woman at the Well)

A Drama of ‘Quenched-Thirst’ shared by Anna Kovacsics and Donald Toms  

Sermon: “Come, Drink Deep – Quenching Our Spiritual Thirst”

March 19 – Lent 4: Blindness -- Sight Restored

1 Samuel 16:1-13; Ps 23; Ephesians 5:8-14;

John 9:1-41 (A Man Born Blind Receives Sight)

A Story of Seeing in New Ways

Sermon: “Wow! I Can See Again”

March 26 – Lent 5: Death – Breath of Hope

Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11;

John 11:1-45 (Jesus Raising Lazarus from the Dead)

A Story of Resurrection

Sermon: “Hope Out of Darkness – Renewed Belief”

April 2 -- Palm/Passion Sunday

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Philippians 2:5-11;

Matthew 27:11-26 (Jesus and Pilate)

Sermon: “Accomplice OR Active Defender?”

Watch the Grace UCC News for more details about Worship for 2023 Lenten Season

Worship Plus a LENTEN Study Series via Zoom –Date to be announced

For more information, please contact Pastor Gerry at his e-mail: Pastorgerrygrace@gmail.com

Our donation status: We have raised over $400 to go towards an exciting adventure, with high hopes that our Superbowl squares will bring in more last minute funds.

Where we’re going: Our goal to take the youth ministry SNOW TUBING!!! With the lack of snow in Frederick county this year, its only right that we take the kids to the snow!

Can I donate if I don’t want football squares? Sure you can! Write Youth group on the memo line of your check, or on the envelope with your cash and put it in the offering plate as usual.

Why a youth group trip is important: This will be a wonderful memory for our kids to have attached to growing up in Grace Church, but it will also be an opportunity for our children to invite a friend to join us, and potentially have more families join our church.

Want to do more? We are always looking for ways to expand Grace Church and add more families and youth members. We could use volunteers to teach a class, provide snacks, come up with ideas on how to get more people into the church. If you want to volunteer, please speak with Pastor Gerry or Kelly Pineda with your ideas, or to sign up to help.

It was announced at our service on Sunday that Gerry Hanberry has been selected to be our interim pastor. We are confident that Gerry is the right person to lead us as we begin our search for a new full-time pastor. Gerry has been a Frederick resident for many years. He has a deep history with the UCC, and most recently has served several churches as an interim pastor.

This experience is hard to find and will be invaluable to us. Interestingly, Gerry was the Interim Pastor at Trinity UCC, where he completed work with the call of Rev. Jessica Ashcroft-Townsley as their settled pastor. Gerry has a heart for social issues, most notably Racial Justice and LGBTQ Equality. 
  
Gerry’s first day in the office will be Monday, January 2, and his first service will be Sunday, January 8. I know we will welcome him with open arms and hearts. May his time with us be a blessing as we move forward in God’s plan.
 
Blessings,
 
Sam Swann
Council President

A few personal additions about Gerry are he has been married to Pat who is the light of his life. They share 5 children and 14 grandbabies that fill their hearts with joy. He is a Commanders fan and an avid bicyclist, even in cold weather. Gerry also said you may get to see some of the sheep stuffed animals that he has collected over the years. We are so excited to welcome Gerry to Grace church.

Children’s church updates

We are seeking volunteers to teach Children’s church once a month. Duties include passing out snacks, reading a short passage that goes along with Pastor Robs Childrens’ moment, and leading a hands-on activity for children from 1st through 5th grade. Snacks, teaching materials, and training will be provided. Contact Kelly at admin@grucc.com" data-mce-href="mailto:admin@grucc.com">admin@grucc.com or call the office Monday-Friday 9:00AM-3:00PM to select a day to teach.

We are watching our Children’s Church grow before our eyes, we would really love you to be a part of it.

Grace Church Retires Our Neighbors' Medical Debt

Medical debt is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US, becoming an impossible burden to tens of millions of Americans. Meanwhile, this debt is bought and sold for pennies on the dollar to collection agencies that then pursue people for the full amount. The United Church of Christ has an excellent new ministry, started in Chicago in 2019, and dedicated to helping people by purchasing medical debts and forgiving it. This lets average people get a fresh start and move past the stressful burden of bill collectors and devastated credit scores.

The Catoctin Association, our regional UCC branch of 38 local churches, has been raising funds to purchase and retire the medical debt of our neighbors in Western Maryland and Eastern West Virginia. Thanks to the generosity of Grace Church members, we've been able to contribute $2,000 from the Missions budget towards the overall goal of $7,000! This is truly a great use of charitable funds, because our $2,000 should lead to forgiving $200,000 in medical debt due to the purchasing power of the UCC and partner charity, RIP Medical Debt. For more information on how it works: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/campaign/west-virginia/ and https://catoctinucc.org/

 Welcome Lutheran Social   Services!

As anticipated, Lutheran Social Services Immigrant and Refugee Resettlement Services is moving into offices at Grace Church. The staff of 4 people will occupy the double office space on the second floor next the pastor’s study. Welcome Lutheran Social Services!

Collections for The Fredrick Food Bank

Don’t forget our food collection weekly at church. The basket is filling up again after many months of slow activity due to Covid. The food is blessed on the 3rd Sunday of each month and then brought to the Frederick Food Bank.

~Thank you for your continued generosity!