See what is happening at Grace Lutheran!
December 23, 2020
This is a quick weekly reminder of what is happening at Grace in worship
and in ways to connect and serve.
Pastor Update
A Note From Pastor Joanna Mitchell
Nothing is impossible with God! 

These are the words we heard last week from the angel Gabriel. They are good reminders to us this week as we await Christmas and the birth of the Christ Child.

Last week, I shared in this my failures at gingerbread house making and the hope we had of new dough in the fridge. Well, I am pleased to share, the third time really was a charm. Yay!
Truthfully, even if we had failed again, it wouldn’t have mattered. It is all about the journey. Christmas is a reminder that God enters into our world. God comes near enough to know what it is like to be left out in the cold. God knows what it is like to be lonely, and afraid. God knows what it is like to be human. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, I hope you remember the promise of Emmanuel- God with us. That no matter what life looks like for you today that God is here with you, loving you and calling you forward. Our faith is not a passive faith, but an active one that enlivens our spirit and sends us out like the Shepherds to proclaim the good news that indeed with God, all things are possible and that a child has been born for you and for me, who is our savior, Christ the Lord! Thanks be to God. 

Merry Christmas! I am grateful for you! Your faithfulness, your care and for being a part of sharing God’s grace with the world. I hope you will join us for worship either virtually or in our parking lot as we celebrate this gift of love given to the world.

Blessings,

Pastor Joanna Mitchell
Worship
Virtual Service Availability

Throughout everything we will continue to provide worship online. We will be streaming worship through Grace's YouTube account. We encourage you to join us and listen to God's word through virtual services. Worship will be posted by 5 pm on Saturday evening, allowing you to worship at the time you prefer.
Grace Lutheran’s Christmas Eve Parking Lot Worship
3:00 pm - Parking Lot Worship
4:00 pm - Parking Lot Worship
7:00 pm – Parking Lot Worship

At each Worship service, we will be singing Christmas carols and hearing the Christmas Story. After Worship, there will be an opportunity for family blessings. Please enter the parking lot at the stoplight on Rose Street and follow the ushers instructions on where to park. You will be able to tune your radio to 91.7 FM and hear the wonderful music and the Christmas story. If you plan on getting out of your car please wear a mask and practice social distancing. If you are wanting to be extra vigilant with social distancing, you are welcome to come! You only need to keep your car window rolled up and put a note on your driver's door window saying Socially Distancing.
Christmas Eve Sanctuary Time

On Christmas Eve, we will have our Sanctuary open for people to sign-up for 15 minutes in the Sanctuary at Grace starting at 10 am and ending at 8:35pm. You can come in for a time or reflection and prayer. We will have Christmas music playing.  
 
In your time slot, you determine who will join you in the sanctuary. We ask that you respect the following guidelines: 
  1. Individuals need to wear masks unless they are children under 5.
  2. Groups need to clean up after themselves by spaying down the pews they were in or areas they touched.
  3. Anyone who is experiencing any symptoms should not come.
  4. Anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19 or is awaiting test results should not come.
 
Although there are many changes this Christmas, we wait as people of faith and hope, knowing God’s promise of love. We pray you experience grace this season and the presence of God.
 
Sign up for your designated time on our sign-up genius or by calling the church office. 
Grace Lutheran’s Virtual
Christmas Day Worship
10:00 am on Zoom

Christmas Day Worship will be at 10:00am on December 25th on Zoom. We invite you to join us for worship as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We will be recording the Zoom worship and posting on YouTube following our worship service.  
Ministry Moment
GRACE ABUNDANT

God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! God does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Ephesians 3:20 (The Message)

This Scripture passage rings especially true for me today as I reflect on the abundance of grace you have shown to those in need over the past several weeks. With Christmas in mind, we highlighted a number of people and organizations and asked you to respond as generously as possible. 

  • We asked for 66 gift cards ($25 each) for the residents of Stepping Stone Emergency Housing. You responded with 89!
  • We asked you to adopt a family for Christmas through Family Promise. You gave gifts to each family member and provided some goodies on top of it all!
  • We asked for hats and mittens for the kids at Sand Creek Elementary School. You provided several bins full!
  • We asked you to adopt 10 Sand Creek families for Christmas. You adopted every last one of them, providing gifts for each family member!
  • We asked for donations and onsite help to feed everyone who came for a Family Table take-out meal. You provided all we needed!
  • We asked for your Noisy Offerings so that Christmas might be a little brighter for those who are experiencing financial hardship. Your contributions allowed us to provide scholarships for children enrolled in our childcare center; surprise Family Table guests with a $50 Cub card; and give $200 gift cards to seven families!  
  • We asked for your Noisy Offerings so that we can help homeless youth. In addition to your generous contributions still coming in, one Grace family is doubling your gifts to HOPE 4 Youth, and a large donation of beautiful quilts from Grace’s own Quilters will help keep homeless youth warm all winter long! 

Thank you for your overwhelming response! Your generosity is so abundant that it’s impossible to capture it all. I am grateful for all of you and for the Spirit who continues to move deeply and gently within us. 

Merry Christmas!
Debbie Jorgens
Ministries News
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank you for each and every one of your donations which are appreciated by ALL the people receiving them and by me personally. You have blessed us with ALL our requested needs for Sand Creek Elementary Christmas Adopt A Family, Sand Creek hats and mittens, and Stepping Stone Homeless Christmas gift cards! Wow, Wow, Wow you are our servants of God and we say Thank you! Ann Lange
Waking Up White
A Congregation Study

Join us Mondays 6:30-8:00 PM in January to study Debby Irving’s book, Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race. Note this is a congregational study; however, not limited as such, this invitation is open for any who would like to join in our conversation. 

There are a couple of books available in the church office to borrow or you can purchase a copy of your own online.
Grace's Opportunities for Giving
Until All Are Fed; Grace's Food Shelf

Until All Are Fed; Grace's Food Shelf are in need of the following items. These items can be dropped off during Church Office hours. Thank you so much for your generosity and support!


Current list of needs:
Cream Soups
Canned Vegetables
Kidney Beans/Chili Beans
Tomato Products
Spaghetti sauce
Noisy Offerings

Noisy Offerings for the remainder of December will be directed to HOPE 4 Youth – a wonderful nonprofit in Anoka whose mission is to provide pathways to end youth homelessness. Please note that your contribution will go twice as far because of a generous offer from Grace members who will match all Noisy Offerings that come in for Hope 4 Youth between now and the end of the year. We are so grateful for this offer and for your continued generosity, as well! 

Ways to Give Electronically
GraceRealm
Consider electronic giving on GraceRealm. It’s a convenient way to give consistently throughout the year. If you have any questions, contact Frances or Marie in the Church Office or Click on the GraceRealm link below.

If you are wondering where your giving is for the year, please log in to GraceRealm. Find Giving on the tool bar. Then select My Giving History.  
Text to Donate
We’re updating our website to also include text and QR code as ways to give electronically.

For these, the system will request the user a ONE TIME SETUP to include their name, credit card # etc. – this will be required only the first time. After that, when the user texts to give or uses the QR code to give it will just ask the amount to confirm. The users will be able to select funds to allocate their giving to as well – operational, capital, noisy.

The number to give is 73256 – text key word: GRACEANDOVER
Grace's Resources
Prayers of the Church

You bring consolation to those who weep. Embrace those who feel far-off, excluded, or defeated. Accompany those living with chronic and invisible illness. Sustain the weak and weary. Refresh those who labor under the weight of pain or sickness. Today we pray especially for Paul Towne, Dolly Joubert, Sophia Schmoll, Mark Goethke, Amado, Deb Stang, Abby Larson, Baby Edwin Alexander, BJ Scott, Jon Brooks, Charlotte Montei, Elsie Weisenberger, Linda Christiansen, John Malecha, Joe Bailey, Julie Swedberg, Judi Wold, and Colleen Wernimont. We pray for all those suffering from COVID-19 throughout the world, and we pray that the end of COVID-19 would be near. Lord, hear our prayer.

God of promise, grant comfort, peace, and the hope of Christ’s resurrection to all who grieve. We pray especially today for the Hutchison family upon the death of Ginny Hutchison; Lola Money & Family upon the death of her son in law, Ken Fountain; Amber and Tom Ringwelski and family upon the death of Amber's grandmother Bethel Reisdorph. Lord, hear our prayer.
Administrator's Corner

As we approach the end of this year, we at Grace are excited to welcome a new database system - Realm. Realm is replacing our Access ACS platform for a cloud-based system that can be accessed anywhere! GraceLink will now be called GraceRealm. If you had a login to GraceLink you should have received a Realm e-mail to reset your password. If you did not have a GraceLink account, you should have received an invite from Realm to create one. Didn’t get the e-mail? No worries! Just calls us and we’ll be happy to send it out so you can connect to the GraceRealm community. Feel free to explore the system and don’t forget to download the app for your smart phone! The new app is called RealmConnect and it will replace the previous ChurchLife app. We are looking forward to learning alongside you in building our Community through Realm and appreciate your patience as we update our website. If you have any questions about the system or need assistance logging in just give us a call at 763-421-6520.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, enacted last spring, includes several temporary tax changes helping charities, including the special $300 deduction designed especially for people who choose to take the standard deduction, rather than itemizing their deductions. Under this new change, individual taxpayers can claim an "above-the-line" deduction of up to $300 for cash donations made to charity during 2020. This means the deduction lowers both adjusted gross income and taxable income – translating into tax savings for those making donations to qualifying tax-exempt organizations. For more information/guidance, please visit the IRS site at the following link: Special $300 tax deduction helps most people give to charity this year – even if they don’t itemize | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas full of hope and blessings,
Frances Fernandez
Virtual Connections

During this time of high COVID-19 cases, we encourage you to connect with Grace and others! If you are looking for ministries and groups to connect with please visit our web site at www.graceandover.org and click on Church Online to see opportunities to connect.