Happy New Year!

COG was an active place in December! Below are some pictures and a quick summary of some of the events that closed out 2019 here at Community of Grace. I hope this inspires you to get connected with a LifeGroup or to get your children involved with the Students of Grace. There are many opportunities to get plugged in with others via the numerous ministries at COG. Take a look at the upcoming activities in the bulletin, on the Get Connected table, or online. Plan to get involved in 2020 and make it a goal. Pastor Joel has been encouraging us to not only make goals for 2020, but to also write them down and look at them on a regular basis; make it a goal to intentionally connected with your church family is a great goal for this year.

From the entire staff, we pray this year is rich with God's blessings.

Pastor Chris
Upcoming Events
Communion will be observed on January 19th at the end of service.

Love Baskets for Nicaragua Mission: Eric Paulsen is organizing our annual Love Basket fundraiser. We are asking for donations of goodie-filled baskets for the silent auction. "Baskets" can be bowls, buckets, boxes: be as creative as you like! Suggested items include luxury bath baskets, BBQ baskets, movie baskets, tool bucket/baskets, and music lovers' baskets. Baskets can be brought in anytime until the day of the silent auction on February 9th. The silent auction will conclude at the end of service on February 9th. If you have questions, reach out to Eric .

Women's Bible Study: Leaving Yesterday Behind: A Victim No More  by William Hines. This 8-week study begins  Monday, January 13 th  at 9:00 AM in the North Building of COG. Cost for the book is $15.00. Childcare is provided. Contact Anita Hammond for more information.  

Women’s Meet and Greet:  The Women's Ministry leadership is hosting a meet and greet on Sunday, January 19 th  after the church service. Come over to the Women’s Ministry table in the back of the sanctuary and enjoy cookies and chocolate and to learn more about upcoming activities and Bible studies.

Women’s Survey:  The Women's Ministry is asking for your input to help make 2020 the best year ever. Please take a couple of minutes to fill out this survey by January 31st. 

Save the Date:
Ladies Fellowship on February 9th at 4 pm will be a soup and salad potluck with writing letters and prepping packages for deployed military members.

 Chefs of Grace Annual Soup Social on February 23rd at 5 pm.

Women's Full-Day Conference on February 29th at 9 am.
More events and information can be found at the Get Connected table in the back of the sanctuary, in our weekly bulletin, and on our website .
Israel 2020 ! Did you hear that we are organizing a trip to Israel this July? This trip promises to be a once in a lifetime experience. If you would like more information, email or speak to Pastor Chris.
Recurring Events
Men: Tuesday Bible Study at 6 am in Joel's office.
Women: Friday Bible Study at 9:30 am at Carino Coffee .
Student Ministry: Wednesdays at 6:30 pm in the South Building.
Olin Ministry: Saturday meal rotation. Contact Missy Noel @ 720.373.0216.
Prayer Ministry: Sundays at 8:30 am in the South Building.
I ’m excited to share that our congregation now has access to an extensive video library called RightNow Media! It’s like the "Netflix" of video Bible studies and has a HUGE library of faith-based videos that you can access whenever and wherever you want—on your phone, tablet, computer, or at home on your TV.

As a church staff, we’re always looking for ways to help you develop and strengthen your faith. We believe that this resource will be a tool to serve you as you live out your faith at home, at work and in your neighborhood. This resource has videos for everyone—kids, youth, parents, married couples, college students, single adults, working professionals—all aimed at helping you grow.

Use the link below to sign up for your free account, and you’re all set to explore more than 20,000 videos. We pray that this resource will be a blessing for you and your family!

COG Celebrations
Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
The International Mission Board gathers a dedicated offering every year called the "Lottie Moon Christmas offering." 100% of the funds gathered go directly to support our Southern Baptist missionaries serving around the globe. Lottie Moon was one of our early missionaries to China and devoted her life to reaching the people of East Asia. Our goal for 2019 was $7,500 and our generous congregation donated $8,271! Thank you, everyone, for helping reach and surpass our goal. Your generosity makes a difference.
LifeGroup Christmas
The LifeGroups at COG focuse on growing in Christ's likeness through Bible study, accountability, prayer, and fellowship. And sometimes we just like to have some fun together. Here are some pictures from a few of the LifeGroups' Christmas parties. If you are not connected in a LifeGroup, I highly encourage you to get plugged into one. You can see details about when they meet on the back of the bulletin or online . You can also email me or talk to me directly for more information.
Youth Nerf Night
On January 3rd, the South Building sanctuary was converted into a Nerf battlefield. Pastor J organized an evening of pizza and all out craziness. We had roughly 25 students come to the event and several parents who hung out to participate in the fun. It was a great evening and Pastor J said we will have more of the same in the future.

If you have youngsters who are middle school and high school age but are not plugged in the youth group, reach out to Pastor J . He will be happy to share his vision with you.
Ladies Fellowship
The ladies kicked off 2020 with an evening of bowling and catching up after the holidays. If you are interested in upcoming events, check out the Women's Ministry table in the back of the sanctuary.
Spotlight
Youth Pajamas, Pancakes and Presents
The Christmas season has unfortunately become a mad rush of Christmas shopping and family gatherings, and we too often overlook the amazing ramifications of the birth of our Savior Jesus. I truly hope that you and your family had a wonderful time together and spent time reflecting on the greatness of Jesus.

During the month of December SOGCOG (Students of Grace Community of Grace) has taken a break from our study in Acts and spent our times of study and family groups in the book of Luke. (Side note: Did you know that Luke is the author of both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, making him the largest contributor to the New Testament?) We have seen how the Christmas story took place in a real time with real earth-moving events that led up to the fulfillment of prophecy in the birth of Jesus. We learned that with God all things are possible (Luke 1:37), God’s sovereignty (God is always in control) is on display in Jesus’ humility (Luke 2:1-7) and Jesus is the source of all joy (Luke 2:10). We wrapped up our SOGCOG Christmas with a time of fellowship during our PJ’s, Pancakes and Presents Christmas party.

December was an amazing month celebrating with the students of SOGCOG! It is such a beautiful thing to see how even in the Christmas narrative, the full intention and effectiveness of God’s redemptive plan was at work and never once was out of place or untimely. Though the Christmas season is over, God has left an open invitation for you and I to respond to Him and His perfect gift to us. The Christmas season is not intended to leave us in financial debt, but to bring us to a place of understanding the great spiritual debt that we have in our sin and the amazing payment that God provided through His Son Jesus.

Be Blessed,

Pastor J
Christmas Choral Musical

On December 22nd, a talented group from COG put on a great musical for the community. The short presentation was a great way to kick off Christmas week. After the event, everyone enjoyed fellowship with cookies and hot chocolate. Thank you, Dawn Gillen, for organizing the event.



Christmas Movies
Here are the answers to COG's staff favorite Christmas movies. How did you do?
_ D _ Joel
_ C _ Rhonda
_ G _ Anita
_ E _ Chris
_ F _ Nancy
_ I _ J
_ H _ William
_ B _ David
_ A _ John
A. The Empire Strikes Back
B. Let it Snow
C. It's a Wonderful Life
D. Home Alone
E. A Christmas Story
F. Arthur's Christmas
G. Elf
H. Merry and Bright
I. Anything NOT on the Hallmark Channel
The Staff's Choice
The staff has finished reading The Pursuit of God by A W Tozer. Here are a few of the last questions we have discussed together:

  1. How can we spend more time looking towards God?
  2. Is God above all in all areas of our lives?
  3. How do we be meek in ourselves and bold for God?
  4. All we do should be for the glory of God. Where do we fall short and how can we be better?