What a great weekend! Easter weekend was packed full of events that brought our church together. Good Friday we held a Seder and shared a potluck dinner. Saturday was our Easter Eggstravaganza, where we welcomed the children of COG and our community to have fun and learn about the true meaning of Easter. Finally, on Sunday we shared fellowship time and worship and then served at the Olin apartments. You can find a brief recap of all these events below.

On behalf of the staff, we want to say thank you to everyone who helped with this Jesus-filled weekend. It was a huge success as we connected our church and community to become change agents for Jesus.

Week of April 3 and 10, 2022

Week of April 17, 2022

Giving: $10,643.00

Weekly Budget: $10,302.60

Year to Date Giving: $153,957.34

Year to Date Budget: $164,841.60

Women's group meeting bi-weekly via Zoom on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm. Meeting ID: 827 0335 3422 Passcode: 333481. Email Anita for more details.

Women's group meeting weekly on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm. Email Mariana for more details.

Women's group meeting weekly on Friday mornings at 9:30 am. Email Judy for more details.

Men's group meeting weekly on Tuesday mornings from 6 - 7 am. Email Pastor Joel for more details.

Men's group meeting weekly on Friday mornings at 6 am. Contact Karl at 720.284.4750 for more information.

If you have questions, email Kathleen Chandler.

The Engage Challenge officially began on Easter Sunday 2022 and will go until Easter Sunday 2023. What is this challenge? I am so glad you asked!

During the next twelve months, we want to be intentional about starting meaningful spiritual conversations with the people in our lives who don’t yet know Jesus, including the three whom we have been praying for this past year. 

We want to have both spiritual and Gospel conversations with those around us who don’t know Jesus. A spiritual conversation will probably involve asking a lot of questions and then doing a lot of listening. Do you believe in God? What’s your spiritual background? If God could do something amazing in your life, what would you ask Him to do? Who do you think Jesus is? 

A Gospel conversation is sharing the Good News of Jesus: that He was sent to us by God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, that He died on the cross and rose again, and that He is our Savior and our Salvation.

In the foyer, we have a display on the wall and three colors of ping pong balls. If you have a spiritual conversation, drop in a white ping pong ball. If you have a Gospel conversation, drop in an orange ping pong ball. If you have a Gospel conversation and that person gives their life to Jesus, drop in a red ping pong ball.

There are also cards in the foyer where you can write the stories of your conversations so others can read about the amazing things that God is doing.

Our goal is for the people of Community of Grace to engage in 500 spiritual conversations, share the Gospel 200 times, and see 100 new Jesus followers over the next 12 months.

If you have any questions about the Engage Challenge, talk with one of the staff members.

Under the Ready Go! tab on our website, you will find a new video on evangelism every week. Please take a few minutes to watch the video and see how you can spread the Good News of Jesus to those around us. You can click here to go directly to the weekly video. Make sure you check back every week to learn more on how God can use each of us to share the Good News of Jesus.

If you miss a week, scroll down on the page. The prior videos will stay on our Ready Go! page.

Below each week's video are a couple of questions related to that video's content. The answers are anonymous.

We will be observing the Lord's supper on May 1st. If you will be watching online and would like elements, we have them at COG in small, sealed containers. Email Anita to coordinate a pickup day and time.

The National Day of Prayer is on May 5th this year. We will be meeting via Zoom (details below) at 8 am and 12 pm. We will meet in person at Community of Grace at 6:30 pm.

Visit the National Day of Prayer website to get more information and resources. We encourage you to join us on May 5th both virtually and in person.

Harry Olsen will be leading a five-week class on evangelism based on his book The Empty Seat: The Mindset of Soul Winning. During this class, Harry will explain what Scripture tells us regarding evangelism and the role God wants each of us to have in winning souls. This class will help set individuals free from guilt and confusion related to sharing the Gospel.

This class starts on Thursday, May 19th, and will meet every Thursday evening from 7 - 8 pm at the Smoky Hill Library. There is no cost for the class. You can sign up at the Get Connected table in the back of the sanctuary.

Mark your calendar for our April event. On Saturday, April 23rd, from 9 am - 12 pm, we will gather to spend time in God's Word, to fellowship, and to play some games. Our speaker will be David Santa Cruz. The topic will be the battlefield of distraction.

We will have hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch and are asking you to bring chips or a side dish to share. We will also have door prizes for the event. Names will be entered from the signup sheet, but you must be present to win!

If you would like to help set up or grill for the event, or if you have any questions regarding the Men's Ministry, email Dane Campbell.

You are invited to a breakfast fellowship and devotional on spiritual growth with a guest speaker. This event is hosted by Pastor Joel and Catherine at their home. Please bring your favorite breakfast item to share and bring a friend!

Date: April 30th, 2022

Time: 9 am - 11:30 am

Location: 21006 E. Bellewood Dr., Centennial, CO 80015

For the entire month of April, the MinistrySafe Parent Training is FREE. Go to the Ministry Watch website for the training and additional information.

One of our high school youth members, Braydon Roa, is organizing a shoe drive at Community of Grace. This shoe drive, Soles4Souls, will help people in areas that need disaster relief, have homeless kids, or are experiencing poverty conditions. You can check out more details that the Soles4Souls webpage.

Braydon's group is trying to gather 6,000 pairs of shoes for people in need all around the world. New and lightly used shoes are accepted and can be dropped off in the foyer of the north building. This collection will start on April 24th (this Sunday) and go until May 11th.

Fit2Serve - Have you wanted to run or walk a 5K? Couch-to-5K is a beginner program which will help you do that in just six weeks! Sign up at the Get Connected table.

Fit2Serve - Join us as we walk, run, or both at the "He Is Risen" Virtual Bible Race.  Any day between April 17-30, run or walk a 5K race wherever you are. Bibs and medals are included in the cost of $18. Also, 15% of the entry fee will go to Operation Underground Railroad, an organization specializing in anti-child trafficking efforts and extraction operations. This group works to bring an end to child slavery. You can learn more about this group here.

Whitewater Rafting - We will be going whitewater rafting in Idaho Springs on Clear Creek Canyon on Saturday, June 11. We are also planning a trip to Bighorn Sheep Canyon on the Arkansas River near Canon City on Saturday, June 18. Both beginner and intermediate trips are available. Please contact Carol Bryan at 303-522-2293 if you are interested.

Boost will be on April 27th at 6:30 pm. We hope you will join us as we gather to pray, grow, and fellowship together.

Please bring a dessert to share during our fellowship time afterward.

On Good Friday, we had over 100 people attend our Seder and potluck event. The evening was more than gathering to share a meal and fellowship with each other.

We spent the majority of the evening learning what a traditional Passover meal was like and how that changed with Jesus and his sacrifice. Joel and Steve did a great job of explaining the various elements, their meaning, and their significance in light of Jesus.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a very memorable evening.

The Eggstravaganza was a super fun morning of activities for our community. There were bouncy castles, popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones, face painting, a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt, face painting, and activities.

We also had a puppet show that gave a great Gospel presentation to the kids and to the parents in attendance. We estimate over 80 kids came to the event at COG. Most of them, and their adults, heard the Good News of Jesus.

We had over 20 kids raise their hands saying they gave their life to Jesus after this presentation. Praise the Lord!

Thank you to all the volunteers!

Easter Sunday started out with light snacks and fellowship. The Chefs of Grace provided a variety of food items and drinks to enjoy before the Sunday service. We had a great turnout to catch up with our regular attenders and guests.

COG was able to go to the Olin to serve meals for Easter for the first time in two years. The residents were very thankful for the food and fellowship time. Thank you to everyone who prepped food and to those who went to serve meals at the Olin.