Prayer

God of all time, we praise and adore you for breaking into the darkness of this world with the glorious light of your presence. A light which made your love for the world visible in the babe born in Bethlehem—Jesus Christ, your Son, our Saviour. A light which guided those gift-bearing travelers from afar to find and worship the Christ-child. A light which leads us to you, now revealed in Jesus Christ.

We pray that you will accept our worship for it arises from hearts and minds in awe over the enormity of your gift to us of pure love.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen

Call to Worship:

L: A new day has dawned, a new year begun

P: O Lord, call us so we may hear Your voice

L: The world turns to hopes and dreams of the future

P: O Lord, keep us in Your ways and on Your path

L: We enter this new year with hope and excitement

P: O Lord, remind us that You lead us

All: O Lord, guide us as we look to You and worship You.

Amen.

We will be celebrating Communion together during our service on January 1st. All are welcome to the table.

If you would like to receive communion, but are physically unable to attend church, please reach out to the office, and arrangements can be made for the pastor to visit you.

Monthly Missions

In January our missional giving goes to the Lakes Area Restorative Justice Program.

There are envelopes in the pews, or you can simply put any special giving into the offering plate with a note on your gift that it is to be designated to this mission.

One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, Human Relations Day calls United Methodists to recognize the right of all God’s children in realizing their potential as human beings in relationship with one another. The special offering benefits neighborhood ministries through Community Developers, community advocacy through United Methodist Voluntary Services and work with at-risk teens through the Youth Offender Rehabilitation Program.

When you give generously on Human Relations Day, you encourage ordinary people to have a voice in changing the world. We will receive this offering on January 15th.

The weather has certainly been frightful! Please call ahead if you are planning to drop by church during the week if the weather is "iffy". Ann and Pastor Jen may need extra time to make it into the office.

If you have a group that regularly meets and you need to cancel, please let the office know. We can help let your members know, and we will not heat portions of our building unnecessarily.

The latest edition of the Upper Room devotional is available in the narthex. Please pick one up to add to your daily prayer and study time.

Grace email changes

 Pastor Jen -- jenmatt20@gmail.com

Joan Oscarson--Grace UMC Treasurer---gracetreasurer2014@gmail.com.

Ann--Grace office email--graceumcpequotlakes@gmail.com

OFFICE HOLIDAYS: The church office will be closed on Monday, January 2. 

--Thank you, Staff-Parish Relations Committee.



Reminder--the office is open 9-12 Monday through Friday, if you are in need of assistance from Ann, please reach out or stop by during these scheduled hours.



Jan. 21, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Youth grades six-12 across Minnesota, come for a half-day of serving, learning, an epic large group game, and a hip-hop concert!



Grace UMC youth, we will be going to St. Cloud for the Event. Mark your calendars now, speak to Abby Jacobs, Sheena Rick, or Pastor Jen about signing up.

Upcoming Events in 2023

Fun couple's night with author and speaker Phil Gungor dealing with keeping fun and laughter in your relationship!

Tickets are available at church for pre-sale now.

Plan to stay for lunch after worship on January 22nd. A group is organizing a "Souper Sunday" event of food and fellowship.

UMW Planning day to "Brainstorm" 2023 program ideas.

Friday, January 13th at 10am.

Sunday mornings we have returned to live streaming our Sunday services, but we realize that there are still some issues popping up many Sundays. On our website you can usually watch the recorded service after 10:30am or so. There is a link to our site at the end of this newsletter.

We continue to work on making the online experience better and appreciate both your grace and feedback as we make improvements. Soon, we will be updating our internet capabilities and are hopeful that this will fix some of the issues.

We are grateful to be able to offer our services online and appreciate any gifts received to help this ministry grow and continue.

*We are aware that we have had some streaming issues over the last few weeks, we are working on resolving the problem.

If you have something that should be added to this newsletter from your group or mission, please speak with Pastor Jen or email the details to her at jenmatt20@gmail.com. The E-Grace is generally completed by noon on Thursdays, so articles need to be received by Thursday 10am at the very latest.





If you wish to connect with me directly and it is not an emergency, please know that I will respond as needed during pretty regular office hours. I am in the church most weekdays from at least 10-12, call the office to be sure, as my weeks vary. Ann has my detailed schedule and can find me if needed. I check my emails frequently throughout the day, and this is the best way to contact me.

-Pastor Jen

Important note

If you are mailing something to the church, you must use our P.O. Box for the address. We do not receive mail at the church, and if you use the physical church address it will get returned and could delay your notices to us or offerings.

P.O. Box 276

Pequot Lakes, MN 56472