Prayer:



Father God, As Christ asked the disciples, “What are you looking for?” He then offered the invitation to “Come and See,” Please open our hearts to what you reveal and give us the courage to follow. By Your Spirit aid us in our journey, so that like John, our words and deeds point to the Lamb of God. For those who are suffering, let us point to Christ through comfort. For those who are hungry, let us point to Christ Through bread. For those in the grip of despair, let us point to Christ through hope. For those who are searching, let us point to Christ and repeat his invitation,

Come and See!

Call to Worship:

L: Come and see, come and see!

P: We come to see for ourselves who this Jesus person is.

L: Come and see, come and see!

P: We come with open hearts to experience Jesus

L: Come and see, come and see!

P: We come to follow Jesus

L: Come and see, come and see!

P: We come to deepen our relationship with God.

L: Come and see, come and see!

All: Yes, Lord we come to follow you!

We should have some final pledge and budget updates to share soon.

Thank you to the ones that have pledged. For the people that haven't pledged to Grace UMC, you have the option of sending your financial pledge for 2023 by e-mail to Doris Longnecker, Financial Secretary dorislong@tds.net

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.

Your Staff-Parish Relations Committee wants you to be aware of the following: Grace UMC provides for paid holidays and observes the schedule of closing of the Church office on the holidays observed by the Minnesota Annual Conference. The following holidays are observed (dates inserted for 2023): 

New Year’s Day - January 2, 2023

MLK Day- January 16, 2023

President's Day - February 20, 2023

Good Friday - April 7, 2023

Memorial Day - May 29, 2023

Independence Day - July 4, 2023

Labor Day - September 4, 2023

Thanksgiving Day - November 23, 2023

Day After

Thanksgiving - November

24, 2023

Christmas Eve - December 26, 2023

Christmas Day - December 25, 2023

New Year's Eve (1/2

day) - January 2,

2024

We will post this on the bulletin board at church for future reference. SPRC asks that we all respectfully honor these days off for our staff.  Thank you.

Grace email changes

 Pastor Jen -- jenmatt20@gmail.com

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

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

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. Please confirm with us if your teen is coming to this event soon!

At this gathering our youth will be helping to create "blessing bags". If you are able to help us with some of these items, please drop off in Pastor Jen's office, by January 19th. Thank you!

-socks -individually wrapped toothbrushes

-granola bars -toothpaste

-applesauce pouches -disinfectant hand wipe packets

-small bags of chips -foil emergency blankets

-deodorant -Emergen C packets

-ChapStick -drawstring bags

-travel size lotion bottles

Upcoming Events in 2023

Fun couple's night on February 4th, 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.

New small group starting on January 18th using the book--Sensible Shoes. There is an extra copy of this book available at church.

Ad Council Tuesday January 17th at 6:30pm.

Trustees Monday January 23rd at 6pm.

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