Prayer:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from thy ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of thy Word, Jesus Christ thy Son; who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." — "Second Sunday in Lent," Book of Common Prayer

Call to Worship:

L: Welcome pilgrims on the way to the cross.

P: We are learning to follow Jesus.

L: When God says, “Go!” without telling us the destination,

P: Show us, Christ, how to go forward in faith.

L: When re-birth is the impossible way forward,

P: Christ, be our midwife as we accept God’s call to be reborn.

L: When we find ourselves in the in-between of where we’ve been and where we’re going,

P: Christ, meet us on the way and bless us in the going.

L: Pilgrims on the way, come let us worship God!

All: We come to worship God as we learn to live inside out! Amen.

Sunday March 5th, we will be celebrating communion together. All are welcome at God's table.

If you are in need of a pastoral visit to receive communion, please contact the office.

If you are joining us online for worship, please know that you can gather your own elements to partake with us.

Monthly Missions

During Lent our missional giving is all designated for the Lakes Area Food Shelf. We will be collecting a variety of items each week to help stock the food shelf, and cash is always welcome too.



This week the suggested items are Peanut Butter and Jelly. Paper products will be collected every week for the whole Lenten season.

 During Lent, the Outreach Team has planned that we will be participating in the Lenten Food Shelf Challenge, in friendly competition with Lutheran Church of the Cross, St. Alice Catholic Church, Crosslake Lutheran, Crosslake Presbyterian and Our Savior’s Lutheran. The two churches in Crosslake will be contributing to the Crosslake Food Shelf while the other four will be contributing to the Lakes Area Food Shelf, which is right next door on our own church campus.

 Contributions can be both monetary and food stuffs. Based on information from the Food Shelf, there is significant need to several non-food commodities, including paper products and personal hygiene products, so we have added those categories of items to our challenge roster.  

Weekly Focus on:

 February 26 – Canned vegetables and fruits, dried fruits and applesauce

                       March 5 – Peanut butter and jelly

                       March 12 – Cereal, pop tarts, granola bars

                       March 19 – Canned meat: chicken, tuna, SPAM

                       March 26 – Incontinence and feminine hygiene products

                       April 2 – Boxed sides – potatoes, rice, pasta

Remember, if you don’t like to shop or you can’t make it in to church, monetary donations are also welcome.

On behalf of the Outreach Team, I would like to thank you for your support of this outreach project! We look forward to watching the weekly collection grow and knowing what a positive impact your generosity will have on the community. --Bill Tollefson

The all-church meeting that was postponed from an earlier date will be held on March 19th after worship. Please plan to attend, as the current budget and needs are presented. We also hope to discuss how we can best use our gifts and talents at Grace in mission to this community. Your presence and voice are needed.

The Lenten Food Shelf challenge is described in the Echo this week. Once again, what a blessing to have so many churches participating! LAFS challenge

Pine River UMC is once again offering a series of helpful presentations. The first one will take place on Wednesday, March 15th. The first topic is "Situational Awareness and Self-Defense for Seniors". PR series

We celebrate all students of our students as another semester is complete! Kudos to those who have made honor rolls this past semester.

Congratulations to Bryce and Matthew Fabian who were both named to the fall semester President's list at Bemidji State.

 Honor Rolls

Volunteer Choir Opportunity........ During Lent, we plan to have Sunday morning opportunities for the congregation to join us up front during worship for a familiar song. We will gather at 8:30 on February 26, March 5, 12 and 26 to practice the song a couple of times. Dust off those vocal cords, warm up those pipes and join us at 8:30 on Sundays at Grace!

EASTER FLOWERS: Order forms for Easter flowers are available on a table in the narthex. All order forms MUST include payment at the time of ordering. Last day to order is Sunday, March 19. If you need an order form emailed to you, contact Marsha Mower (m.mower@sbcglobal.net).  Thanks for helping make the church beautiful for Easter!

 Flower order form click to open

AED Training

On March 12th, following worship, there will be an opportunity to be trained on the use of our AED machine. We encourage many to stay for this, even if you have been previously trained, a refresher is always a good idea. Thank you for helping to care for our church family in this way.

Camp Minnesota News - It's time to think about registering for a summer camp experience. Camp Minnesota information can be found by clicking the link below. Check out all the amazing opportunities that the camp staffs are planning for a safe camp experience again this year.

For many years the Grace Women in Faith (formerly Grace UMW) have offered a Marnie Luce Camp Scholarship to children, youth, families and adults who are affiliated with Grace Church and register to attend a Minnesota United Methodist Camp. The scholarship is named for Marnie Luce, mother of John Luce who was a huge supporter of camping.

The scholarship policy and applications are available near the display on the table in the Fellowship Hall, along with the 2023 brochures. 

FYI look at all the opportunities for "Adults" to go to camp, too!

Le Sears is the Grace Women in Faith treasurer and applications should be placed in her church mailbox. Email her at: sears.litta@gmail.com for additional information.

www.campminnesota.org

Looking ahead--



Jody Perrine and friends are planning an Easter Egg hunt to be held after worship on Easter morning.

Watch for more details to come and for ways to help.

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