Advent begins next week on November 29. We have been working on putting together Advent Kits for you to take home to aid in your devotions and spiritual life this Advent Season. They include things like an advent wreath with candles, a CD of our Grace Musicians and Groups, something sweet, crafts and activities for kids, and a very special Grace Devotional written by Grace members!

We are blessed to have a devotional written by 25 of our Grace members to help us prepare our hearts and spirits to receive our Savior on Christmas. Many of the devotions revolve around the theme of Hope- something that we are all clinging to even more than usual this year. It includes some art and words of hope from our young ones, too. There will be a copy of the devotional in the Advent Faith Kits (which are for anyone, not just kids or families), and we will also have some copies out for you in the church vestibule if you'd like to pick up another copy. May you be filled with the Spirit and connected to your Grace Lutheran community as you read these words of Hope!

With the possibility of our outdoor worship fading as the days grow colder, on November 29th our Sunday Service time will be moving to 9am each week. If you want to watch live, tune in at 9, otherwise you can watch the recording at any time later in the week. Here's the link to watch:

   

You may have noticed we had people to read the lessons and read the prayers this past week in our online worship. When we knew the weather was going to be getting colder and there was a good possibility of being inside, we sent out a sign up through Grace Notes for families or individuals to come and help lead worship. One reason for this is that it's important to have everyone involved in worship leadership. While over the summer, we have had the staff doing all of the worship leadership, we wanted to get back to having our members involved. One of the things we heard people really enjoyed about the online worship in the Spring was getting to see others from church doing the readings and prayers. We want to continue to connect you all, and felt this was a safe way to do so.

 

Thanks to those who have signed up in November. The December signup is now available.  Please use this link to sign up.  

As we know, things are ever changing this year. Rest assured that the church staff is hard at work behind the scenes on a few different special Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day worship services. We will share the details with you when we are able, but please know that we are planning to offer some form of in person worship, whether it's outside, inside, or somewhere in between, as well as online options for those who are staying at home. No matter how or where we worship, God's promises through Jesus Christ will still hold true for us.

Thank you to everyone that has donated paper grocery bags in the past.  You came through in abundance!  But we've been busy at Grace and are in need of more bags!  Please save your brown paper grocery bags and drop them off at church.  We appreciate your help in supporting all of our "take home bag" ministries!!

If you are doing worship at home but would like to have communion, we can help! If you'd like to pick up some pre-blessed individual communion packs, just let one of the pastors know. We can either leave them out for you to pick up in the entryway at church, or we can drop them at your doorstep at home. We know there are many families who are still more comfortable watching worship online, and we want to provide you with the sacrament to have while you do worship at home. You can call the office (377-4770) or email pastorheidi@gracegrafton.com or pastor@gracegrafton.com