Announcements - April 22, 2018

Youth Baptism Orientation Thursday April 26 at Church Office: Join us at 7 p.m. on the 26th to learn more about youth baptism at GCF. This orientation is for parents only and it does not obligate your son/daughter to be baptized. Notify Pastor Kevin by Tuesday, April 24 if you plan to attend.

5-Day Club Planning Meeting Monday April 30 at 7 p.m.: If you are interested in participating in a summer outreach/kids program, we invite you to come to the training meeting on April 30 at the Church Office. Notify Pastor Kevin if you plan to attend.

Nursery Helpers Needed: If you would like to serve the children and families of GCF, contact Pastor Kevin or Claire Belknap about getting trained to work in the nursery.

Faith Biblical Counseling Conference April 27-28: Pray for those from GCF who will be attending this conference at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. May the Lord fully equip them as they seek to care for the body of Christ. For more information about future trainings, contact Pastor Kevin, kevin@gcfmn.org.

Choosing the Gift of Life Thursday May 10: Reserve a spot now for the Abba Pregnancy Resource Center Fundraising Banquet to be held on May 10 at 6 p.m. at Rockwoods in Otsego. To make reservations, email event@abbaprc.org or call 763.445.9650.

Next Week’s Fighter Verse

"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,

and I will not remember your sins."

Isaiah 43:25 (ESV)

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The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit. Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vending m

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF. However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive. I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church. In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority. Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installment of elders as non-negotiable

Does the Doctrine Divide? by Patience Griswold

“Oh, I try not to talk about doctrine. It’s so divisive.” This is a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed, as well as implied, on many occasions, and one that raises the question, does doctrine divide? In answering this question, we must keep in mind a very important truth and that is that everyone holds to some sort of doctrine . “Doctrine” is defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Regardless of whether or not someone publicly holds to a statement of beliefs from a particular church, every Christian, by definition, holds to a particular set of beliefs. As Carl Trueman observes in his book The Creedal Imperative , [W]hile Christianity cannot be reduced to doctrine, to mere teaching, it cannot be meaningfully separated from it, either. Even the most basic claims, such as “Jesus is Lord,” carry clear doctrinal content that needs to be explicated in a world where, as we have noted before, every heretic has his text and n

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