Glory of Christ Fellowship

Disclaimer: after my brief introduction you will find a very thorough article by Mary Kassian included below.  Abuse, especially against women, is something that several roads have led me to think a little more seriously about in recent months. Culturally, we are seeing the explosion of the Harvey Weinstein debacle, a Hollywood kingpin who was recently exposed for his long history of sexual assault against women. In the wake of Harvey Weinstein there has been a trail of numerous others who have abused their power and abused women.  I also recently attended a CCEF seminar titled "Counseling Abusive Marriages" by Darby Strickland. Unfortunately, physical, psychological and sexual abuse doesn't just happen in the decadent Hollywood culture, it happens in the church of Jesus Christ too. This is both disheartening and expected. While the church should be held to a higher standard, we also have to take the biblical diagnoses serious: all have sinned and fall short...

We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. O Come O Come Emmanuel Jesus Is Better I Will Glory In My Redeemer You Never Let Go My Redeemers Love I Surrender All -- Sermon Text: John 12:36b-43 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).

Father, Glorify Your Name John 12:20-36a November 26, 2017 Questions for Study and Meditation Read John 12:20-28a. Why is it significant that some Greeks came up to worship at the feast? What did Jesus say when he heard this? To whom was he speaking? Read John 12:28b-33. How did the Father respond to Jesus? Were his words clear to all who heard? How did Jesus respond to the Father’s words? Read John 12:34-36a. What did the crowd ask Jesus and why? Why did Jesus respond in the way he did? What’s the most important thing you learned from today’s sermon? From John 12:20-36a? How has this sermon helped you to grow in love for God and others? What’s the most important thing Jesus would have you do in light of this sermon? Take some time to worship Jesus. Thank him, praise him, and ask for his help as you seek to strive with other believers for the faith of the gospel.    

Agape Meal Next Sunday: Next week is Communion Sunday and we will share a meal together after the service. See the back of the announcements for full details about this monthly, all-church meal. All-Church Prayer Meeting Wednesday November 29: Join us from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Handke Center on Wednesday, November 29 for a concerted time of prayer for the ministries of GCF, our cities, and the spread of the gospel among the nations. If you have any prayer requests you’d like us to lift up before the Lord during this time, contact Carmen Gunderson at admin@gcfmn.org . Child care will be available. Advent Devotional: This year for Advent, we will be offering a four-part, eight-page devotional on the traditional themes of Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. Each part of the devotional can be used in your families or community groups, and each theme will be emphasized on Sunday mornings beginning on December 3. We have several hard-copies available on the family table, or we ...

     Last week, I wrote about the vision for global missions at GCF and toward the end I mentioned that we sometimes partner with our global partners by sending small, short-term teams to encourage them, pray with them, and serve alongside them in a variety of ways. For several years, we’ve wanted to send a small team to Albania to encourage and work alongside our partners there, Amos and Meredith Anderson. The Andersons have been working to plant churches in that needy country, first in Korche and now in the capital city of Tirana.      Accordingly, I reached out to the Andersons last summer and asked if it would bless and help them to have a team from GCF visit for about a week in June of 2018. At the time, Amos thought it would, however, as their spring and summer plans solidified, it became clear to them that they would be better served by a shorter visit by a very small team of two or three.      When offering to visit with our gl...

Here is a great article by Julie Lowe (CCEF) that obviously relates very much to the holiday we are about to celebrate.  It is titled Building Gratitude in Your Family You can find the article below in its entirety but if you would like to visit the CCEF website you can follow this link. Happy Thanksgiving to you all! https://www.ccef.org/resources/blog/instilling-gratitude-family --- With the approach of Thanksgiving, I am often struck with how people—young and old alike—lack an important attribute: gratitude. I’m not looking for a warm fuzzy thank you for a gift, but a deep rich appreciation for life and what we’ve been given. Why is this? What gets in the way of gratitude?  Here are two thoughts. First, our society cultivates discontentment. Consistently, we hear a message of want. Mass media, advertising, and holiday seasons all capitalize on the misconception of necessity and the hungering for more. There are quite literally thousands of images, com...

We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. A Christian Home To God Be The Glory Thank You Lord Jesus What A Beautiful Name Glory In The Highest Jesus All For Jesus Light Of The World -- Sermon Text: John 12:20-28 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).

Behold, Your King is Coming John 12:12-19 November 19, 2017 Questions for Study and Meditation Read John 12:12-15. What drew the crowd to Jesus? Why did they take up branches of palm trees? Why did they quote from Psalm 118:25-26? Why did Jesus find, mount, and ride a donkey’s colt into the city (see Zechariah 9:9)? What does this tell us about Jesus’ attitude toward the crowd? Read John 12:16-19. How did the disciples understand these things at the time? After he was glorified? After Jesus mounted the donkey, what did the crowd do and to what effect? How did the Pharisees respond to these things? Besides exasperation, what did their words imply? What’s the most important thing you learned from today’s sermon? From John 12:12-19? How has this sermon helped you to grow in love for God and others? What’s the most important thing Jesus would have you do in light of this sermon? Take some time to worship Jesus. Thank him, praise him, and ask for his help as you s...

Advent Devotional: This year for Advent, we will be offering a four-part, eight-page devotional on the traditional themes of Advent: hope, peace, joy, and love. Each part of the devotional can be used in your families or community groups, and each theme will be emphasized on Sunday mornings beginning on December 3. We have several hard-copies available on the information table today, or we can send you a copy of the PDF if you’d prefer. Operation Christmas Child - Samaritan’s Purse: We will be collecting Shoeboxes for children each Sunday through December 10. Would you like to bless a child in great need? There will be a table with supplies for the boxes, including the red and green Shoeboxes. See Samaritan’s Purse suggested gifts for each age group on their website. They ask that the following items not be included in the box: candy, toothpaste, gum, used or damaged items, war-related items, food, liquids, medications or vitamins, breakable items, aerosol cans. If you ha...

     Glory of Christ Fellowship (GCF) exists to make disciples for the glory of Christ. Accordingly, while our primary value is the glory of God made visible in and through Jesus Christ, we express our love for and value of God through worship, community, and mission.      In order to accomplish our mission, we are committed to sharing the love of Christ locally and globally, baptizing new believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). With regard to supporting global missions, we give preference to missionaries or nationals who are directly engaged in making disciples by establishing and strengthening churches. Further, our desire is to stand with those who are working among unreached or under-reached people groups. For the majority of current missions investments around the world support ministries where the church is already established and the gospel is already b...

Proverbs 2:1-8 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Father in heaven, we come to you and acknowledge that you are the source of wisdom and the giver of wisdom. We love you, our Father, for you give. You so loved the world that you gave  your only Son and whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. You also gave the right to be called children of the living...