GracePoint Blog

Alyssa in Rwanda Update

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:51:00 -0500

From Alyssa Holladay, GracePoint's first supported missionary:

To my dear and wonderful friends and family,

Ok, so I thought I would try to make a new, spiffy looking update letter in order to make up for the fact that I have not been regular about sending updates. However, part way into making this spiffy letter, I decided that it was taking too much time and that if I took much more time I wouldn't actually send out an update! So, this is what you get for now!

Even though I have not sent out a letter for a long, long time, I am going to try to keep this brief. I am hoping to truly start sending monthly updates and keeping them brief so that they are manageable. So, here you go, an update and ways to be praying.

· I still absolutely love living in Rwanda. At this point it truly feels like home and sometimes I forget that I am living half way around the world from what I have known all my life. PRAY: that as life becomes more and more normal that I will still be sensitive to the things God wants me to notice and learn here. Sometimes as life becomes more “normal” it becomes easier to miss these little, yet important, moments of life.

· Teaching Kindergarten continues to be a great experience and a challenge. I am so grateful for the experience teaching is giving me and I love being able to pour into the lives of these little five and six year olds. The challenge is simply in having the energy and wisdom for 15 bundles of energy! It is also challenging because my heart is still so attached to the church, so it can be difficult to give so much time to my job. However, that being said, KICS truly is a great school and is wonderful opportunity. PRAY: that God will give me wisdom each day in how to teach and the passion for educating each one of my students.

· Church continues to be one of my favorite places! I am continually grateful for the amazing relationships I am developing here. I know I am making friends for life! I am currently working on a monthly church newsletter that you will also receive once I get it done :-). I love just helping in the little things (church finances, membership records, Powerpoint every Sunday, running errands, etc) as well as trying to shape and start some of the bigger things (like trying to help establish the children’s ministry!). PRAY: that God will continue to bless Divine Destiny Church, that I will have wisdom in how to best serve the church here, that as I seriously plan towards returning next year God will guide those details and decisions and that I will never forget that ALL of this is simply to serve our King.

Well, I promised a shorter update and I am soon to break that promise! So, today may you truly know the depth and power of our Lord’s love.

~Alyssa

Financial Peace University

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 09:58:00 -0500

Money. Few of us know how to handle it well, none of us use it perfectly. That's where Dave Ramsey comes in. Simple, to the point, basic. His course, Financial peace University teaches people "how to live like no one else so they can live like no one else." This class will help you get out of debt, save money and get on the road to financial peace.

FPU begins this next Monday, January 12th. We'll meet at the Greater Lawrence Technical School at 7PM in their café (park out front and come through the front doors). Contact me (Ryan Phelps) if you want more info (978-681-6483). Go to FPU's website if you'd like to learn about the class itself.

Boston Globe Article on Grace Chapel

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:21:00 -0500

Check out the article in the Boston Globe by Michael Paulson on Grace Chapel. He visited Grace recently and wrote about his experience. Read it here. GracePoint is briefly mentioned (though not by name).

Diane Frates, In the Arms of Jesus

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:58:00 -0500

Diane (Velten) Frates, 65,passed away on November 23, 2008 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital after a courageous battle with cancer. She was the wife of Robert P.Frates with whom she had shared 36 years of marriage.

Born and raised in Stoneham, Diane was the daughter of Alice E. Velten of Stoneham and the late Clifford A. Velten. Diane was a graduate of Stoneham High School,class of 1960. She was employed as a draftsperson for the Raytheon Corporation, RCA Corporation and the Inforex Company.

Diane enjoyed traveling and square dancing with her husband Bob. She was a member of the Northeast Regional Square Dance Club. She was skilled in many crafts, including painting, sewing, scrap booking and creating miniature room displays. She was a member of the Stoneham Arts and Craft Society of Stoneham and the White Mountain Painting Guild. Diane most enjoyed working on crafts with her grandchildren and nieces in her craft room at home.

Diane was a very loving person who attended GracePoint Community Church in Andover and the First Baptist Church in Stoneham. She loved singing the hymns and enjoyed talking about our beloved Jesus Christ. Diane was a very compassionate, loving woman who made a permanent impression on all the lives she touched. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her and knew her steadfast belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In addition to her mother and husband, she is survived by her son Michael R. Frates and his wife Donna of Lynnfield and her daughter, Deborah Walker and her husband Christopher of Oakham. She is also survived by a brother WayneVelten and his wife Ann of Peabody; sisters, Joyce Turner of Wilmington and Janet McLaughlin and her husband Leonard of Billerica; three beloved grandchildren Madison and Nathan Frates and Ava Walker; six nieces and three nephews. She was the mother of the late John C.Brown III.

AIDS Awareness Event Nearby...

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:17:00 -0400

Just as a heads up to a great event you might want to go to, provided you have the time is a World Vision experience that is being put on at Grace Community Church in Chelmsford. This experience is a narrated walk through a typical African village. And it is put on from October 24th to October 27th.

World Vision puts on these events so that we might be able to experience what a typical African child encounters in life due to the AIDS pandemic. For more information from World Vision about what it is like, check here.

Come One, Come All

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:01:00 -0400

We're still looking for people to help out. Call Ryan (978-681-6483) if you'd like to help.

Benched

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 13:02:00 -0400

Benched from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

All Church Picnic This Sunday!

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Wed, 3 Sep 2008 16:51:00 -0400

Come on out to our annual church picnic this Sunday after church from 12:30-4. We provide the food, you provide the fun! It's being held at Berry Pond in North Andover. For directions:

From Andover
From North Andover
From Haverhill

Go down Berry Pond Rd. and the entrance will be on your left.

GracePoint in Outreach Magazine

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:35:00 -0400

A few months ago an editor from Outreach Magazine was on the web looking for churches who were finding innovative ways to serve abroad. Somehow, he landed on GracePoint's website and our our Moldova project. He contacted Steve, asking if they could do a write up on us. Colleen Young gave him all the info and now we're published! The article is in their current September/October issue. Here is the text from the article:

"Traveling out of the Moldovan capital of Chisinau is like going back in time as paved roads give way to dirt, and shacks pass for homes. Two hours outside the city, one of many orphanages in this, Europe's poorest nation, is home to 100 children.

"Living a modest existence there—where showers are rusty and moldy and children use an outhouse because the bathroom is broken—the kids know when visitors from an American church arrive and run to
greet them.

"These kids have nothing," says Colleen Young, a member of the outreach team at GraccPoint Community Church (GracePointne.org) in North Andover, Mass., who visited the orphanage in January. Providing necessities and spiritual hope to the orphanage in Tocuz, Moldova, has become an outreach mission for the congregation of 100.

"Since its inception almost three years ago, GracePoint has partnered with missions agency Little Samaritan Mission (LittleSamaritan.org) to support orphans throughout Moldova. In the last two years, the church has focused on helping the orphans in Tocuz. One year, church
members filled backpacks with school supplies and other items. Most recently, the congregation stuffed clear plastic bags with gifts like flashlights, toothpaste and new winter coats. One church member donated a new pair of sunglasses for each child.

"'The kids loved them,' says Young, one of five GracePoint congregants who traveled to Moldova this year. 'They had never had sunglasses before.'

"The congregation also plans to pay for repairs on the bathrooms and showers. While the children cherish the gifts they receive, GracePoint's team intends to show them the love of Christ—not just be the 'Americans who bring things and leave,' Young explains. During their visit, the team played games with the children, studied the Bible, and prayed with and talked to them about reaching out to God when they feel alone. Back home, GracePoint members pray for the kids daily.

"'It is a country where the people feel forgotten, and having the love and peace of Christ will change their lives,' Young says."

A Quote on Difference Making

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:00:00 -0400

“You don't have to know a lot of things to make a huge difference for the Lord in the world. But you do have to know a few things that are great, and be willing to live for them and die for them. People who make a difference in the world are not people who have mastered a lot of things. They are people who have been mastered by a very few things that are very, very great. If you want your life to count, you don't have to have a high IQ; you don’t have to have a high EQ; you don't have to be smart, you don’t have to have good looks; you don't have to come from a good family or a good school. You just have to know a few basic, simple, glorious, majestic, obvious, unchanging, eternal things and be gripped by them and be willing to lay down your life for them, which is why anybody in this crowd can make a world-wide difference. Because it isn’t you, it is what you’re gripped with.”

-John Piper, transcribed from the audio of "Boasting Only in the Cross"

Every Member a Theologian

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:00:00 -0400

Thabiti Anyabwile answers the question, Why is being a theologian important for the average church member? Don’t we have seminary professors for that stuff?

"We love seminary professors, and are thankful for the gift that they are to the body of Christ. But theology is knowledge of God, and no professor can or should be asked to take our place in the privilege of knowing and savoring God! The great joy of Christianity is that we are actually brought into saving and everlasting knowledge of the marvelous Creator of all things. That knowledge of Him is “theology.”

"We’re all theologians. We’re either good or bad, hungry or lazy, grudging or joyful, accurate or sloppy theologians. But we are theologians. And I hope Healthy Member encourages the average Christian to not be afraid of the word “theologian,” to embrace it as their new birthright, and to take some practical steps in deepening their knowledge of God. For it’s as we know God more deeply, that our daily lives are changed more radically."

I would only add that every member is a theologian because even scholars and seminary professors are susceptible to fallibility. We should never look to any theologian or scholar or professor as distributors of perfect, truth. Our only guide should be the Bible. Acts 17:11: "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."

Thabiti Anyabwile has written a book called, What is a Healthy Church Member? I look forward to picking it up.

What is Real?

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:09:00 -0400

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. My mind keeps on racing toward the existential question, "What is real?" Mostly, I keep telling myself that this is all a hoax. Though it sounds like I am wrong.

Consumerism: It's Ok

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:38:00 -0400

"We are a nation of consumers, and there is nothing wrong with that."

-From a Discover Card commercial

Mr. Bean Goes to Church

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:02:00 -0400

Interestingly, this bit was written by a guy named Richard Curtis, who also wrote the screenplays for Knotting Hill, Bridget Jones, and, my favorite, A Girl in the Café. Curtis has also raised over a billion dollars for poverty and disease relief.

Are You an Activist or a Contemplative?

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:00:00 -0400

Mark Driscoll writes:

Which Are You?
The key is to discover whether you are more naturally a contemplative or an activist and then work on your area of weakness. In my years as a pastor I have found that most of us lean heavily toward the contemplative or the active disciplines at the expense of the other. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for people to read about Jesus in their Bible and only see His contemplative or activist scenes at the expense of seeing the healthy tension that Jesus lived in. As a result, when a contemplative thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him sitting alone in the wilderness and silently reading Scripture and praying. Conversely, when an activist thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him performing miracles, preaching, and casting out demons, never sitting down or taking a day off. The truth is that Jesus practiced every contemplative discipline and every active discipline (with the exception of lovemaking). To follow in His example means we must follow in His entire example.

Active Disciplines
Study
Fellowship
Speaking
Teaching
Activism
Work
Lovemaking
Evangelism
Service
Feasting

Contemplative Disciplines
Solitude
Silence
Meditation
Prayer
Sabbath
Chastity
Worship
Journaling
Fasting

Def: Credobaptism

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:35:00 -0400

Latin, credo “believe”

The belief that baptism should only be administered to those who are believers. According to credobaptists, baptism is a visible outward sign of confession, ordain by Christ in the great commission. Because it is a sign of belief, credobaptist do not practice infant or padeobaptism since an infants cannot believe. While the majority of church history practiced padeobaptism as a sign of the covenant, padeobaptist argue that the baptism of infants is unbiblical sighting examples in Scripture which, according to the credobaptist, limit baptism to believers.

For more information on credobaptism, see here.

This is also the view of GracePoint.

From: Theological Word of the Day

Fill-In Dad

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:06:00 -0400

From Anthony Bradley:

"Where is Michael Phelps' dad? Phelps' dad left him and his sisters when he was seven. One of his sister's tells that she would swim in the pool to escape the yelling and fighting between her mom and her dad.

"When Phelps was 11 he met Bob Bowman and the two have been together ever since. In the absence of his father, Bob Bowman became the man to offer Phelps what all boys need and no woman can provide: masculine validation and blessing from an older man to a younger one. It makes so much sense. Even with an absent father and being a child of a painful divorce, Bowman stepped in during a crucial point in Phelps' stage of development and bestowed upon him exactly what he needed."

Too Much Time on Your Hands

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:48:00 -0400

HT: Neatorama

8

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:56:00 -0400

In his pursuit of 8 gold medals, Phelps' best races by far were this one, and this one.

Salon on Rick Warren

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:39:00 -0400

Read the interesting article on Warren here.

On Wasting Your LIfe

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:24:00 -0400

"People often ask us why in the world we would waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they, too, are investing their lives. And when the bubble has burst they will have nothing to show
for the years they have wasted."

- Nate Saint, shortly before he was killed in the jungles of Ecuador by the people group he was trying to serve

HT: Z

More on Zion Bible College

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:30:00 -0400

Maybe I am the only one who thinks this is interesting.

Zion Bible College has moved in and will, amazingly, begin classes on August 26th. Read the whole story here.

I Got Something Wrong

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:12:00 -0400

Someone asked me a really good question this morning after my sermon. And after looking at it, I discovered I got something wrong.

Her question was, why did the master affirm to the wicked servant in verse 26 that he had harvested where he had not sown and gathered where he had not scattered seed? Doesn't that make the master out to be a bad guy? What I missed was that this was sarcasm. The master uses the words of the servant against him. In essence, the master is saying, "Oh, so you think that I am a cheat and stealer? I see how you think of me." He finishes this up with the sarcasm and indictment in verse 27: "Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." The actions of the servant reflect his wickedness, not the master's. Had he really believed what he said, he would have given the money to the bankers. I missed that.

Nevertheless, the point is the same. If you have a wrong view of God, you won't serve him. This only bolsters that point.

Go With the Flow

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:10:00 -0400

HT: Neatorama

Are Christians Still Persecuted in China?

rphelps@gracepointne.org (GracePoint Community Church) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:18:00 -0400

Randy Alcorn answers this question here. The short answer? Yes.