Care Ministry

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Cor 1:3-4

Is there something to be experienced in a walk with God that is not experienced by the average human being? We believe the answer to that question is yes. Yes, there is a dynamic of life available to those who surrender to Christ that the world neither knows nor understands.

Jesus gives us the key to living above the normal human experience. He not only tells us what it is, He also shows us by example the path that leads to life as it was meant to be experienced. Jesus' whole life was a movement toward the cross, toward the ultimate obedience to the Father, toward glorification of the Father.

This is extremely important because you and I are called to live for the glory of God as well. We are to follow the example of Jesus Christ in this.

That motive, living for the glory of the Father, becomes a reason not to sin, not to compromise. It is not a self-righteous, self-exaltation. It is a passion to exalt God by the way we live for Him.

Here is what we must learn from this. Life is to be lived for the glory of God. Life is not to be a pursuit of our own exaltation and glory. We are to ask ourselves in every decision, would this behavior, would these words reflect well on the name of Christ (whose name we represent) or would it disgrace that name?

No person can live for his own honor/prestige and for the honor of another at the same time. We will either humble ourselves…and live for God's glory…or we will choose a path that pursues our own exaltation. We cannot do both.

The Lord lays burdens on our hearts. He gives us talents and abilities. He blesses each of us richly and abundantly. What is it we are to do with all that? We don't believe we are to keep our talents and abilities in our pockets and present them to Him, unused, when we leave this earthly life and go home. Instead, we believe we're to arrive with empty pockets, having lived our lives using the blessings, talents and skills to bless others to the glory of the Father.

There are any number of things that can be done to extend the care of our Lord to those in need, and the Care Ministry Team is actively developing ways to do that. But, it is not enough to simply come up with programs. We must extend heartfelt care that is effective, purposeful, meets a given need, and brings glory to the Father from both the giver and recipient.

This is the goal…the vision of the Grace Chapel Care Ministry…to offer a breadth and scope of opportunities that will allow each member of Grace Chapel, whatever the talent, skill, generation, or burden of heart, to minister to others in the church family so that we become a body of believers that ministers to each other effectively and completely. We strive to offer the entire church body those opportunities to serve the Lord that foster a culture of true service rather than self-righteous service. Our goal is that the same comfort you experience from Grace would be multiplied through you to others inside and outside the church so that all may see the glory of the Father through you.

We have available to us the God of all comfort as our Strength, the Lord Jesus Christ as our Model and the Help of the Holy Spirit…the Comforter.

The Grace Chapel Care Ministry currently has a variety of ministries designed to supplement the support provided by the Sunday School families:

Care Meals	Provides meals for people during times when it's too hard to do that type of preparation because of illness, death in the family, recovering from an accident or surgery. Meals will be joyfully provided for as long as the need exists.
Cards and Flowers	Sending words of encouragement to those who are ill, homebound, recovering, or away for extended periods. Sending flowers to those who are recovering from illness or suffering the loss of a loved one.
Baby Packs	Providing some essentials needed to help new parents.
Yellow Bag Sunday	Collect and distribute nonperishable supplemental and emergency food to members of the Grace Chapel family.
Prayer Chain	Notifies people of matters that need prayer.
Angel Maids	Provides light house cleaning... running errands..do the grocery shopping, etc... for those who are homebound or recovering from an accident, hospitalization, or surgery.
Funeral Dinners	Provides food for and serves funeral dinners when needed.
Safe House/Sanctuary	Temporary, discreet, and secure housing provided for individuals/families threatened with physical abuse.
Mom's Morning Out	An opportunity for mothers of young children to fellowship corporately in activities and environments that foster godly relationships.
Health Care Ministry	A group of Health Care Professionals that have combined their time, knowledge, and specialties. They provide blood pressure screenings, transportation to the hospital or appointments, medication review, advanced directives and general health care information.

Contacts for Care Ministry
Flowers	Amy Seiler	632-8094
Baby Packs	Barb Empfield	632-8826
Baby Packs	Sonya Graves	632-8380
Cards	Katy Griess	436-1713
Compassion Meals	Leslie Hughes	641-5914
Angel Maids	Amy McAlister	672-4491
Organizer for Funeral Food and Workers	Mary Kraft	436-3580
Funeral Team Leaders	Sheryl Holscher	635-7565
	Shirley VanDeraa	436-7861
	Suzanne Wood	632-4309
	Helen Bauer	635-7162
Yellow Bag Sunday	Larry Massie	436-7554
Safe House	Larry Massie	436-7554
Health Care Ministry	Cindy Francisco	632-7995

We are now in the process of getting ready to collect information for our Skills Bank. We will have a list of skills that people are willing to share with others. When someone at Grace does have a special need, we can try to help. Some examples of the skills will include: cutting hair, auto mechanic, plumbing, carpentry, baby sitting, and running errands, along with any others people would be willing to share. Please be watching for the opportunity to sign up for the skills bank so you can help others in our church. In everything we do, we will be doing it for the specific purpose of bringing glory to God, so God is glorified by our actions. We pray you will not only notice the difference of God's comfort, but you will be part of the difference! May you know the comfort of God through the care of Grace Chapel, "so that you may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction..."

The Grace Care Team meets the third Monday of every month in the church fellowship hall to discuss where we're at and where we need to be. All wish to serve the Lord through this ministry of Grace Chapel are enthusiastically encouraged to attend. If you know of a need in an area that is not currently being addressed, please contact Larry Massie at any time at home 436-7554 or on his cell 641-3190.