[Subject to change based on CDC and State guidelines]

• Jan 9 - Council Meeting after service
• Jan 23 - Congregational Meeting after Service, followed by Potluck
  

Happy New Year Gift of Grace! 2021 is now history, probably to the joy of many as it was a rough year. I am sure regardless of our feelings about 2021, we are all hopeful that 2022 is kind to all of us in all our endeavors! While the world has chased 2021 out by ringing in 2022, the church still has some business to attend to before we can close out the 2021 church year and start 2022 off right.

One of the most important tasks remaining for 2021 is the election of the church council for 2022. As has been discussed in recent Sunday service, the members of the current council are resigning to prepare the way for new thoughts and ideas. The current council will be available to train and guide a new council, but many have served for several years and are ready to pass the torch and invite new ideas and energy into the planning process for our church. Your current council has enjoyed serving Gift of Grace and will continue to share their time and talents as active members of committees to help the future council plan, facilitate, and God willing, grow!

In the Bible, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, is often referred to as “Unity In The Midst Of Diversity”, and it focuses largely on the theme that just like the human body, we each have a gift given by God and a role to play in his church, and that each of those gifts is important and is part of his larger design. I urge all of you to read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 for yourself as it paints a beautiful picture, but here are a few versus:

“ But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.  If they were all one member, where would the body be?  But now there are many members, but one body…  And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.  Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”

I ask that all of you consider stepping into a new role within your church and give some thought to what that role may be. Consider your talents, and endeavor to use both your time and talents to lead and guide Gift of Grace in the direction the Lord is calling for us to go. Please do not be worried that you are displacing a current council member, and please know that you will have the help, training and guidance of the outgoing council should you step into a new role. The open council positions are listed below and please do not hesitate to ask if you have questions about what is required of each position.

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Financial Secretary
• Member At Large 1
• Member At Large 2
• Member At Large 3

 “If they hear and serve Him, they will end their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures.” - Job 36:11

Thank you.

If you have already filled in a pledge document and returned it, thank you.

If you haven't, here is the reminder from last month.

As we approach the close of 2021 and get ready to enter 2022, it is the perfect time to reflect on all that we have been able to accomplish with God's guidance and presence in our lives.

Pledging is an important Christian spiritual practice that enables us to grow intentionally in faith and generosity in every place of our lives. It is a commitment to make a financial gift to be used to continue the Lord's ministry through our church, and pledging is a response to God's call and abundance in our own lives. It is also a statement of thanksgiving, and continued faith in the promise that God will continue to provide and bless us as his good and faithful stewards.

God has a plan for everyone and everything. That includes you, and it includes Gift of Grace. None of us can fully know God’s plan—the best we can do is pray and listen for clarity and direction. I hope you will all take a moment (more of course if needed) over the next few weeks, to pray for God's guidance and reassurance that He will continue to provide for Gift of Grace, all of those in our congregation, our community, our nation and the world. Ask Him to guide us, so that we may know the role He needs us to fill within in His church and the community, and to help us to give lovingly and happily as stewards of the gifts He has given us.

Once you have had time to contemplate and pray, please consider filling out and returning the linked pledge document and committing to give what you are able. Although this is not required in any way, it is useful as your council begins planning and setting the budget for the upcoming year. Our little church has done great things, and none of them would have been possible without your donations of money, time and talent, or without God's continued guidance, and blessings.

Please contact to Verl-Lee Ely at 775-575-2933 or Sunni Leggate 775-835-3951, to have a prayer added to the Prayer Chain, or to provide an update about a person already on the list. You can also contact Verl-Lee or Sunni if you would like to join the prayer chain committee. This list will be updated monthly, and if a prayer you have submitted needs to remain a little longer, please let us know.


Please pray for healing and comfort for:

• Steve Carr
• John Handrich
• Damian Wilson
• Sandy Bell
• Velma Thornburgh
• Mavis and Don Burgess
• Rick Jones
• Jeanie Borden
• Charlene Ross
• Mavis Jensen
• Ralph and Mary Chaney
• Billy Simmons
• Judy Crawford and her daughter
• Matty Monday
• Lloyd Dool
• Jeff Edwards
• Pastor Mike Patterson
• Lenora
• Gwen Krause
• Elizabeth McCarthy
• Bruce Person
• Patti Fischer
• Julie Leaves
• Virginia Krause
• Gerri Wernette
• Martha Judson
  
• Gary Smith
  
• Sunni Leggate
• Sonny Simmons
• The friends and family of Gary Price
• Ralph
• Joel Brown