Grace Community Church has been looking for a way to raise up and develop future leaders. We wanted something that gave people real hands-on ministry experience and also helped them grow theologically . We believe in seminary education, but we also see the value in practical experience.

We are excited to introduce our Residency in Ministry Program

Similar to a medical residency, we view this as a post-college “residency” where those in the program will be doing real ministry alongside pastors who are a little further down the road. They’ll be entrusted not with making copies (though, as we all know, that is a small slice of ministry, too) but with life-changing ministry. They’ll be viewed as full-on staff members, and held to the expectations of the rest of our staff team.

In addition to doing the work of ministry, one major benefit of the program is that seminary tuition will be included. Clarksville is 45 minutes from the new Nashville campus of Southern Seminary. We’ve already had staff members who have worked full-time at Grace and attended classes concurrently. We believe that this is a great way to learn and do ministry: in the classroom and in the “lab.”

We’re receiving applications now, looking to have residents in place by August, 2012.

If you’re interested, just click HERE and start the application process. If you know someone who would fit the bill, send this info along. If you have any questions, we’ve tried to answer the most frequently asked HERE.

We’re excited about this program and are convinced it will be a great benefit to a number of young leaders.

If you were at the right stage in life, would this program entice you?

Honor God with your Body from Gcomchurch Sermons on Vimeo.

Today I’m challenging my church to join me in the Grace 10in10 Challenge. The goal is simple. Lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks. It officially starts tomorrow, but you can begin at anytime.

We are in a series called “All In”. This year, we want to be all in to whatever and whoever God calls us to be, with every aspect of our life; physically, mentally, spiritually and relationally. This challenge is a part of physically being all in.

I’ve learned by experience that I’m more productive when I feel better physically. When I’m at my optimum weight, I have more energy. Most of us could benefit from losing 10 pounds.

Could you stand to lose 10 pounds?

Join us for the Grace 10in10 Challenge.

It’s simple. Go to the Facebook page, “like” us, and play along. If you have suggestions or tips on how to lose weight, feel free to post them there. This is for accountability, not to sell a product. I’m okay with letting us know about products, videos or programs to help us, but will monitor the site and those who are clearly only here to sell or who misuse the site will be deleted. A great help will be to share low calorie recipes or exercise tips. Feel free to post your progress.

Are you in?

(Please keep in mind, this is not an offer for physical counsel or help. Don’t participate if you have any question about your health. Check with a physician if in doubt. The page is for fun and accountability only and cannot warrant or vouch for any information others post.)

Here’s a guest post from 11 year-old Mallory Fundora. Mallory and her family are active members of Grace Community Church. I love her vision and passion. She reminds me of Isaiah 11:6 “and a little child will lead them”. Be inspired…

Here are the words of Mallory Fundora:

In October 2011 I sat down to write my Christmas list for my parents, I looked around my room and I realized there was nothing I needed, nothing I wanted. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about the children in Africa, and how they weren’t going to get Christmas presents, and there was a lot of things that they needed. So, I sent my mom an email with my Christmas list, one thing on it, to help Africa.

See, in August of 2010 the Ugandan Orphan Children’s Choir came to my church to perform, and I got to meet the children, and they were amazing. They were so loving, and just wanted to hug me and hold my hand. My mom had also started doing work for a couple of organizations that helped in Uganda, so she had taught me about the children there.

The day after I sent the email my Mom and I sat down and talked about what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to help. I contacted Amazima Ministries and Project Have Hope and I told them what I wanted to do, and I asked them how I could best help them. That is how Project Yesu was born. My goals at first were simple, I wanted to raise $600 to sponsor 2 children, one from Amazima and one from Project Have Hope. When you sponsor a child, it pays for food, medicine and sends them to school. I also decided I wanted to send Christmas cards to the children in Uganda, I mean who doesn’t like to get a card, it makes you smile. So I drew two different card designs and I contacted a local printing company and asked them if they would donate the printing of 650 cards, they did.

So I started to tell people about Project Yesu, and my mom helped me start a blog so people could read about it. I met with my Children’s pastor and asked if our youth group could help me with the cards, because I wanted them to be personal, so I needed a lot of help to write out 650 cards. I also spoke to my youth group, and told them about Project Yesu and about the children in Uganda and asked them to help me raise money. Every week I set up a booth at my church to tell people about my project, and the word spread.

In only 8 weeks I raised over $2,400 and I was able to sponsor 7 children. It was way more then I had originally planned on and it was great. I got to meet some wonderful people, and tell them my story. I was invited to go to WAYFM a Christian radio station because they learned about my project, and I was even on TV. The NBC station out of Nasvhille did a story on Project Yesu.

I read a quote one day from Mahatma Ghandi that said, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. That’s what I want to do, I want to be the change, I want to make a difference, I want to help people. Everyone thinks kids are selfish or that we’re just kids and we can’t do anything like this. I want to show people what a difference one person can make. If someone, because they heard about me, or met me, decides that they can be a change too, then it will spread from me, to that person, to another person and so on. Kids have good ideas, and you know what? We don’t know all the reasons why it won’t work, we just know we what we want to do.

I know with Project Yesu, I am making a difference, not only in the lives of the seven children in Uganda who now have food, medicine and can go to school. But I am making a difference in the lives of my family, my friends, my teachers and even people I have never met before.

I want Project Yesu to continue to spread and grow, and to do that I need people like you, who are reading this post to spread the word and to help me. My goals for 2012 is to raise $4,500 – who knows maybe I’ll double that this year or even triple that and be able to help more and more children in Uganda. I plan to travel to Uganda in December of 2012 to hand deliver the Christmas cards to the children, to meet my sponsored children and to love on the children of Uganda who have changed my life.

If you want to know more about Project Yesu, or how you can help you can find me on Facebook – www.facebook.com/projectyesu or go to my site www.projectyesu.org.

I am selling T-shirts and wristbands to raise funds, and I am also looking for families, groups, classrooms or anyone to be a part of the “Be The Change” campaign by collecting coins to donate towards Project Yesu.

So I have accepted the challenge to be the change…. Will you?

Grace Community Church is an amazing gathering of people. I’ve been in church all my life and never known people who were more compassionate and caring about the people around them. Do we have problems? Of course. Are we perfect? Not by a long shot. We serve a perfect God, but we are made up of thousands of imperfect people, so we make plenty of mistakes.

Yesterday our church supplied Christmas for a couple hundred children and their families. Toys, clothes and food… Amazing. The stories are still coming in but I thought I’d share a couple I received. I changed the names for anonymity.

Here are two examples of why I love Grace:

Dear Ron,

What an awesome lesson in humbleness and love. Thank you for helping us do this. I know they will have an awesome Christmas, but the impact of those short minutes will certainly stay with me for years to come!

Thank you for being people who live out your faith. I’m a blessed pastor! I love being known as a church who loves our community…regardless of their place or position in life.

But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. Luke 2:10-11

Joy is not an option for a believer, as I read the Scriptures. For many, however, finding joy at Christmas is harder than other times of the year. Memories of loved ones, financial struggles, health issues, and relationship woes often make for a very difficult celebration.

In a recent message at Grace, I shared 5 suggestions to make your Christmas joyful.

Here are five suggestions to greater joy at Christmas:

Lower expectations of others - We shouldn’t hold others to expectation we set for them. People, even the best of people, will disappoint us.

Increase your investment in others - Something supernatural happens when we share with others. We are to give and extend grace, as it was given to us.

Examine your life/Address known sin – You can’t have joy w/a holy God if you are living contrary to His desires for your life

Change your perspective – Choosing to be greatly joyful is not based on circumstances, but comes by perspective.

Set your eyes on the prize – If you’re struggling to find joy in life, set your eyes on Jesus; the author and perfecter of your faith.

Want more? Watch this message here:

This is a sermon message and paradigm which I believe can be helpful…

• If you ever doubt God’s love…
• If you consistently feel you don’t measure up…
• If you worry about your God relationship…
• If you are caught in the performance trap…

Living My Identity from Gcomchurch Sermons on Vimeo.

Ben Reed is community groups pastor at Grace Community Church where I serve. Ben is an excellent leader; truly becoming one of the sharpest minds on small groups in the country. If he’s not on your radar he should be. You can learn from him and he loves helping other churches. Recently Ben had a family situation that took him out of the office. Our email and text exchanges through that time prompted this guest post.

Here is a guest post from Ben Reed:

As a church, we say that we value the family. Now I can personally vouch that we do.

I know that older generations accuse my generation of not working hard. But if you spend much time around me, you’ll realize that I don’t fit that mold. (and, in fact, I’d submit that my generation isn’t lazy…we just work differently)

I really enjoy hard work. And when I have to be out of the office for an extended amount of time, it drives me nuts. Not because I’m being pressured  from other team members or not living up to perceived expectations. It’s simply because I love what I do, and I love working hard at it.

When Family Calls

So when I had to be out of the office for 10 days, it was tough. I felt torn: I wanted to be at the office, but I desperately didn’t. See, my wife’s grandfather was rushed to ICU, then transported to hospice care, and I was at his side with my wife’s family for the better part of 10 days. And I wanted to be there, at his side, the entire 10 days.

But I texted Ron, saying this:
I hate being out of the office so long. It is not my style. Sorry I’ve been so absent the last week and a half. I know it’s ‘excusable’ but I also know me being out isn’t ideal.

His response:
It’s ok Ben. It’s one of our values as a church. Family first.

I tell people all of the time that we are a church that truly values family. By the way we’re structured (very simply), we get the chance to tell people, “Gather with us on Sunday, join a small group, and the rest of the week invest in your family!”

But this time, I got to experience this. I was given the freedom to be present with my family when I needed to be present with my family. And I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my church staff supported me being absent.

We put our money where our mouth is.

When push comes to shove, we value family. Even if that means that things have to slow down. Even if that means that a team member is absent. Even if that means a team member’s voice isn’t present at the table.

We know that if our team members don’t do a good job at home, they can’t do a good job leading their ministries (1 Timothy 3:4). And intellectually, I get that. I’ve even said that to people.

But it was an entirely different matter when I needed to apply that to myself.

My church values my family. Which makes me even more proud to serve her.

Does your church value your family?

Yesterday we launched a new series called Necessary Roughness. It’s a unique series for us. I wrote about it HERE.

Week one we addressed the issue of communication in relationships. You can watch that message here:

Communication from Gcomchurch Sermons on Vimeo.

Question: What is your number one struggle with communicating effectively?

I’ve often said “I wish everyone in our church could go through at least an hour of professional counseling. We all need help with the relationships in our life. What are some Biblical principles to help us know how to communicate better…how to handle conflict…what does a healthy relationship look like…especially with difficult people? There should be no shame in seeking help when needed.

Could you use help in those areas?

If you don’t have to deal with people in your life…you probably have little need for this series, but if you deal with people everyday…then this may be your series.

During the month of October, that’s the goal of our new series at Grace Community Church. For four seeks we will have trained Biblical counselors stage to help us think through relationship issues. These counselors are professionals, educated with doctorate degrees, but they are sold out believers; passionate about leading people to the ultimate Counselor…Jesus Christ. Now obviously this series will never substitute for needed counseling, but we do hope that we will all learn valuable and Biblical principles of how we relate to one another…in all the relationships of our life.

This month, join us for Necessary Roughness. Let’s get better at building healthy relationships.

Be bold and share. Have you been helped with professional counseling?