GCV Blog

We are thrilled to welcome Blake Boys and his family to Grace Church of the Valley. Blake has just finished his first full week as a pastor here and we are excited to have him here and working. Blake will be giving the majority of his time overseeing our Sunday worship as he chooses songs, arranges the service order, shepherds the music and sound teams, leads rehearsals, develops musicians, works with facilities, and more. Blake will also be giving time to our media, including our website, app, social media, and audio and video resources. In addition, Blake will help plan and administrate events.

As Pastor Scott began the book of Jonah last week, one of the issues he covered was the debate about Jonah being a literal, historical book. That topic made me think of how essential our fundamental, basic convictions about the Bible are. One of God’s blessings through kids is the reminder of how much we assume. For instance, before our kids were born I was under the mistaken impression that babies are born with some basic understandings. Turns out that not only are children born without basic communication abilities, hand-eye coordination, or motor skills, there’s even a learning curve on how to eat. To eat! Pretty hard to get more basic than that.

We are on the brink of some really exciting developments when it comes to more permanent facilities for our church family. Depending on the finances the Lord provides by January, we have the potential of beginning some construction in April or so. As we’ve considered the importance of the next few months, we’ve also returned to why we think this facility is a critical need and a wise move forward for the Kingdom. Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share some of the thought process, principles, and vision that is driving us forward into the next stage of our building project.

Seven years ago Grace Church officially began. For seven years, God has been graciously growing and shaping us. God uses means like His Word, prayer, and fellowship to grow us, and so while we ought to be grateful for the past we ought also to look to the future for faithful ministry and growth. Below is a list of ministries that you can grow in as we enter a new ministry year. Let’s pray that God will grow us all the ways He wants to as we move into year eight!

September is just right around the corner! Because of our church’s anniversary, as well as summer vacations ending and school beginning, we often restart ministries in September that we took a brief break from. Our Adult Bible Fellowship and Sunday school hour is one of those ministries that we resume in earnest. I’d like to encourage you to make the 9:00 hour a priority for your family in this new year, as well as let you know what’s coming up.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven… a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3 ESV)

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)

This week, we who are Americans celebrate Independence Day. God has been kind to give us our religious freedom and our history in a democracy that prizes individual liberty. It’s a blessing to be in a nation where we enjoy such freedom as Christians. Historically speaking, it’s also quite rare.

What do you get when you match classic graham crackers, a perfectly toasted marshmallow, and a slightly melted Hershey’s bar? S’mores make any campfire worth having. You might as well have a car without an engine than camp without smores. This summer, camping and Kidsfest are coming together in a fun theme with a purpose. We’re going to encourage our kids between the ages of 3 and 10 to camp out around the greatness of God. We’ll sit around the campfire to preach about a God who is everywhere at once, all knowing, jealous, glorious, truth, and more.