562-596-1605 | info@grace-sealbeach.org | www.gracesealbeach.org | Vol. 33, No. 8 August 2010

August 1Pastor Don will continue his series

on the Epistle to the Hebrews, “Hold On! Firm Faith for Tough Times” with a message from Hebrews 6:13-20, “Hope Securely Anchored.”Communion of the Bread and Cup

August 8Pastor Don’s message from Hebrews

7:1-28 will be, “Jesus’ Priesthood—Better, Longer, Greater.”

August 15“The New and Better Covenant

God Has Made with His People” will be Pastor Don’s message from Hebrews 8:1-13.

August 22Pastor Don will speak on “The

Heavenly Tabernacle—Where Jesus Secures Our Salvation” (Hebrews 8:1-3).

August 29Pastor Bob will be speaking.

Sunday MorningsAT GRACE

BIBLE VERSE OF THE MONTH

Our Next “Grace 101”“Grace 101” is the one-evening class we often offer to people who

are new to our church so they can learn more about us and our teach-ings. It also serves as a membership class for those thinking about joining the church.

Our next “Grace 101” is Sunday evening, August 8, at 6:00pm Please circle “G” on your Attendance Card if you would like to attend, and speak to Pastor Don if you have questions.

Directory UpdatePlease let the office know

if you have changes to your name, address, phone num-bers, e-mail address, etc.

Please provide this informa-tion as soon as possible.

Contact: info@grace-sealbeach.org or 562-596-1605.

“I am the LORD, and there is no other;

apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you,

though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting men may know

there is none besides me. I am the LORD,

and there is no other.”Isaiah 45:5-6 NIV

Welcome to our Newest Members!

We were blessed during July to receive Doris Moore and David and Ashley Hurst officially into our church membership.

God bless them as they serve us and God bless their lives through the Word and ministries of our church!

August 1 is our yearly sum-mer Ocean Baptism at about 12:30pm. If you have been thinking about being baptized, this is the way to go.

There is a class at 11am to attend, then off to the beach to be baptized in the waves. The whole church family is invited down to the

Ocean Baptism

You are Invited to “First Tuesday”!

Pastor Don will have a “First Tuesday” breakfast open to anyone and everyone on August 3. It is at 7:30 am at the “Old Town Café” on Main Street (right behind the church).

water to share with those who are being baptized. It is a great day to become part of the Fam-ily of Christ, enjoy each other’s

company and be at the beach. Contact the church office if you are interested in being baptised.

from Pastor Don...

The mega church north of Cincinnati spent $250,000 on a 65 foot statue of Jesus on its property facing busy I-75. As expected, it drew crowds of visitors. Shucks, the hotel for the Brethren confer-ence I attended in July was along I-75, and I might well have seen it! Many football-minded people (this is Bengals and OSU territory, folks!) saw the raised arms of Jesus and dubbed the statue “Touchdown Jesus.”

But our God (“Whose chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds form”) calls the plays, and the statue burned to the ground when struck by lightning during a nasty June thunderstorm.

What do we make of this? Some options:

• God doesn’t like statues of Jesus• God didn’t like this statue—the

church built it without “seeking God’s will” first

• God is chastising this church for something bad that it did

• The Devil did it • We need to pray and wait to

find God’s purposeOr just perhaps, like Job, we must

Jesus On Fire! walk in faith and not by sight and accept the fact that many “acts of God” in life are simply inexplicable to us. Remember—Job’s three “counselors” thought they lived in an “ideal world” where life makes sense, results are predictable, good is honored and bad people suffer for their wrongs. Job, however, lived in this sometimes messy “real world” where doing good or bad doesn’t always seem to matter and much that happens can’t be ex-

plained. (Chapters 21-22 of Job are especially strong on these points, as is Psalm 73.)

Perhaps your life these days seems to receive more lightning bolts than manna from Heaven. When life is that way our faith and steadfastness are really tested. In these times, encouraging one another and praying for one another are all the more necessary and im-portant. So let’s be sure we ask for and offer this prayer and encourage-ment, and the most natural way to do so is through the church family.

The “Manhattan Declaration”Christians, when they have lived

up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institu-tions of civil society, beginning with the family. It was in this tradition that a group of prominent Christian clergy, ministry leaders, and schol-ars released the Manhattan Declara-tion on November 20, 2009 at a press conference in Washington, DC.

The 4,700-word declaration speaks in defense of the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. It issues a clarion call to Christians to adhere firmly to their convictions in these three areas.

I encourage you to read the “Manhattan Declaration” at: manhattandeclaration.org.

The church put up a statue—The likeness of our King.

She looked for the attentionThis mighty work would bring.

But the Lord looked down and frowned;Burned the statue to the ground,

Leaving us to try to sayWhy things in life turn out this way.

~ “Yours Truly” (Poet Laureate hardly yet)

Collin serves as a Coast Guard Senior Chief in the Washington D.C. area. He was nominated and chosen to attend Military Appreciation Night at The White House on the 4th of July. They enjoyed dinner, entertainment, music, a speech by the President and watching the fireworks on the South Lawn of The White House. The President and First Lady thanked the military members for their service to our Country. What an amazing experiance!

What a Independence Day Celebration for Collin & Sharalyn Croft

The Chair’s ChalkboardCall for Recommendations for Board of Elders

The purpose of the Board of Elders is to guide the church so that its life and ministry is pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ and so that it fulfills the mission in the world today (I Peter 5:1-4). Qualifications for being an Elder include church membership, character (I Timothy 3:1-7), agreement with the our State-ments of Beliefs, faithful at-tendance, and possess training (eg., LEAD class) and service in leadership. We are seeking recommendations for consider-ation to add new members to the Board of Elders for 2011. Names of potential elders may be initially proposed to the Board of Elders by any member of the church. If you would like to be considered, or would like to recommend a member of our church, please contact me prior to August 21 (drdj.gray@verizon.net; 562-596-3000).

Update on Transition Steering Committee

Pastor Don has announced his plans to transition towards retirement (Letter 4/28/2010). Your church leadership has taken charge by forming a Tran-sition Steering Committee to guide Grace Community Church through this challenging time.

So farThe committee has met

formally several times, continues extensive e-mail communication and has communicated with church transition consultants to learn the challenges of this pro-

cess. We have now interviewed more than sixty individuals, staff and members, to get input on what we as a church are doing right and what we are missing. If you would like to share your views please contact one of the members of this committee, in-cluding myself, Bob Wissmann, Mark and Kathy Berry, Karin Greene, Jim Preusch, and Scott Klingsporn. The response has been excellent and some com-mon themes have emerged.

We’ve heard we are righteous in our Bible-based teaching and faithful to the Gospel. We were told our youth ministries are strong and our community in-volvement significant. Of course, there is our wonderful music ministry and powerful VBS.

On the other hand, we heard

we need to inspire more ser-vanthood and volunteerism, develop a more coordinated fellowship/small group minis-try, get young families involved again, and be more open to new ways of doing things. The Transi-tion Steering Committee shared these themes with the church leadership at their most recent meetings.

Look for more information as we gather the last of the interviews and sort through the information we receive.

Coming upThe Transition Steering Commit-

tee makes recommendations to the Board of Elders for consid-eration. We have made recom-mendations on some issues. We’ve decided for planning

purposes, not to limit ourselves to a defined transition period. We’ve proposed, and the Board of Elders has agreed, to hire a consultant to assist us and to make the most of other church-es’ transition experiences. And we’re planning a Strategic Plan-ning Conference on September 25, 2010. We expect to emerge from that conference unified around a clear mission as a church and with direction for ministries to then develop their specific strategies as well.

We are prayerfully moving for-ward aware of the tremendous opportunity and responsibility this transition time provides.

Please consider how you want to be involved and help us do it well, keeping our focus on Him.

“And God placed all things under

his feet and appointed him to be head over everything

for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything

in everyway.”Ephesians 1:22-23

David GrayElder Board

Support our troops news

Lead On! (A Word from Leadership)GET INVOLVED!!

During our survey of the congregation one of the frequently mentioned concerns was about a perceived lack of volunteerism. I thought I would share my thoughts on this issue.

One of the measures of a healthy church is a high level of involvement of the congregation on a volunteer basis. A congregation that is gen-erous with its time and talents is invested in the church. Conversely, a church that relies too much on paid staff lacks that sense of involvement of the congregation in the life of the church.

I believe that in his or her heart every member of our congregation feels the call to serve. So why is the lack of volunteerism an issue? Perhaps we don’t do a good enough job communicating to the congrega-tion ALL the different ministries with opportunities to serve. Perhaps we don’t do a good enough job of identifying the unique gifts of each member of the congregation and ASKING for your involvement. Maybe some of you feel you are just too busy. Or maybe there is a hesitation

because you are fearful of the level of involvement.

As you know, we have been chal-lenged financially in recent months and you have responded by investing your treasure in your church. Thank you! Now you are being called to invest your time and talents. We in leadership of the church are re-com-mitting our own efforts to facilitate the opportunities of our member-ship to serve in whatever capacities they feel most called. We are striving to do a better job in communicating the needs and the opportunities for volunteer service. In turn, I am asking you: How can you get involved?

We have all been given spiritual gifts to use for the glory of God and the church. What are yours and how can God use you? Do you enjoy working with children? Children’s Ministry is in need of volunteers who can teach, assist, or work in the nursery. Can you play an instru-ment or do you enjoy singing? Join the worship team or choir. Do you have the gift of administration? The church office can use you. Do you have the gift of compassion?

Perhaps you would want to get involved in Stephens Ministries. Are you a woman who would be willing to help a younger woman by walking alongside of her and making her road just a little easier? Become a mentor. We are currently in need of Scripture readers, greeters and ush-ers as well.

There are many ministries within the church that need your expertise and your gifts. Children’s ministries, Women’s and Men’s ministries, Worship, Support our Troops, Youth Groups, Social Concerns and so many more.

I encourage you today to pray about where you can serve best and then talk to any of the church leadership about what you can do to invest in your church. Feel free to contact me at (562) 884-4931 or email me at MVBERRY@aol.com for more information.

Kathy BerryLeadership

Council

There were two significant events for the Support Our Troops team in June. The first occurred on June 14, Flag Day, at Laurel Park in Los Alamitos. On that day the “Banners of Honor” organization unveiled an extensive set of "heroes" ban-ners that were to be displayed on flag stanchions Katella Ave. in the vicinity of the Joint Forces Training Base. "Banners Of Honor" is a Los Alamitos organization that honors our soldiers with a visible display they can see when they enter/leave the base. The Grace Community Church outreach ministry and sup-port Our Troops jointly sponsored a "SELFLESS" banner, which seems a most appropriate salute to our deploying and returning soldiers. At the ceremony, Judy & Ed Hull

represented the church and did the actual unveiling.

The second event on June 26 was the packing and sending of "care packages" to the soldiers of the 224 Sustainment Brigade, California National Guard. This Long Beach unit arrived in Iraq in early June and their chaplain, ILT James Kim, had quickly requested our as-sistance with such critical supplies as sun block and disinfectant wipes. The Support Our Troops team of 21 packers--from the surround-ing communities and the congregation-- assembled 320 care packages for male and female soldiers, and packed them into 44 boxes for mailing. The shipping

team then took them to the post of-fice the following Tuesday. This was the third--and largest--shipment of care packages this year.

Another shipment is anticipated in early August at the latest, per-haps even before this newsletter is published.

Flag Day Photo credit: Brian Smith of the News Enterprise

a

from the Editor...Hello Everyone and welcome to August!

It is finally heating up and feeing like Summer time. August is definitely quieter around campus then July. Of course we were all en-thralled with the 260 VBS children for the week of controlled chaos and fun. There were 120 wonderful volunteers who were willing to fit this week into their busy schedules and even take vacation time from work. These fantastic folks give the mes-sage to the little ones that Jesus loves them, will never leave them and He is with them everyday. The Fellowship Hall was transformed to the magical place of SonQuest Rain-forest. Thanks to everyone who par-ticipated in any way, to each of you, we also are blessed by this week and we appreciate all that you do for our children and our community. It is an awesome experience and even if ONLY ONE child accepted Christ this week, it would still be worth it all. Thousands of thanks to all who participated!!!

August 1 is the Ocean Baptism at about 12:30pm. If you have been thinking about being baptized, this is the way to go. There is a class at 11am to attend, then off to the beach to be baptized in the waves. The whole church family is invited down to the water to share with those who are being baptized. It is a great day to become part of the Family of Christ, enjoy each other’s company and be at the sea. Come down and get dunked for Jesus.

Pie Night is planned for Friday evening, August 27 from 7-9pm. Mark your calendars and plan to attend this great event organized by two of our young ladies from our youth group. Mary Morimoto and Stephanie Hidalgo are planning an evening of dessert and worship in the Fellowship Hall for the whole church family. Mary and Stephanie are friends and neighbors; they wor-ship together, go to Sunday school together and are 13 years old. The girls came up with the concept and have orchestrated the event with

the support of our Community Min-istries Director Vicki Barilla. You are encouraged to bring a home-made pie or cobbler to share and the church will supply the ice cream. An optional pie contest will be held and you may enter your dessert to have a chance at taking home the blue ribbon! They will have sign ups on Sunday mornings from July 25 to August 22.

Ok Grace Buddies, that’s all for this month. I pray you have a won-derful, relaxing August and enjoy your time with family and friends. Make lots of memories to cherish when the days get cold and gloomy so your heart will be lighter.

See you around Grace,Millie Grazie

& Ciao,Elena Grana

Recently, our own, Harry Saltz-gaver, completed and launched with the former Long Beach City Mayor, his first book, “Passionately Positive: The Beverly O’Neill Story, Leader-ship Through Inspiration”.

It shares the impact of alcohol-ism on the author and the father of his subject. It communicates recov-ery and the significant contribution to the AA movement in Long Beach by Beverly’s parents. The Flossie Lewis Recovery Center, was named for her mother who never had a drink in her life.

It shares Beverly O’Neill’s lead-ership style of caring about those around her, their ideas, and their contributions on every level. Bev-erly O’Neill worked with everyone from the custodian when she was President of Long Beach City Col-

lege, to President Bill Clinton when she was Mayor of Long Beach. “She would treat everyone with the same respect and concern”, a quote in the book from one of her colleagues.

In the words of the author, “Bev-erly describes her leadership style as facilitative. She said she tries to bring people together behind a com-mon vision, and to facilitate ways to get things done. And is relentlessly positive.”

Congratulations and thank you, Harry and Mayor O’Neill for sharing such a significant and inspirational life story.

In addition to being Executive Editor\Associate Publisher of the Long Beach Gazette Newspapers, Harry is active here at Grace and in community service through out the Greater Long Beach area. Harry

has conducted a Writers Workshop at Grace and has participated with Baja Christian Ministries. We also previously featured Harry, as the President of the Long Beach Parks and Recreation Commission, a national award winning program. Harry currently serves on the board of Precious Lamb Preschool, serving homeless children and families in Long Beach.

Harry and his wife Maria started attending Grace in 2000. We are grateful to have them both using their time, tal-ents and abili-ties to honor others, serve the community and our church.

A Sneak Peak of Harry Saltzgavers First Book

SONQUEST RAINFORESTVacation Bible School 2010

July 12 - 16

Vacation Bible School 2010 was a blast! God’s love was shown to 260 children in attendance. Than you

to everyone for helping make VBS run so smoothly. Hope to see you at next years Son Surf! Surf’s Up! Ms. Cindyana Jones

We will see you next year for SonSurf Beach Blast!

July 11-15, 2011

Who: Everyone is welcome!

(Childcare provided for babies and toddlers) What:

A night of dessert, music and fun Where:

Grace Community Church in the main sanctuary When:

Friday, August 27 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM *There is no admission but please try to bring a homemade

pie or cobbler. The church will supply the ice cream.*

A pie contest will be held! Bring your

favorite homemade pie and enter to win

the blue ribbon!

To sign up and for more information please visit us at our table on Sunday morning from July 25 to August 22.

Produced by Mary Morimoto and Stephanie Hidalgo with

our Community Ministry

The Good News of Grace is a monthly publication of Grace Community Church, 138 8th Street, Seal Beach. We welcome your articles or informa-tion. Please submit all materials to the church office no later than the second Tuesday of each month. Elena Grana, Editor; Brian Morgan, Supervisor; Christa Heideman, Assistant Editor, Graphic Production, Print Production; Dorothy Wineman, Graphic Production

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

August 2010

High School 7:00pm

Sr High Catalina Trip

“11am Worship Band” Practice 7pm

Sr High Catalina Trip

“11am Worship Band” Practice 7pm

Fitness Class 9:30am

Jr. High School 6:30pm

Wms Bible Studies 6:45pm

Crossroads (20s) 6:45pm

Guys College Group 8pm

Praise Team Practice 8pm

“11am Worship Band” Practice 7pm

“1st Tuesday” w/ Don 7:30am

Fitness Class 9:30am

Jr. High School 6:30pm

Adult Bible Studies 6:45pm

Crossroads (20s) 6:45pm

Guys College Group 8pm

Praise Team Practice 8pm

Afternoon with Sam & Tracey Schwartz and David Bayne 4:00pm

Summer on the Lawn

Sr High Catalina Trip

Fitness Class 9:30am

Jr. High School 6:30pm

Wms Bible Studies 6:45pm

Crossroads (20s) 6:45pm

Guys College Group 8pm

Praise Team Practice 8pm

Sr High Catalina Trip

Fitness Class 9:30am

Jr. High School 6:30pm

Crossroads (20s) 6:45pm

Guys College Group 8pm

Praise Team Practice 8pm

High School 7:00pm

“11am Worship Band” Practice 7pm

Ocean Baptism

Summer on the Lawn

Summer on the Lawn

Summer on the Lawn

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8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29

17 18 19 20

3130

High School 7:00pm

Office Closed

Pie Night 7pm

High School 7:00pm

Office Closed

Office Closed

Sr High Catalina Trip

Fitness Class 9:30am

Jr. High School 6:30pm

Crossroads (20s) 6:45pm

Guys College Group 8pm

Praise Team Practice 8pm

High School 7:00pm

Fitness Class 9:30am

Fitness Class 9:30am

Fitness Class 9:30am

Sr High Catalina Trip

Fitness Class 9:30am Office Closed

SWOT Analysis 9am

Support Our Troops 12:30pm

Summer on the Lawn

Grace 101 6pm