Clarksville, TN - Grace Community Church

I was reflecting the other day (which is something I seem to do a lot lately) on my life and the way God has used me to impact my two sons. I have been an "intentional" parent. I know all parents are intentional in what they do, but what I mean is that I have specifically parented with an intended purpose; to mold young men who passionately love and serve God with their lives. As I think about the men they are becoming, by God’s grace, that goal is being accomplished. The thought occurred to me, however, that as much as I’ve tried to teach them directly and indirectly; by word or by modeling, much of life is learned by experience. With that thought, I realized there are life principles I know not because someone taught me, but because I lived them.

These are things I want my boys to know, but I don’t think I ever taught them:

1. There are some things in life you will never understand and I can’t explain them to you.

2. The lust for a woman can destroy your life. Be careful.

3. You need other men in your life. I can only take you so far. Always surround yourself with men you aspire to be like and let them invest in you.

4. You need to invest in other men; especially those younger than you.

5. Be willing to risk everything to follow God’s call on your life now; while you are young. (Then never get too old for this principle.)

6. Always be a dreamer. It keeps you young; plus your dreams for your life will never be bigger than God’s vision for your life.

7. The greatest things in life money can’t buy.

I may think of more, but these are on my heart today.

What do you wish you could teach your children?

 From Ron's personal blog at www.ronedmondson.com

Today in staff our website came up in the discussion.

Our site is pretty sweet for a church site (sad to say). But we try to stay on top of things here at Grace and discussed what is currently on there, what we need to update, what works, what doesn't, etc.

Anyway, it got me thinking about different sites- how some sites just pop and how some sites simply don't. There always seems to be an 'X' factor to those that grab you. This is usually something only a great designer can create. But then you've got the content that needs to be injected to give it a soul. Below I've listed some sites I use regulary, mainly due to their content, not design. A designer I dig is Pixel Peach - go check them out. They do sites that pop for sure, but I usually use sites that give me good content.

Anyway- I'm curious to know some of your favorite sites --- and why.

Daniel

Yesterday we tried to get a jump on the Christmas season by encouraging us to have a more childlike faith.  Check the message out on the podcast:  http://gcc.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=403809

 Ron shared 5 tips to help us have a more spirit-filled Christmas:

 1. Use this season to change your priorities where needed.

2. Consider what you have now. Most of us are pretty blessed.

3. Find a way to serve others this holiday season. It is the season of giving.Giving, especially if you don’t have to, has a way of bringing joy to your heart.

4. Make Christmas less of a spending spree this year. There could actually be good to come from a down economic time if you start to clean up financial mistakes of the past and started living more responsibly with your finances.

5. Incorporate Jesus into your celebration. Seems to me that makes a lot of sense. It’s His birthday.

Ron also posted a reply to his message on his personal blog at

This Sunday we are in between series. The title of the message is "Broke for Christmas". I’ll keep you guessing on where we are going with that.  If you want to prepare yourself, however, read Matthew chapters 18 and 19.  It’s going to be an awesome day.  Why not invite that neighbor, relative or co-worker you’ve been thinking needs a church home? Who knows?  They may actually join you! 

Cheryl and I were able to see "The Diviners", a Rossview High School play, last night. This is an excellent performance and lots of the students in it attend Grace! Our own LuEllyn Wilcox, Rossview's drama teacher and member at Grace is the plays director. If you want some great, inexpensive entertainment this weekend, check out this play. It will be shown Friday and Saturday night (Oct 31/Nov 1) at 7 pm each night. This is also a great way to support the school that is so gracious to us as a church.

Ron

Woke up at 5:20 this morning just trying to get out of bed and head to this men's gathering and small group environment called Men's Fraternity. The first thing that popped in my head was a small whisper saying, you have remix tonight, does it really matter, why do you do this, is it really making a difference? It was quick, it was quiet but it was filled with dread and self doubt. I quickly screamed back, in my head of course, YES IT MATTERS, THIS MATTERS and went on about the morning. Do you have these thought? I have had them my entire time of following Jesus. Even as a volunteer it seems Satan has wanted to fill my mind with doubt about my worth, my effort for the Kingdom, the value of serving others. No matter how close I am walking with God these thoughts come and attack and I have had to learn to rest in the fact that this is all God's plan and I am His servant and He cares more about His kingdom advancing than I do. For all of you serving kids and teens, please fight back against self doubt. Please rest in the fact that God is using you to advance His Kingdom. Just as yourself these questions...

What is the most important thing about a human soul? If it is that they have a relationship with God then move forward with confidence...

Is investing in the lives of kids and teens important? If you say yes, then move forward with confidence...

Is spending your time, money, faith, and, career advancing the Kingdom of God worth it? If yes, then move forward with confidence...

Do you believe in the mission and process of your organization (your school, church, young life group, fca, community group, business, or church)? If yes, then move forward with confidence...

Jesus said in John 10:10 about Satan, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Choose life today and move forward with confidence.

 michael bayne

director of family ministries

Well, where do you plan to plug in next Sunday? What ministry are you thinking about jumping into? I mentioned yesterday about some of our need for volunteers at Grace. I also said that to live the Glife you gotta serve. So, it's a beautiful thing...Grace needs you and you need to serve. So...where do you serve? At GCC we believe that to be a Christ follower you need to be about three main things...Gathering with fellow believers in worship, Committing to meeting each week in a

Community Group, and Serving the Church, community and the world.

Operation Serve was only a month ago and I still hear people talking about it. What a great opportunity to serve together! But the need does not end there. There is much to be done year round, on Sundays at Rossview and many other opportunities in the community. What would happen if a flood of people saw need in the community and stepped up and filled it? You may ask 'where can I serve'? Pray and ask God to open your eyes to opportunities around you. I am certain He would love to plug you in to His mission whether at GCC or who knows where.