Sunday Worship Update

Sundays at Grace Church

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Phil 4: 6-7

Hello Grace Family!

This Sunday, March 15th we are going to worship online only. The pastoral staff as well as a few folks directly involved in the service will be physically at the church but due to how rapidly the coronavirus is spreading, to new protocols put in place by our local government, to how vulnerable so many of our congregants are to infection and complications, to a lack of information regarding just how widespread this virus is among the population of North Texas, and most importantly due to the grace and love of God we are taking this extraordinary measure for the safety of our neighbors and ourselves. The service can be accessed by clicking on this link https://www.graceumcdallas.org/grace-live-stream or by going to our website.

The next several weeks are going to be different in the life of Grace Church. It is a disruption in our routine. Disruptions invite us to panic. Let us calmly resist that temptation and instead turn our hearts and minds to the peace of God. Let us be thankful that there are so many ways to minister to each other during this time, even from a distance.

I would like to take a moment to thank Adam for his incredible work in rewriting the Order of Worship for Sunday and for the foresight to set up and run the livestream. Thanks to him we are able to worship together. Thanks to God time and space will not separate us from each other or from the boundless love of our Creator.

When I think about the 117 years that Grace Church has stood as a witness to God’s love I am reminded that our history has been filled with all kinds of disruptions: the Spanish Flu of 1918, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the HIV/ AIDS crisis. This is certainly not a comprehensive list. Through all of this the people of Grace Church have followed God and have spread the Good News. I bet we can all agree that the world needs some Good News right now!

What a joy that God invites us to share it. I invite you to do three things:

First, this Sunday morning at 10:50am grab a blanket to throw over your PJs, get a cup of coffee, tea or hot cocoa, and join us in worship. Once again the service can be accessed by clicking on this link: https://www.graceumcdallas.org/grace-live-stream

Second, help spread the word to the Grace family that we are switching to online worship only. Call or text your friends, especially those of us who are not online often.

Finally, join me in prayer. Let us give thanks to God for peace that surpasses all understanding. Let us be thankful that God releases us from anxiety and fear. Let us give thanks for the ability to worship online and for a God who is not bound by physical distance or by pandemics. Let us dream up ways to serve God, serve each other and to proclaim the Good News to a world that needs to hear it. How is God calling us to serve in this unique circumstance? Let’s answer that together as we worship God together.

Grace and Peace, Rev. Jonathan Grace