Greetings GraceLife!

This is a season that is culturally child-focused, with a secular Santa, a jolly generous character who magically appears on the “night before Christmas”, leaving wondrous gifts to delight each child. It’s joyous to know that Christians celebrate something even better but with similar themes – a Christ child comes into our world, the Greatest Gift ever given, bringing to us the gift of salvation for all eternity. Praise God! As Lori Griffith mentioned in her reflections this week, it was a special joy last Sunday when, during Pastor Keith’s Children’s Minute, he asked about the “greatest superhero” and our children happily answered with “Jesus!” The little ones “get it”. We hope you do, too!   The following reminders/announcements may help you as you make your plans for the season. (Note: ML is Mount Lockwood; MB is Mount Beneva.)


Dec 10th – Bible Study, Sisters in Prayer, BLAZE Youth at MB, 7pm

Dec 11th – Ladies’ Bible Study at MB, 10:15am – noon; Deep End,
Dinner/Bible Study at ML, 7pm 

Dec 13th – Men’s Bible Study at MB, 8am; Women’s Christmas Luncheon at
MB, 11:30am; Salvation Army Bell-Ringing at the Publix at 501 N. Beneva
(just south of GraceLife). Thank you to those who volunteered!

Dec 14th – at MB
  • 9am worship service -- including celebration of the Lord’s Table
  • 10:30am worship service -- including celebration of the Lord’s Table
  • 10:30 – 11:30am -- Christian Education (CE) classes
  • 4-6pm, our BLAZE Youth group will meet in the Loft.
Also, please remember that Target or Walmart $25 gift cards for our Christmas Blessings program are due this Sunday, Dec 14th. You may bring them to the Connection Center.

Dec 21st – GLKids Reason for the Season Celebration, 3-5pm at the MB Gym!

Dec 24th – Plan to spend Candlelight Service time with us on Christmas Eve at either 4:30 or 6pm! “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. " (1 John 1:7)

See below for more details!

Last Sunday we enjoyed our initial First Sunday Lunch together as GraceLife! Thank you to everyone who helped out by bringing yummy side dishes to share, to those who helped with tables/chairs setup/cleanup, to those who helped prepare and serve food, and to those who helped by attending and
enjoying the food and fellowship! We hope this is the first of many opportunities to share time together and build relationships to honor Him!

Sunday mornings at Mount Beneva…
  • If you need a handicapped space in our parking lot, but none is available, please let our parking lot attendants know so that we may address the shortage
  • The Lobby is the place for:
    • Greeters to assist you and Connection Center for bulletins/programs, sign-ups, books, t-shirts,…). Some sign-ups have been placed on a separate table since the Connection Center desk can get cluttered.  Please ask if you don’t see what you’re looking for.
    • New name tag requests continue to be processed. We make your new tag, then place it in the appropriate drawer in the corner bank of drawers.
    • Coffee, snacks, plus some pastries are provided for your enjoyment.  They will be refreshed throughout the morning by our Hospitality teams. Please bring only lidded beverages into the Auditorium/Sanctuary. (We ask that you avoid taking food into the Auditorium/Sanctuary.)
  • There are two services in our Auditorium/Sanctuary – one at 9am and one at 10:30am; Christian Education (formerly known as Sunday School) classes are held from 10:30 – 11:30am. Adult CE classes are held in the Gym; Youth CE classes are held in the Loft; Children’s classes are in the Children’s Wing.
  • During the worship services, you’ll find Connect Cards in the under seat bin of the chairs. Please use these for most any information about yourself you want to provide (contact info, interests, prayer needs,…)

Usual Wednesday evening activities at Mount Beneva (starting at 7pm) this week (December 10th) will include the Adult Bible Study in Room 105, our Sisters in Prayer in the Fellowship Corner, and our Youth in the Gym Loft.  For the Adult Bible Study time, led by Elder Jeff Lawson, we will finish the first chapter of Judges as well as the first 5 verses of Judges chapter 2. Tim Keller (author) notes that compromise starts subtly - Israel thought coexistence was harmless. Why is spiritual compromise so often slow and almost unnoticeable at first? What examples does Keller give showing that small compromises eventually become destructive? We will attempt to cover pages 22-28 of his book, “Judges For You”.

A Ladies’ Bible Study/Grace Group will meet this Thursday, December 11th, 10:15am – noon, in Room 105, at our Beneva campus. The focus of the study is the book of Psalms and is led by Linda Swartz.

Later Thursday, December 11th, the Deep End/Grace Group will meet at 7pm for dinner and study at our Lockwood campus, led by Cindy Lanoue-Foster.

December 13th  – Our first “merged” Women’s Christmas Luncheon begins at 11:30am!  We hope that you’ve signed up and will be able to join us!

Also on December 13th, through our Missions Committee, we’ll be serving the needs of our community on behalf of the Salvation Army’s Christmas Bell-Ringing campaign. We are very grateful that all our service slots are now filled!

December 14th – THIS SUNDAY we will celebrate our Lord’s Table/Lord’s Supper, Communion (you may hear it called by many names) during both worship services. It is more than an act of worship for an individual; it is a communal meal that expresses our unity: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17).

More for this Sunday, December 14th… We’ll offer two Adult Christian Education (CE) classes, from 10:30 – 11:30am, in the Gym, at Mount Beneva as Elder Mike Hamel continues the study of the Sermon on the Mount (formerly led by Elisha Fowler, who has now returned to lead our Youth during this time). Elder Jeff Lawson will continue to lead a study of Biblical Love with a secondary resource of Jonathan Edward’s book “Charity and Its Fruits”.

Youth fellowship opportunities! We have a student ministry program just for you: Christian Education hour Sunday mornings from 10:30-11:30am; then 4-6pm Sunday evenings; and, mid-week Wednesday evenings from 7-8pm. You can also join this GraceLife group by clicking this link. https://gracelife-sarasota.churchcenter.com/groups/unique/blaze-youth

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Some in our GraceLife family, notably Brenda Castleyoung and Betty Tucker, create beautiful greeting cards for various occasions. If you’d like to participate in some card-making and fellowship, please call Brenda Castleyoung, 443-254-5422. They are meeting on Tuesdays at 11am – 1pm in Room 105 at MB. Also, if you have cards you’d like to donate for re-purposing, you may leave them at the Beneva office in a bag/container marked for Brenda. Thank you!

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We are initiating an effort to pair up those in need of a ride on Sunday mornings with those who can provide a ride. This Sunday you will see a table in the lobby of MB to collect information on those who have ride needs.  In terms of a near-term need, please respond directly to this email.

Beyond this week, here are some upcoming events for your planning purposes. Another great way to learn more about events is to visit our website gracelifesarasota.com and select EVENTS and choose Calendar or Featured Events. Check it out!

December 21st  – A seasonal party for GLKids will be celebrated at the MB Gym, from 3-5pm.  Please check out the flyer in our MB lobby for details.

December 24th – As you look ahead to Christmas Eve, please consider spending a portion of that special evening in worship with us for a Candlelight Service. We will having both a 4:30pm and a 6pm service.

January 4th, 2026!!  – Our first First Sunday Luncheon of the New Year!  Please mark your calendars to join us immediately after the 10:30am worship service for food and fellowship in our Gym at MB.  More details to follow!

As a reminder: Our finances will be equitably shared for the remainder of this calendar year, leading to a merged system for 2026. You may continue to provide tithes and offerings in the manner you are accustomed through 2025.  As we enter 2026, you’ll want to identify your giving recipient as “GraceLife Sarasota” by whatever payment mechanism you use. Also note that Givelify will no longer be available, so the few of us who use Givelify will need to use a different giving option (through our website, Church Center, checks, recurring payment through our banks,…). Now is the time to plan!