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Greetings GraceLife!

Happy Spring Break week for students and parents alike!  We hope this is a time of a spring-like renewal for you and your family!

Here is our quick look at events coming up this week and a look ahead as well.  We hope this helps you plan your week!   

Mar 17th  – Adult Bible Study at MB, 7pm, Room 105

Mar 18th – Sisters in Prayer (MB Fellowship Corner) and BLAZE Youth (MB Loft), 7pm

Mar 19th

  • Women’s Bible Study at MB, 10:15am - noon, Room 105
  • Deep End Dinner and Bible Study at ML, 7pm

Mar 21st – Saturday Men’s Bible Study at MB, Gym Classroom, 201C, 8-9am

Mar 22nd at MB 

  • 8:15 – 8:30am – prayer time with our leadership
  • 9am worship service
  • 10:30am worship service 
  • 10:15 – 11:30am -- Adult Christian Education (CE) and BLAZE Youth classes
  • 10:45 – 11:30am -- GL Kids -- infant-5th grade classes
  • 2:00 – 4:00pm – GLKids Easter Event, Gym
  • 4:00 – 6:00pm – BLAZE Youth  

Note:  Leading up to our Mar 22nd Easter Children’s Event, we ask for donations of plastic eggs, individually-wrapped candy, and small prizes.  A donation bin is available in our lobby. Please provide your donation by Friday, Mar 20th.   We are also seeking volunteers for the event.  If you can serve this need, please speak with Jackie or Lorraine.

Mar 29th – Palm Sunday Baptisms at MB (at both services)

Apr 3rd – Good Friday service at MB, 6:30pm

Apr 5th – Resurrection Sunday at MB!

  • Easter sunrise service, 6:30am, outside
  • Easter worship services at 9am and 10:30am

Sharing a few thoughts – 

“Shortcut to the Throne”, Pastor Joe’s message this past Sunday, was based on God’s Word from 1 Samuel 24: 1-15, #18 in the series of the life of David, “A Sinner In Love With God”.  One (of many) “take-aways” was “don’t confuse opportunity with obedience”.  When we perceive our circumstances as being “in a cave”, our nature is to escape as soon as we see a way out regardless of what that escape entails.  Instead, scripture tells us that David, and later our Lord Jesus, resisted an “easy escape” in order to be obedient to the will of God.  As usual, Pastor Joe’s message is filled with scriptural riches we don’t want you to miss.  If you DID miss this one, you are encouraged to listen (and perhaps listen again!) through our website (gracelifesarasota.com), under “Messages”.  

More event/activity details –

Mar 17th – Our Adult Bible Study at MB meets on Tuesday nights, 7pm, in Room 105! Study leader Jeff Lawson’s focus is the book of Judges, using Tim Keller’s “Judges for You” as a secondary source. Tonight we will be looking at Judges 7:1-8. The questions to ponder are these.  Where is your trust? In the personality of the pastor? In the gifts of the under-shepherds? In the style of the worship? In the size of the congregation? What lessons can we glean from Gideon’s army?

Mar 18th -- Our Sisters in Prayer and BLAZE Youth meet on Wednesday nights at MB, 7pm. SIP meets in the Fellowship Corner; Youth meets in the Gym Loft. 

Mar 19th  

  • Women’s Bible Study at MB, 10:15am - noon.  This study of Ephesians is led by Beth Lawson and meets in Room 105.  No need to sign up, just join us!  
  • Deep End Dinner and Bible Study at ML, 7pm.

Mar 21st – Saturday Men’s Bible Study at MB, Gym classroom 201C, 8-9am, led by Lewis Rosove.  

Mar 22nd  –  We’d love to have you with us this Sunday for a morning of prayer and praise, worship and fellowship!  THIS Sunday, Mar 22nd, there will be an Easter event for our GLKids in the Gym from 2-4pm.  There is still time to donate plastic eggs, individually-wrapped candies, and small prizes for this event.  A bin is available through Friday, Mar 20th, in the lobby. If you’d like to volunteer to help with the event, please contact Jackie or Lorraine. 

 More details of our Sunday mornings are provided in paragraphs below.    

Sunday Mornings at Mount Beneva

  • Parking – Please let us know of any parking issues you may have.  
  • Lobby
    • Greeters are available to welcome and assist you.  Visit the Connection Center with questions,or for sign-ups, books, t-shirts and more!  Please stop by our table in the lobby by the sitting area for more! 
    • Nametag requests continue to be processed. Nametags can be located in the drawers by the sitting area.  
    • Coffee, snacks and pastries are provided for your enjoyment and are refreshed throughout the morning by our hospitality team. Please enjoy your food in the lobby and bring only lidded beverages into the auditorium/ sanctuary.  Thank you!
  • Open prayer time with our leadership is available to you, Room 105, 8:15 – 8:30am.
  • Worship services are held in the auditorium/sanctuary at 9 and 10:30 am. 
  • Christian Education classes are held from 10:15-11:30am for Adults in the Gym classrooms and our BLAZE Youth in the Loft;  and from 10:45-11:30am for Children in the children’s wing in the main building.  Our Adult CE classes currently offered are:
    • Sermon on the Mount led by Mike Hamel (Gym classroom 201B)
    • Biblical Love led by Jeff Lawson (Gym classroom 201C)
  • Connect Cards can be found under the seats in the auditorium/sanctuary and at the Connection Center. Use these to provide contact information, request contact from us, or ask for prayer.

Looking further ahead…

March 29th, 2026 (Palm Sunday) -- What a special day this will be!  Baptisms will be celebrated at both the 9am and 10:30am services.  We hope you will be able to join us to share in this amazing celebration of God’s Grace as His Kingdom grows at GraceLife!  

April 3rd, 2026 (Good Friday) -- We will be having a Good Friday service on April 3rd, starting at 6:30pm at MB.  

April 5th, 2026 (Resurrection Sunday – Easter!) -- On Easter Sunday at MB, we will offer an outside sunrise service at 6:30am in addition to our 9am and 10:30am worship services.  While our Hospitality team will be providing pastries/coffee on Easter Sunday as we normally do, we are not planning for a separate food event.

We continue to observe the season of Lent (a 40-day season of introspection, repentance, and spiritual discipline leading up to Easter). Pastor Keith is providing (through our website email) reflections during this season to help us ready our hearts for Easter

More upcoming events, so mark your calendars!

April 14th-15th – Giving Challenge

April 23-26 – Support to our Kairos Prison Ministry

April 26 – Visit from our New Hope Girls Ministry Leaders

July 18th – Day4Hope (D4H)

July 20th-24th – Vacation Bible School

Stewardship Thoughts 

Let us remember that we are receivers of God’s Grace in every circumstance, even in “caves”.  Yes, even in caves we can practice good stewardship by sharing our gifts, our energy, and talents to reach out to others with the good news of His Love in order to build His Kingdom.  Praise God! 

Ministry Spotlight

As we seek to remain faithful in difficult “cave” times, consider our missionaries who may be dealing with their own “caves”, perhaps far from family or dealing with a resistant local culture or failing to see the fruits of their labors in service to God’s Kingdom.  Please encourage them through your prayers, keeping in mind that our “caves” may look different from theirs, but we can pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ, that they would remain faithful and obedient to Him in spite of difficult times.      

Blaze Youth Student Ministry

Students in grade 6-12 are invited to join us in the Loft (upstairs MB Gym) during our weekly meeting times.

  • Sunday mornings 10:15-11:30am
  • Sunday evenings 4-6pm
  • Wednesday evenings 7-8pm

Other Group Prayer Opportunities

In addition to our Weekly Prayer Meetings on Sunday mornings and Monthly Prayer Meetings, we also have a prayer chain here at GraceLife, a way for many to pray for the needs of those in our GraceLife family.  

  • How do I request prayer for myself or others?  You may submit your requests for prayer through our Connect Cards, email, note, text, or verbal request to our leadership or member of our Admin Team, or to Cindy Lanoue-Foster or to me (Dreama).  We’ll then post your prayer request for distribution to those who have indicated their desire to be part of our prayer chain.  
  • How do I become part of the prayer chain?  Just indicate to a member of our Admin Team that you’d like to be part of the prayer chain OR sign up at the lobby’s sign-up table (by the seating area) and we’ll make that happen.  Prayer is powerful and we are privileged to pray for one another.

Ride Share Ministry

We have identified a few Sunday morning transportation needs within our GraceLife family and  now seek those who would consider providing a ride to those in need.  Some ride needs could be met by multiple people, while others could be met by a single provider.  A sign-up sheet is available in our lobby at MB for your information.

If you have a current need for or ability to provide for transportation, please email dreama@gracelifesrq.com. Thank you.

Hospitality Ministry

Volunteers are needed for the hospitality team! Please respond to this email if you are interested in helping prepare/serve food for our fellowship times!  

Children’s Ministry (Nursery)

Volunteers are also needed for our growing Nursery on Sunday mornings! We’re looking for volunteers with servant hearts to help care for our youngest members of the GraceLife family. If you’re interested in serving in the Nursery, stop by the Connection Center or contact Jackie. 

Reminder

Please identify your giving recipient as “GraceLife Sarasota”. If you have questions, please contact Randy Coryell or Dan Deems.