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Greetings GraceLife!

Pastor Joe’s message this past Sunday, #26 in the series “A Sinner in Love with God”, this one called “Relocated Trust”, based on 1 Samuel 27-28:2, focused our attention on a troubling time in David’s life.  He’s come to believe that staying in Israel will lead to his death at the hands of Saul, so he seeks refuge with the Philistines, enemies of Israel. He raids and conquers groups hostile to Israel, but deceives the Philistine King Achish by saying he is attacking Israelite territories.  By the world’s standards, he is acting pragmatically and achieving success!  However, he is guilty of trusting HIS plans and methods more than he trusts God’s will for him.  Pastor Joe urged us to consider our “trust alignment” and how that is influencing our decisions and our relationship with God and His people.   This powerful message in its entirety is available to you for reflection through our website (select “Messages”). 

Please note…

Our updated GraceLife Sarasota app is now available for your use!  Just download the app and enjoy our new features!  We’re excited to provide you with this connectivity option! 

Here is a quick look at events coming up this week and a look ahead as well.  

May 19th – Tuesday evening Adult Bible Study at MB, 7-8pm, Room 105.  Tonight, we will continue our study of the book of Judges.  We hope you’ll join us!  

 May 20th 

  • Sisters in Prayer at MB, 7pm, Fellowship Corner; no meeting of BLAZE Youth, but  new Student Ministry schedule coming soon!  
  • Our new Women’s home-based Bible Study, “Captivating”,  will NOT meet this week (it’s an every-other-week study), but will meet the following Wednesday, the 27th.  See Connie Daidone for details.   

May 21st 

  • Women’s Thursday morning Bible Study at MB, 10:15 - noon, has concluded its current study and will NOT meet again until a new series, “Women of the Old Testament”, begins on June 18th!
  • Deep End Dinner/Bible Study at ML, will NOT meet this week, but will reconvene next week!  

May 23rd – Saturday Men’s Bible Study at MB, Gym Classroom, 201C, 8-9am

May 24th  at MB

  • 8:15 – 8:30am – prayer time with our leadership in Room 105
  • 9am worship service in Auditorium/Sanctuary
  • 10:30am worship service in Auditorium/Sanctuary
  • 10:15 – 11:30am -- Adult Christian Education (CE) merged class in the Gym classrooms; BLAZE Youth classes in the Gym Loft
  • 10:45 – 11:30am -- GL Kids -- infant-5th grade classes    
Looking a little further ahead…!   

May 31st – Our next Monthly Prayer Meeting will be held in the MB Auditorium/Sanctuary from 4-5pm.  Come join us as we lift up our praise and petitions to our sovereign God!

June 7th – First Sunday Luncheon; you are encouraged to sign-up for the luncheon (sign-ups available in the MB Lobby as well as online) AND you are encouraged to bring a side dish to share.  You don’t cook?  No problem!  You are welcome to bring something pre-made at the grocery store – easy peasy!  We will be supplying the main dish (which is Mexican-inspired), but we’ll need accompanying side dishes to ensure we are able to feed our growing numbers – Praise God!   

July 18th – Day4Hope (D4H) – We need volunteers to support this event, both in the planning leading up to July 18th as well as the “day of”.  Please reach out to Cean Cerny or speak with someone at the Connection Center if you’ll be able to help.  You can sign up to help through the following link Day4HopeVolunteers2026

July 20th-24th – Vacation Bible School!  This summer, we will be offering an exciting VBS to GLKids AND children of Living Hope Church!  Of course, we need YOUR help!  Volunteer sign-up sheets are now available in our MB Lobby, along with a flyer providing more details about this wonderful opportunity to serve.  (Sign-ups are also available online – see just below.)  Volunteers are needed from 8am - 1pm.  

Stewardship Thoughts 

A relocation of trust, from God to the world, for certain areas of your life typically happens gradually, almost imperceptibly.  With trust in the world, stewardship often becomes: accumulation; anxiety; self-protection; comparison; or, exploitation.  With trust in God, stewardship is marked by:  gratitude; responsibility; generosity; humility; and, accountability.  Let’s remember that distorted stewardship emerges when trust shifts to worldly systems, possessions, or self-sufficiency; faithful stewardship flows from trusting God as the owner and provider of all that we have.  Let’s choose God.  

Ministry Spotlight

Ministries can also be understood through the lens of where trust is located.  When trust remains centered on God, ministry is marked by:  dependence; humility; prayer; obedience; sacrificial love; and faithfulness regardless of recognition.  When trust relocates to the world, ministry may become marked by:  image management; competition; celebrity culture; financial obsession; fear of losing influence; or compromise for acceptance.  Consider…, a world-centered ministry asks, “Are we succeeding by the world’s standards?”;a God-centered ministry asks, “Are we being faithful?”  Again, let’s choose God.      

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 4-5pm
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.
In addition to seeking volunteers for upcoming events, we also have on-going needs for volunteers in the following ministries…
  • 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 – We are so blessed that our Children’s Ministry continues to welcome more and more children to GraceLife!  That means that more and more volunteers are also needed for 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 our Children’s Ministry, please stop by the Connection Center or contact Jackie. 
  • Greeters and Connection Center - We are seeking more volunteers to serve as Greeters and at the Connection Center for both the 9am and 10:30am Sunday morning worship services.  Whether it’s a first-time visitor to GraceLife or a member of our GraceLife family, we want each person who enters our Lord’s house on Sunday morning to be warmly welcomed, to be assisted as needed, and to be, frankly, surprised at the evidence of abundant love at GraceLife.  If you are interested in serving in this way, please stop by the Connection Center and let us know.
More about our 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.  (As you’ll see later in this post, we need more Greeters and Connection Center volunteers!!  If you would like to serve in this way, please speak with someone at our Connection Center.)  Also, visit the Connection Center with questions, or for sign-ups, books, t-shirts and 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 have been merged into one (Better Together!) and are continuing the “Biblical Love” study.  The merged class meets in Gym classroom 201B/C.  Jeff Lawson and Mike Hamel share in teaching the class.

Connect Cards can be found in the auditorium/sanctuary and at the Connection Center.  Use these to provide contact information, request contact from us, or ask for prayer.  (An online version of the Connect Card is also available through our website.)

Reminder

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