Fall Kick Off

Dear Family of Grace,

Thanks much for all your prayers during my sabbatical. Judi and I had a GREAT time! I’m looking forward to sharing with you in the days to come how our great God met us, blessed us, encouraged us and challenged us. We are excited to jump back into our Grace family and continue to serve together with you.

And talking about jumping in... our 2008 Fall Kick-Off is just a few days away. If you have not yet let us know that you want our BBQ’d chicken lunch with all the fixins for you and your family, we'd like to hear from you RIGHT NOW, as this will help us in our planning! You can respond to this email or call the church office (543.2358) and let us know you're coming. You can pay for lunch at the Kick-Off.

Here are some details that you need to know as we approach Sunday.

Who are you inviting? It’s not too late. . . in fact, now is the perfect time to invite those friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and classmates. Pray first and then go for it. Leave the results to God. Invite them to sit and eat with you. We've attached an invite card that you can print or email.

What to Wear and Bring: Dress for the day is very casual. Chair seating and lots of shade will be provided. If your family would prefer to sit on the grass under the trees, bring your own beach chairs and/or blankets. As in past years, we will have the slip-and-slide going, so bring those swimsuits for the kids. Also, again this year, we will have a tie-dye activity center as part of our fun zone. If your children wish to participate, please bring $2 or a plain white t-shirt for them to tie-dye.

Parking & Arrival: Plan to be early for our 10:00 AM Worship Service. We really want to encourage you to park in the Pacific Street Parking Structure in order to free up street parking for visitors, guests, the elderly and those with special needs. Our Welcome Team will fill out a name tag (red for guests less than one year, blue for regulars) and they will hand you a worship folder. Find a place to sit and greet those around you, looking specifically for those red name tags. A baby changing station will be located in the shade near Osos St. New moms, feel free to hang out there. To minimize distractions, we ask that you keep your kids away from the playground during the worship service. They will have the remainder of the day to have fun and enjoy the park.

Worship Service: Worshipping outdoors is a blast, but can also be quite a challenge. Be praying for this crucial time. Pastor Tim will be starting a new series on The Gospel for Real Life. It should be sweet!!!

Lunch: If you haven't pre-purchased your lunch ticket, you will do that first. Tickets are $5 with a $25 max. per family. Then you will proceed through the food line. Use the lines to chat with others and welcome those visitors and guests around you. We want to make sure that no red name tags eat alone, so if you meet them in line invite them to sit with you.

Fun Zone and Afternoon Activities: After lunch, we encourage you to stick around, wander the park and have a good time, even if you don't have children in the fun zone. There will be fun activities for all ages to watch and play throughout the day. The afternoon is also a great time to deepen relationships with those you don’t know as well and to meet someone new. My guess is that there will be a lot of people joining us that you don’t know that well.

Thanks also to the many of you who are helping serve on this special day! I’m looking forward to celebrating the Gospel with you this Sunday at 10am. Pray that all feel welcomed, included, encouraged and challenged. Most of all, let’s pray that the Lord is lifted high.

To our great God’s glory, Pastor Ken