Be a Spiritual Family

Grace Immanuel is not a group of people who have all decided to worship in the same place. We are a spiritual family. We are a household of faith. One of the great blessings of the New Covenant is that we are all one in Christ Jesus. We respect all ethnic backgrounds and desire to develop ministries that are geared toward fostering a climate of closeness and acceptance of all Christ’s people.

The Purpose

  • To deepen our Christian fellowship to a more intimate level
  • To insure that every member is made to feel a part of our spiritual family
  • To integrate regular attendees and new members into the life and fellowship of the church
  • To give greater opportunity to minister to one another
  • To give us opportunity in an intimate setting to share with another our burdens, struggles, and when appropriate our sins and weaknesses

The Structure

  • Each group has an appointed leader
  • Each group is kept relatively small in order to maximize closeness of fellowship
  • Due to the fact that we are spread apart geographically as a church family the groups are arranged accordingly
  • Each group meets usually meets once a month in homes (each group may decide not to meet at certain times of the year due to schedules)
  • Each member is be informed of the when and where of the meeting

The Format

  • Devotional
  • Prayer
  • Singing and Praise
  • Meal or Refreshments

The Groups

  • North: Leonard Vincent
  • South: Paul Smalley
  • Central: Jay Collier
  • Southwest: Pastor Jon Griswold
  • Southeast: Don Kelly and Katolo Mendmenda

If you want to be a part of a group please see Pastor Jon Griswold.

Throughout most of the year we have a monthly fellowship meal following the am service. This gives us the opportunity to spend time together as a church family and get to know those who visit with us. It is a pot-luck lunch and the way we ensure that we have enough for everyone is that all the members (and usually regular visitors) who stay bring enough that would be sufficient to feed their own family. Visitors are always welcome to join us even if they do not bring anything. Presently the preparation and clean up is shared by all the members grouped together according to where they live.

The purpose of this is to foster a greater sense of family in our church by planning informal, fun, relaxing, and memorable times together.

As a spiritual family we want to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Certainly two occasions in life that are times of rejoicing is marriage and the birth of a child. This is a ministry in the church that affords us opportunities to share that joy together by hosting wedding and baby showers at the church. Rebekah Nolan is presently in charge of this ministry. If you would like to help her in running this ministry, then please talk to her.

Even the most seemingly insignificant acts of service done in the name of Christ are noticed and will be rewarded by Him. Serving in the “trenches” of church nursery is not a “spot light” ministry but it is a needed ministry. It not only is a way to show Christ like love to the children but it is a way for members to show love for one another by allowing Mom and Dad to be a part of the worship service as much as possible. If we have enough people to shoulder the load of this ministry then we can make sure that people are not missing worship any more than is necessary. If you are not currently serving in the nursery and are able, please prayerfully consider playing a role in this ministry. If you are interested please see Janis Kelly.

The purpose of this ministry is to welcome visitors as they come in the door making them feel at home at GIRBC and providing them with a “visitors pack” that contains relevant information abut our church. It is also to help them and any children they may have to find their way to the appropriate Sunday School Class. It consists of making sure they are aware of the time of refreshment and fellowship between Sunday School and the worship service.

Grow in Grace and Truth

The Christian life is not a fifty-yard dash. It is not give it all you got for a few brief seconds and then it is over. It requires long-term commitment to run the race that is set before us. Therefore, it is one of the tasks of the local church to ground the saints in the faith so that they will be continually growing in Christ likeness.

Adult Sunday School is designed to cover the full spectrum of the great truths of the Christian faith and their application to our lives. There are a variety of classes offered in seeking to reach that goal. Though there is no such thing as separating Christian teaching from practical Christian living, some of the classes offered will involve a more intense study of the Scriptures concerning the doctrines of the Bible, Scriptural themes, particular books of the Bible, etc. Some will be more focused upon their application to specific areas of the Christian life and current issues. Several of these classes are considered staples of the Sunday School program and will be periodically offered. Some are offered based upon need and demand.

Adult Sunday School Schedule:

  • Fall-Spring: The first Sunday after Labor Day through the last Sunday of May
  • Summer: June-Aug

The congregation is informed of the classes that will be offered before the beginning of each new Sunday School year with any additional information such as books and workbooks.

This library is the first room to the left when you come through the front doors. There are several good books that are available to check out for your spiritual profit. Get familiar with this ministry, not only for your sake, but also in order to point others to resources that can be of help to them.

One Sunday afternoon a month Pastor Jeff Johnson and several young men gather at his home for food and fellowship. Afterward they openly, candidly and most of all biblically discuss issues related to staying sexually pure in a sensually oriented culture. This context provides the opportunity to be open and practice biblical accountability. If you are interested in being a part of this group then please see Pastor Jeff.

The purpose of this ministry is to foster spiritual growth and fellowship among Christians, particularly those who are high-school graduates through those just getting started with their careers. It meets once monthly in homes for Bible study on topics peculiarly relevant to the group involved, as well as fellowship over food and to sing hymns together. Occasionally other group activities are planned.

Stop by the church building any given Thursday and you will find a group of 12-14 women studying God’s Word together. The aromas of coffee and soup blend together invitingly, and in the background the squeals and laughter of children can be heard. The Thursday Morning Bible Study also known as ThuMBS meets at the church building after spending the last 7 years in member’s homes. Many of those years, we enjoyed the hospitality of Esther Kamps in her home. Joan Elzinga, the Bible study leader, felt a burden to launch this ministry in the Fall of 2002. There was no women’s Bible study at GIRBC. Joan was convinced that studying the Word together would bring the women of the church to a deeper level of heart-to-heart fellowship. So began ThuMBS. Over the years, a very special bond has formed between the ladies who attend.

There is also playtime and structured learning for the kids as Mom participates in the study and fellowship. Lisa Johnston spends an hour teaching a Christian preschool curriculum to the eight 3-5 year olds and Abby Eger follows up with 30 minutes of music. Volunteers watch the infants.

The Tuesday Evening Ladies Bible Study meets at the home of Ruth & Paul Moore in Kentwood. The study began last year when Rachel Johnston began a study with several ladies, using the book “Respectable Sins” by Jerry Bridges. This fall they began Bridge’s complementary book, “The Practice of Godliness.” Average attendance is 9, and as high as 12. Much time is spent in prayer and fellowship, and there has been a focus on the Gospel in simple and practical ways. This has especially provided ways to “increase our ability to share our faith with others, to teach Sunday school, to mentor, and to raise our children the way God intended,” one attendee shares. “We may not go to the mission field but we may have a godly influence on someone who will.”

The study has enabled many women to grow in grace and truth, in their worship of God, and in developing relationships with others in our spiritual family. Together, the ladies have also had the opportunity to demonstrate compassion through meal preparation and providing Christmas gifts to those in need. In all their diligence, they’ve had a little fun working on projects such as creating and adapting “Wordless Books”, “Resurrection Eggs”, and the “Jesse Tree” as ways to share our godly heritage!

So…do you sense a need for more practical instruction from scripture as to what it is to live as a Christian woman in this world? Are you feeling the need for an intimate setting where you share your burdens with other sisters in the Lord? Do you want to experience first hand that you are not the only one with these needs, and have others encourage you? Then experience a blessing and be a blessing by becoming a part of this ministry.

Each year a group of people set out to read a good Christian book a month. The books are bought once a year or are used from the church library. The cost of the new books purchased is split among those participating. Each month the books are exchanged among the group. At the end of the yearly cycle the new books are then given to help build up the church library. Any and every one is welcome to be a part of this. If you would like to participate please Karen Kwekel.

Take the Gospel to Grand Rapids

The Lord Jesus commissioned His Apostles to begin preaching the Gospel at Jerusalem. One of the lessons we ought to glean from that is that missions begin at home. There are hundreds and thousands of souls all around us in Grand Rapids. We want to take the gospel to them with love and zeal.

On July 4th each year a group heads to downtown Grand Rapids for the 4th of July celebration. They are divided up into several groups with a cart hauling two coolers full of soft drinks and water. Passer-byes are given a free cool drink if they meet the challenge of reciting 6 of the 10 commandments, and they receive a Gospel tract. At times there are opportunities to speak directly to people concerning their relationship to Christ.

The primary purpose of this ministry is to take the Gospel to those who are in their latter years who are quickly hastening on to eternity. Secondarily, this ministry is designed to bring spiritual encouragement and comfort to aging saints as they prepare for glory. The ministry consists of a time of singing hymns/songs with a short message from the Word of God. There is also time to interact with the people and minster to them personally.

This has the aim of taking the gospel the incarcerated with the hope and prayer to see them transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. It is an opportunity for our men to share the gospel with needy souls. Presently, we minister on a regular basis to prisoners at the Kent County Jail and the Work Release program.

Mel Trotter is a local organization that seeks to minister to the homeless in Grand Rapids. We have the awesome privilege of sharing the gospel with those who come in off the streets on a regular basis. There is a secondary benefit that can be derived from the Nursing/VA home and prison ministry. Sometimes a Christian man in the church can begin toying with the idea of teaching and even the ministry. This is an excellent opportunity for him to “test” and develop his teaching/public speaking ability at an “entry level”. After some time of good feed back and some proven ability to handle the Word with accuracy and edification in these ministries greater opportunities may be given. So, consider this as a good place to “test the waters”.

Show Compassion to the Needy

We have not only been called to preach the Gospel but to live it before the world. One of the ways that we display the power of the gospel to the world is by practical deeds of benevolence to the needy. We do not see compassion-based ministries merely as a strategy to fill up the church, but as ways to love our neighbors to the glory of God.

We are currently showing the love of Christ by teaching English as a second language to some Burmese friends as part of their Sunday School Class.

A few years ago our church got involved in ministering to a Burmese refugee family. Since then, we have had the opportunity to minister to more of these precious people. They are such a blessing to our church.

Gleaners is a local food bank in the area. We partner with them by funneling food to those in need.

Mel Trotter feeds the homeless and feeds them warm meals. Beyond ministering the Word there, once a year, we place a blue barrel in the church lobby. People bring in canned goods to fill it up and we donate it to the ministry.

Each year, during the Christmas season, we fill up shoeboxes for the needy children with various items in another part of the world.

We are currently opening up our church for a local blood bank to come in and have a blood drive. This is one way to minister to our community by literally giving of ourselves.

Advance God’s Truth in the World

This particular aspect of our vision is focused upon spreading the truth beyond the borders of our local communities to the world at large. We long to see the kingdom of Christ extended far and wide.

There are three avenues in which the audio/visual ministry is being used to serve this aspect of the vision:

CDs/DVDs for distribution

Currently we have people that work in the church office on Sundays in order to make sure that the sermon CDs are burned and correctly labeled for those who want to pick them up after each service either for their own profit or to give to someone else. Currently the am sermons are being recorded on DVD.

Sermon Audio

This is a ministry in which our sermons are posted on a website, sermonaudio.com weekly and stored making them available for people to down load from literally all over the world. Rosey Nolan, the church secretary, downloads the Lord’s Day sermons. Spread the word to others that this ministry is available. There is also a link to Sermonaudio.com from the website.

Website

We live in the age of the “Information Super Highway”, a.k.a. the internet. Therefore, one of the tools that can be very effective in communicating information about GIRBC is our website. Jeff Tozer, who is in charge of this ministry, has done a wonderful job in updating our church website, and we want to continue upgrading and improving it.

We are presently one of three local churches that oversee a seminary (RBS). This is a concerted effort of churches working together to train men for the ministry. This is done by modules that are held throughout the year in various places of the country, and men also do their course work by correspondence courses ordered by mail and by downloading off the RBS website. The seminary offers and can confer a Masters of Divinity degree. Some of these courses have been put together to form the Marrow of Theology degree that is taught to hungry students overseas.

Pastor Nichols is the point man for RBS at GIRBC, and he is involved in the training of men. He has worked for years developing and teaching Systematic Theology and is currently working on getting this material completely finished and published. A secondary purpose of this ministry is to ground and strengthen laypeople in the great truths of the Christian Faith equipping saints “in the pew” for ministry within the church. If you are interested in taking some of these courses please indicate this to Pastor Nichols. Some administrative fees could be required.

We have opportunities for the young people of our church to serve in an external ministry, to experience the joy of serving, and hopefully, and to get a view of how others live differently than they do. There have been several mission trips thus far to: Mexico, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Lakeshore Mississippi, and Cedar Rapids/Tama Iowa. The overseas ministries have been to support existing missionaries in their efforts on their home fields. The domestic ministries were to offer compassion through physical labor to restore living conditions for those who had suffered devastating loss. Ordinarily, this happens once each summer and is organized by Phil Wilder and Jake Griswold.

One of the commitments that we have as a local church is not only to spread the good news of the Gospel here, but to see poor perishing sinners rescued from darkness in foreign lands. One way we do that is by financially supporting missionaries laboring on foreign fields. Currently we allocate a certain amount of money in our church budget each year to be given to these ministries. Currently we support two foreign missionaries.

Most every year GIRBC hosts a three-day pastor’s fraternal held at the church. There is always a guest speaker, and many pastors are invited and come in from all over the states. It is a refreshing time of fellowship for the pastors as they get refueled for the ministries the Lord has given them.

GIRBC is involved in an association of churches in the Midwest. There are presently four member churches; Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church, Grand Rapids, MI, Sycamore Baptist Church, East Moline IL, Reformed Baptist Church Tama IA, and Providence Reformed Baptist Church Minneapolis, MN. The association meets at least three times a year with at least one pastor representing each church. It is a time to give updates about the ministries of the church, to share burdens, and to ask for and give counsel.

Worship with Reverence and Joy

It is a beautiful thing when Christ’s people are joined together in corporate worship to offer up praise to God. The Lord has been pleased to grant us a measure of Spirit filled worship. In each worship service we all as New Covenant priests have a vital role to fulfill.

We have an am and pm service. We seek to regulate our worship according the revealed will of God, only doing those things He has appointed in His Word. However, we also seek by the power His Spirit to know and feel the presence of a real Christ as we offer up our spiritual sacrifices.

On Wednesday evenings, we gather for a season of corporate prayer from 6:45 pm-8 pm. It is a time to pray for the various aspects of our life as a congregation, as well as pray for the spread of the gospel around the world, as prayer letters from other ministries are shared. There is also time to share personal burdens and requests. The first Wednesday of each month we divide into groups of men and women to pray. Youth lighthouse is held at this time as well. Note: There is no mid-week prayer meeting on the 5th Wednesday. The corporate prayer meeting is held the following Sunday evening in connection with the Lord’s Supper.

There is an aspect of the audio/visual ministry that is specifically related to our worship services. This ministry includes setting up the sound for both services and making sure that everything runs smoothly. Included in this in recent days has been the videoing of the am preaching.

Currently we have interpreters for our am services so that our Burmese friends can benefit from the ministry of the Word.

The purpose of the ministry:

  • To make visitors feel welcome and assist them in finding seats in the auditorium
  • To take up the collection in the am worship service

One of our current initiatives is to get many of our hymns and other songs into digital format so that we can display them on the screen for times of singing in corporate worship. Several people are working on this project

Every few months, after the pm service, we gather in the auditorium for a hymn sing. This not allows for opportunity to request some our favorites, but to also learn new songs.

Beginning at some point in the fall, a willing group of church members begin practicing for a Christmas concert that is held after one of the evening services in December. Brother Joseph Kamps leads the choir, and others gifted with musical abilities are allowed to perform for the edification of those attending the concert. It is a blessed time. Another one is held in the Spring for Easter.

Pass on our Heritage

No small part of our vision is to pass on to the next generation a Christ centered biblically based church. This means that we must look far beyond what we want to accomplish in the here an now and prepare for the future. We have ministries designed to pass on the torch.

The scripture teaches that it is the primary responsibility of the parents to train up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Deut6:4-7; Ps. 78:1-6; Eph 6:4). The church is to never replace this role of the parents. However, the scriptures also teach us that the church is to have a place in instructing children (Eph 6:1). Children’s Sunday School at GIRBC is not “glorified baby sitting” while “real ministry” goes on elsewhere. It is a co-operation of the parents and the church to accomplish the following:

  1. Inculcate in the children a demeanor of joyous, reverent worship.
  2. Give the children a growing appreciation for Christian hymns.
  3. Teach the children the overall content and practical relevance of the Bible.
  4. Familiarize the children with important theological and religious terms.
  5. Help the children store up in their hearts the Word of God and ground their minds in the Christian faith.
  6. Enable the children readily to find any verse in the Bible.
  7. Train the children in the habit of daily Bible reading.
  8. Teach the children to pray.

There are two youth Sunday School classes:

  1. Jr. High-the shorter catechism is taught by Dave Wooden
  2. High School-the confession of faith, church history are taught, along with various practical issues by Phil Wilder

VBS is about sowing Gospel seeds into the hearts of children 4-12 years of age in our church and from the community. It takes place one week each summer Monday-Friday during the evening with an invitation to the parents to take part on the last night. There is singing, a gospel centered lesson, scripture memory, crafts and games.

We never want our young people to feel like second-class citizens at GIRBC. Therefore, we have a ministry geared particularly toward their spiritual needs. Lighthouse is held twice a month. The first Wednesday of each month is held at the church building. There is praise and Bible Study in which various speakers teach on selected topics and themes followed by a time of activity. Help is always appreciated in the area of providing and helping with the snacks. Also, just being there to interact with the young people serving in this ministry any way you can is an excellent way to serve Christ.

Most every year GIRBC hosts a youth retreat at Pine Island camp nearby Grand Rapids. This is always an anticipated event as young people come from all over the US, and we have even had some international retreaters. The Lord never fails to bless with His presence and power.

In seeking not to be so focused on the present we must not fail to prepare for the future and seek to perpetuate qualified spiritual leadership. Only Christ can form and give qualified leaders to His church. Yet, he develops within the context of the local church. The purpose of the ministry is twofold:

  1. To teach the men of our church the basic aspects of biblical leadership. In other words, there would be the basic purpose of equipping men to be good spiritual leaders in the home, etc. and the qualities needed to be delegated the responsibility of running certain ministries of the church.
  2. Having laid the foundation of the basics, there is a more specific focus on official leadership within the church. This would set forth the principles of spiritual leadership, the biblical requirements for holding the offices of elder and deacon with practical application of how to biblically pursue and cultivate them.

The men of our congregation are informed when these classes will be held. For more information, please see Pastor Johnson or Pastor Vincent.