Weekly Update

Prayer for a Pastor in Ukraine

Celebrations and joy pass over the country of Ukraine right now, but not God. The Lord keeps working in the hearts of people no matter where they are. A pastor from Nikolaevskaya deep within Ukraine wrote a letter with the hope that he would be supported in prayer and in need. He is asking for ministers for various ministries as well as choir members. The church has many branches (7 smaller churches) and does a lot of work in many…

Weekly Update

The Doctrine of the Trinity

By Maksim Nedorezov The atheist, the fool, says there is no God (Ps. 14:1; 53:1). The Muslim says that the unitary, monadic god named Allah is the only God.[i] The Jehovah’s Witness believes in Jehovah but rejects the deity of the Son as unbiblical.[ii] The Mormon acknowledges the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but says that they are three separate beings albeit with one purpose.[iii] Now, the true Christian calls all these heretics as Scripture is clear that God is…

Weekly Update

Prayer for Missionaries

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Praise God that He allows us to be part of the Great Commission in making disciples of Jesus Christ in all the nations. One important aspect in this work is the church’s support both financially and spiritually of the missionaries who bring the Good News to places lacking a church. GFC has been supporting missionaries for many years in many countries that have few, if any, believers. Currently we support the following missionaries: Viktor Kovba (Torreviejo, Spain) Sergey…

Weekly Update

A Hard-Copy of the Bible

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov A love for Scripture can be expressed in different ways. For some it is through daily reading. For others it is when memorizing and learning various passages and doing a deeper study. Yet others love to share the Word or discuss the truths of Scripture with others. While some, strive to always have their Bible with them so that they can run to it whenever possible. But unfortunately, because of the development of technology, this last group of…

Weekly Update

Accountability Questions

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov How often it is that we hear a truth, agree with it at first glance, and then neglect to look into our own hearts. Many of you have shared that it’s been helpful to analyze your own life when specific questions are brought up during the sermon. With this in mind, the goal of this letter is to look at a few questions that touch on various parts of a Christian’s life. For there to be a purpose…

Weekly Update

One Church’s Ministry

At the request of the pastor, Svetlana Timofeeva Peace to you, dear church! “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit… But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked…

Weekly Update

Why Sunday and not Saturday?

You might have had this question: Why does the church gather on Sundays and not on Saturdays? The Old Testament talks about the Sabbath but the New Testament does not give such a clear command regarding Sunday. If so, then why do we gather on Sundays? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall…

Weekly Update

New Addition to the GFC Elder Board

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Greetings, friends! We are grateful for everyone who attended a very important GFC meeting lastSunday. Thank you for all your suggestions and questions. We want to hear each other and willcontinue to build the local church together. Thank you for your support and participation in thelife of the church in 2023. With confidence we say that in the church there is an excitement tovolunteer, and many of you sincerely and sacrificially serve the Lord and each other. We…

Weekly Update

Church Staff Prayer Retreat

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Dear church, just a couple weeks ago we experienced many blessings from our prayer week where we had the opportunity to pray every single day together. We want to keep up this same attitude throughout the whole year so we’ll periodically plan and think about prayer. One such opportunity is the biannual prayer retreat for all volunteers and staff in the church, starting at 9:00 AM this Saturday. If you’re willing, come by at 8:30 AM for some…

Weekly Update

A Need in Spain

Viktor Kovba Our community in Torreviejo, Spain has grown quite a bit this past year in 2023. We’re quite amazed with our God at the number of young people and young families that have joined our Sunday meetings! Praise God for everything! Social media and personal communication have become an important tool for us to do evangelism in our church. Our evangelism is a continuous and living dialogue with people. So that more people would learn about Christ and our…

Weekly Update

Prayer for Missionaries

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov *For the safety of the missionaries, their names and countries are not being mentioned. If youwant more information, please contact the brothers from the missionary ministry. Will the gypsies accept Christ? The gypsy people do not refer to themselves as “gypsies.” They call themselves the Romale orRoma people. The eastern gypsies named themselves the Lyuli people. The gypsies are a nomadicpeople group that are used to living amidst other nations but have always strongly avoidedassimilating into the local…

Weekly Update

A Call to Prayer

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Happy upcoming New Year! One chapter of our life is closing as another is beginning. In thesemoments we often reevaluate what has happened and begin to decide how to move forward. Butthere’s only one way forward—heaven! While we’re on the road there we have something veryimportant that helps us—prayer. Prayer is the radio on the battlefield, the connection to theheadquarters, relationship, and communication and fellowship with the living God. We already have a good tradition to call the…

Weekly Update

Preparation for Christmas

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov We prepare for special occasions in life. The more special the occasion, the more time and energy we put into preparing for it. It’s interesting that the process of preparation ultimately helps us better enjoy the event when it does happen. And this process of preparation finds its place also in the history of Christmas! “…to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:17) This is a prophetic utterance explaining what John the Baptist was going…

Weekly Update

Corporate Singing

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov God is pleased to hear the singing of people who wish to praise their Lord! Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. (Ps. 50:14-15) Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations,…

Weekly Update

Reasons to Be a Church Member

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov From time to time there are people who say that their faith is not tied to any particular religious organization. It’s even presented as a spiritual and wise decision. What leads to this, they say, are the imperfections of the people they’ve encountered in the church. They even bring up passages that they think justify their position. However, there are plenty of New Testament passages that command us to live in harmony together and serve each other. Read…

Weekly Update

How Kids Listen

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Kids actively listen to sermons. The proof for this are the 53 drawings I received last Sunday. Of course, their drawing skills vary, but their ability to comprehend truth is often impressive. They remember the form of the supper table in Israel during the first century, that rabbis talked about hippos that God would prepare for His worshipers, that everyone rejoices in heaven, that God occupies the throne, and that the heavenly banquet will consist only of repentant…

Weekly Update

Always Thankful

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Dear Grace Family Church, Happy Thanksgiving! Only believers can truly celebrate Thanksgiving. Why? Because they have a specific person to whom they’re grateful—God the Creator! According to tradition, this Thursday during our meeting we will have an open mic to share with each other what we’re grateful for to God. So that your gratitude was based on something, take some time today to really think about what you’re grateful for. Especially thank the Lord for His spiritual lessons!…

Weekly Update

On Traditions

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov It’s not a secret that there are both good and bad traditions in Christianity. Without them we wouldn’t have a certain level of predictability and consistency. They both tie us to the past and give some assurance regarding the future. But the question we sometimes need to ask ourselves is this: Do the traditions serve us, or do we serve the traditions? What is essentially the center of our desires, to please God or to fulfill the traditions?…

Weekly Update

Door-To-Door Evangelism

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov One who truly experiences the gospel does not just accept it by faith, but also passes it on to others. As the church, we care about the perishing world around us. Apostle Paul in his deep care for the nation of Israel once said these powerful words, “…I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). This pain comes from a right understanding…

Weekly Update

How to Teach Kids to Deal with Bullies

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov If you haven’t encountered this question yet, you will sooner or later. How should a Christian instruct his son to deal with bullies? Should a son defend himself when he is being insulted? Statistics show that pretty much every teenager runs into bullying or harassment at some point. This is not an easy topic because it has to do with your gospel convictions and the fact that your son probably doesn’t yet have a saving faith and those…

Weekly Update

The Use of Coram Deo’s Teaching in Life and Ministry

Sergey Neagov I’m already putting into practice the things I’ve learned. This last module was trying to get thestudents to think about the importance of properly applying Scripture in counseling. There willalways be grave consequences from incorrectly and falsely applying Scripture. The foundation ofChristian counseling is delivering the truth and serving people with the Word. I know that it’spossible to wound with God’s word, thus it must be applied properly. One should never counsel anyone and talk to them for…

Weekly Update

On Prayer

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God.” Beloved, who taught you to pray? Have you had or currently have a person in your life whose prayer is a positive example worth emulating? Do you know how to pray? Are you confident that your prayer life is effective? What are you trying to accomplish when you pray? Or are you faithfully and genuinely…

Weekly Update

Noticing New Church Members

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov Dear GFC, Last week we were able to rejoice together and thank God for His faithfulness in caring for our local church. And we also can’t forget to mention the very important bringing in of new members to the church. Find an opportunity to notice the new members and show them some special attention and love. Below you will find a few practical steps that you can take. 1) Invite them to your home. This is a wonderful…

Weekly Update

Church Picnic and The 20th Anniversary of GFC

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov This week GFC is celebrating its 20th birthday! On Sunday we will have one joint service at 10:00 AM, and afterwards we are planning a lunch with various activities and plenty of time for fellowship. But the celebrations are actually beginning the day before on Saturday, October 7, with a church picnic at Gibson Ranch Park starting at 10:00 AM. Please don’t be late! Invite your friends. Park address: 8556 Gibson Ranch Park Rd Elverta, CA 95626 The…

Weekly Update

Ministry in Spain and Greece

Dmitriy Zherebnenkov A huge thank you to the church for your prayers and participation in the missionary work in Europe. Having seen the work that the missionaries do and how we as the church are invested in this labor, all we can do is rejoice and thank God. Torrevieja, Spain Victor and Tatiana Kovba have already been serving for 2 years in Torrevieja and the church that they founded has been steadily growing and developing. We had the opportunity to…

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