Weekly UpdateShalom! Let’s talk a little about theology and doctrine. What is doctrine? “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim. 1:13) “…hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Tit. 1:9) Doctrine – a systematic summary of biblical truths, showing logical connections between them, forming a worldview, and defining a general approach…
Weekly UpdatePeace to you! There are many ways of showing pride, but one, in my opinion, is the most hidden and most common – a lack of desire to ask for help. Thing is, we are not always ready to accept or ask for help because this puts us into a weak and dependent position; and this totally destroys our image. We are much more open to helping others because this puts us into a position of a giver, or one…
Weekly UpdateGreetings! Many of you, in addition to Sunday messages, between Sundays, listen to the sermons and seminary from other churches. This is good and enriching in many ways practice. I want to share some of the sermons that I recommend listening to at least once. – R.G. Lee “Pay-Day Someday” (this sermon is considered classical southern-baptist sermon; recommended for all who are interested in learning how to preach) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mstq4QTyrQ – John Piper “One Day” (the sermon that has a nickname “seashells”…
Weekly UpdatePeace to you! Dear friends, I want to give you some compliments. Over the past month, we can see that many of you have become seriously involved in the needs of not only brothers and sisters in faith, but also all those who are in need now (especially in connection with the war in Ukraine). The way you have been given to the relief fund for those in need, how some of you have been involved in ministering to immigrants…
Weekly UpdateShalom! It’s necessary for us to periodically do a self-examination where we ask ourselves questions that will help us determine where we are and what we need to pay closer attention to. Take a few minutes and “keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (1 Tim. 4:16). Specifically, under each question grade yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is where you are at your worst and 10 is where you have achieved perfection…
Weekly UpdateGreetings! “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matt. 5:13) For salt to have a real effect on the food that it is sprinkled on, it must come into really close contact with it. This example of salt, used by Christ, tells us that we are this means that must penetrate,…
Weekly UpdateRejoice always! Beloved, there are just a couple things I want to inform you about: (1) Refugees from Ukraine have started to arrive and our church members are opening their houses, temporarily hosting them. Many families are large, and much help of various kinds is needed. Please, let’s look at this question as our ministry together. It’s definitely possible that those who are hosting someone wouldn’t be offended if someone of us would periodically bring some dinner, or take someone…
Weekly UpdateGreetings to you dear church! I’m not a fan of philosophy, especially since Scripture warns us to not get caught up in it since it can lead us away from Christ (Col. 2:8). But what do we do when we consider a Christian thinker? I’m currently reading a short book by Martsinkovsky about a Christian thinker named Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. I’ll share some quotes below that have grabbed my attention. I hope that they’ll make you think more about the…
Weekly UpdateShalom! I want to write a couple things about joy. About joy in a Christian’s life. About joy that isn’t tied to successes and the peace in life, but about joy that is deeply rooted in the Lord! Beloved, are you joyful right now? Do you have a deep, wide, bright joy? If your answer is no, then read the whole epistle to the Philippians and underline every time you see the word “joy,” then study those passages. Here are…
Weekly UpdateShalom! Dear church, I want to speak words of encouragement to those who, for various reasons, have lost peace in their hearts and joy in the Lord. Maybe you haven’t even considered your heart’s peace, joy, and love. Think about it. Lacking peace and joy are expressed in different ways: for some it is the lack of desire to be in fellowship with the saints (no desire to be in the church or a home group), for others there is…
Weekly UpdatePeace to you! “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” (Rom. 14:19) I’ll share some personal lessons that God has taught me over the past couple of weeks… 1) Compassion – God has truly been teaching me how to feel the pain of others, to sympathize, to worry, and as a natural reaction to seriously pray for others’ struggles (speaking of the war in Ukraine). A lot of tears have been shed especially for our brothers…
Weekly UpdatePeace to you! Dear church, these last days, more than anything, have been teaching us to pray and empathize, and these are good things that help us grow spiritually. This time also uncovers weak points in our character and worldview. We as the church should never get involved in politics. There’s a strong temptation for this, no matter a person’s political convictions. Looking over the New Testament once more, we realize that despite most of the epistles being written during the…
Weekly UpdateGreeting dear church! This week we invite you all to pray specifically for the missionaries and their families that our church supports and collaborates with. At the end of this letter you will find some brief information and a photo of each family. Please continue to pray for our brothers Joseph Sheremet and Sergei Neagov and their ministry in Europe right now, for their ability to support those missionaries that we collaborate with and to be an encouragement to those…
Weekly UpdateGrace to you from God! Dear church and all friends, we want to briefly share about what happened last weekend. College ministry had a winter camp. Even though there was no snow, it was still a wonderful time for fellowship and various activities. Every morning and evening there were fantastic services where we were studying the book of the prophet Malachi. The theme of the camp was “Integrity” (purity, honesty, fullness). I rarely praise someone openly but this time it…
Weekly UpdatePeace to you! I hope no one will be offended if I admit that often we find ourselves in the busyness of life. This isn’t necessarily a bad busyness (even though this does happen), but this is what takes away our inner peace. There is much advice on how to have a calmer heart in the midst of a busy life, but nonetheless, Jesus Christ had an even busier schedule yet we see that He truly had inner peace, and…
Weekly UpdateShalom friends! A few important reminders regarding witnessing or evangelizing for every believer… We have already talked that we’ll be raising each other’s temperature and reverence towards evangelism, and today we will try to do just that in connection to last Sunday’s sermon. We talked about friendship and influence. There is an influence of the world on us, and from this we need to run away. But there’s also an influence that we, moved by God’s grace, have on each…
Weekly UpdateGreetings! A value of the church family is that we can support each other. The most valuable support is prayer. This week we want to encourage and promote you towards focused prayer for each other. Here are a few topics and questions for prayer: – Thankfulness that God greatly blessed us last year (last year’s reports bear witness to this). – Personal evangelism of every believer; for faithfulness and reverence in reaching the surrounding world with the most valuable truth;…
Weekly UpdatePeace to you, beloved! This year began with sickness for many of us. But I want to encourage you not only with your obtained immunity, but that sickness and difficulties are allowed by God for our good. Yes, it isn’t pleasant; yes, it limits us; yes, we want to escape it at all costs, but remember Job. God is sovereign and His ultimate goal is our spiritual growth and us becoming like Christ. Also, we can agree, that sickness reminds…
Weekly UpdateGreetings! Dear church, we thank God for your patience with the changes to the schedule and format of the church services and gatherings of various ministries. God has allowed yet another wave of sickness and we don’t want to risk anyone’s health. But, God-willing, we are planning to gather as normal in the church building this upcoming Sunday. We remind you that if you have symptoms of sickness or you’ve been in contact with a sick person, we recommend that…
Weekly UpdateShalom dear church! May God’s peace fill your hearts and your houses! There’s a prayer need: many people, including our church members, have gotten sick, so the services during the weekdays are being moved to Zoom. Please, pray that God would give grace and spiritual and physical strength to all the sick people. We understand that God controls absolutely everything, even viruses are under His authority! Those who are sick, learn how to thank God for the joys of life…
Weekly UpdateHappy upcoming New Year! Please read the following letter completely to not miss important announcements for this week! Another year is passing by, and this is a good opportunity to summarize and analyze the events that happened both in society and in the church: – Events of January 6 – don’t depend on people. The assault on the Capitol on January 6 showed that people have become really sucked into politics. This was observable in the previous year, but the events…
Weekly UpdateMerry Christmas! “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Is. 7:14) We remind you that at this upcoming Christmas Eve service on Friday, absolutely everyone present will have the opportunity to participate in the financial offering for gifts for under-privileged kids through the mission “Hope to people.” This ministry previously organized Christmas gifts for kids in Armenia and Crimea. Like last year, we encourage not only parents…
Weekly UpdateRejoice! “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6) Dear church, every one of us has personally experienced the joy of salvation, forgiveness, and adoption by God into His family. Every time we consider the miracle of being born again, we ought to remember that there are many who don’t know the truth about the Savior who…
Weekly UpdateGlad to greet you! “…Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people…” From the first words of the angel to the shepherds, we learn some very important information about the child who was born, Messiah! He will bring joy! And this joy won’t be only for the Israelites, but for all people! This joy is for successful and unsuccessful people, for healthy and sick, for rich and poor, for old…
GeneralThe Christmas night for ladies at GFC was full of Christmas spirit, joyful talks and fruitful discussions. Lots of smiles and complements were received by the table hosts for impressive table decor. Less so was the night for men, who stayed at home alone with kids, but they stood their ground and carried routinely women’s duty with flying colors. We could get that from the blend of heroism and sorrow at the end of the poem written by one of…
Weekly UpdatePeace to you! Many of you were able to have a great time around the dinner table this past Thursday. This is definitely a unique opportunity to invite friends and close ones for fellowship. During this time we talk about God and how Christ transforms our lives. Thanksgiving is the beginning of a season when we can organically and more often have such fellowship. Christmas and the New Year are drawing near when we can repeat these types of gatherings….
Weekly Update“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus…” (1 Cor. 1:4) This week we gather with our friends and relatives around a celebratory dinner. In order to keep the time at the table effective, here are a few questions that you can use: – What does it mean to be thankful? – Give 2 biblical examples of thankful people. – How does unthankfulness look like? – Give…
GeneralAn opinion has rooted in Christian society that kids are not able to conceive and comprehend sermons spoken from the pulpit. That’s why we need to “amuse” them by Sunday school, so they don’t distract adults from listening to the sermon. On the contrary, during the whole year we were amazed watching not only adults, but also kids listening to the sermons on Romans. After services they were “knocking pastor off his feet”, trying to give him their sermon notes. …
Weekly Update The grace of our Lord be with all! Occasionally a preacher does not calm down after a sermon since he realizes that something was not adequately explained. I confide that from the beginning of this week, I’ve been reflecting on the Sunday morning sermon, and I believe that I was not able to explain one issue very clearly and precisely… I apologize. Right now I’ll try to explain one concept, that I consider to be very important. When talking about…
Weekly Update(11/11/21 – 11/14/21) Shalom! Dear church, we talked about an important topic on Sunday: singleness. This includes orphans, widows, single people, and those who for various reasons have not yet become part of a church family. This is very important; we don’t want to give you new information, but rather want to repeat the practical applications from Sunday’s sermon: Seriously consider Foster Care or adoption. Pray for single people (begin with our church). Financially support or help single mothers in…
GeneralThere are many ways to spread the “fragrance of Christ”. Including, by cleaning streets and removing garbage from the streets of the cities where we live. Today, September 25, Watt Avenue along Grace Family Church became bright with orange trash bags, gloves and hard-workers, cleaning out all the mess at the street. Having armed themselves with a goal to meet neighbors and offer help to people who live or work close to church, brothers and sisters went out to beautify the nearby…
General“Nowadays there are many surviving churches, but few are alive.” А. Kolomiytsev No more, no less but 18. Grace Family Church celebrated its full age lively and joyfully in the context of fellowship and worship. Church is a fruit of God’s work from its first brick to the last person in it. Thinking of this, you cannot stop worshiping its Author. That’s why Sunday service was started with a triumphant unison “Soli Deo Gloria”- “Glory to God alone”. In addition to Church Birthday,…
