Reaching Out Archive

  • Miracle of Salvation

    Miracle of Salvation

    Submitted by Gordon…This past Sunday at one of the nursing homes we visit, one grandmother made a decision to accept Christ after the message. She suffered from a stroke so can’t really speak, but when Vicky asked her if she wanted to make any commitments...

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  • Salvation is Here

    Salvation is Here

    Submitted by Angela…This past Sunday was my first time at this nursing home, and the dining room where we hold Sunday services was packed to capacity. There were thirty grandpas and grandmas who came, and some even had to line up their wheelchairs along the...

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  • God’s Salvation

    God’s Salvation

    Submitted by Gordon…A few weekends ago, we had two residents make salvation decisions!  During the Sunday service, we had been going through a message series that covers the intellectual foundations of Christianity, in hopes of addressing residents who lacked a clear understanding of what being...

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  • Interhigh Monthly!

    Interhigh Monthly!

    Submitted by Sandra…Last Saturday we had our first Interhigh Monthly of the year! It was a great time of sports and BBQ, with students from our own Element group as well as many students from the respective Interhigh churches we have been visiting.  The fun...

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  • Joy Multiplied

    Joy Multiplied

    Submitted by Ulia…On Easter Sunday, our nursing home ministry group held special Easter services, after which one resident made a decision to become a Christian!  We also brought potted plants – a variety of tulips, lilies, hydrangeas, etc. – as gifts for the residents at...

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  • Hope for Salvation

    Hope for Salvation

    Submitted by Adam…I spoke with Grandma J today after our worship service at a local nursing home. She said she was able to enjoy the singing time but she didn’t understand the message because she doesn’t understand English. So I offered to summarize the message...

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  • Building Each Other Up

    Building Each Other Up

    Submitted by Jacob…It was a great experience helping out with the Gracepoint Hsinchu retreat with my peers and hearing Andy preach in Chinese.  My peers and I have known each other since our freshman year of college (1996), and I think I can safely say...

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  • True Love on Valentine’s Day

    True Love on Valentine’s Day

    Submitted by Sarah…Ministering to the children at the Salvation Army on Valentine’s Day was like a breath of fresh air to me – I was in the midst of struggling with pitying myself for some issues I’ve been facing at home and work, but I...

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  • Hope Found in God

    Hope Found in God

    Submitted by Audrey…I’ve visited Grandma B at the local nursing home a few times before.  I am personally inspired by her great faith in God and am always blessed by our conversations.  During this visit, I was expecting her typical encouraging remarks like “May the...

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  • Hope in Heaven

    Hope in Heaven

    Submitted by George…We recently heard the very sad news that two of the residents we had gotten to know at a local nursing home had passed away during the Christmas holidays.  Though we are grieved by their deaths, we are thankful to God that both...

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  • Christmas Gifts

    Christmas Gifts

    Submitted by Ulia… As a Christmas gift, we gave each of our nursing home residents a poinsettia plant and with it a verse that proclaims the good news of Christmas: “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news...

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  • Celebration of Joy

    Celebration of Joy

    Submitted by Sue…On December 12, our children’s department held its annual Joyland Christmas Celebration.  Students from Joyland and Impact presented the Christmas story and its place in God’s plan for redeeming his people through skits, verse recitation, dazzling displays, and exciting music.  One thing we...

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  • Sharing God’s Heart

    Sharing God’s Heart

    Submitted by Michelle…On December 17, our Riverside team had the opportunity to do a community service project with some of our students.  Unbeknownst to us, Riverside has a community of special needs homes for children who were born to parents who suffered from substance abuse.  These children...

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  • A Change of Heart

    A Change of Heart

    Submitted by Kevin….Mr. J wasn’t a regular attendee of our Sunday services we hold at a local nursing home.  I first heard about him from my wife, Ulia, who met him in the lobby of the nursing home one Sunday – he yelled at her...

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  • Being who God called you to Be

    Being who God called you to Be

    Submitted by Ulia…A few weeks after we celebrated Grandma Bessie’s 101st birthday [link: http://www.gracepointstories.org/2010/09/a-picture-of-perseverence/], I ran into her son at the nursing home, and he handed me a letter.  The letter was addressed to Grandma Bessie from a woman named Eileen (see a copy of...

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  • What God has in store

    What God has in store

    Submitted by Alison…I can’t believe it’s only been a week since we welcomed the first group of freshmen arriving on campus last wednesday.  Those who were free helped them move in during the day, and then we had frisbee at night. We had only a...

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  • A Chance to Serve

    A Chance to Serve

    Submitted by Khanh…On the warm, first Sunday morning of June, Azusa, Tiffany, Victoria and I arrived at Vietnamese Ministries for our first youth service in downtown Oakland. The sisters and I went into the building that was apparently home to churches of varied ethnicities. We...

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  • A Youthful Presence

    A Youthful Presence

    Submitted by Jane…This past Sunday, Interhigh Fellowship sent out the first team to conduct a youth worship service at a small Korean church in Hayward. Esther Kang, Kevin Jeung, Sam Hudnet, and I were excited to be a part of this historic move. Without a...

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  • Church Plant Commissioning Service – Gracepoint Riverside, San Diego, Minneapolis

    Church Plant Commissioning Service – Gracepoint Riverside, San Diego, Minneapolis

    This past week’s commissioning service held at Gracepoint Berkeley for our 48 church plant team members went by so quickly, I wanted to recap a bit so that we can all be blessed again through all that we experienced together. I wanted to encourage everyone...

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  • A God who redeems

    A God who redeems

    Submitted by Diana… Looking back on my high school days, I shudder when I think of some of the decisions I made. While for me it was a time of adjustment and trial, having just emigrated from Mexico, I also remember those days with a...

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  • Angel Tree moments

    Angel Tree moments

    Submitted by Lin… Our small group sponsored a five year old boy, named X. When I went to the Angel Tree Christmas party, it turned out that his stepdad came. His stepdad was the one who was in prison and who wanted to make sure...

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  • True living water

    True living water

    Submitted by Suzanne… This past Tuesday we had our first historical prayer walk on the UCSD campus!  As we were all gathered around and praying for this campus I thought it was pretty amazing that so many of us from different ministries in our churches...

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  • Lightning speed

    Lightning speed

    Just wanted to post some short sharings from some of our Austin members about the anniversary service this past week. Submitted by Bryan… This past weekend Gracepoint Austin celebrated its first anniversary.  What a year it has been!  It’s hard to imagine that just one...

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  • Full and satisfied

    Full and satisfied

    Submitted by Olivia (from Gracpoint Hsinchu)… The long awaited NTU (National Taiwan University) discussion small group “Pause” finally started on October 7, 2009 (clap + cheer)! Two years after Koinonia came to Hsinchu, Taiwan, we’re finally in a new city and new campus, making connections...

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  • Thank you for giving to the Lord

    Thank you for giving to the Lord

    Submitted by Lauren… Two weeks ago we celebrated Grandma Bessie’s 100th birthday at Crown Bay nursing home. We first met Grandma Bessie Porteous about 1 year ago when we started elderly care ministry. Grandma Bessie was born in 1909 in Olympia WA. At the age...

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