Grace Evangelical Free Church Indianola, IA
Page 1 June/July 2014
Big Events
Baby Shower
The women of Grace Church enjoyed the morning
of March 29th attending a baby shower for Luke
Gray. Luke dozed and ate while the ladies oohed
and aahed over all the cute baby gifts given to
celebrate the arrival of this fast growing little one.
Easter Services
On Good Friday, Grace Church held a solemn
service to commemorate Christ’s sacrifice on the
cross. To make the sacrifice very personal, each
one attending was invited to come to pound a nail
representing his or her own sin into a large wooden
cross in the front of the sanctuary.
Easter Sunday service was held to celebrate the
triumph over death of our risen Lord Jesus. The
sanctuary was full of individuals and families to
give honor and praise to God for our salvation.
Prior to the worship service, an Easter morning
fellowship breakfast was served.
Grace Food Pantry
The Grace Food Pantry has been undergoing
exciting changes. The Pantry has moved to a new
room at the church and now will be providing
expanded services. Hours for registration and pick
up are from 5:30-7:00pm on the second Monday
and Tuesday of the month. Volunteers are always
welcome in this important ministry.
Upcoming VBS July 7-11 6:30 – 8:30pm
Be sure to mark your calendars and plan to attend
and/or help out with this summer’s Vacation Bible
School.
Parent’s Night Out June 28th
Parents of Grace church and their friends will have
an opportunity for free childcare at the church
while they enjoy a night out for some recreation.
108 N. Jefferson Way, Indianola, IA 50125 – (515) 962-9099
www.graceindianola.org
Big Events (pg. 1)
Words from Pastor Mark (pg. 2)
Upcoming Events (pg. 3)
Birthday & Anniversaries (pg. 3)
Getting to know… (pg. 4)
Book Review (pg. 5)
Words from Pastor Mark
Faith is Active!
Faith in Jesus is highly practical. To be clear,
deeds do not earn salvation. But faith—genuine
faith—produces good deeds.
James strongly emphasizes this in his letter.
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has
faith but does not have works” (2:14)? The implied
answer is: it’s no good. A few verses later he bluntly
states that “faith apart from works is useless” (2:20).
Then, to make his point as strong as he can, he finally
writes, “faith apart from works is dead” (2:26). And
the illustration James uses shows how absurd it is. To
have faith without works is like telling someone to be
warm or be filled but not giving them a blanket or any
food.
Jesus, in Matthew 10:42, makes ministry as
simple as giving a cup of cold water to a little one. A
simple act of providing for the needs of a child, yet it
earns the applause of Christ.
In Matthew 25:40, according to Jesus, people
of faith feed the hungry, refresh the thirsty, clothe the
naked, and visit the imprisoned.
In other words, faith generates actions that
help people. Authentic faith reaches out in tangible,
practical ways. People with a vital, vibrant walk with
God move toward the needy and discouraged and
unfortunate and disabled . . . just like Jesus did!
Let me encourage you to consider an avenue
for practical faith. Find at least one area where you
regularly help others by serving or teaching or
ministering in some way. In this expression of faith,
you will help others but you will also discover the joy
of serving!
Keep your faith robust and active!
For God’s glory and your joy,
Pastor Mark
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We are part of the Evangelical Free
Church of America, which is an
association of nearly 1,500 autonomous
churches and church plants in a
growing ministry that currently extends
to some 75 countries of the world.
www.EFCA.org
and place photo here.
‘And when did we see you sick or in
prison and visit you?’ And the King
will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you,
as you did it to one of the least of these
my brothers, you did it to me.’
Matthew 25:39-ESV
Upcoming Events
Monday, June 2 at 7pm
First Prayer
Monday, June 9
Grace Food Pantry 5:30pm
Tuesday, June 10
Children’s Ministry Meeting 6:30pm
Monday, July 7
First Prayer 7:00pm
Monday-Friday, July 7-11
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
Monday, July 14
Grace Food Pantry 5:30pm
Tuesday, July 15
Grace Food Pantry 5:30pm
Monday, July 21
Children’s Ministry Meeting 6:30pm
Thursday, July 24
Table of Plenty 5:30pm
June/July
Birthdays & Anniversaries
June 9 Jana Krempasky
June 10 Jon & Gwen Roen
June 21 Helen Leach
June 25 Orlea Kester
June 26 Roger & Kathy Kester
June 30 Steve Sargent
July 1 Matt & Helen Leach
July 12 John Ringle
July 17 Bob & Virginia Gray
July 18 Doug Hutcheson
July 19 Vicki White
July 20 Greg & Becky Abbott
July 21 Dave Christopherson
July 24 Bill & Jeanette Campbell
Brandon Starr
July 25 Lori Freeman
July 26 Kedron & Rachel Bardwell
July 30 Jeannie Hamilton
Page 3 June/July 2014
Weekly Events Wednesdays
Bobcats
Greg Abbott’s Home - 10:00 am
Worship Team Practice
Church Building - 6:30pm
Hebrews Bible Study
Church Building - 7:00pm
Getting to know…
Jon and Gwen Roen
Making joyful music has been part of
Jon’s and Gwen’s lives for nearly 38 years!
They met when Jon was Gwen’s vocal music
teacher and the rest is history. They will be
celebrating their 36th
anniversary on June 10th
!
Congratulations!
Gwen grew up on a farm in Menlo, Iowa,
with one brother. Jon grew up in Rockford,
Illinois. They met in Menlo where Jon was
teaching school. Indianola has been their home
for 20 years. They currently have two children,
Allen and Allison. Allen and his wife, Anne, live
in Ankeny. Allison and her, husband, Grant, live
in Kansas City with their adorable and busy 9
month old twins, Madeline and Abram. Because
of the parents and grandparents that influenced
Jon and Gwen as they grew up, they wish to
share this heritage and love with their own
children and grandchildren.
Jon has been in the insurance business for
34 years in Indianola. Gwen works from her
home quilting quilt tops. She finishes 120 quilts a
year and enjoys helping her customers create
treasured heirlooms.
Jon and Gwen share a love for hiking,
bike riding, reading and spending time with
family. Jon reports that he is very competitive at
table games. He also adds that he enjoys duties
as assigned by Gwen!
Gwen enjoys books by Lisa Wingate,
Charles Stanley, Max Lucado and John Ortberg.
Books about hiking the Appalachian Trails or
PCT Trail are favorites of Jon. The Last Season
by Eric Blehm and Hiking Through by Zane
Grey are adventure favorites of his. He especially
enjoys reading books by the Christian author Dee
Henderson.
Page 4 June/July 2014
Jon and Gwen stated that they were
tremendously honored to be a part of the
original group that helped plant Grace
Evangelical Free Church in Indianola. From
the beginning they have served in the
Worship Team ministry that we all enjoy.
Gwen prays that the congregation is drawn
deeper into Christ’s presence through the
music each Sunday morning. Jon also serves
an Elder at Grace. You will also find them
serving in many behind the scene ways as the
needs arise.
Fun Fact:
Jon’s grandfather stood in line to get a ticket on the Titanic only to find they had run out of seats!
Sometimes when we feel we have “missed the boat”, it was truly God watching over us- in this case even
before Jon was born!
Favorite Scriptures:
John 14:27
1 Peter 3:18
Jon’s birthday- January 29, 1952
Gwen’s birthday- April 26
Anniversary- June 10, 1978
Book Reviews
By Greg Abbott
Greg thanks Bill Krempasky for
recommending these intriguing books to him.
The first book is I, Saul by Jerry B. Jenkins and
James MacDonald. Becky and I read this book
on our trip to Arizona earlier this spring. It is a
“fast paced” novel of parallel stories woven
together in a skillful way. The ancient part of the
story is about Paul wanting to get his parchments
(based on II Timothy) and what exactly was in
those documents. The modern part of the novel
was the discovery of those ancient writings and
why people were being killed in the competition
to acquire them.
The second book was written by Todd Wilson, a
speaker that Bill and I heard at a men’s retreat at
Hidden Acres this past winter. The name of the
book is, Sentenced to Care, a Father’s Story. It
is an engaging story of a couple who had a baby,
but the father wanted none of the responsibility
of marriage or fatherhood. He went to extreme
means to avoid his responsibility and was going
to be sent to prison for his actions. What
happened afterwards might be too farfetched for
some, but Todd weaves an engaging story if you
can get passed a certain premise.
So, don’t just take my word about these two
stories- ask Bill. After all, he hasn’t steered me
wrong yet!
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Need some good summer reading? Be sure to “check out” the growing
Grace library! So That’s Why! Bible from Nelson Bibles
Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller
Two Nations Under God by Tom Doyle
Faith Works by John F. MacArthur Jr.
Song of Alaska book series by Tracie Peterson
About Grace EFC Glorifying God. Loving People. Teaching God’s Word
Our Misson: To glorify God through the power of the Holy Spirit by honoring Christ’s name, teaching
His Word, loving His people and expanding His kingdom.
Who We Are: We are part of the Evangelical Free Church of America. We are people from diverse
backgrounds united by our love for God, for each other, and for the world.
Our worship blends time-honored hymns in a modern style along with contemporary hymns and worship
songs that honor and glorify Jesus Christ. Messages at Grace feature clear, systematic teaching of the
Bible with timeless truths that apply to our lives today.
108 N. Jefferson Way
Indianola, IA 50125
Sunday morning worship: 9:00 AM
Sunday School for all ages at 10:30 AM.
Shipping Address Here
555 Street Address
City, State 55555
Page 6 June/July 2014