Gratia members gathered on Friday at 5 pm and had a time of prayer meeting. It was a time when the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of every single member.

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Members Experience the Power of the Holy Spirit During the Prayer Meeting

Gratia members gathered on Friday at 5 pm and had a time of prayer meeting. It was a time when the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of every single member. They were encouraged and comforted through each other’s prayers. Members prayed for various topics, especially for the revival of the city of San Francisco and the nation. We prayed for God’s mercy and grace to overflow within us at all times.

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Gratia Ash Wednesday – Participating the Suffering of Jesus Christ

Gratia Church held a gracious Bible study on Ash Wednesday, February 14. Members meditated on John 13, emphasizing that the suffering of Jesus Christ is love. The study delved into the message of the true humility of Jesus Christ, who washed the disciples’ feet. It emphasized that in the Kingdom of God, the greatest is the one who serves out of love.

During the session, attendees reflected on their lives, sharing about whether they follow worldly knowledge or embrace the life of Jesus Christ. Some Gratia members are observing half-day fasting as a way to participate in the suffering of Jesus Christ, seeking to draw closer to Him and understand His love. We pray that Gratia members get deeper in faith during the time of Lent.

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The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

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Student Leaders Kick Off Fellowship & Bible Study

Gratia student leaders have initiated fellowship and Bible studies, kicking off the new semester with a student fellowship and a group Bible study. Larry and Ruth are the main leaders for this activity, and they have great passion to bring more people to the Words of God and salvation and their participation bringings a dynamic atmosphere to Gratia. We pray that the passion of these young leaders can be ignited by the Holy Spirit.

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New Wine into New Wineskins

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

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When the Time had Fully Come

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

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Gratia Concludes Christmas Retreat with Overflowing Grace

Gratia Community Church concluded the 3-day Christmas retreat on December 17 with abundant grace. The last day featured Sunday service, Bible studies, sharing grace, leadership meetings, testimony time, and fellowship.

Sunday service and closing service was delivered by Pastor Walker, who focused on John’s Gospel testifying to Greeks about Christmas as the Word became flesh. Pastor Walker emphasized that being Christ-centered is to know the fullness of God who became flesh in Jesus Christ, and maturing in the Holy Spirit to become more Christ-like in all ways. In the closing service, Pastor Walker explained about God’s commandments to be fruitful, increase in number, and fill the earth – interpreted through Jesus Christ, it is to love God, love others, and to have love for this world to be transformed for God’s Kingdom. 

Bible Studies began with Brother Larry sharing a message from Matthew 4. His passion and relatability especially to young members was a time full of grace and a call to action in Jesus Christ. During testimony time, members from all cities participated in sharing the grace they had received.

Ministers were also able to meet following the retreat, to share grace and improve on the retreat going forward. They shared how graceful it was that young leaders began leading in this retreat and the hope is that more leaders will take a larger responsibility going forward and bring further developments and diversity in future retreats. 

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Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

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Gratia Young Leaders Launch First Worship and Prayer Night

Young leaders at Gratia Church in San Francisco initiated, planned, and led Gratia’s first-ever worship and prayer night on December 8. Led by Brother Larry and Sister Ruth, the worship and prayer night was a new format for prayer meeting that SF Gratia church hopes to do once a month.

Normally, prayer meetings are led by pastors, but this new format was a praise-led prayer. As worship songs were being led, members were free to either pray or sing praises, according to how the Holy Spirit moved them. Interspersed through prayer and singing praises, Brother Larry also read from the Word of God with the following two verses:

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ (Exodus 3:14)

Members testified that the praise-led prayer opened their hearts freely to receiving God’s grace in many ways.

“The worship and prayer night is really fitting for young people and very natural way to receive grace of God,” said Pastor Walker, “I’m grateful that God called our young leaders to start and lead this graceful night of worship and prayer.”

Brother Larry will lead worship and prayer during the upcoming Christmas Retreat. SF Gratia’s next worship and prayer night will be in late January 2024. Church leaders hope to advertise worship and prayer night in the new year as a method of evangelism to bring in newcomers. Please pray for SF Gratia young leaders and missions in San Francisco.

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