Grace Times

Vol. XX/04

Grace Bible Church, C 930, Sector B Mahanagar, Lucknow, India

Christmas 2016
First Sunday, December 4th

9.45 Check-in
10.00 Brief service at the sanctuary
10.20 Departure to Allipur village
11.15 United Communion Service
with Allipur Grace Bible Church celebrating
Third Anniversary of their sanctuary
Preacher: Pastor Ashish Khan

Allipur Grace Bible Church Services at 10 a.m.

11
18
25

Shyam Babu
Shyam Babu
2..00 p m Christmas Day - Pastor Raja

Sunday School
Christmas Play
On Dec. 11th at 5.30
No morning service

Dec 15th and 16th

Carolers visit homes

Dec. 18 at 11.00
Carol Service led by Ashish Khan
Followed by Christmas lunch
Donations needed;
Adults Rs 200
Children (5-12) Rs 125

Christmas Day
Communion Service
at 10.00
End of Year Thanksgiving Service
Dec. 31st at 10
New Years Day Service with Pastor Raja

December 2016

My dear people
We are now into the season of Advent. This is that part of
the year which promises prosperity to shopkeepers, new
clothes to children, renovation of buildings and decoration
of churches. Sooner than well actually realize, yet another
Christmas will come and go. There will be get-togethers
and exchange of gifts. And of course, how not to mention
the Christmas Carols! As we think about all these, joy and
warmth fills our hearts.
But have we lately considered the 1st Christmas celebrations roughly 2000 years back? Was the same joy and
warmth also the portion of the immediate family of Jesus
at that time? To begin with, it was bad news for Mary and
Joseph. The disgrace of being with a child without marriage
was a sure sign of adultery, punishable by death. The
dreams of a teenage girl had just been smashed in order to
birth the light of the world. Some time later, male babies
were executed en masse for the sake of saving the life of
one baby.
In the book of Acts, when God rescued Peter from the
prison, in turn the guards were executed. In Gods sovereignty and wisdom,God chooses to bless some and reject
some. When God blesses us, somewhere, something is
denied to someone else. In this world of sin, mere pain and
suffering is not enough. We have some paradoxes to deal
with. This Christmas, when we will enjoy those bada khanas, millions of children will sleep hungry. When we will
swap that credit card at an expensive mall and fill our
wardrobe with the latest winter collection, thousands of
people will die of hypothermia.
As we sympathize with all these we must recognize that in
all probability, the scene could have been much in reverse.
You and I could have been that hungry, shivering lonely
soul. It is therefore, not enough to be thankful to God for
all his blessing but to continually live a life of humility and
repentance. Accepting Gods blessings with humility and
repentance shows how sensitive we are to the people
around us. This Christmas lets enjoy all of God's blessings,
but with repentance.
In Him,
Ashish

Jan Nov 2015

General Offerings

Income

November 30,

2016

November 2016

JanNov 2016

Budget 2016

Projection

3,85,143

11,090

2,39,410

3,00,000

2,61,000

67,700

6,000

44,750

50,000

erratic

4,41,600

59,300

5,04,509

5,10,000

5,50,000

2nd Mile Pledges

96,300

7,300

1,00,500

1,42,000

1,10,000

Lent/Christmas offer.

14,100

4,430

30,000

erratic

Donations
Pledged Giving

Hindi Services

12,000

Designated collections
Sunday School

27,526

1,920

23,877

Grace Church in Village

12,500

1,000

9,500

Medical Aid Fund

69,200

GRAND TOTAL

11,14,069

erratic
40,000

erratic

10,80,000

9,21, 000

72,000
86,610

10,10,976

John Joes father is diagnosed with liver cancer

John Joes sister is undergoing treatment for
breast cancer.
Ruth Chakravarthy was down with Typhoid
fever.
Poonam Modwell is suffering from a neurological problem of the spine.
Akshaya Nagarkars uncle is diagnosed with
cancer.
Ravi Modwell was not well.
Dr. Susheelas daughter Geetu had conjunctivitis.
Pushpa Singhs sister-in-law had a paralytic
attack.
Udayan Chakravarthy & Pooja Modwell visited their families.
Ravi Modwells daughter Pooja is shifted to
Delhi from Bangalore.
Dr.Susheela is travelling to Japan to visit her
daughters family.

Birthdays in December
13
29

Arnav Verma
Ravi Modwell
Triza Sanjay

For Pastoral Care contact

Rev J T Raja 995 639 9835
Rev. Ashish H. Khan 964 843 1177
gracebiblechurch.lucknowindia@gmail.com
www.gracebiblechurchlucknow.org