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On April 25, we’ll be starting a study of the book of Ecclesiastes. Unlike many of the books of the Bible, Ecclesiastes is a highly stylized and downright disturbing book. Written sometime in the early 10th century BCE, it looks at life from the ultimate pessimist’s perspective and really highlights some of the biggest flaws in human thinking.

The title of the series is a paraphrase of the common refrain in Ecclesiastes. In Hebrew, the phrase is hebel wa-ruach, commonly translated as “vanity and vexation of spirit.” It is a figure of speech meaning “as empty as chasing the wind” or something similar. In other words, it is a useless endeavor. Hence, blah blah blah yada yada yada.

Personally, I think this is going to be one of the more fun series we have done lately. It gives us an opportunity to laugh at ourselves, at our vain ambitions and sometimes silly obsessions. It will also give us a chance to see all of our attempts at happiness and fulfillment through the eyes of a man who had the resources to try everything and who still came up empty.

You’ll want to check it out.

Sunday Child Care (ages 0-3)

Our nursery volunteers are screened and trained to provide your child with a safe, healthy environment during the worship gatherings. When you arrive, a greeter will be happy to accompany you to the nursery area so you can take a look around and get to know the volunteers who will be taking care of your child.

God’s Backyard (grades K4-4th)

Our children’s ministry is an interactive program that closely follows the morning worship gathering, but on a child’s level. The songs are energetic, the lessons are Biblical but also fun.

As a parent, you are welcome to accompany your child to their first visit to God’s Backyard and to sit in on the session. We’d love to hear your feedback.

Of course, your children are welcome to remain with you in the worship gathering but we do ask that you take the necessary steps to ensure they will not be a distraction.

Teen Ministry

Teenagers love to have fun, but the teen years are also a serious time. We strive to strike a balance between enjoying our time together and challenging each other to spiritual growth.

Youth Group – Sunday evenings at 6pm at the church building.

Small Groups

We have a variety of groups that meet during the week for various purposes. Currently, the groups are:

• Sundays 7pm @ the church – led by Lyn Swenson
• Tuesdays 9am @ the church – a ladies Bible study that goes through many different topics and book studies
• Wednesdays 12pm @ the Brady Sullivan cafeteria, Elm St, Manchester – led by Greg Jones
• Wednesdays 7pm @ the church – a prayer group led by one of the elders
• Thursdays 6:30pm @ 222 Whipple St, Manchester [changing] – led by Doug Wilcox

We are currently planning to develop small groups in Hooksett, Nashua, and possibly one other location. Keep watching for the news.

Jan. 20, 2010-R

Prayer Requests for the Week of Jan 13, 2010

Enter http://google.com/calendar/hosted/gracemerrimack.org/ into your web browser. Once there, you can press CTRL+d and bookmark this page so you do not need to type it again.

Step #1 - Enter the web address

Step #2  - Sign In

In the green rectangle to the left, enter your username (deaconess, elder, etc.) and assigned password. If you don’t know the password, email pastor@gracemerrimack.org. Click the SIGN-IN button.

Step #2 - Sign In

Step #3 – Select the time for your event

Use the arrows at the top of the calendar to scroll to the day of your event. Clicking the appropriate space in the calendar will bring up a dialogue box for you to enter information.

Step #3 - Select Your Date

Step #4 – Edit the event details

When you click the time for your event, a simple dialogue appears. You can only enter the name of the event at a basic description. I recommend that you click the EDIT EVENT DETAILS >> link and enter your information in the more thorough dialogue.

Step #4 - Edit Your Entry

Make sure you enter the correct time. If you enter an address, the calendar can actually map to the location for people. Also make sure the CALENDAR is set to GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH and not DEACONESSES. When you have finished entering your details, click one of the two SAVE buttons.

Step #4 - Edit your event details

Step #5 – Review

Make sure you review the item on the calendar once you have saved it. This calendar feeds automatically to our website, which means errors feed to the website as well.

Step #5 - Review

]]> http://hbc-nh.org/?feed=rss2&p=180 0 http://hbc-nh.org/?p=104 http://hbc-nh.org/?p=104#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:06:40 +0000 Erik http://hbc-nh.org/?p=104 Erik DiVietro served as the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church and led our congregations in the merger. When the two congregations merged, he became the senior pastor of the new church.

He served as the associate pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church prior to being called to Heritage in 2004. Since then, he has brought his blend of postmodern relevance, historic acumen and slightly warped humor to the study of God’s Word.

Erik is a graduate of Boston Baptist College (B.A. 1998) and Master’s School of Divinity (M.A. 2006). He and his wife Nichole have one child.

• Our senior pastor, who is ordained and paid by the church to be our primary teacher and vision caster. The pastor is called by the church and serves indefinitely.
• Any pastoral staff would serve as elders and must meet the qualifications of an elder.
• A group of non-paid elders who meet the spiritual requirements laid out in Scriptures and act in concert with the senior pastor. Elders currently serve three year terms, with a required year of rest between terms.

The elders are equal in authority, but the pastor is considered the “first among equals” because of the clear calling of God upon his life into vocational eldership.

As of December 2009, we have four non-paid elders and our senior pastor.

In our church, deacon and deaconess are not leadership positions. While they lead in areas, they do not set the direction for the church ministries.