Redeeming Grace Church of Syracuse

05/31/2026

05/27/2026

Redeeming Grace Church
Midweek Update – May 27, 2026

A weekly rhythm of connection, reflection, and what’s ahead.

1. A Word From Sheila - Relational, Not Transactional

We have been programmed by our culture to think transactionally. Our language is filled with phrases like, “You get what you pay for,” “I scratch your back, you scratch mine,” and “You only get out of it what you put into it.” The truth is, for many things in the natural world, those sayings are wise and true. Maybe that is why we have such a hard time comprehending the grace of God.

Our relationship with God is relational, not transactional. Doing more for God does not earn us more favor with him. Asking something big of him does not require us to make more deposits into some invisible spiritual account. That is the way of works. Works are what happen when we try to earn God’s favor or blessing by performing the right actions or behaviors. A work mindset is the opposite of grace, and it is the wrong way to approach the Lord.

God is not a vending machine where we insert right living, righteous behavior, prayer, or service in order to receive something in return. What a relief. Jesus is the one who paid the enormous price to bring us into direct relationship with God. Because of Jesus, everything we need flows from our Father-child relationship with him.

Yes, we pray. We do good to others. We share our faith. We seek to live in obedience. But we do these things as the natural outflow of a relationship we already have securely, completely, and irrevocably with God. Our good works are not a form of currency we use to pay for God’s favor or help. They are the fruit of knowing we are already loved.

2. What’s Happening at Grace

Wednesday Bible Study - We meet in the fellowship hall at 6:30pm for Bible study. (The outreach bags are not ready to assemble tonight). Reminder that next week is our community game night at 6:30pm. Bring a snack and your favorite game.

Saturday Syracuse Lake Outreach - Please let Sheila know if you are interested in walking the perimeter of the lake to distribute outreach bags this Saturday. We will meet at 10:00am to put together the bags and then to distribute them. Come for part of the time or for the whole thing. The more the merrier! Thanks Larry & Fran for coordinating the event.

Going Away Party for Beverly Maresh - Barb Ehmen is planning a going away party for Beverly on June 4th at Avalon Village from 2-4:00pm. We invite all of you to stop by during that time for a piece of pie with Beverly. There is a sign up sheet on the bulletin board so that we know how much food to provide. If you are not available during that time, feel free to stop by another time. I know she would enjoy being able to stay goodbye to all of her friends.

Redeeming Grace Women - Mary Moretto has invited us to her home on Monday, June 29th at 6:30pm. Mark your calendars for a fun evening together. Her address is 320 E South Kitson Lane, Syracuse.

Community Outreach Opportunities - Redeeming Grace has an outreach fund for those who would like to give above their regular giving toward community outreach. If you feel led to give, please mark your donation as “Outreach.” We have two upcoming outreach opportunities.

On the first Wednesday of June & July we will host a community game night at 6:30pm in the fellowship hall. There will be euchre and an assortment of games. Bring a snack to share. Water and coffee will be provided. The local community center normally has a monthly euchre night but they take a break during the summer months so we decided to offer a game night here. Please come and invite a friend.

Sunday, June 28, Main Street will be closed from Huntington Street to the Community Center for the city’s 250th celebration. We are planning to have tents set up with activities and giveaways, and our restrooms will be available if needed. Mark your calendars and plan to be part of these events as we love and serve our neighbors. More information will be forthcoming.

Volunteer Opportunities - There are sign-up sheets for scripture reading and cleaning on the bulletin board. If you would like to join together with someone else to clean that is a great idea too. Before the worship service each week we have cookies and coffee in the fellowship hall. If you enjoy baking, we would be thankful to have you bring some of your baked goods. We keep extras in the church freezer.

3. This Sunday, John will be preaching from Matthew 5:1-16, where Jesus begins to describe the kind of life that grows in people who belong to his kingdom. The Beatitudes remind us that Jesus blesses what the world often overlooks, and then calls his people to live as salt and light right where they are.

Thank you for being part of the Redeeming Grace Church family.
We’ll see you Sunday at 10:30 AM!

—John, Sheila & the Redeeming Grace Team

Redeeming Grace Church • (574) 457-3845 • [email protected] • 203 E Main St Syracuse, IN 46567

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05/20/2026

Redeeming Grace Church
Midweek Update – May 20, 2026

A weekly rhythm of connection, reflection, and what’s ahead.

1. A Word From Sheila - The Pace of Jesus

I have been thinking about the pace of Jesus. When I read through the Gospels, I don’t get the sense that Jesus was rushed or hurried. He had people pressing in around him such as disciples asking questions, religious leaders challenging him, and hurting people reaching for him, but he still lived from the presence of the Father.

In Matthew 11:28–30, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” He does not invite us into more pressure instead He invites us to himself. He tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

That is such a different way to live than the rushed state many of us fall into. I know for myself, it is easy to move through the day thinking about the next thing that needs my attention rather than just focusing on the present. But Jesus shows us a different rhythm. He lived with purpose, but he was never rushed. He was always in the moment.

As followers of Jesus, we are invited to learn his way. We do not need to hurry as if everything depends on us because it doesn’t. Let’s go to Jesus and let his presence teach us how to move through the day with peace, trust, and love.

2. What’s Happening at Grace

Wednesday Bible Study - We meet in the fellowship hall at 6:30pm for Bible study.

Community Outreach Opportunities - Redeeming Grace has an outreach fund for those who would like to give above their regular giving toward community outreach. If you feel led to give, please mark your donation as “Outreach.” We have two upcoming outreach opportunities.

Saturday, May 30th, we will be passing out blessing bags to those living on Syracuse Lake. We are looking for 4-6 people that would like to walk the perimeter of the lake to pass them out. Contact Sheila if interested. Thank you Larry & Fran for coordinating this blessing.

On the first Wednesday of June & July we will host a community game night at 6:30pm in the fellowship hall. There will be euchre and an assortment of games. Bring a snack to share. Water and coffee will be provided. The local community center normally has a monthly euchre night but they take a break during the summer months so we decided to offer a game night here. Please come and invite a friend.

Sunday, June 28, Main Street will be closed from Huntington Street to the Community Center for the city’s 250th celebration. We are planning to have tents set up with activities and giveaways, and our restrooms will be available if needed. Mark your calendars and plan to be part of these events as we love and serve our neighbors. More information will be forthcoming.

Volunteer Opportunities - There are sign-up sheets for scripture reading and cleaning on the bulletin board. If you would like to join together with someone else to clean that is a great idea too. Before the worship service each week we have cookies and coffee in the fellowship hall. If you enjoy baking, we would be thankful to have you bring some of your baked goods. We keep extras in the church freezer.

3. Looking Ahead - Word and Spirit

Pentecost reminds us that the Church does not live by its own vitality, but by the relentless, creative presence of the Holy Spirit. As we turn to Colossians 4:2–6, we find the practical intersection of this Spirit-led life and our witness to the world. Paul’s instruction is not merely a list of religious duties; it is a blueprint for how a community filled with the Spirit maintains its posture toward God and its neighbors.

"Word and Spirit" serves as our sermon this Sunday. We are called to be a people of persistent, watchful prayer—the essential fuel for a life tethered to God—and simultaneously a people whose speech is seasoned with the transformative grace of the Gospel. On this Pentecost, we recognize that the same Spirit who ignited the early Church is the one who enables us to "make the most of every opportunity." To walk in wisdom toward outsiders is not to rely on human cleverness, but to speak from the overflow of a heart captivated by the Risen Christ. Join us as we explore how the Spirit provides both the substance of our message and the grace-filled rhythm of our lives in a world waiting to hear the truth.

Thank you for being part of the Redeeming Grace Church family.

We’ll see you Sunday at 10:30 AM!
—John, Sheila & the Redeeming Grace Team

05/17/2026

We love having children join us on Sundays.

05/13/2026

Redeeming Grace Church
Midweek Update – May 12, 2026

A weekly rhythm of connection, reflection, and what’s ahead.

1. A Word From Sheila - Journeying with Peter

Larry Allen recently recommended a book to me called The Missing Link. It is about journeying with Peter through Acts, and here are some of my thoughts as I have begun to read.

John and Peter’s healing of the lame man at the gate shows us more than a miracle. It shows us a man who had been changed by the presence of Jesus. There was a time when Peter wanted to be noticed and known for his boldness. Now his courage had become a way of pointing people to Jesus. Instead of drawing attention to himself, he wanted others to see the One who had healed, restored, and saved.

That kind of change is possible, and I love seeing it happen in people’s lives. So many times, we stay stuck, even when Jesus is present and ready to walk with us through the places that need healing and reshaping.

The disciples did not represent Jesus perfectly in those early days. They stumbled, misunderstood, and made mistakes, but they kept following. That gives me hope because we are still learning too so let’s not become discouraged as we continue to learn from Jesus. Jesus is the true voice, and we are learning to reflect his true light.

2. What’s Happening at Grace

Wednesday Bible Study - We will meet at 6:30 in the fellowship hall for Bible Study.

Community Outreach Opportunities - Redeeming Grace has an outreach fund for those who would like to give above their regular giving toward community outreach. If you feel led to give, please mark your donation as “Outreach.” We have two upcoming outreach opportunities. Saturday, May 23, we will be passing out blessing bags to those living on Syracuse Lake. Sunday, June 28, Main Street will be closed from Huntington Street to the Community Center for the city’s 250th celebration. We are planning to have tents set up with activities and giveaways, and our restrooms will be available if needed. Mark your calendars and plan to be part of these events as we love and serve our neighbors. More information will be forthcoming.

Volunteer Opportunities - There are sign-up sheets for scripture reading and cleaning on the bulletin board. If you would like to join together with someone else to clean that is a great idea too. Before the worship service each week we have cookies and coffee in the fellowship hall. If you enjoy baking, we would be thankful to have you bring some of your baked goods. We keep extras in the church freezer.

3. Looking Ahead - Love That Goes First

This Sunday, John and Sheila will look at family relationships through the pattern of Jesus, who used his strength to serve, sacrifice, and love. When love goes first, submission becomes a response of trust rather than something forced by fear based on Colossians 3:18-25.

Thank you for being part of the Redeeming Grace Church family.
We’ll see you Sunday at 10:30 AM!
—John, Sheila & the Redeeming Grace Team

05/06/2026

Midweek Update – May 6, 2026

A weekly rhythm of connection, reflection, and what’s ahead.

1. A Word From Sheila - The Posture of Prayer

Smith Wigglesworth is often quoted as saying, “I never pray for more than fifteen minutes at a time, but I never go more than fifteen minutes without praying.”

Prayer was not only something he stopped to do. Prayer was the rhythm of his relationship with Jesus. That is a beautiful picture of a life lived with Jesus but how do we actually live that way? Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”

Our faith is founded on relationship, and meaningful relationships include conversation. We know this in our everyday lives. The people closest to us are usually the people we talk to throughout the day. Some conversations are long and deep. Some are only a few words. Both matter because the relationship matters.

It is easy to know we need God when big things happen. When there is a death, a serious diagnosis or something we cannot fix on our own, we know we need prayer. We know we need strength and we can’t carry it alone. But what about an ordinary day? God is the giver of wisdom and discernment, so why would we wait until life feels too heavy before we turn to Him? What would our days look like if we remembered that Jesus is with us in the middle of them?

I believe prayer is saying His name before you walk into a meeting, picturing Him beside you in the car and talking to Him about your day. Prayer is also asking for wisdom before you respond to a text, make a decision, or have a conversation that feels hard. Sometimes it is simply saying “Jesus, help me.”

The posture of prayer is not limited to folded hands and quiet rooms. Those moments are good and needed, but prayer is also remembering that Jesus is near. He is present in the car, at work and in the middle of the ordinary things we carry. The sweetest relationships have room for both short conversations and long conversations. Our relationship with Jesus is the same way. He welcomes both the one-word prayer and the longer times of pouring out our hearts.

When we include Him, things change, we receive wisdom we did not have on our own and find peace that does not come from our circumstances. Basically we remember that we are not alone.
Let's trust Him at all times. Pour out your heart to Him. He is our refuge.

2. What’s Happening at Grace

Wednesday Bible Study - Due to an unexpected conflict our gathering has been cancelled for tonight. See you next week.

Women of Grace - This coming Monday, May 11th the women of Grace are invited to an informal gathering starting at 6:30 here at the church. Dawn Thomas will help us create graphic t-shirts. Please see Sherri Grindle or Mel Webb to sign up and choose your color and graphic options.

Volunteer Opportunities - There are sign-up sheets for scripture reading and cleaning on the bulletin board. If you would like to join together with someone else to clean that is a great idea too. Before the worship service each week we have cookies and coffee in the fellowship hall. If you enjoy baking, we would be thankful to have you bring some of your baked goods. We keep extras in the church freezer.

3. Looking Ahead - Sing to Grow

This Sunday John will be preaching from Colossians 3:12-17. This passage reminds us that the life of Jesus is meant to shape how we treat one another, forgive, worship, and how we carry His peace into ordinary life.

Thank you for being part of the Redeeming Grace Church family.
We’ll see you Sunday at 10:30 AM!

—John, Sheila & the Grace Team