Grace Fellowship Church of Freeport, Illinois

Worship Service (9:45 A.M.)

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Our Worship Services begin on Sundays at 9:45 A.M. to celebrate Christ and His gospel, and our friendly church family would love for you to join us. (Please feel free to come early for the Fellowship Hour as well).

Our worship services are woven together from classic creeds, modern songs and classic hymns, and Scripture.

A Home. A Mission. A Way of Life.
Come Be a Part of It!

Location

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As a new church, we are currently meeting in downtown Freeport in the Stephenson County Farm Bureau at 210 W. Spring Street and Galena Avenue. (Click address for map and directions)

Free parking is located around the building.

Fellowship Hour (9:15-9:45 and after the Worship Service)

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Before the service, meet new friends and catch up with old ones over a pastry and a hot beverage. We serve special Ancora coffee from Freeport's own Higher Grounds Coffee Shop, or you are also welcome to enjoy a hot Tazo tea or fruit juice.

Nursery

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During our Sunday worship service, infants and children up to age 5 are cared for by nursery volunteers who will page you if your child requires attention, (or in the rare event that we need your help).

Parents may drop off nursery aged children before the worship service (9:30-9:45) and are encouraged to pick up their children immediately after the service.

Pastors and Elders

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Pastor Justin Coverstone
815 751 1274

~ Elders
Dave DeMeester
Gary Hollewell
Larry DeVries
Randy Swalve
Rob Vock
Shawn Nelson

Contact Information

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1255 West Lincoln Street
Freeport, IL 61032

815.751.1274

Kids' Ministry

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In addition to our Sunday morning nursery services, we also offer Sunday School classes for children from Kindergarten to 9th grade.

Kids' Ministry also meets twice a month on the first and third Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 8:00 P.M.

~ At Grace Fellowship, we believe that our Kids' Ministry has a simple goal: to equip mom's and dad's to train their children in living Christ-centered lives. The best sermons for children come from parents who are living day to day in the worship of Christ and who are following His leading in their lives through work, play, and relationships. ~

(Click here to see a few Kids' Ministry Moments)

Kid's Ministry Kick-off Party Fall 2010

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Operation Christmas Child

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"Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ."

This Christmas season, our church family donated 21 boxes towards Operation Christmas Child!After all the boxes were turned in, the Children's Ministry of Grace Fellowship wrapped each box in festive paper and ribbons. Our hope is that the needy child who receives the box will feel the love and prayers that went into each gift box.

Wrapping the shoe boxes wasn't always easy, but it was a lot of fun, and a wonderful experience for everyone involved! If you are interested in participating in this ministry, please feel free to contact us!

Scripture Readings for Advent

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Scripture Readings for Advent,^¹

Twelve Days of Christmas, and Epiphany

The Magi Guided by the Star

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the

East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.

—Matthew 2:9

The Meaning of ‘Advent’, ‘Christmas’, and ‘Epiphany’

Christians throughout history have celebrated Advent, Christmas and Epiphany as a six-week celebration. Like the seasons of the year in nature, the season of the church (“ecclesiastical”) calendar and the national calendar come full circle. This is only appropriate since: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:16-18). These are seasons of annual focus for Christians. Much in our commercialized version of Christmas distracts us from paying attention to Jesus. During the Advent season, Christians are encouraged to center our lives on the true message of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. These are central events in the life of Christ and human history. God became a man to rescue His people. This is why we celebrate.

Advent is that period of great anticipatory joy—it is a time of preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem as a helpless infant. In the Western liturgy, Advent begins four Sundays prior to December 25^th—the Sunday closest to November 30. The annual commemoration of Jesus’ birth begins the Christmas cycle of the liturgical year—a cycle that runs from Christmas Eve to the Sunday after the feast of the Epiphany.

The four weeks of Advent have come to symbolize aspects or images of Christ's coming. Traditionally, the first week remembers the prophecies of Jeremiah and the other Old Testament prophets concerning the coming Messiah. The second week remembers John the Baptist, the immediate herald of the Messiah. These first two weeks also suggest the coming judgment that God was bringing through the ministry of Christ. Christ, the Messiah and chief of the Prophets, called people to repentance for their sin. Therefore, these weeks are a time of fasting and penitence. The third week focuses on the joy of the season as Advent is half finished and moves closer to Christ's coming. Finally, week four remembers Mary for her humility and willing obedience to the will of God. Because Christmas falls on a different day of the week each year, the fourth week of Advent is never really finished; it is abruptly, joyously, and ended by the annual coming again of Jesus at Christmas.

As we celebrate Christmas, few of us think of Christmas Day as a beginning. For most families Christmas is the end of weeks of planning, shopping, and activity. Many are unaware that Christmas is actually the first day of “twelve-days” of Christmas.

Ever since the Council of Tours met in 567 and proclaimed the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany as a sacred time, the Church officially observed both an Advent season in preparation for, and a Christmas season for the celebration of our Lord’s nativity. Recognizing how the Church year dramatizes the biblical story of what Christ has done for the salvation of all people, we are trying to recover some of the richness of these celebrations. The church year forms an annual curriculum that tells the story of Christianity; they tell the basic story of the Christian gospel.

The Christian calendar is a great way for families to pay attention to the biggest reality of our lives. Repeated traditions (as the Bible teaches) help us remember who we are and develop our identity as God’s covenant people. And celebrating these themes and the realities of Jesus Christ helps Christian families express their faith.

The twelve days of Christmas traditionally end with the celebration of the eve of Epiphany on Twelfth Night, January fifth. Broadly speaking, the word “epiphany” means a sudden revelation of the meaning of something or a grasp of the reality through a sudden realization. In the context of the Christian Church, Epiphany has a more specific reference: it celebrates the revelation of Jesus’ divine nature to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. The feast of Epiphany is observed on January sixth, twelve days after Christmas.

December 1 Genesis 3:1-20 Seed of Eve

December 2 Genesis 22:1-18 Only Beloved Son and Sacrifice

December 3 Genesis 48: 15-16; 49:8-10 Lion of Judah

December 4 Numbers 23:18-24; 24:3-9; 15-19 Star of Jacob

December 5 Deuteronomy 18:14-22 Prophet Like Moses

December 6 Samuel 7:1-17 Son of David

December 7 Psalm 2 Messiah: Son of God and King

December 8 Psalm 16; Job 19:23-27 Holy One and Resurrected Redeemer

December 9 Psalm 22 The One Forsaken by God

December 10 Psalm 72 Royal Son, Deliverer of the Afflicted

December 11 Psalm 110 Priest and Lord at God’s Right Hand

December 12 Isaiah 7:14; 9:1-7 Immanuel, Mighty God, Prince Peace

December 13 Isaiah 11:1-10 Branch from Jesse’s Roots

December 14 Isaiah 42:1-10 Covenant and Light to the Nations

December 15 Isaiah 49:1-7; 50:4-11 Servant of Kings, Sustainer of Weary

December 16 Isaiah 52:13-53:11 Suffering Servant, and Lamb of God

December 17 Jeremiah 23:1-6; 33:14-18 The Righteous Branch

December 18 Ezekiel 34:1-31 The Good Shepherd

December 19 Daniel 7:9-14; Micah 5:2-5 Son of Man; Ruler from Bethlehem

December 20 Zechariah 9:9-10; 12:10-13:1 King on a Donkey; Pierced Firstborn

December 21 Malachi 3:1-4; 4:1-6 Covenant Messenger; Righteousness

December 22 Luke 1:5-38 Son of the Most High

December 23 Luke 1:39-80 Tender Mercy of God

December 24 Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1-14 Savior from Sin; Word made flesh

The Heidelberg Catechism (circa 1543)

Lord’s Day Five

12. Since, then, by the righteous judgment of God, we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, how may we escape this punishment and be again received into favor?

God wills that His justice be satisfied; therefore, we must make full satisfaction to that justice, either by ourselves, or by another.

13. Can we ourselves make this satisfaction (or payment)?

Certainly not; on the contrary, we daily increase our guilt.

14. Can any mere creature make satisfaction (or payment) for us?

None; for first, God will not punish any other creature for the sin which man committed; and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin and redeem others from it.

15. What kind of mediator and redeemer, then, must we seek?

One who is a true and righteous man, and yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.

Lord’s Day Six

16. Why must He (our redeemer) be a “true and righteous” man?

Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned should make satisfaction for sin; but one who is himself a sinner cannot satisfy for others.

17. Why must He (our redeemer) also be true God?

That by the power of His Godhead He might bear in His manhood the burden of God’s wrath, and so obtain for and restore to us righteousness and life.

18. But who is that Mediator, who in one person is true God and also a true and righteous man?

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is freely given unto us for complete redemption and righteousness.

19. From where do you know this?

From the Holy Gospel, which God Himself first revealed in Paradise, afterward proclaimed by the holy Patriarchs and Prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law, and finally fulfilled by His well-beloved Son.

1 This Advent devotional guide borrows heavily from Douglas Wilson of Christ Church, Moscow, ID as well as Professor Jerram Barrs of the Francis Schaeffer Institute at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO.

Mercy Ministries

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(Photos taken while the men from Grace Fellowship volunteered their time to re-roof the home of a Freeport man and woman in need of help.)

Media Resources

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Grace Fellowship has a not-for-profit book and CD table which features rich resources for both seasoned Christians and the Spiritually curious. Please feel free to browse through the selections during the Fellowship Hour or after the service.

Youth Ministry

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Some people deal with kids, “tweens” and teens by leaving MTV, peers and the internet to teach them about life. Like their parents, however, children need God's perspective on life and relationships. Others seek a program-centered youth ministry and assume that paid “church professionals” will shape and shield their kids. A third approach is a family-centered youth ministry.

This is an “inside-out” method that focuses on equipping dads and moms. Why?

As parents learn to live the Gospel, think biblically, and follow Jesus as humble, whole-life disciples, parents spiritually “heat the home” children live in. When kids see dad and mom learning to live by faith in Jesus, a “contagion effect” kicks in. Then children live 24/7 in a family eco-system of faith.

A Christ-centered home lasts longer than a youth "hour-of-power" at church; seeing dad pray is more convincing than a fashionable, MTV-looking youth director. Fun with peers may supplement, but can never substitute for parental equipping.

We equip dads and moms to 'pastor' their kids wisely in each season of life.

Small Groups

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Throughout our new church, you will meet families and friends joined not just by relation but by experience. The Gospel unites separate lives into an intergenerational, multi-ethnic family giving us real unity in diversity.

We celebrate birthdays and marriages together.
We arrange meals when a new child is born. We celebrate graduations and other special occasions.

Most importantly, we pray for and support each other when life’s trials require a bigger spiritual family.

At Grace Fellowship, we’d be honored to include your family. You may be a single mom with hopes for your young children, a thirty-something dad wanting to wisely guide a growing family, or a young couple anxiously awaiting the birth of a child. No matter your relation to Grace we share a love of married, singles--and share a desire to see children become all that God would have.

Women's Discipleship

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Spend $100,000 for a team of top-notch plastic surgeons, and you get scalpels, sutures, implants, and chemicals;

. . or seek Gospel beauty. Christianity says that only the Gospel can give women a beauty that goes deeper and lasts longer than Clinique or Estee Lauder.

Gospel beauty sinks beneath the skin to what Scripture calls the "heart"--the center of your whole life. Once there, it gives women sparkling lives, firm character, new minds, tender hearts, and life-giving lips. Such women spread this beauty everywhere they go!

Gospel beauty radiates forever. And it won't fade over time, crack under pressure, gray thru years, or wrinkle under life's worries.

Men's Discipleship

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Ironically, the best Kids' Ministry is top-notch Mens' Ministry.

Why? A spiritually maturing dad (inside the home) is always better than any youth pastor (outside).

That’s one reason why at Grace Fellowship, the Mens' Discipleship Ministry is serious masculine sharpening 101.

We use theology and discipleship articles on both Christianity and contemporary culture to sharpen your mind and cultivate your soul in order to equip men to live as whole life disciples.

Men's meetings are open to any Christian men who are wrestling, need sharpening, mentoring, a place to work through questions, or men who are curious about Grace Fellowship .

Home. A Mission. A Way of Life.

Come be Part of it!