It’s amazing to watch our dinner group members support one another, but also to see groups that work together to support the community.

That’s what happened last Monday, when a dozen volunteers helped dismantle old chalkboards at the local Mustard Seed School. Two dinner groups worked on the project, along with a few other volunteers from Hoboken Grace.

“The chalkboards were extremely heavy, so we needed all the help we could get to carry them out to the dumpster,” said CJ Neral, the leader of one of the dinner groups.

In addition to hauling out the old boards, the volunteers helped tidy up some of the classrooms in preparation for next year.

“We think the world of Mustard Seed School,” CJ said. “We felt privileged to have an opportunity to help out there.”

In fact, we’re so passionate about Mustard Seed and the environment of love and growth it provides, that we’ll be back volunteering at the school this fall as part of our 1Day service event.

It can be hard to get to know your neighbors in a city like Hoboken, but our church family is committed to not only knowing, but also loving and serving those around us.


A Local School Relationship

Paul Manansala dreams of a church at the heart of Jersey City’s bustling intersections, where people from all walks of life come together to discover God’s love.

This December, he’ll launch Crossroad Community Church in the city’s West Side – a passion project God has been leading him to his whole life.

Paul grew up in a church in Jersey City, one of many that his father helped launch.

“Whenever we would drive past places, it was just in him,” he explained. “He’d say, ‘Oh, look, there’s a mall closing down. It’d be a great spot for a church plant.’ ”

Years later, Paul was working with high school and college students at a church his father started in Garfield. When one of the services became full, he launched his own.

That experience, he said, and watching his father’s enthusiasm over the years, inspired him and his wife to start dreaming about church planting in Jersey City. A friend pointed them to Hoboken Grace, and they started attending in 2012.

“I chased Chris down in between services, and just asked him, ‘Are you guys interested in Jersey City at all?’ ” Paul said. “And he said, ‘Yeah, we’re actually planting the Hamilton Park location in about four months.”

The conversation changed their lives dramatically. They got more involved with the church, moved and joined the Hamilton Park launch team. And soon after, Paul was admitted to a fellows program with Tim Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian.

The program required full-time ministry, so Paul decided to quit his IT job.

“We knew we couldn’t miss this opportunity,” he said. “It’s one of the best urban church-planting leadership development programs out there.”

In addition to having classes with Tim Keller, Paul and the other fellows have learned from each other. A church planter from an equally diverse neighborhood in Queens, for example, encouraged Paul to start connecting the people in his community through service projects. The program wrapped up three weeks ago, but Paul will start another development program at Redeemer, “Incubator,” in the fall.

He also became a church plant intern at Hoboken Grace, learning from the rest of the staff and the speaking team.

“Seeing the Hamilton Park location launch this year into Downtown Community Church, and Wayne being a great friend – it’s been very beneficial to see someone do it before me, just to see what the process looks like,” he said.

His own church, Crossroad, will start with preview services in December, and an official launch on Easter. It will serve several parts of the city, including McGinley Square, Lincoln Park, Bergen-Lafayette and some of Journal Square.

“Jersey City is a crossroads of all different types of people, especially in our neighborhood. We were looking at the demographics, and it’s ridiculously diverse,” he said. “The pie graph is completely equal divided between all different types of people. But also, when it comes to socioeconomic status, even within the same cultures … it’s all over the map.”

Paul’s wife grew up in the area, and the couple moved there in December. He’s been meeting as many people as he can, and laying the foundation of his church by connecting those people through meetings and community service events with groups such as the New City Kids.

“We want to be able to meet people where they’re at, which a lot of the time with people in our neighborhood is a lot of instability, a lot of question marks, and dealing with different crossroads with their family and all that,” he said. “So we want to meet them there and lead them to the love of God that we’ve experienced.”

Residents and entrepreneurs have flocked to Jersey City in the past few years, and now churches are needed more than ever, Paul explained. Working with Hoboken Grace’s Hamilton Park location has shown him that God is already doing something there.

“There are amazing people in the city,” he said, “and it seems like God is starting something.”


Crossroads. Where passion meets a need.

Fireworks may have been moved to the east river this year, but that won’t stop us from having some fun!!

Come celebrate Independence Day with Hoboken Grace! We’ll stake out a prime spot on Maxwell Place Park for a few hours and play some games – just look for the orange balloons. Bring a friend, a blanket, and a snack to share. If you have any lawn games or sporting equipment you’d like to bring, feel free to bring them as well.

Here is a schedule of the official games:

12:30 – 1:30 – Kickball  
1:45 – 2:45 – Flag Football  
3:00 – 4:00 – Ultimate Frisbee

There will also be Cornhole and other games to play throughout the party.

Come by and spend a few hours in the sun with us! We’ll see you there.


Add this to your Star Spangled Planner

It’s a perplexing problem – just what are you supposed to do with your hands during church? Twiddle your thumbs? Shred a napkin quietly in your lap? Hold the hand of your significant other, and squeeze it meaningfully everytime the message really speaks to their issues?

How about take out your smartphone and follow along? That’s right, we want you to have your phone out in church.

Last year, we retired our overworked and underpaid printer and launched our paperless Online Program.

We still hand out connection cards – and yes, pens – at the door. And we encourage everyone to fill it out and stay connected.

But during our services everything you need to follow along with our series and stay connected during the week is at your fingertips thanks to our online program. Here’s what you’ll find waiting for you every Sunday morning, the memory verse, access to all passages from the message, 1st time guest information, Grace Kids Information and more!

And just to make this even more convenient and seamless, you can sign up for a Text Alert that will send you a link to the online program every Sunday before service. Just click “Get Text Alerts” at the bottom of the online program page to sign up!


Bring Your Phone

Dozens of people dispersed across Jersey City this past Saturday with yard tools, paintbrushes and the goal of making a difference in a day.

The 65 volunteers at Go! Jersey City, took on projects big and small all around the community. They weeded parks, painted schools and cared for a cemetery that dates back centuries.

“It was great to see how dedicated and excited this year’s volunteers were,” said Wayne Burton, pastor of Downtown Community Church, which organized the event.

The volunteers reached nearly every corner of the city, serving Hamilton Park, New City Kids, St. Anthony’s High School, the Liberty Humane Society, Van Vorst Park, Harsimus Cemetery and Liberty State Park. With trash hauled away, pathways cleared and walls freshly painted, each site was left improved.

It’s amazing how a few hours can impact countless people! 


What It Meant To Go!

If you’ve been attending any of our services regularly the past month or so, you may have noticed a few things.

We’ve started a dance team that choreographed and performed an original piece about baptism, our spoken word team has been writing and creating beautiful, poetic works, we’ve installed backdrops made from scratch, we created powerful activities at Teams Night to allow people to step closer to God and we’ve introduced some new \[and old\] original tunes written by the worship band.

It’s okay to say it. We’ve gotten a little artsy fartsy.

Now all this is really exciting for me, and also just plain cool. But in the midst of all these new things, I’ve had some questions about why we do all them.

“What is the purpose of the dance team?”

“Why did you decide to build the backdrops?”

“Spoken word is cool, but what is the point?”

Before I send my inner melancholy-tempermented artist to the corner to sulk about people not understanding her art, let me take a minute to calm her (and you) down and to break it down.

First let’s back up and realize that we are not all designed the same and that is a beautiful thing. God made us each unique and beautiful in His image – the bible talks about it:

_For you created my inmost being;_  
_you knit me together in my mother’s womb._ 
**_14_** _I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;_  
_your works are wonderful,_ 
_I know that full well._ 
**_15_** _My frame was not hidden from you_  
_when I was made in the secret place,_ 
_when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. –Psalms 139:13-15_

God knows us intricately and He made us with unique gifts and personalities. It’s no surprise then that we may find ourselves interacting with Him in a bunch of different ways.

For instance, I can attest that I definitely connect with God through music. Whether it has words or it’s just a beautiful piece of classical music, for some reason I’m able to experience a conversation with Him through that vehicle.

But not everyone does. And that’s okay. And maybe you haven’t even figured out what that relationship looks like, how you interact with each other clearly, etc. Like any relationship, it takes time.

But maybe, over time, you find you’re able to clear your mind and listen for God best when you take a walk, when you’re reading, when you’re creating something with your hands. Maybe you have to find a place to be completely still and quiet. Or maybe you can’t stand the quiet and love to talk to him through ridiculously loud music.

Whatever it is, you get the idea. We are all uniquely, beautifully made and the result is a lot of different ways to have a conversation.

And a lot of different ways to come before Him and worship.

Over and over, as we’re walking with God, we’re going to be reminded of Christ on the cross. For us. When we walk with Him the beauty of it is only amplified as we experience Him more – the beauty of that sacrifice, that debt-cancelling act. It draws us to God and draws us to worship with everything we have.

_Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. –Romans 12:1_

So back to the questions. Why do we have all these things at church? Why do we write songs, choreograph dances, write poetry – why do we create? Simple – we create to demonstrate our utmost worship to Him in the way he created us to. All of these things that we create are just an explosion of US wanting to share what HE has done.

And when you think about it, isn’t that just the coolest thought in the world? That maybe the reason you start to act like a crazy person when your favorite worship song comes on is that He wanted to demonstrate joy through you in that moment? Maybe the reason you get so excited about building something from nothing is that He designed you to create things that reflect his beauty. Maybe the reason that you can’t stand the noise is because he wants you to come hang out with him by reading something. The point is there isn’t really a wrong answer when it comes to worshiping God (and if you’re worried about being weird, I have another read for you [here](http://hobokengrace.com/blog/everyones-thinking-it-no-ones-saying-it/)). And so if that means we’ve gone a little artsy fartsy, so be it.

I’ll leave you with a piece of music that never fails to pull me in. It’s somewhat lengthy, every time I listen to the Firebird Suite by Stravinsky, I can’t help but think of the triumph of Christ defeating the grave and daydream with God about what He has in store for us. Listen.


Why We Create

Months before Marcie stood on stage to take the step of baptism and declare that she would follow Jesus anywhere, she sensed a small but growing voice leading her there.

At first it was a occasional whisper, she explained. And then it was an overwhelming desire in her heart.

It started when she joined a dinner group at the beginning of the year. The connections she made there, helped strengthen her relationship with God and reaffirmed the path she was on.

But the small nudges she felt toward baptism were mostly brushed aside until she could no longer ignore them. No matter how many times she stifled them, they only grew stronger.

And after several “baby steps” over the past few months, she realized she needed to take another step forward in her walk with God, or risk coming to a standstill.

“I needed to grow,” she said.

Once she decided to get baptized, several things in her life began to fall into place. What’s more, she knew she didn’t need to be perfect to take that step.

Weeks later, she emerged from the water, hands soaring through the air as she was flooded with a sense of peace unlike any she had ever experienced.

“It was like it was just me and God,” she said of the experience on May 31.

She’s still taking steps forward, working alongside one of the teams at Hoboken Grace, planning a missions trip and waiting to see where God leads next.

And that overwhelming sense of peace? It hasn’t left her.


Baptism: Another Step Forward

New York is not a city that believes in personal space – physical or mental. We stand nose to nose with total strangers on the subway, and continuously feed our minds an endless stream of news, emails and tweets. We’ve adapted to it, but for many of us, this noise and crush has become so familiar that we feel lost when we are alone, or feel frightened by silence. This week, we’re sharing how one of our church family members, Sherylene, learned to be alone and how this transformed her experience of God.

I don’t like to be alone. Maybe it has to do with me being Latina, but I am the most content when I’m surrounded by people. I seek out jobs that require community relationship-building because it’s my thing. I’m good at it. It’s also a good thing. In fact, God calls us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves in Mark 12:31\. Jesus seems to always be surrounded by people in the bible, while healing them, teaching them or even just eating with them.

I was recently in Peru for six months and had no technology for days on end. Being cut off in this way caused me almost unbearable anxiety. I was scared I was missing out on my loved one’s important life events. I felt alone, abandoned and lost. I was addicted to being connected with everyone through the internet and it was the first time I noticed it. I also felt like I didn’t belong in Peru, that the whole trip was a mistake. I had a hard time making friends too, because most of the people in the town where I stayed, spoke an indigenous language. I prayed different prayers every day. One day I prayed that God would expedite my time there. And the next day, I prayed that He would help me enjoy every day and be grateful for the experience.

Many months and tears later, God showed me that I needed that time alone in Peru with Him and that I couldn’t escape it. I’m accustomed to living in New York and spending time in large family gatherings full of Dominican dancing and chatter. I’m most comfortable when surrounded by noise and people, but I learned that this quiet season in my life was good too, and very necessary.

God showed me that overcoming the fear of being alone was going to reveal beauty. He showed me that through Him I could pour more love into the children I worked with in Peru. He woke me up at 5am every morning to catch the sunrise while I was living by the mountains – fourteen thousand feet above sea level – overlooking Lake Titicaca. There, I had the most intimate quiet time with God. He reminded me that no one will ever be able to fill my empty places but Him. He reminded me that holding on to Him was enough.

God created that beautiful sunrise, He created those mountains, that lake, that bird that sang a beautiful song to me every morning. Who else could do that? No one. I stood still in His creation and was speechless many mornings, as I basked in all His love for me. It was the purest form of romanticism. It was natural and unexplainable, like nothing else I have experienced.

When I go back to the Bible, I am also reminded how during his most difficult moments, Jesus retreated from everyone and everything and had one on one time with His Creator. Often times, he escaped to the wilderness to pray (Luke 5:16). After feeding five thousand and before walking on water, he escaped to the mountainside to pray (Mark 6:46). Even before his arrest in Gethsemane, Jesus prayed alone (Mark 14:32-42). Every major decision he made was influenced by God’s guidance.

It’s not easy to be in complete solitude while living in the second most densely populated city in the country. It’s easy to run back to my comfort zone. But in life, you have to fight for everything that is worth it and this is so, so worth it.

I am grateful that God can take my biggest fear, loneliness, to teach me the biggest life lessons. It’s still an ongoing process, but I’m overcoming it little by little. He’s teaching me that in overcoming my fear, I am trusting God in everything I do, and releasing worry and anxiety for the future. He’s teaching me that when I spend quality alone time with Him, I can love people more. But most importantly, He teaches me that I don’t even have to be afraid of loneliness because if I have Him, I will never, ever be alone.


That Fear Can Show You the Most Beauty

Grant’s passion for people is undeniable whether he’s throwing a party, greeting people at the front doors for our Sunday services, or getting people together to play some Pickleball! His commitment & intentionality to build into the community is truly valuable. Let’s give it up for Grant, our Team Member of the Week!


Team Member of the Week


Growing up, I always thought it’d be cool to be a superhero. Mostly because, well, flying sounded like it would be AMAZING. But also because superheroes stood up for what was right regardless of how dangerous or how scary the situation. Their conviction drove them to find the courage to stand up to evil, even when no one else seemed to care or stood petrified with fear. No matter what, the superhero came to the rescue.

Given the chance, I thought that jumping into the storyline of my favorite superhero sounded like something I would want to do with my life. I guess it’s because when I was kid, I didn’t realize that I was already part of an amazing story. No one ever told me that it didn’t take some super power to act like a superhero.

I have a feeling there are a ton of kids out there who feel the same way. That’s why we’re taking the months of June and July to discover what it means to Stand Up: Get in the Story as we learn more about conviction.

Conviction is standing for what’s right, even when others don’t.

Jesus showed us how to stand for what’s right. Even though Jesus prayed for another way, He willingly gave up His life to save us. He showed us that even though it’s difficult, we could stand for what’s right.

Because showing conviction and standing up for what’s right isn’t always easy, we thought it would be a great idea for the kids to memorize 2 Thessalonians 3:13 “Don’t ever get tired of doing the right thing.” The best place to find out how you should show conviction is God’s Word. When you know what God says, it makes it easier to figure out when and how you should stand for what’s right.

We’re looking forward to a great summer of helping kids discover that God created them in His image to join the story that He’s telling in the world. We hope they figure out how they can Stand Up and have conviction in their lives as well.

[June Preview Video!](http://thinkorange.com/252basics/resources)


What’s Happening in Clubhouse?

It’s summerrrrrr! I hear Olaf singing that, don’t you? Gotta love Olaf, but we have no snowmen in our summer theme this year. We do however have water—and lots of it!

It’s time for Camp Splish Splash!

Camp Splish Splash will run through both June and July and introduce our preschoolers to lots of interactive Bible stories that all teach us God’s way is perfect. In June, preschoolers will hear about Noah and his ark, Jonah and that very BIG fish and about Gideon and his dwindling army.

As we share these stories with preschoolers, we want not only to have fun, but to show them solid examples of people following God’s way and it being the perfect way. We want to teach them to trust God’s way in the easier things so that when life gets harder, they will know that God’s way is perfect, and that’s the way they should choose.

[June’s Preview Video](http://thinkorange.com/firstlook/resources)


Summer For Preschoolers

A group of 25 of our impact leaders recently returned from a weekend with the Axiom Community. They spent three days giving their full attention to developing a deeper intimacy with God, through storytelling, Bible teaching, and personal prayer and reflection time. The retreat was devoted to spiritual renewal and preparing the heart to listen to God’s dreams.

We asked three of our impact leaders to reflect on what they took away from the experience, and here’s what they had to say.

Q. In one word, how would you describe your experience at Axiom?

A. Invigorating  
A. Refreshing  
A. Awe-struck

Q. How did you experience God?

A. I experienced God through sitting in silence on the dock and just enjoying his presence and creation. I also spent quality time with him asking specific questions and taking time to listen to him as he answered. God’s inaudible voice is something I hear in my mind. His directives are more like impressions and thoughts that almost always reflect scripture. So I heard him say things like, “Don’t be afraid. I have a hope and a future for you. Trust me.”

A. God was present for me in the interactions I had with the other leaders. Hearing how others experience God was powerful, and just having time away was incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever spent that much time worshiping, praying, meditating and reading. I felt God speaking to me about gratefulness and about being an encouragement to others.

A. I felt God’s presence during my quiet alone time. We were given a lot of space and time to just be with God. I feel like usually when I spend that much time with God, it’s because I’m really struggling with something, and I come to him angry, upset and anxious. But this time was different. I just spent time with him. And I felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of his love for me. I had this sense of acceptance and was just in awe of how much he loves us and how awesome his grace is.

Q. What are your next steps?

A. I need to set aside time to practice very intentional listening on a more regular basis. Slowing down and sitting with God reminds me that above all else, I am his daughter and he loves me deeply.

A. For me, the next step is making three-minute retreats a part of my routine. My daily God time has been a struggle recently. I used to read and pray on my commute, but now that I drive to work it’s hard to maintain. Axiom helped me realized that I could just be aware of him no matter where I am. I can be still and quiet, and be with him, and that can be a part of my God time. I’m learning not to put God in a little box. God time is not something I do as part of my routine. God time is all the time.

A. I spent a lot of time asking God about what steps he wants me to take next in my journey with him. And I felt him saying very clearly that I need to make fasting a part of my spiritual discipline. I have never attempted fasting or even really looked into it. But now I feel encouraged to work on this practice. I think God wants to use fasting to show me that he has so much more planned for me and to help me be more aware of his presence.


Retreating

Often times we end our summer looking back at a whirlwind of activity. Activity that we enjoyed, but activity that leaves us drained physically and, most importantly, drained spiritually. Rather than walking into the fall refreshed and renewed, we often limp into fall longing for routine. Is it possible to change that? Is it possible for summer to be a time of growth and renewal instead of drought and exhaustion? I think it is, but it requires a few crucial steps.

**1\. Stay Engaged in Community:** Often when summer hits we ramp up the travel schedule, and we begin to lose our connection to community. This sets us up for spiritual and social drought. We see a lot of people as we travel, but very few who really know us and can speak meaningfully into our lives. Stay connected even if it means you have to say no to a few trips.

**2\. Read a Powerful Book:** Summer is a great time for reading, but while “The Hunger Games” is a terrific book for entertainment, it does little to refresh our soul. This summer choose one or two books to bring on your travels that refresh you spiritually. Here are a few suggestions based on where you are in the journey.

Beginning: Purpose Driven Life – Rick Warren

Fed: The Principle of the Path – Andy Stanley

Feeding Yourself: Waking the Dead – John Eldridge

Feeding Others: Don’t Waste Your Life – John Piper

**3\. Maintain Your Experience Plan:** Rather than allowing your vacation to kill your experience plan, allow summer to solidify it. Use the time to enjoy God the way you planned to. This can be a great chance to establish the rhythm of life you long to experience at home.

**4\. Watch Live:** Even though your summer may take you around the globe, you don’t have to feel distant from the Sunday conversation. Jump online and watch live, or watch while you’re at the pool. Staying engaged allows you to continue growing and moving forward with our family.

**5\. Rest:** We don’t like to believe it, but we need rest. Don’t just plan vacations, plan time to rest. You are a holistic being. Your spiritual journey is connected to your physical journey. If you run yourself ragged over the course of the summer, you will suffer spiritually. Schedule at least one Saturday a month when you will do absolutely nothing. Protect that day. Learn to say – “no.”

Summer doesn’t have to be a time when you move backward. Make this summer a strong summer. Walk into this coming fall stronger than you are today. It can happen!


A Strong Summer


This morning (5/31) we released for the first time the Hoboken Grace Growth Path. Simply put, this is our plan as a church community to accomplish the mission of helping people find their way back to God. In Ephesians we’re challenged to live our lives with purpose and intention.

_1Cor. 9:24-27 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified._

We’re challenged to not simply run, but to run strategically as we pursue the one who has pursued us. How do we do that? [Click here to see how we as a church are intentionally designing everything that we do to help people not only experience Christ, but mature in the mission and purpose that they have been given](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzs7qxusf/image/upload/v1/archive/2015/05/Hoboken-Growth-Path.pdf).


Growth Path

Have you ever sat down to read the Bible and felt intimidated? Have you ever wondered, “Where do I start?” Have you ever felt you had no idea how to understand what you just read? You’re not alone, and it doesn’t have to be like that.  
For the next six weeks we’re going to read through the beginning of Acts together. We’re going to talk about how you can begin to interact with the Bible as it was intended. We’re going to work through how you can begin to understand it in a way you never have before. Join us and begin a journey that will change the way you interact with this incredible, powerful, crazy book!


This Crazy Book

It’s never too late to join us in our [Bible Reading Plan](http://hobokengrace.com/bible/). We are reading through the New Testament in one year, one chapter per day. In Acts 16 we see God and the Holy Spirit defy race, social economics, background, and aptitude. Acts 16 is where we also see the church of Philippi formed, to which Paul will eventually write the book of [Philippians](https://www.bible.com/bible/116/php.1.nlt).

Philippians is one of my favorites because it is filled with encouragement for this church. In most of Paul’s letters, he is trying to get churches back on track. Paul knows the people of this church personally and baptized them all. He is impressed with what they are doing and wants to encourage them to continue on. If you have not read Philippians, I encourage you to do it! It is only 4 chapters and will take you no longer than 10 minutes to read.

Back to Acts 16 where it all starts: there are three very different people that come together to form the first church in Philippi. First is Lydia, a very rich, intelligent, business-wise woman. Next we meet the poor, uneducated, demon-possessed slave girl. Finally, we are introduced to a blue collar, middle class, ex-Roman soldier, who is now working as a jailer. These three individuals have no business even knowing each other, let alone being friends with each other, but they are united because of the gospel.

This is what makes [dinner groups](http://hobokengrace.com/dinner-groups/) so unique. We are groups of 8-10 people who are united by the gospel. They are led and made up of all different types of people: accountants, counselors, teachers, salesmen, architects, mothers, writers, college students, and more. There will always be a temptation in all of us to want to do life with those who are exactly like us, because it seems easier. Do not allow the tension of diversity of your group keep you from going. People do not have to be similar, or older, or smarter, or richer, more experienced or have gone to church longer than you for you to learn and grow with them. In the same way do not allow your imperfections to prevent you from uniting people through the gospel. God can use you. There is no limitation that he can not overcome.


Anyone and Everyone

On Friday, June 5th, we will have our second Teams Night of 2015\. Our first one, in March, was an incredible night of prayer and worship, and just of time spent leaning on God. Over the past several months I’ve had a lot of questions about it, mainly along these lines:

“Can I go to Teams Night?”

“Can I bring my friend to Teams Night?”

“What the heck is Teams Night?!”

I’d like to take this opportunity to diffuse some rumors and incorrect assumptions about this event. Ready? Here we go!

**Lie No. 1.) “Teams Night is only for people who serve on Sunday.”**

I can understand how that could be a pretty easy assumption to make. But it is not true. Teams Night is for everyone and anyone serving in any way in our family. This includes dinner group leaders and coaches, people who serve on teams that don’t meet Sunday like the food donation tables, those who serve with TRUE Mentors, you name it. If you’ve used your time and talents to serve God and others in our community, then this is for YOU.

**Lie No. 2.) “I just joined a team, but I haven’t served yet, so I can’t go to Teams Night.”**

At Teams Night, we are going to spend time talking about things that speak specifically to those serving – this much is true. Does that mean it will be completely over your head if you’re not? Maybe, maybe not. But we want you to know that the songs we sing, the words spoken and the things we do are going to have a drastically more potent impact on you if you’ve been serving. It’s going to hit home a little more, it’s going to be that much more relevant.

So no, you do not HAVE to be on a team and serving, but your experience is going to be more whole and purposeful if you are.

**Lie No. 3.) “I’ve got a friend who is interested in joining our team, but they haven’t yet, so I can’t bring them.”**

I think one of the best things you can do for a friend who is new is to invite them to serve along with you. We say this all the time, and talk about it in Intro To Impact – never serve alone. Part of that process could be bringing them to Teams Night. My hope is that for people who are on the fence about diving into this thing we call “church” and “family,” they would be inspired, motivated and excited about becoming a part of it after attending a Teams Night. In the plainest of terms, we create this time to be rejuvenated by and spend time with our God. But it is also a reminder that we are NOT in this alone – that there are hundreds of people who make this thing happen week to week, that are pouring out their hearts in worship to Him through serving. Teams Night brings that all home. It gives us a chance to come together, stop before God, and take a look at what He’s doing through our service.

**Lie No. 4.) “Teams Night is an excuse for Dana to wear her bright red Vans sneakers and jump around on stage.”**

The only lie in that statement is the fact that they’re green shoes, thank you very much.

PS: If you’re looking for a way to serve or just get involved in being a part of Hoboken Grace and the community, going [here](http://hobokengrace.com/connect/) is a great place to start.


What the Heck is Teams Night?

Our dinner groups at Hoboken Grace are all about building community. A half-dozen groups took that to heart last week by preparing more than 500 meals for local students rehearsing for opening night of _Shrek The Musical_.

For four nights, the dinner groups provided more than 150 plates to the hungry cast and crew of elementary, middle and high school students from the city’s public schools. They set up a full taco bar, assembled scores of sandwiches and baked trays and trays of ziti.

The drama club was so grateful that Hoboken Grace got a special shout-out during the live production at Hoboken High School over the weekend! That’s the magic of dinner groups: we were able to impact hundreds of students and their families across Hoboken and build more relationships within our community.

Want to join a dinner group? Sign up [here](http://hobokengrace.com/dinner-groups/).


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